Eyes on Anton, Ellie reached for the nine resting on her lap. She released the safety and held the Glock as her gaze cut to Paul. She watched from behind her sunglasses and from behind the tinted windows, the man who had killed her partner and had tried to kill her at the start of this past summer now standing on the opposite side of the door, less than ten feet way.

Paul looked Anton up and down.

Anton snickered. “You think I’m packing?”

“Wouldn’t put it past you. And I certainly wouldn’t blame you.”

Anton said nothing.

“Thought you might not show up,” Paul said. “Then I said to myself, No, he will. He has to. Anton has no place to go. He can’t work for the Armenians or the Mexicans. They don’t want him.”

To Ellie’s ears, it sounded like a threat. Anton, though, let it wash right over him. Which surprised her. Usually a threat caused him to start using his fists. But he didn’t move, and that made Ellie wonder if Anton was afraid of Paul. Paul had a good amount of size compared to Anton, but if it came down to a fight, she’d put all her money on Anton. In her experience, guys who were heavily into bodybuilding relied solely on their size to make their opponents back down, because they didn’t know how to fight.

Anton nodded with his chin to the Mercedes and said, “Looks like you brought along some company.”

“Just my driver.”

“He shy or something?”

“He’s just my driver.”

“Maybe he should say hello.”

Paul looked over his shoulder, to the driver, and nodded. The window came down. The driver was a white guy who was nowhere near as tall as Paul, and nowhere near as big, although he did seem to have a good amount of muscle on him. He wore sunglasses and a black collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and he had both forearms draped on top of the steering wheel to show he wasn’t carrying. He was somewhere in his late twenties to early thirties, Ellie guessed, and had a military-style crew cut and teeth that were too big for his face. He chewed gum methodically, trying to give off the vibe that he wasn’t nervous.

Only he was. Ellie caught the tight way he swallowed. Guy was probably not even conscious he was doing it. He was a pretender. Didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous, though. Could be quick with a gun. Like her, he probably had one within reach.

“Anyone there in the back?” Anton asked.

The driver looked to Paul. Paul nodded and the driver rolled down the back window. The backseat was empty.

“You want to check the trunk, too?” Paul asked. “Pat my boy down?”

“Not a bad idea,” Anton replied.

“Then please, be my guest. While you do that, I’ll introduce myself to the person you brought along. Or maybe he’d like to roll down his window and introduce himself?”