Page 38 of Queen's Ransom

Helena set her tablet on the end of the conference table and tugged the lapels of her leather jacket closed, buffering against the imaginary winter chill the gloomy outside brought. “That’s the current slate of contracts,” she said to the gathered captains and lieutenants. “Everyone clear on marching orders?”

The operatives nodded, a few absently as they continued to scroll through the more detailed assignments on their individual tablets.

“It’s good work, boss,” Avery said.

“She’s right,” Elisabeth, another lieutenant, chimed in. “This is the work we should be doing.”

At her side, Malik, a captain, nodded. “Worth the roadshow, for sure.”

“Thank you all for holding the fort while I was on the move.” She claimed the chair next to Avery. “I’ve got a few recruitment targets lined up as well. I’ll push those through to your tablets as soon as Holt finishes the background checks. Take a look. See if you or any of your soldiers have connections, and if you want to help me with our pitch to them, let me know.”

“Is that what Holt’s been so busy with?” Connor, on the other side of Avery, asked.

“Unfortunately not.” All eyes shot to her. “Which is the last agenda item I need to discuss with you. Some of you have already been brought in on this, but all of you need to be up to speed. You’re all aware that Chris’s family owns an auto body shop in North Beach?”

“Yeah, the best in the city,” Grant, another junior captain, said. “My dad got his vintage ’Vette restored there.”

“I want pictures,” Helena told him, then addressed the larger group again. “I was at the shop on Friday with Chris’s sister, Celia, when there was a drive-by shooting.”

“Who was the target?” Connor asked.

“We’re working on that determination. Celia’s ex-husband was not a good man, and the company he kept was even worse. The drive-by could have been a warning or retribution connected to him.” She moved to tap her nails and covered the tick by drumming them on the table instead. “Or to us.”

“But aren’t we square with everyone?” Alice gestured with her tablet. “This looked like it.”

“By all accounts we are, but we can’t discount the fact it might be someone testing our new structure, which means they might test you and your soldiers too. Eyes and ears open and report anything suspicious.”

“Copy that,” Malik said.

“Okay, that’s it. Keep me posted on your ops.” As operatives around the table stood, Helena locked eyes with each of her lieutenants. “A minute, please.”

Avery, Victoria, Alice, and Elisabeth hung back while the captains filed out and back to their third-floor offices, executive support staff as far as the public and the first and second floor Madigan Cold Storage employees knew.

“You didn’t tell them about Ferriello or the Bratva,” Victoria said.

“Fuck,” Elisabeth cursed, and Alice whistled low. “That’s who you think this is?”

“Those are two of the three places where our organization’s work and Dex’s less than stellar associates intersect,” Helena said. “We should know more in the next couple days. Until then, keep an extra close eye on any connections or moves that affect us, particularly as it concerns the Bratva.”

“Why didn’t you tell the group as a whole?” Alice asked.

“Because if this isn’t the Russian mob, I don’t want to raise the alarm and purposefully or accidentally start anything with them. No reason to stir shit up, especially from our end. Our contact there has been briefed and she’s on standby if we need to escalate matters. Hawes is working the Ferriello angle.”

“And the third person?” Elisabeth asked.

“In jail. He may be connected, but obviously, it’s unlikely he was the shooter.” She stood and her lieutenants with her. “When information solidifies, I’ll brief the group again.”

“That’ll work,” Alice said, and Elisabeth nodded too.

There was a knock on the door, and Hawes stuck his head inside the room. “Need you,” he said to Helena.

One look and she knew something was wrong. Her heart leapt into her throat, worry for Celia slamming into her. A more acute version of the worry that had kept her up half the night—Was she putting Celia in danger?—the other half the night full of fantasies stoked by the real life one from yesterday—Could she pull away now even if she knew she should?

“Go,” Avery said, sensing the urgency too. “We’ll make sure the operatives are square.”

She caught up with Hawes halfway to the hall of executive offices. “Celia?”

“Fine. At the shop with Chris.”

---