Lenny looked down, then back up at Mike. “I don’t need anybody.”
“Yeah, maybe. Except I was able to find you, no problem. Do you really feel safe?”
The thought seemed to hit him all at once. “Yeah. How did you find me?”
Mike shrugged. He wasn’t going to answer, mostly because he couldn’t think of something quickly enough.
Lenny spoke again. “How do I know that I can trust you? How do I know that you’re not going to double cross me?”
“With who?” He laughed. “Everyone thinks I’m dead. You know how easy it is to move around when you’re dead?”
Lenny frowned. “You’re going to have to earn my trust before I tell you anything.”
“Fair,” Mike said with a nod.
And so began part two of Mike’s unplanned plan. Over the next four weeks, Lenny kept Mike occupied with menial tasks.
At first, Lenny kept a close watch on him and hardly let him out of his sight. That was the toughest part – he wasn’t able to tell Lynn what was going on for three days. When he was finally able to make a brief call, he had to make sure Lenny wasn’t listening in. He promised to call again as soon as he could.
Then Lenny started sending him on errands. Mike had to drive across the city to pick up a package, or wait outside of a building and watch for activity. Lenny had him doing stupid things, too, like buying lunch, or digging through a junkyard for car parts. He even made Mike change the oil on a few cars.
Mike didn’t mind. He was used to the song and dance of earning someone’s trust. When he first went undercover in New York, it took him almost nine months before he was trusted with anything.
Lenny didn’t seem particularly hard to crack. He was working entirely alone, and at times, it seemed like he wanted Mike around to have someone to brag to.
Mike was happy to be the audience to Lenny’s bravado. He played along, listening and laughing. The more he did this, the more Lenny trusted him to be on his own, which meant he could update Lynn on what was going on.
“I don’t like this, Mike,” she told him during his third week of trust-building. “It’s different than before. No one has your back. You’re completely on your own.”
“To tell you the truth,” he said, “I prefer it this way. And I’m not alone.”
“Lenny doesn’t count,” she said with a laugh.
He didn’t mean Lenny. He meant her. But he didn’t dare say that to her; she wasn’t really involved. She was just moral support, and that was enough.
The worst part was going out with Lenny. Almost every night, they’d go to some sleazy bar, nightclub, or back room of a restaurant. Lenny essentially wanted Mike to be his bodyguard – standing around, looking tough – while he talked himself up to Seattle’s lowest tier of criminals.
Mike dealt with it. He’d seen worse before, and he could tell that Lenny was just killing time. Whatever he was doing with Benzini wasn’t just his main source of income. It was his only source of income.
In Mike’s eyes, that meant that Lenny was vulnerable. He would make bad decisions if he ran out of options and got desperate.
It was almost a month before Mike got the chance to meet John Benzini. Lenny still wouldn’t tell him what their business was. He just told Mike to come along, be quiet, and not ask any stupid questions.
As if Mike was the one who would ask stupid questions.
They met Benzini at his downtown office. He had quite the swanky place for his consulting business, where he apparently met with various politicians seeking his expertise for an election.
Judging by the number of employees and the location, there were some special interest groups funneling money in as well. Mike had looked into Benzini a dozen times, though, and was never able to find anything illegal. The man ran a tight operation.
Which is why it was so interesting that he was willing to work with Lenny. It was possible that Lenny was just the West Coast connection for the Sabini family, leaving Benzini no choice.
It was still too soon to tell for sure. But why would an idiot like Lenny get that much responsibility?
They were led into a conference room with a shining black table, and Benzini arrived not long after.
He was a stark contrast to Lenny with his distinguished salt-and-pepper hair and perfectly fitted suit.
“John Benzini, welcome.”
