Page 67 of Little Bird (Advantage Play 3)

Nodding, Leo’s fingers continue tapping against the desktop in front of him. “Yeah. The dumbass didn’t delete any of his messages, and we were able to track it to a quarter-mile radius in The District.”

“The District?” Kingston repeats, unable to hide his surprise. Striding closer, he leans over Leo’s shoulder to inspect a map of the city more closely.

“Yeah.”

“Who the hell do we know that’s around The District?”

Silence follows Kingston’s question before he turns and stares at me point-blank. “Do you know anyone around there? Anyone who has a problem with the Romanos? Anyone who Burlone used to deal with? Anyone?”

My mind churning for options, I slip my hands into my slack pockets before shaking my head. “Nah, Boss. That’s cop territory. Some of Burlone’s associates might’ve enjoyed living on the edge, but no one was suicidal enough to share a backyard with the Feds.”

After another beat of silence, Kingston barks, “Leo, call Diece. I want to hear his thoughts.”

A speaker crackles a few seconds later, followed by the clear sound of a dial tone.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

“Hello?” a voice answers.

“Hey, D. It’s Leo. We have you on speakerphone,” Leo explains in a crisp, clear voice.

“Hey, guys,” he acknowledges. “Who’s all there?”

“Kingston, Stefan, Dex, and me,” Leo explains.

“Okay. What’s up?”

Clearing his throat, Kingston answers, “How’s Q?”

There’s a slight pause.

“She’s uh…she’s fine,” D murmurs.

“Has she mentioned anything about her past?”

A drawn-out pause, longer this time, is Kingston’s only answer before D clears his throat. “No. Why?”

“Because we had a visitor asking about her,” Kingston divulges. “Do you think she’s capable of hiding something?”

Another pause.

“I dunno, Kingston. I think she’s pretty messed up after everything that happened.”

“I need you to bring her back here. We need to chat.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“And I don’t give a shit,” Kingston counters. “Someone contacted Dominic Castello and asked him to reach out to Dex to see where the pretty blonde virgin ended up.”

“Why the hell would someone be asking about Q?” he growls low in his throat. The threat is clear in his voice, and it’s easy to hear that he doesn’t like anyone sniffing around her.

“That’s what we want to know.”

“Do you think the guy who contacted Dex might be….” Diece’s voice trails off.

“Do I think he might be the same guy trying to screw over the Romanos?” Kingston finishes for him, showcasing his trust for the thousandth time in one night. “I don’t know. They might be related. They might not be.”

“It’s possible,” I interject. All eyes turn to me as I explain. “Dominic said the guy was willing to give me the Romano family as a gift for my loyalty. Sounded to me like he was willing to kill two birds with one stone, ya know what I mean?”

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