CHAPTER 4At five-fifteen in the morning, the only people in Phil’s Diner were an overweight Hasidic Jew perched precariously on a stool at the counter, a boy younger than Carlo in the back corner booth with his nose buried in a science book, a pair of elderly men arguing over a game of pinochle, and Joe.
There should’ve been six. Copper was late.
Joe tapped his heel against the rung of his chair as he glanced yet again at the clock over the pick-up window. He’d told Carlo he’d be right back, but that had been nearly an hour and a half ago. Ninety minutes since he’d called Copper and ordered him to show up at Phil’s. Two hours since walking away from the meeting that was supposed to keep Emmett’s little brother alive.
Too much time. If Joe had learned anything in this lifetime, it was th
