Page 13 of Morally Gray Daddies

Sighing, I put the papers back in the exact order they’d been in and carefully slid the file back into place where I’d found it. I did one last scan of the room, making sure everything I’d touched was in its previous position. A heavy feeling stuck with me as I made my way out of the hotel, new knowledge dragging me down. I couldn’t not tell Hailey.

Getting into my car, I closed my eyes and imagined shutting the letter away in a box. I needed to compartmentalize. This was something for later. Right now, I needed to focus on what I was going to do next—break into a DiNardo warehouse and leave my own note.

There.

That was better. It was tucked away for me to think about later.

Opening my eyes, I sat up straight and squared my shoulders. It was early enough that people were still out and about on the streets, most of them coming home from dinner or going out for entertainment. I tooled along, the people around me getting sparser and sparser as I headed for the warehouse.

A car was too conspicuous, so I parked in a lot about a mile away from the warehouse. There were plenty of other cars nearby. This particular street had a theater, several restaurants, and a speakeasy if one knew where to look. In the darkness of the lot, I changed out of the dress I’d worn into the hotel—the key to that had been looking like I belonged there—and into my black pants and long-sleeved shirt that I wore for this kind of work.

I tucked my hair into a black knit cap that covered almost my entire head. It also had a sheer veil, which I pulled down over my face to help obscure my pale skin while still allowing me to see fairly well. I tucked it into the collar of my shirt. If it got too dark, I would need to pull it up to see, but so far, I’d never needed to.

From there, it was easy to slip through the streets, using the shadows, until I found the warehouse where Gio was supposed to be. I paused, looking at it from the outside, wondering what he would do when he found the note. Wondering if he’d make his way back to my room, eventually.

Then I shook my head.

So much for not getting distracted.

I ghosted through the shadows, gently, watching for guards. There were two making their way around the perimeter, but the warehouse was big, and they couldn’t see more than two sides of the building at the same time. Whatever was in here, it wasn’t being heavily guarded, which made it perfect for me. I liked to take some risks, but I also played it safe because I’d rather not be caught.

I watched them for several rounds, humming Rhapsody in Blue in my head to track how fast they were moving. They were clearly bored and lazy about what they were doing, though they didn’t sit and start to talk or play cards as some might. They weren’t totally unalert, more the pity. Then again, if they made it too easy on me, there’d be no challenge, and it wouldn’t be as much fun.

The buildings here were fairly close together, with plenty to clutter the space between them, providing me with cover as I moved closer and closer. Crouched down behind a pile of boxes next to the warehouse, I heard one of the men sigh as he continued his sentry duty, walking right past where I was hiding. The sound of his footsteps faded, and I silently counted to ten before moving. The coast was clear, and I quickly went to test the door. Locked.

Of course.

Which wasn’t a problem. It wasn’t a particularly difficult lock, even though it was different from the ones at previous warehouses. Obviously, Gio had changed things in an effort to stymie me. I grinned as I went to work. It took me longer than the previous locks, but I still had plenty of time when the door opened, and I peeked in.

No one.

It always amazed me that there were rarely guards inside, and when there were, they tended to be laxer. That was where the poker games usually happened. They counted on the outer perimeter to be the real guards. This particular shipment was supposed to move tomorrow, which meant it had been here for several days. I tried to change up my pattern often, but I rarely hit a place so close to the date it was going to move.

Maybe I should change that because security was particularly lax. Or maybe it was because there were two bigger warehouses that were taking up attention. That was why Gio was supposedly doing the guarding of this one himself, because the others required more men.

Slipping in through the door, I closed it behind me just in time to avoid the guard coming around the corner and seeing an open door. Thankfully, the hinges were silent, not at all creaky. Though that wasn’t necessarily the worst thing—warehouses creaked and made strange noises all the time. It just meant I didn’t have to hurry to hide; I could take my time to look around.

Boxes and crates were piled high, but there wasn’t enough light for me to read what the words on them said. Not that it mattered. I was just going to take whatever was easiest, then find a good place to leave the note where it would be found.

Maybe I should give Hailey a heads-up that Gio needed to be a better guard because I didn’t see anyone anywhere in here. Probably in a back room playing poker. Typical. I shook my head.

Another thing I should tell Hailey but couldn’t, and I already knew that. I was already going to have to figure out what to say to her about Leonardo. Or maybe that would be the ideal time to let her know about my extracurricular activities.

I’ve been occasionally stealing from your new family because I was mad about you being forced into marrying Jack, but really, that’s not nearly as bad as your grandfather putting a hit on your dad… oh, and he used your cousin to do it, promising to make him the heir, and your cousin wasn’t actually supposed to kill your mom.

I had gone looking for the information, but right now, I really wished I didn’t know. I’d boxed it up, but the note was pushing its way back into my head, maybe because I was already thinking about Hailey. I was struggling to focus on what I was supposed to be doing.

Which is why I blamed Leonardo and that stupid note for what happened next.

Chapter Six

Gio

He moved so quietly, I almost missed him. If I hadn’t seen the very slight change in light at one of the exterior doors, I would have missed him. Jack hadn’t visited tonight, so Tomas and I were more focused since he wasn’t much of a talker. I nudged him in the side, but when I glanced at him, he was already looking at the same place.

When Tomas turned his attention to me, I tilted my head, indicating which direction he should go in. We weren’t sure which door the thief would come in through. That he’d gotten in at all was due to the lax security outside. Martin and Jerry had been warned to let him through.

Our thief would be easier to trap deeper in the warehouse, away from the exit, where it was harder to run.

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