Wimpler dumped the contents of his cloth bag on I ^ when ^^ ^

the counter He could feel the sweat running in nv- I had ^ ^ Life had been a 1qssfof ¡^ &¿

ulets under his arms ¦ j and now fae wag m tQ cut those losseg He

Lovely pieces, the clerk said. F stoodg filthy water, wondering if he

"Mmmmmm," said Wimpler afraid to say more would ^^^ nerve > himse]f¿^

because his throat was so dry that he might not be ^ He walked ^^ doc

able to get any words out. ° > j o

tiem for interminable sec-

„.,„, „ , „, . j crate and listened.

Til have to call the manager, he said. „„ , . . . y, „ . . ,

"Why? Wimpler sputtered out. Whats ... fe

"He has to appraise them," the clerk said with a

buüd up his nerve, when suddenly he heard voices.

The clerk looked at them for interminable sec- c F Új_*juu-ji i •

i uk ^iwi v/ For some reas0I1) jje Parted behind a large packing

suspicious smile. As Wimpler watched the man's re-

23 22 Âi

say. "There's no way around it. If Romeo testifies, we're all cooked."

"Yeah, sure," the other man said with disgust. "But try to do it with all that freaking, federal security around him."

"If he testifies . . ."

"Don't tell me what I know already, Tony. Shit. I offered this hit to everyone in town. Nobody wants to touch it. I think we're gonna have to put together a squad and go up there and take the whole place out."

But he wasn't. Not any more. What he was now was the best hit man money could hire.

"Don't let appearances deceive you," he said. "I can do what you want done."

The two men looked at each other. Tony shrugged.

24

"The man won't like that, Jack. Too much bad press. A lot of blood, a lot of bodies, a lot of reporters, and a lot of feds."