Page 94 of Lies like Rubies, Part One

Which one?

Dante

Costa.

Sofia

Zhang’s a neutral party in Yorkfield.

Dante

And?

My phone rang.

“He won’t do it,” Sofia said without preamble. “And José could have told you that.”

I wouldn’t admit to myself that I wanted to hear her voice, much less to her.

“How do I cut off the Costas?”

“Legally,” she said. “We’ve got a bunch of cops on the payroll.”

“You mean, your father has a bunch of cops on the payroll.”

Sofia laughed. “You do too.”

I looked at José, frowning. I had assumed the cops in Yorkfield were marginally less corrupt than in Sicily. I shouldn’t have, considering our activities.

“It’s two in the morning, Dante. Do you need something else?”

I hung up on her. No, I didn’t need anything else. And I shouldn’t be texting her under the guise of getting advice at two in the morning because I wanted to hear her voice, either.

Fucking hell.

“Boss?” José asked me.

Sofia texted me a list of coordinates.

Sofia

These are the locations Costa bragged about at dinner last week.

I took it back. Sofia was a fucking treasure.

“Vet these locations, then burn them to the ground,” I instructed José.

“Tonight?”

“Tonight.”

36

SOFIA

My phone vibrated,startling me out of my concentration on Professor Campbell’s words. It was the daycare.Shit.They knew better to call me in class unless it was a real emergency. I gathered my laptop and my bag and scrambled out of my seat. “Kid,” I mouthed to him as I dashed out of the classroom, heedless of the desks I slammed into as I flew out of the room.

The daycare had hung up by the time I got out into the hallway.Shit.I called them back, frantic with worry, but no one answered. My phone rang again. Luca.

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