But Bolan trusted the detective. Naturally. Instinctively.

A great deal more than recognition had been shared between them as they spoke. There had been understanding, yes, and something else on the detective's part.

Approval?

Grudging admiration?

Bolan frowned. If Hannon chose to play the role of ally, he might be a winning asset — or a cumbersome liability. At present, though, the Executioner had other problems on his mind.

His Miami probe was a response to rumblings in the underground, a hint of trouble dangerously near the flash point. He had bits and pieces of the puzzle, and there had been a hope that Hannon, in the private sector now, might help him put them all together. Now, instead, he had provided further riddles.

And a pointer, yes. At least that much.

He had pointed Bolan straight to Tommy Drake.

3

Tommy Drake — born Thomas Dracco — was the sole surviving son of a Chicago loan shark. Papa Dracco was "connected," but his Mob affiliations did not guarantee intelligence — nor could they save him when he sided with the loser in a local Mafia insurrection. The incumbent boss had Papa taken for a ride, and when his elder sons went looking for revenge, they disappeared without a trace.

All three of them.

And young Thomas, wiser than his siblings, suddenly acquired a taste for travel.

He had gravitated to Miami, seeking distance from Chicago. He acquired a muscle job — as Tommy Drake — with local mafioso Vinnie Balderone. Miami was an "open" city, filled with opportunities for someone who could follow orders. Someone who was not afraid of cracking heads and breaking legs along the way.