“No, thank you,” he says as he scratches his neck.
“Okay, I’ll just be upstairs getting ready for tonight. I have to check in with my friend Ruby about some things too,” Cara says.
“Tell Ruby hello. Maybe she can fill our friend Rob in as well?”
“No problem. I’ll tell her to talk to Rob about how the move-in has been going.”
I see the slight furrow between her eyebrows as she takes in Brad’s peculiar demeanor.
She looks up at me, and I give her a reassuring signal. Cara and I have taken to being able to say so much without saying anything at all to one another.
As Cara heads up the stairs, I look at how Brad is pacing around the room.
“Take a seat,” I say.
“Thanks,” he answers, almost relieved.
Brad sits down in the closest seat, a lone accent chair. I sit on the main sofa nearby.
“You don’t look so good,” I say.
Brad breathes out a long rush of air.
“This is the one favor I’m going to do for you since you are so adamant about getting involved here.”
“Okay…”
Brad rests his hands on top of his bouncing knees.
“If you say I told you, I’ll lie. Got it?”
“Yes.”
I sit still as I wait for Brad to share.
“This is bigger than anything I’ve been involved with, Ace.”
“How so?”
“It’s not just local or even, fuck, just the Carolinas. This goes bigger than cards and drugs.”
“What is it?”
“This isit.”
“That’s not telling me much.”
I need him to share more. We already assume that Cordelia is the Kingpin we’ve been waiting to get. I need more than this.
“There are big players coming to the tournament tonight. Cordelia’s tournament is the place to be.”
“In what way?”
“Ace. I like you. Your wife seems like good people too.”
“Brad, I saved your life.”
“And this isn’t the time you want to play that card. You only get it once from me.”
