Page 291 of Lodestar

“I finished telling you how we can snatch Foundry and Smythe this week. It’s where you want to put them that’s the problem.”

“I was thinking about calling in Kuznetsov for that. He managed to get Reinier to the Catskills. I don’t see why he couldn’t get them there too.”

I watched as she typed out:

Star: Anton, I need the coordinates for the shipping container in the Catskills.

“Say, ‘please,’” I directed.

She huffed.

Star: Please.

When Anton sent them over, I mused, “And in the aftermath of their disappearances? Why hasn’t there been a press release about Reinier’s absence, hmm? If Smythe and Foundry gomissing, that’ll be three high-ranking officials in less than a month that’ll have disappeared. It’ll trigger a stink.”

“Then we make sure the stink is diverted elsewhere.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning I remember Rachel Laker having some meetings with Foundry.”

“The Sinners’ attorney?”

“And the Valentinis’ and countless other people’s legal representation.”

“She won’t be able to tell you anything. Attorney-client privileges.”

“I’ve heard of that before, thank you very much.” She shot me an unimpressed look. “But she could point me in the right direction.”

Without waiting for an answer from me, she snagged her cell phone off the coffee table and scrolled through her contacts.

A few moments later, the ringtone sang through the speaker, and then:

“What do you want, Lodestar?”

“Sounds like you’ve left quite the impression as usual.”

Her nose crinkled at my observation but to Laker, she mused, “You’re mad at me.”

“Now, I wonder why. You didn’t just take off and leave us wondering if you were okay or if you were even coming back?—”

“I had a job to do, Rachel. If anyone should understand that, it’s you.”

Rachel huffed down the line. “I wouldn’t just leave my family in a lurch like you did.”

“I left her with people I trust. Not only goddamn that, I left her with a brother-in-fucking-arms. A man I’d go to war for and who’d go to war for me.

"I was heading into hostile territory, Rachel. What would you have preferred me to do? Bring Kat along for the ride? Fuck your judgmental ass!”

“Star,” I grumbled. “Flies and honey, not vinegar.”

“No, Conor. I’m sick of this bullshit. I left Kat with her sister. I left her with a goddamn war veteran who, even though he’s sick, is still deadlier than your average Joe. Hell, he hospitalized your ass and he’s half-crippled with his migraines.

“I didn’t leave her on the steps of a fucking orphanage. I left her with family. I made promises to her that I kept until I was physically unable to do so because I was being held against my will!

"I’m sick of the Sinners making it out that I’m a piece-of-shit mom because I?—”

“I never said you were a piece-of-shit mom. I said you left your family in a lurch,” Rachel interrupted, but I didn’t think that made it any better from Star’s narrow-eyed glare. “You just dumped us, Star. All of us. Rex and I had a baby, for God’s sake. I appreciate the flowers. Not.”

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