Page 43 of A Fine Line

Chapter Sixteen

Tony

CarryingFlora,Ileavethe basement and return to the main living area where Anton’s man’s wife, Anya, has come with clothing for Flora. She also brought their two children, which is helpful, so once Flora warms up to them, I leave her in their capable hands and head out to the main work area.

I grab my extra special phone and shoot off a message to Matt, letting him know that if he isn’t already on a fucking plane to Russia, he better be on the next one. He replies with a middle finger emoji, which I take as an answer enough that it’s one or the other.

I find the file Matt sent me with the information he found on Carolina’s lists, and then I make myself a game plan on how I want to handle the situation. I still don’t believe Carolina is dead, but I also know that time is of the essence, and the more time that goes by, the more likely it is she’s going to be dead.

Dare and Anton join me, and we go over the rough outline of my plan, which is me hunting all these people down and hurting them until they’re dead.

Dare and Anton feel there’s a better way for me to manage the list, given I’m just one person and the lists are extensive and span continents. I’m still convinced I can get to them all within a week, but Dare isn’t having it, and I hate to admit that his argument is sound.

“For fuck sake, Tony,” Dare sputters. “If we divide and conquer, we could have it all done in thirty-six hours.”

“How about we compromise?” Anton adds. “You take the people on her personal list who are closer to this area. Dare, a couple of the guys and I will divvy up the others and get it handled.”

I’m not saying they don’t have a valid argument; I’m saying I want to kill them all myself. Which I know is completely ludicrous, given time is not on our side, but I’m definitely having a difficult time shaking the urge for murder time.

They’re both standing there, looking at me expectantly. Finally, I sigh and say through my gritted teeth, “Fine. But I get to choose mine.”

They both nod in agreement, and Dare says, “I’ll forward the US list to Mickey, let him take care of it.”

“Should we have Matt do it?” Anton asks.

Dare shakes his head, glancing at his watch as he replies, “No. I figure Matt will be here within the next hour to three hours.”

“How do you figure?”

“I’m sure he dropped everything as soon as he heard the ruse was up,” Darius says. “I wouldn’t be surprised if—“

Like clockwork, Anton’s phone pings. He reads the message and laughs. “Apparently, we have an incoming helicopter sited a few miles out.”

“That fucking show off.”

“I wish we had time to fuck with him,” Dare says as he rubs his hands together.

“Am I allowed to hit him at least once?” I ask petulantly.

“I think once is definitely called for.”

We don’t have to wait long before Matt is escorted into the room. He greets Anton enthusiastically, then walks over and gives Dare his normal bro-hug before turning to me. He puts his hands in his pockets and says, “Get it over with.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say calmly, walking over to him with my hand extended. He takes my hand rather gingerly, suspicion all over his face as I lean forward to give him the same bro-hug he gave Dare. But then, as soon as he leans into me, I change tactics and smash my forehead right into his face.

Matt recoils, his hands coming up to his already bleeding nose as he yells, “Mother fuck, Tony. Goddamn it, you’re an asshole.”

“Maybe so, but you’re lucky that’s all you’re getting.”

Matt glares at me as he takes the towel Anton offers him and presses it against his bleeding nose. “You could’ve at least given me time to explain before going for blood?”

I raise my shoulder dismissively. “I’m not sure if you unraveling your tangled web is going to help your case. But you can try.”

Matt sits down heavily in a chair, leaning his head back with the towel still pressed against his nose as he says, “Ask whatever you want.”

“Did you know Lilith was still alive when we met with Mickey that day?”

“Nope,” he says. “I left her body with a known contact of mine, who brought her to a morgue he was connected with in the city. It wasn’t until the next day I got a scrambled call from someone telling me she wasn’t dead-dead and asking if I wanted them to fix that.”

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