Page 76 of Mob Bride

“We don’t know yet. It could be, but it could be several other syndicates, too. According to you, he’s been pissing a lot of them off.”

“He has, but I don’t know which ones would make a move on him. It could be a Boston syndicate, not one from New York.”

“They left a calling card.”

“What? They never do that.”

“Whoever attacked did it while Bartlomiej was in his SUV on the way from the airport to his hotel. The attackers left a red apple at the scene.”

My brow furrows as I lift my shoulders to Shane. This call is extra stressful, so they stay up by my ears as I hunch forward to lean my elbows on my thighs.

New York’s nickname is the Big Apple, but that is so bizarre. I don’t automatically believe it means a New York syndicate. Why would they try to lead anybody back to them? I don’t know if an apple is significant to any family anywhere.

Shane shrugs again. He would know better than just about anybody if a red apple was a calling card.

“Angela, I don’t know what to make of that, but I wouldn’t put it past a syndicate from Boston or any other city to put that apple there to draw attention away from them to pin it on a family from New York.”

I’m careful again not to say here in New York. I don’t want her to know I’m still in the state, let alone the city. I pick my words carefully.

“Until we learn otherwise, that’s what it would seem. If you’d been on that trip, they could’ve caught you in the middle.”

I know she’s not wrong, and it curdles my stomach. Shane can tell—or maybe he feels the same way—because he pulls me onto his lap just like he did the last time I was on the phone. I curl into him as the line goes quiet. Angela’s waiting for me to say something else, and I’m waiting for her to speak.

I won’t give anything away until I know what the point of this call is because it’s definitely more than just informing me of the attack.

“Carys, you’re going to lose your job if you don’t get back to the office soon. Phil suspects there’s something more going on you’re not telling us. He thinks you fled to one of the big families in New York. That you might have a CI among them you haven’t disclosed, or you have some other connection to them. He wants answers now.”

“Does he think my sympathies switched? Is that what you’re saying?”

“I don’t know. That’s what he hinted at. But you do realize if you’re aiding and abetting, they’ll arrest you, right? And Phil being Phil, he’ll find a way for them to prosecute you to the max.”

“I know, but you guys need to give me a bit more time. Now that someone’s attacked Bartlomiej, I feel even less inclined to reveal myself than before. I don’t feel like it decreased the threat. What happened to him, anyway? You didn’t say.”

“He survived. His driver got him away from the scene, but the men in his other vehicle weren’t so lucky.”

“What happened during the attack? Was it people shooting again?”

“They tried to reroute him and funnel him into some type of trap.”

“You guys know nothing more than that?”

“No. There was nothing at the scene.”

“What about the apple? How do you know about that?”

Things suddenly make a whole lot less sense than they did a moment ago. When she pauses, even though it’s less than ten seconds, I know she’s scrambling for a lie.

“We have someone in the Boston Poles now. We activated him when we heard Bartlomiej planned to go to Boston.”

I look at Shane and shake my head. That’s bullshit. If that were the case, I would’ve known because the plan was for me to accompany him before all of this went to shit. There definitely wasn’t an apple. She’s merely baiting me to see what I’ll confess or let slip.

“Angela, just like I said before, you might think this is a secure line, but I don’t believe it is. I gotta go before anyone tracks me. I’ve been on the phone too long already. I’ll be in touch when I’m on my way back.”

“Oh—”

“Bye, Angela.” I hang up before she can say anything else.

The conversation frustrates me. I don’t feel like it’s any safer for me to return than it was a few hours ago.

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