“That’s classified,” she snaps, and I scoff, looking up at the ceiling. Then again, wanting to compare what my uncle’s body was worth doesn’t get me anywhere either. Although it’s inconvenient, I believe she doesn’t know. In fact, the only reason she’s probably giving me this much information is simply because she knows she’s fucked up.
I slam the envelope of money down on the desk. “I own you now.”
“Like fuck you do,” she bites out, and I slide around the desk to face off with her.
She’s five foot five but juts her chin out with a defiance that could have her standing among giants.
“And what do you think will happen when word gets out that bodies can suddenly go missing here? That your system here is penetrable. Won’t that be bad for business? Foryou.”
She scowls, and I know I’ve hit the mark. This woman is clever and, for some reason, she knows how the families operate. I’ve never cared about bodies getting burials before, but when it becomes personal, I do.
“I’ll have one of my men be in touch. We’re not done here. When I call, you answer.”
“Like fuck I do.” I ignore her because anyone in their right mind would know that’s not a request. Her reluctant alliance might be the only thing that keeps her protected, because if I wanted word to get out on the streets, it could ruin her.
But I suspect whoever is behind this knew I’d end up at her morgue and understood she wouldn’t give me the body for at least two days. They’ve baited me, only to steal the body. Why, I’m not sure. Perhaps to cover up the evidence. Maybe it should’ve never made its way here in the first place?
I pull my phone out of my pocket and call Valen. He answers immediately. “Boss, how did your little date go with Grim? Did you get?—”
“His body has gone missing.”
Silence.
“What? How? Who?”
“I want you watching Leonore Graves, personally. Watch her movements.” I hate to admit it, but whoever did this cleaned up their tracks. I realize with clarity that Jacob Wolka might not have been the killer at all but only a distraction. The only other information I’ve been able to gather about my uncle’s death isthat he was seen at one of his favorite bars two hours before I received an anonymous call to tell me that Pietro Vescari was dead.
The voice was distorted, and the call was abruptly cut. No further information or demand. One of the four families is playing a dangerous game, and they won’t make it out alive.
An eye for an eye.
5
LEONORE
One week ago, a ghost came into my morgue and walked out with its fucking body. Vanished into the dead of night, and I need to find out who was behind it. I don’t need to know why, because the less Silas drama I’m involved in, the better it is for me. I just need to focus on what I’ve always been good at, remaining in the shadows where I like it.
The whole week goes by, and not once do I hear from Silas or any of his men. A part of me is praying that he’s already found the culprit and is having his moment to grieve. Better yet, I’d much rather him find someone else to work with—more cooperative seems to be to his liking. My plate is already filled, and I’m busy enough as it is, let alone adding more bodies to my table quite literally. That, and I know that although the four families play nice for the most part, Silas is notoriously the most dangerous. I don’t like working for someone who has more pull than anyone else and probably already owns half the city.
I need to keep my head down. But no matter how much I try to investigate what happened that night, I keep coming up blank. I’ve used all my resources to track down where the body has gone or who has taken it. Other families seem to act the samearound me, so whoever took it is definitely keeping quiet about it.
A tight knot has remained in my stomach since that day. If one person can do it, others might try to do it too. Test boundaries, disrespect my process. I can hold my own, but I also know how thin the wire is that everyone dances on when dealing with these families. I refuse to draw any further attention to myself. I can’t afford to.
“Busy night?” Tori asks as she walks in after a week away. I have already been here for four hours. Usually, she starts earlier, but she said she had an appointment today, and I was more than happy to let her go. That means no complaining about my music, and I can have it as loud as I want, not that I don’t usually. But I turn it up just a bit more when she’s gone.
I called her after the incident, but I didn’t specifically tell her that the body went missing because the fewer people who know, the better. But when she closed up the day before the body went missing, everything sounded as usual, and all the bodies were exactly where they were supposed to be.
I have a gnawing feeling about Silas’s silence. It’s never a good thing when a monster is quiet.
“It’s been okay. Just the two came in.” I nod to the two bodies on the stainless steel beds. One is a woman in her late sixties who slipped in the shower and cracked her head open, dead on impact, while the other is a gunshot wound to the leg. It hit an artery, and he effectively bled out and died. Unlucky really.
“Do you think my boobs will look like that when I get older?” Tori asks me, as she fidgets with the pins in her tight bun. I glance at the lady on my bed.
“No, but even before your skin sags, your breasts should still sit perky,” I tell her, and I watch as the relief washes over her. She got breast implants with last year’s bonus, fifteen thousand. Not that she needed them; Tori is twenty-five, and I would sayshe has a perfect body. But not to her. She wanted bigger breasts. More power to her.
“Good, at least I know when gravity hits, these puppies will stay high.” Her hands touch her breasts, and she wiggles them. “Oh, and you have a visitor. He was waiting in the front area when I arrived.”
My stomach sinks, and I drag my eyes to meet hers. “Didn’t you lock it?” I ask her.
