Tanned Hide by R. A. Meenan Page B

seat. “It’s
always a shame to see families torn apart.”
    I tilted an ear. “Motherhood has
mellowed you.”
    “ Nonsense, Mr. Black,”
Pathos said. “We’ll help you, but it’s not as if this service comes
for free.”
    I tiled the other ear now. “What do
you want?”
    “ Assurance,” Logos said.
She dug a piece of paper out of her clutch purse. “And payment.”
She handed the paper to me.
    I glanced over it. It was a very
official looking invoice for a “bargaining chip.” I skimmed the
legal stuff, then caught the price listed. My jaw
dropped.
    One million dollars.
    I looked over the paper at the girls.
All three of them smiled at me.
    “ You want one million
dollars. For Philip.”
    “ Certainly, Mr. Black,”
Ethos said. “You pay us one million dollars, and we’ll make sure
the FBI finds the ‘true’ culprit responsible for Matron Fawn’s
death.”
    “ And who’s this poor sap
you’re going to frame for me?” I asked with a snarl.
    “ Oh, it’d be easy to frame
a rival mob assassin,” Ethos said with a sly grin. “Consider it a
bonus magic hit. Your name is cleared, Miss Piper will apologize,
and you’ll be free to adopt your brother.” She leaned on one hand.
“I’m sure with your skills, getting that money will be a
dawdle.”
    “ Are you kidding me?” I
said. “HVAC doesn’t pay near enough. I couldn’t make this kind of
money in my lifetime!”
    Ethos frowned and lifted one eyebrow.
“You have more than one skill, you know.”
    I paused and my ears started ringing.
No. They weren’t suggesting that.
    “ You’ve got a reputation
now, Mr. Black,” Pathos said. “A few level ten jobs and you’d have
the money in no time.”
    “ I just spent the last ten
months getting out of that business,” I snarled.
    “ Oh come now, sweetie,”
Logos said. “No one really leaves the business. It’s just not
possible. You could get right back into it.”
    “ Why are you so determined
to get me back in?”
    “ It’s a simple trade, Mr.
Black,” Ethos said. “You go back into the business. You take a few
level ten hits. You give us the money and get Philip back.
Meanwhile, we track your movements, tap your calls, and gather
enough evidence against you to ensure you won’t go to the police
about your parents’ deaths. Simple as that.”
    I felt the warmth drain from my face.
“You want to exchange Philip for assassin guilt. You want me to
hand you evidence of my crimes.”
    “ Absolutely,” Pathos said.
“A bargain if you ask me.”
    “ And what’s to keep you
from continuing to use me? Should I expect to come under your pay
and become your personal assassin?”
    “ Certainly not,” Ethos
said. “This is assurance, as we said. It’s just tying up loose
ends.”
    “ Killing me would tie them
up a whole lot neater.”
    “ But there’s no fun in
that, sir puma,” Ethos said. “And as we said, we’d rather not break
families up. That’s happened too much of late, wouldn’t you
agree?”
    I glanced over the paper. What could I
do? Was it really worth it to trade one bargaining chip for
another? Could I really do this? I closed my eyes. Images of Mom’s
final moments passed through my head. The promises I made to her
about protecting Philip. That was more important than the promise
to leave the business. I knew I had no choice. I had to do this. I
opened my eyes again.
    “ Fine. Deal.”
    Ethos grinned. “I knew you’d see
things our way.” She took the invoice from me the three of them
signed it with their codenames.
    “ How long do I
have?”
    “ Long as you like,” Pathos
said. “Though you might want to get it done before Miss Piper finds
a new family for your dear brother.” She passed the invoice back to
me.
    At that point, the limo stopped.
“Well, here’s your stop, Mr. Black,” Logos said. “A pleasure doing
business with you. I’m sure we’ll be in touch. Have a wonderful
day.” She opened the door and I walked out, still holding