Penny sipped water from the cup Connelly handed her. Half way through listening to his offer she handed him the cup. “Do you have anything stronger?”
“Such as?”
“Coffee. A double espresso if you have it. A shred of lemon peel on the side and cream.”
A moment later the room’s door opened and a late-middle-aged bull of a man, clean shaven and his blonde crewcut going to gray, came in with a steaming espresso on a tray. He lowered it in front of her.
She eyed it suspiciously. “That’s real espresso? Not something from a little dixie cup like thing?”
Connelly chuckled. “Quite real.” He smiled at the bull of a man. “Tommy?”
“Ground the beans as she was asking for it.”
She picked up the glass demitasse and sniffed. “Nice.” She sipped, closed her eyes, and nodded. “Oh, that’s good. What was your name? Tommy? You want a job?”
Tommy smiled slightly. Connelly chuckled. “Thanks, Tom.” The bull put the tray on the nightstand and left. Connelly turned his attention back to Penny. “So, you in or you out?”
“I have a choice?”
“Choice is better than no choice.”
“How soon do you need to know?”
Connelly pursed his lips, considering. “When would you like to let me know?”
“I need to get some things. Go home. Definitely change.”
“Not a problem.” The door opened again and the bull reentered. “Tommy’s a Boston native. Knows the best places, the ins and outs, all the safe places and all the dangerous ones. He’ll make sure you get where you’re going, get their safely, and get away again with nobody even knowing he’s there.”
“He’s my tracker?”
“Consider him your friend.”
“But he’ll report everything I do, everyone I see, everyone I talk to, to you, right?”
“To keep you safe. Right, Tommy?”
“Yep.”
“Think of him as your chauffeur and bodyguard.”
“And your faithful lapdog?”
“I wouldn’t want Tommy sitting on my lap. Would you? He’ll take you wherever you want and give you as much privacy as seems…” He hesitated.
“Wise?”
“Prudent.”
