“Mom always said a pair of big balls and a lack of ethics would get me through any door. However, I’m skeptical if you’re suggesting Labrador recommended me for a job.”

“Jon didn’t recommend you for a goddamned thing. Your name dropped in relation to an entirely different matter.”

I laughed reflexively. Of course, of course, the exec wanted my head on a stake. Adeyemi was proficient in headhunting. It’s pleasantly convenient when interests align.

“Wild guess . . . Labrador took your temperature about putting a round behind my ear and dumping me in the Barrens. You probably have a spot picked out.”

“He did ask if I knew anyone reliable,” Adeyemi said. “I’m personally too hot to do business. The SDNY bird-dogging me is a serious pain. My boy was drunk and it was more a casual inquiry. I wouldn’t sweat it.”

“Okay, I won’t spare it another thought.”

“All’s well that ends well. My chat with Jon inspired me to check into your bona fides. And here we are, making nice.”

“Which leaves us with the fact you could’ve engaged numerous heavyweight operators.”

“Ah, such as Lancing Brothers or the Woolfolk Agency,” Adeyemi said.

“The obvious choices. Impeccable reputations. By the book. Eminently convenient with offices in New York and Kingston.”

He nodded over the rim of his rapidly diminishing glass of booze.

“The firm that employed Sean is a subsidiary of the Redlick Group.”

“Your long-lost buddies,” I said.

“Any of them had a role in Sean’s death, or a cover-up, they go on the list.”

“What about Senator Redlick? According to my math, he vacated the throne not long before your nephew went to his reward.”

He swallowed his scotch. Let the moment stretch. Doubtful he was deliberating so much as managing the effect.

“The big man wasn’t involved. He’d recently divested his interest in the corporation. I threw my weight around at the operations level to get my nephew hired. Leaned on a human resource manager with a gambling problem. And the personnel manifest listed Sean as a Pruitt, not an Adeyemi.”

I stared at him, unblinking.

“He’s my friend,” Adeyemi said. “One of the few.”

“Humor me.”

“Gerry too.”

“Yeah, what I figured. Any case that comes within a hundred miles of Senator Redlick may as well have a hazardous-to-health warning on the label. And Labrador? How many of his fingers were in the Jeffers Project?”

“Labrador contributed funds to kick-start the job. Fingers nothing. He owned a double helping of that pie.”

“Not even one degree of Kevin Bacon,” I said. “I’m going to assume you haven’t shared your speculation with anybody who might be in a position to shut you up permanently.”

“I’ve mentioned it to my sister. Nobody else.”

“Which, according to the Law of Best Intentions, I’m racing a clock before news leaks. I hope this isn’t a scheme to settle a score with your old boss.”

“The fuck you care?” he said. “Settling scores is practically your business motto.”