“Looks like I’m going to win.” He raced over to face off with Hammer, who bounced the ball, doing that steady stare thing. Trying to psych out Luca because he knew he wouldn’t win unless he threw Luca off his game.
“You always say that in every game, and then you end up losing.” Hammer bounced the ball a couple more times, then faked out Luca and made a run for the net.
There was something about basketball that enabled him to push out everything that was happening and focus on the physical exertion. Challenging both of them. He and Hammer had been doing this for years, whenever they could. Though less now that Hammer was married with a kid and a baby on the way.
Luca wasn’t going to begrudge the guy not spending as much time with a ball in his hands in favor of being with his family. But Luca needed the moment of clarity that came when he saw Hammer’s move coming, intercepted it, and got the ball. When there was nothing in his mind but the game and anticipating his friend’s move. Besting him. Luca turned and gave the jump shot everything he had.
Hammer whistled. “That was sweet.”
Luca wandered over and got the ball. He wanted to gloat, but what came out of his mouth was “I went to see Jenkins today.”
Hammer’s brows rose.
“Detective Martinelli is still trying to get information out of him.” Luca wandered over and set the ball next to the dumpster by the back door of the Chinese restaurant. The one below the office space he rented.
Way too much room for one guy, but commercial rentals in this city were hard to come by if you didn’t have two hundred employees. The two-thousand-square-foot apartment had been converted into a travel agency years ago, but it had gone bust and they’d left everything behind—including a prehistoric printer that didn’t work but liked to rattle at random moments.
The back door banged open, and Andrew, the restaurant owner’s oldest son, came out. His jet-black hair had been cut super short on the sides but left to hang long over his eyebrows. The kid sniffed and lifted his head. “Hey.” He swung the bulging trash bag and tossed it into the dumpster.
Luca said, “How’s it going?”
“Can’t complain.” Andrew grabbed the door handle and swung it open, heading back inside.
Luca called out, “Have a good one.”
Andrew waved a hand over his shoulder before the door shut.
Hammer slapped a hand down on Luca’s shoulder. “You have such a way with people.”
“It’s a gift.”
The fact was, he spoke more with Andrew’s elderly uncle than anyone else who worked in the restaurant. They played checkers every Wednesday afternoon before the older man went downstairs to the restaurant to prep for the weekend. He had caught Andrew tossing the basketball through the hoop a few times, which was why Luca left the ball out on purpose now.
“I have all the friends that I need in this city. Everyone else is considered a suspect until they get ruled out.” He opened the door for Hammer, and they both headed inside, taking the stairs up to the second-floor apartment.
Hammer went to the refrigerator in the kitchen and grabbed two bottled waters, one of which he tossed across the breakfast bar.
Luca didn’t twist off the lid just yet. “I noticed you didn’t argue with me that everyone in this city is a suspect.”
Hammer finished the water bottle, his throat working as he drained the last drops. When he lowered the water bottle and crunched it between his hands, he said, “Not sure I disagree with you. Even if there are some people I’d love to trust and believe in.”
“You have roots in this city and people you’ve known since you were a kid. There are plenty of good folks here.”
“I’m glad. Because I trust them with Huck when I’m not around. And I’m going to be trusting them with Sierra and the care of my baby. Hospital staff. The nursery people at church. Teachers and staff at the school. I can’t be around the kids twenty-four seven to make sure they’re protected.”
Luca got a read on his friend’s body language. “We know more than most people that the world is a dangerous place. But that’s why you do what you can to make it safe, so you don’t have to worry about the worst things happening. You can just rest in the peace that you did what you could.”
“And God will cover the rest.” Hammer folded his arms, leaning his hip against the counter.
Luca nodded. He hadn’t accounted for that part, but he should have. His faith was a new thing and not so natural yet. Right now, it was another item on his to-do list, like studying the Bible and going to church. Once he had all those boxes checked, he would find that peace he’d been looking for.
“Alden is in prison now, and he isn’t getting out anytime soon. So that’s one part of it you don’t have to worry about.” Once Luca took down the rest of the Shadow Syndicate, Hammer would be able to breathe even easier.
His family would be a little bit safer.
“What did he have to say to you?”
Luca shrugged. “He’s still pretty tight-lipped about this whole shadow syndicate thing. Enough for me to wonder if Rousseau was only throwing us off, sending us on a wild-goose chase when there’s actually nothing to it.”