Cole and Pike shared a glance, then Cole took the picture of Rina’s son from his pocket and held it out. The baby with the wispy red hair.

“Peter. Petar. Is this the kid you’re talking about?”

“I have not seen the child. All I know is what Michael tell me.”

“Which is what?”

“Michael took the child to get the guns. He thinks he can force the old man to make a deal, but the old man is crazy like these old fucks back home. He went insane.”

“So now they’re at war.”

Grebner laughed.

“You would have to be Serbian to understand. This is beyond war. The old man, he tells Michael he will kill the child himself. The old one will kill his own child to show he has no weakness, and cannot be threatened, and he will kill Michael. Do you understand what I am telling you? This whole mess has blown up in Michael’s face.”

Cole said, “Jakovich’s child? Not Michael’s.”

“Yes.”

“Who’s the mother?”

“Who can say? I don’t know these people.”

“How many children does Michael have?”

“Some? Many? None? You think we go on picnics? I never see Michael with anyone but whores.”

The phone in Pike’s pocket rang with a high-pitched jangle that made Grebner jump. Grebner’s phone.

Pike glanced at the incoming number, but it was only a number and meant nothing. Pike answered, but said nothing. The person on the other side was silent. Pike heard breathing, then the person hung up.

Pike slipped the phone into his pocket, and saw that Grebner was smiling, his teeth filmed with blood.

Grebner said, “This will be Michael, yes?”

“Probably.”

“I am sorry for your friend, Frank Meyer, but he should not have involved himself in our affairs. Neither should you. We are terrible enemies.”

Pike studied him for a moment, then glanced at Cole, whose eyes were wide, the eyes saying, What in hell just happened here?

Pike said, “We’re done. I’ll be right behind you.”

Cole headed for the front door, and Pike turned back to Grebner. When Cole was gone, Pike drew the .357 and thumbed back the hammer. The locking steel spring was a breaking bone in the quiet house. Grebner, eyebrows lurching, wet his lips and breathed faster.

Pike touched the muzzle to Grebner’s head. Grebner clenched his eyes, then opened them, wide and glistening, dancing like moths trying to escape a glass.

Pike said, “Where did Jakovich get the guns?”

“I got no idea. I don’t know.”

“Was Frank involved?”

“What? Who?”

Grebner was so scared he had already lost the name.

“The man who owned the house. Frank Meyer. Was he involved in the deal for the guns?”

“I don’t know. How could I know?”

“What did Darko tell you?”