“What did he say? Exactly?”
“Wanted to know what I was looking for. Said he’d get it for me. Asked me for a shopping list in fact.” That shark smile again. “Bit of competition is good for business, eh? Should drive the price down.”
Somewhere deep in his chest, Klempner rumbles.
“Anything else I can do for you, Larry?”
“No. We’ll be off. James…”
“Anytime Larry. Pleasure to see an old friend.”
Leroy still holds his post by the door. As we pass, his eyes follow Klempner, who stops, turning on him. “You got a problem?”
Leroy doesn’t reply, simply glaring some more. Klempner takes a step, one hand whipping up in that same gesture I saw with Ricky, pinning his neck in the crook of thumb and finger and lifting. The other hand punches into his gut. “Learn some manners, Fido,” he hisses.
Th
