Page 7 of Queen's Ransom

She slumped into the couch cushions, tapping each of her fingernails against her thumbnail—right hand, left hand, repeat. She’d strived to break the nervous habit but wasn’t always successful. She didn’t hide it from her family. They all had their ticks: Hawes pacing circles, Holt typing frenetically, Chris muttering to his dead partner, Brax running a hand over his head. “As far as I knew,” she said, “we were square with most everyone. Negotiations took time, but there were no objections to our realignment. Some grumbling from those who have to solicit new contracts, but for the others like us, it helps their businesses.” With the Madigans more selective of their targets, there were more contracts on the table for the less selective.

“Regardless, we need to make our own list,” Hawes said.

“Start with Rose’s contacts,” Chris suggested.

Except those were the first meetings on Helena’s roadshow. “We’ve settled those accounts. They backed the wrong horse. They know it.” She scooted over, tucking a leg under herself and making room for Holt, who’d abandoned his command center to join them. “And again, we’re helping their bottom line, not hurting it.”

“You think,” Chris said.

“You think this could be Rose?” Holt asked.

Helena suspected his rumbled question would have been a growl if her brother weren’t so damn exhausted. As the months had passed, Holt’s every mention of their incarcerated grandmother grew more hostile. There was a storm brewing there, and God help them all when it finally blew ashore.

“We can’t discount the possibility,” Hawes replied.

“Behind Rose,” Helena said, acknowledging the possibility but wanting to move on from it before Holt exploded, “the most likely parties would be those who are adversely affected by our shift in objectives.”

“Those most likely to be your targets,” Chris said.

Helena smirked. “Bonus points for Mr. Hair.”

“You get on those lists,” Hawes said to her. “And include anyone your meetings didn’t go well with. You said most earlier. I want to know about the outliers. Full debrief tomorrow.”

She nodded and crossed her legs. “I’ll loop in Avery,” she said, referring to their top lieutenant who had served as her second at all the meetings. “She may have noticed something I didn’t.”

“Good,” Hawes said, then angled toward his fiancé. “Now, tell us about Dex.”

Like Hawes earlier, Chris didn’t hesitate, his low low opinion of his ex-brother-in-law on the tip of his tongue. “He’s an abusive, neglectful, self-centered asshole.”

Helena flitted a hand. “Old news.” She was more interested in where she suspected Hawes’s train of thought had been going. “Was Dex tangled up with someone who might do this?”

“You asked Celia—”

“And you’re the trained investigator. I don’t believe for a second you didn’t dig into him and what he’d been up to during your absence.”

He narrowed his dark eyes. “You’re annoyingly perceptive.”

“Which is why she’s now in charge of this whole shebang,” Hawes said, flitting his hand in a similar fashion. “Answer her question.”

Chris slid his narrow-eyed glare to the side. “Traitor.” Helena had to stifle a laugh, but the tiny bubble of hilarity popped with Chris’s next words. “Celia doesn’t know the half of it.” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Dex was always into this scheme or that. Fucker can drive. That’s what brought him around the shop in the first place, and that’s what made him the getaway driver of choice for certain low-level criminal elements. Celia thinks it’s all loan-shark kinds of shit, of which there’s plenty, but that wasn’t all of it. Dex was the king of bad decisions. I half suspect that’s why he ran off so often. To lie low.”

“That,” Helena said, “and he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants.”

“That too,” Chris conceded. “I’ll supplement Celia’s list.”

“Why didn’t any of this come up during the divorce?” Hawes asked.

“We didn’t need it.” Helena uncrossed her legs, folded one back under herself, and braced an elbow on the inside of her knee. She held up a hand to count off on her fingers. “One, he didn’t contest the divorce. Two, we had pictures and witness statements to prove physical and emotional abuse. Three, we had evidence of the adultery too.”

“What about the garage?” Hawes asked. “Does he have any stake in it?”

“Fuck no,” Chris spat. “The business part of it is incorporated, and the property sits on land held in a family trust. Dad set all that up.”

“And Celia did nothing to commute it,” Helena further explained. “All accounts are separate. We did the full accounting for the divorce.”

“Doesn’t exclude the shop as a target,” Hawes said.

Helena agreed, even if Dex didn’t have a stake in Perri Auto Works. She mentally kicked herself for not doing more to secure the place and keep Celia safe. Yes, she’d been training Celia in self-defense, but more was needed. “Security?” she asked Chris.

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