“Good advice,” I say. “Thanks.”
He hesitates a moment, and then he says, “A word to the wise. That wife of his is a fierce one. She’ll knife you in the back without blinking an eye if she thinks Himself’s in danger.”
I’ve seen the woman for all of a minute, and I believe every word Kelly just said. “Thanks for the warning. Anything I should know about the daughter?”
I keep my voice casual. I’m not ready to tell anyone that Lynch put Kate on the auction block. If I decide to walk away, I don’t want her seen as spoiled goods. Any more spoiled, that is,than she’s already presented herself, with her clothes and her makeup and her expert aim of champagne.
“Breagha?” Kelly asks. “She’s the cream of the clan. Quiet. Polite. Knows her place and doesn’t try to rise above it. Not bad to look at, either.”
“Not Breagha,” I say. “Kate.”
He laughs. “She throws champagne in the face of goddamn overreaching fuckwads.”
I deserve that. But I try again. “Anything other than that I should know about? I get the feeling Lynch wants her to be part of this deal we’re setting up.”
Kelly laughs again. “Anyone who’s spent more than a day with the Canton Crew knows Kaitlín has a mouth on her. And rumor has it, she’s got a nasty right jab.”
More a slap than a jab, but I take the point.
Kelly volunteers: “Lynch has his hands full, finding a match for that one. But he has to marry her off before Breagha. If Breagha goes first, he’ll be stuck with Kaitlín forever.”
I think about reminding Kelly this is America, not Ireland. And we’re living in the twenty-first century, not some storybook past. Kate and her sister aren’t cows to sell at auction.
Instead, I say, “Thanks. This has been a lot of help.”
He signs off, and I drop my phone onto my desk as my computer chimes with an incoming email. It’s on my personal account, not one I monitor for Lone Wolf. The subject isA Business Proposition.Curious, I open the message.
What do these five companies have in common?
Banque Wagner Privée
Diamond Freeport
Sungold Logistics
Lyon Momentum
White Apple Systems
All five are clients of Lone Wolf Enterprises. The first threewere exposed on the hit list that started circulating when I shut the Red Cap Raiders out of Banque Wagner. The other two, though, have remained confidential. Until now.
The rest of the message is terse and to the point:
Ten million dollars in Bitcoin
Deposited to the account below by noon on Sunday
Or else The Wall Street Journal will know too
12
SPARKCHAT
Shaddow: Yo, bitches! R we going after StarCoin?
Icekiller: Back on the horse that bit us
DarkMoney666: Threw us
