Old Flame by Ira Berkowitz Page A

Tony. Asked if I knew a Liam Doyle. I said he was my brother. He said there was a problem. Didn’t want to talk over the phone. Asked me to meet him here, at Kings County. None of it made sense.”
    Braddock knew Liam, and I guessed he heard the news over the wire and tried to contact me.
    “And?”
    “And we got in a cab and came down. I identified the body. It”—a shudder rippled through her body—“was awful! Whoever did it chained him to a car and dragged him through the streets like he was a piece of garbage.”
    Barak was good to his word. He had promised to kill anyone associated with Danny Reno, and Liam more than fit the bill. The snakes in my head awoke and began their dance.
    “What’s going on, Steeg?” she said. “Does this have anything to do with Tony?”
    “I don’t think so.”
    I told her about Liam’s connection to Danny Reno.
    “Liam got in over his head. Got mixed up with some very bad people.”
    “I don’t believe this,” she said. “This is all because of that little pissant, Reno?”
    “It’s also about Liam. No one put a gun to his head and forced him to work for Reno.”
    She drained her glass.
    “The whole family has gone to shit. Tony. Now Liam. And who knows where Colleen is. What’s next?”
    Unless Barak got his hands on Reno, I had a pretty fair idea.
    Ginny stared down at her beer.
    “I know how you feel about . . . me,” she said. “I know I screwed things up between us. But, at least for tonight, I don’t want to be alone.”
    “I don’t think so.”
    “Why?”
    “It’s not a good idea, Ginny.”
    “Please?”
    So much for steely resolve. We went back to my place, and I held her until she fell asleep.
    Later on that night, she awoke.
    “What do we do now, Jake?” she said.
    “Take your family and leave. Don’t tell anyone, including me, where you’re going. Just go.”
    “Are you serious?”
    “Very,” I said.

CHAPTER
    20
    T he next morning, after Ginny left, I called Danny Reno. I was relieved when he answered the phone, although I couldn’t suppress the thought that if Barak had already paid him a visit, the killing would end there. For all I knew, every member of Reno’s merry little band of heisters and their families had targets painted on their backs.
    “It’s me—Steeg. Did you tell Liam where you’re staying?”
    “I don’t think so.”
    “Think hard, Danny.”
    “Why? What’s going on?”
    I told him.
    “I swear,” he said. “I never told Barak about Liam. How the hell did he find him?”
    “Like God, Barak works in strange and mysterious ways. You had better call Liam’s Nazi friends and tell them to make themselves scarce.”
    “Holy shit!” he said.
    That about summed it up.
    “You’ve got to get out, Danny. And you better do it now. Don’t pack, just go.”
    There was panic in his voice. I didn’t blame him. “Where? I’ve got nowhere to go.”
    I briefly considered offering him my place —maybe he considered it too — but quickly dismissed it as a truly bad idea. We were friends, but not that close. Besides, the last thing I needed was Barak in my life.
    “Look, I don’t care if you head for Epcot until this thing blows over. How are you fixed for cash?”
    “I’m good. Got enough to last awhile.”
    “Perfect. From now on, you don’t call me. Until this blows over, we’ll communicate through Nick. Get a prepaid cell and leave the number with him.”
    “Do you think it will blow over?”
    “You want honesty or bullshit?”
    “Does it matter?”
    “Good luck, Danny.”
    Unless I came up with a solution, we both knew that it would end when he or Barak was dead.
    I hung up and called Kenny. I was certainly giving my cell phone a workout this morning.
    “Kenny? It’s Steeg.”
    I told him about Liam and my conversation with Danny.
    “You know,” he said, “Epcot is not such a bad idea. The weather’s good this time of year — not too hot, not too cold— plenty of restaurants from all over the