Once a Killer Read Free Page B

if they’d already followed him to Chicago, they weren’t going to give up that easily. And he couldn’t afford to have them turn up at his home and start mentioning Chicago and his mother to Caroline. Sooner or later, he’d have to deal with them and their boss, James Grannis.
    “Okay.” Michael raised his right palm. “I’ll agree to a short meeting with him.”
    “That’s the right answer.”
    “It’s just a meeting. You can tell him I’m not looking for any new clients.”
    “We hear you.”
    “Where do I meet him?”
    “We’ll let you know. We know where to find you.”
    “Are we done?”
    “For now.”
    Michael stood up, half-smiled at the woman on the next table, and walked out.
    When he arrived home late, Caroline’s face was a mixture of concern and irritation.
    “Where did you get to?” she said.
    “I’m sorry.” Michael dropped his briefcase in the hallway. “A couple of people wanted a quiet word after class.” That was accurate, but not the whole truth.
    “You have to know where to draw the line with your students.”
    “I know. Are the girls still awake?”
    “They tried, but fell asleep half an hour ago.” Caroline smiled. “You look tired.”
    “It’s been a tough day,” he said, following her into the kitchen. The air was filled with the aroma of pasta sauce.
    “I’ll get the penne on.”
    “Actually, I’m not that hungry. Can we keep the sauce until tomorrow?”
    Caroline hugged him. “Sure. Go and get changed and sit down for half an hour. You don’t look very well.”
    Michael rubbed his eyes. “I’ll be okay.”
    “You need some rest. Big day tomorrow, remember?”
    “I guess I’ve been worried about that, too.”
    “Worried?” Caroline cocked her head. “I know my man. He’s going to get it.”
    “Yeah.” He kissed her. “But you’re biased.”
    With the events of the past two hours, Michael had forgotten he had an important meeting with his senior partner tomorrow. His mind had been occupied by the two men he’d just met and working out what exactly they wanted from him.
    Later, as he lay in bed, struggling to sleep, he kept playing over what happened on the day of his mother’s funeral. How had those men known to look for him there? Had they actually followed him to Chicago? That wouldn’t have been easy. No one knew he was going to be there, not even Caroline. And how did this man, James Grannis, claim to know so much about him when they’d never even met? The name meant nothing.
    Turning onto his side, sheer terror consumed him, and he stopped breathing.
    It has to be him .
    There was only one explanation: Grannis had to be Rondell. Who else would know to look for him in Chicago? Who else would mention his mother?
    Christ!
    Michael had not seen Rondell since they were children. That name had long been buried in his memory. What could he want after all this time? That animal had destroyed Michael’s life once. He would not let that happen again. Not now he’d built a new life—a good life free of the horrors of the past. Rondell belonged back there and he had no right to come back.

Chapter 3
    A FTER A S LEEPLESS N IGHT , Michael caught an early train from Westport’s Saugatuck station. Throughout the hour’s commute to New York’s Grand Central, he kept looking around the carriage. Were Rondell’s men still following him? Besides the two he’d met already, how many others did he have tracking his movements?
    As he walked along West 48th toward his office block on the north side of Times Square, Michael increased his pace, occasionally glancing over his shoulder without trying to make it obvious. When he emerged from the elevator on the thirtieth floor of his building, he passed a stainless steel sign on the wall: Dudek, Collins, & Hamilton LLP—Attorneys. Michael had joined the mega-firm fresh out of law school eleven years ago, and now he was one of eighteen partners in their burgeoning business transactions and securities department.