There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and Gus was about to check the readout to see if the call had cut out when Shawn’s voice came back. “So, you’re saying that if I see an employee of one mobster going into the place of business of another mobster, it means that the employee is betraying his boss. Selling him out to his rival behind his back.”

“I don’t see what else it could be,” Gus said.

“That’s kind of what I was thinking,” Shawn said.

“You didn’t need me to tell you this,” Gus said. “You’ve seen as many mob movies as I have.”

“Let me try one other thing,” Shawn said. “Let’s say that Cayenne wasn’t a hit man.”

“Shawn, my meeting’s about to start up again,” Gus said.

“Let’s say he’s actually a private detective,” Shawn continued.

“Fine, but let’s say that later,” Gus said. “I really have to go.”

“And let’s say he works for one detective agency, but his boss begins to wonder why he’s never around, so he tails him one day. And you know where it gets him?”

Gus felt his throat go dry. “Shawn, I-”

Before Gus could come up with a verb, Shawn stepped around the corner, slipping his cell phone into his pocket. Barely casting a glance at Gus, he rapped on the shining brass

sign affixed to the building’s granite entrance. The sign that read: RUTLAND ARMITAGE, DISCREET INVESTIGATIONS.

“It gets him right here,” Shawn said.

Chapter Nine

If you love somebody, set them free. That was how the song went, anyway. Not that Shawn had any idea what came after that line because every time it came on the radio, Gus insisted on changing the station. There was some grammatical issue in the line that used to drive him crazy for reasons Shawn probably wouldn’t understand even if he had bothered to listen.