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“Hello?”
“Sup, Feisty, heard you got your kid back.”
I blew kisses at Laurel. “I did. Are you coming over to meet her?”
“You’re coming to me. Swinging by Harlow at least,” Genny replied. “Vito will be at Cooper’s tonight. This is your chance.”
The phone shifted to the crook of my shoulder. I continued feeding Laurel, growing serious. “How do you know he’ll be there?”
“Heard it from a reliable source who asked another reliable source. A friend of Vito’s is getting married and the bachelor party starts at Cooper’s, bounces around half a dozen strip clubs, and ends in a brothel knowing that guy. Your best bet is to catch him at the bar before he gets too blissed-out drunk and the guys lead him off all over the borough.”
I nodded along. “Tonight at Cooper’s. Is nine o’clock too early?”
“Nine is good, but I’d come earlier and stake the place out. Remember, you need him to think you’re running a hostile takeover of North Quay, and if he wants in, he has to prove he’s a serious threat against the Merchants.”
“I can do that. I know what to say to this guy.”
“Bring the little one for backup. It’s always a good idea to avoid Vito outnumbering you. You’ll see it when you meet him. Stand in the same room long enough and you need twelve showers and a chemical peel.”
“FGH,” someone called through the speakers. “We’ve got company. Two punks on bikes drove past the bar three times in the last thirty minutes. I think they’re scoping us out.”
“Bring their asses in here. Make them feel comfortable.”
I winced. Genny flung her brother around the room as welcome, and that was her going easy. I didn’t want to think what she’d do to a couple supposed spies.
“How is everything going at Barbarella’s?” I asked. “I was freaked when this guy came after Liam so soon after Sunny, but it looks like he’s gone quiet.”
“I’m not too sure,” Genevieve admitted. “Haven’t seen a bald guy hanging around, but the other night...”
I sat up straighter. “What? What is it?”
“It’s most likely nothing. My place isn’t as secure as the Fairfield. Nowhere in the city is, but I haven’t slacked. I hooked up motion sensors and alarms everywhere you can think of, including the building across that has the best sniper angle to take me out.”
“Sniper angle? Are you serious?”
“Dead serious, Feisty. My aunt is an expert at these things. She taught me that despite what people think, snipers don’t shoot from just anywhere. Movement, wind speed, distance, light, temperature, etc., are all taken into account. Once you know where your target will be, the work begins. I judged from every window in my house, and the best spot is a sixteen-story building across from me—the twelfth floor. If he pops me while I’m knocking back a beer in front of the television, lights out. Exactly why I bought out that apartment, and the one above and below.
“I didn’t really think anyone would try to take me out this way. My enemies like the straightforward approach, but you know, if a security expert tells you to lock your windows at night, you lock the damn windows. Aunt Gianna told me to buy out those apartments, so I did.
“They’re mine, Kenzie. No one else has a reason to step foot in there... so tell me why the other night, the motion sensors went off on the twelfth floor.”
“Someone was in your apartment?”
“Yes.”
My mind spun. Was it him?
“I beat it over there the minute I got the alert, but nothing. The lock was picked and the dust disturbed, but no sign of the guy.”
“No cameras?”
“No, and I’m fucking kicking myself for it. I only rigged the place with motion sensors. At the time, I didn’t see the need to deck out three apartments I wasn’t going to use. Now my ass gets the picture: always listen to your aunt.”
“But, Genny, I— You don’t really think he went up there with a sniper rifle.” My gaze snapped to the open curtains. “Couldn’t there be another explanation? What if the building’s super ducked into an apartment he knew was empty to have phone sex with his mistress?”
“Babe, I don’t know what the fuck’s going on. Maybe it has nothing to do with Sunny and Liam’s would-be killer, but the timing is suspicious. Think about it, Feisty. Put yourself in his head. You dumped Sole Bellisario off a bridge, and you’re seen by a witness. Oh, shit, what do you do?
“Get smarter for the next one. Hire a guy to put a bomb in Liam’s car, and then kill him. No witnesses. No one to point the finger. But wait— The car blows before Liam gets in, and you fucked that up too. Now Liam knows someone’s after the family and he’s warned us all to be careful.
