Knocked Up by the Killer

The room phone started ringing. I stared at it and waited for Elise to picked up in the bedroom, but it just kept right on ringing. I walked over and answered just to get the thing to stop making noise.

“Hello?”

“Ah, yes, Mr. Pippen?”

I hesitated. It took me a second to remember that was the fake name I gave to the desk clerk. “Yes, this is him,” I said.

“You have a visitor down at the front desk. He requested that I call up and check to see if you’re available before he comes up to visit?”

I felt my body go tense. “Did he give you a name?”

“Yes, sir. He says his name is Drago Borghi?”

I let out a low breath. “Send him up,” I said.

“Very good.” She hung up the phone.

I hung up on my end and paced back and forth. After a pause I walked to the bedroom door and knocked three times.

“Elise,” I said. “Open up. This is important.”

Still silence.

“Elise,” I said again. “Your dad’s on his way up.”

That got her attention. I heard movement, then the door unlocked and opened. She peered out at me in nothing but a tank top and a pair of black panties. The light was off and the blinds were shut.

“My dad’s coming here?” she asked. “What the hell?”

“The phone call, that was the front desk. Apparently he’s here, and he wanted to come up. But he made them check in first.”

“Didn’t want to surprise us,” she said. “That’s probably smart.”

“I don’t know how he tracked us down, but he’s coming up right now. We have maybe a minute before he shows.”

“What do we do?”

“Stay in there,” I said. “Lock the door. I’ll talk to him.”

“He’s my father.”

“And he wants you. Stay in that room, let me do the talking.”

She stared at me before nodding once. “Okay,” she said.

I could see the fear in her eyes. I reached out and touched her hand on impulse, not sure what I was doing. She bit her lip and looked at my fingers then met my eyes. I wanted to kiss her, but a knock at the door stopped me.

“Go,” I said.

She pulled back, shut the door, and locked it.

I walked to the coffee table and picked up my Glock. I slipped it into my waistband before walking to the door and pulling it open.

The man standing outside was a few inches shorter than me with broad shoulders, graying hair, intense dark eyes, and a pure black suit with a black dress shirt.

“Tanner,” he said.

“Drago.” I smiled at him, extended my hand.

He took it and we shook.

“May I come in?” he asked.

I opened the door, but didn’t move. “Two rules,” I said.

“Okay,” he said, a little smile on his lips. “Go ahead.”

“First, you don’t try to talk to Elise. She’s not interested.”

“And the other?”

“You make a move for a gun and I’ll kill you before you have the chance.”

“That’s not really a rule,” he said. “More like a threat.”

I shrugged and didn’t step out of his way. I was sure a guy like Drago wasn’t used to being threatened, and certainly not to his face. But he was on my turf and he was alone, which meant he’d better play by my rules. I knew he was armed, and I wasn’t stupid enough to ask him to disarm before coming inside.

But at the very least he could be polite and not try to kill me. That would be such a mess and I liked this hotel.

“Fine,” he said. “Now, can I come in?”

I stepped aside and let him walk past. I shut the door behind him as he looked around the room.

“It’s not much,” I said. “And a little messy.”

His eyes moved over an empty champagne bottle, some empty takeout bags, and empty beer cans. “I see that.”

“Hard to keep it clean when we’re in here all the time.”

“Where’s my daughter?”

“Don’t worry. She’s safe.”

His eyes strayed to the bedroom door. “Can she hear me?”

“Assume she can,” I said. “And act accordingly.”

He grunted and turned his back to me. He walked to the window and spread the curtains aside. It was dark out and the moon reflected off the building across from ours in dappled sprays of gray.

“I’m not used to going to another man with my hat in hand,” he said. “I’m a long way from New York.”

“You run those streets,” I said, “but this is Philadelphia. Things work differently here.”

“I know.” He clasped his hands behind his back. I thought he did it to show me that he wasn’t armed or reaching for anything. “Do you know why I came to this city?”

“To gain more power and money,” I said. “You think the Leone family is getting fat and happy. You’re probably right about that.”

He laughed gently. “That’s true,” he said. “But I also came to be closer to my daughter. Do you think that’s strange?”