Page 82 of Mob Knight

It’s not just to avoid being obvious we’re calling about Joey if he has anything to do with it. I know some of it is the weight that comes from him being the mob boss. The guys from the other families are more likely to answer when it’s him. He’s right. I don’t need to play my hand quite yet by Niko seeing my number on his caller ID.

That’s part of how fucked-up this world is. We’ve had each other’s numbers in our phones since we were kids. Not only that, we’ve had each other on speed dial, and we were among each other’s first non-family contacts. When we all got cell phones, we were young enough to still get along well and were naive enough to think there was a possibility we could be friends. All of us got phones younger than most people would think was appropriate, but considering the danger in which we all grew up, our parents knew just having us wear trackers wasn’t enough. We needed a way to call for help just like Joey did today.

“What do you want, Dillan?”

“Top of the afternoon to you too, Niko.”

“Cut the crap. What do you want?”

There’s a time and a place for bullshitting, and most of the time it’s not when we’re dealing with other syndicates. I’m used to Niko’s brusqueness, and so is Dillan. He ignores it as he carries on.

“I hear you’ve taken a bit of an interest in the newest addition to our family.”

“Why the hell would I care about the dog Shane got his wife?”

“That’s not who I meant.”

“What other recent addition to the family do you have?”

“Niko, as dumb as you look, nobody here thinks you’re stupid, so don’t act like it. You know just as well as everybody else in the other families that Cormac has a girlfriend. So, what’s the deal?”

“What do you mean, what’s the deal? Shouldn’t you ask your cousin what the deal is? I don’t know what he’s been up to with her—at least I don’t want to—even though I can guess.”

“Yeah, the same thing you’re always up to with your wife. But why is Jocelyn important enough to you to pay attention?”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Dillan. You make no sense, even less than usual. It’s a bit early for you to have been dipping into the whiskey.”

“Two guys followed her today, Niko, and I have it on good authority you’re still pissed at my cousin. Scaring his girlfriend would be a great way to get back at him.”

“What would I be pissed at Cormac about?”

“Don’t be obtuse, Niko. The two million you guys just lost in litigation.”

“If anybody’s pissed about that, it’s Laura. That was her case. Despite that, you know she won’t go after another woman. And as I recall, you might have gotten the two-million-dollar settlement, but you forfeited far more in property value. I’d say the win goes to my sister-in-law, not you or your deadbeat cousin.”

He’s not entirely wrong. His sister-in-law, Laura, is married to his oldest brother, thepakhan—the bratva’s leader. She’s a legal shark—ruthless and vicious. She worked in corporate law for years before meeting and marrying Maksim. Now she represents all the bratva’s legal enterprises. If she were married to anybody other than that arsehole, I’d fully respect her. She and I have gone back and forth in court before.

I handle our corporate cases, and Seamus handles our criminal. He has his own equivalent to Laura, but she’sCosa Nostra. Sinead Scotto is Gabriele’s wife. He’s their chief enforcer. She and Laura went to law school together along with Lorenzo Mancinelli’s wife. Sinead can smell blood in the waterfrom a mile away. She’s not somebody to underestimate any more than anyone should underestimate Laura Kutsenko.

Dillan senses I’m getting impatient. He holds his right hand up and pats the air, telling me to hang on. I take a breath before I dive in.

“Niko, if you’re not pissed at me, and I’m not pissed at Laura, then why follow Jocelyn?”

“I didn’t have anybody follow her. I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I resent the accusation. There are plenty of other people who loathe you just as much as I do. There are plenty of other candidates for who would want to fuck around with your girlfriend. Remember my family isn’t your family. We still have boundaries.”

“Sure, you do.”

“Whatever, Cormac. I’m about to have dinner with my wife, and she’s far more interesting than you are. I gotta go.”

Before I can say anything, he hangs up, and I’m more than fine ending the call that way. However, we’re back to square one as I look around the table.

“Well, that leaves the Mancinellis. Which one of those dickwads do you think it was?”

Sean’s been typing away at his computer, so he doesn’t look up as he speaks. I know he’s had street camera footage pulled up on his screen while we’ve been on the phone. He spins his laptop toward me and points to Joey on the steps up to the library. Then he points to two figures half a block away. He zooms in, but the picture gets too grainy to recognize faces. At least we have an idea of what they look like.

Finn leans forward to peer more closely at the pictures. “Sean, send me those files. I’ll see what I can do to clean them up a bit.”

Sean’s grad degree in national security means he can find a country’s nuclear codes and keep them a secret from even thedevil. But Finn is the one with the degree in computer science. Between his forensic hacking skills, regular programming skills, and overall computer knowledge, and Sean’s high-level international organization hacking skills, there’s not much we can’t find out. Sean nods to his older brother.

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