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“What if it’s not one single person?” I suggest. “What if it’s a group working together?” An idea sparks in my head. “Simon, would you have been able to pull this off?”
His brows perk up at the sound of his name. “Um, well, maybe, but I doubt I would have been able to get the east coast intel. Why?”
“Because that pretty much wipes out anyone lower level than you, right? You guys mentioned you thought the person who took me in the first place was your rival, but what if it wasn’t? I mean, not in the way you think it was. What if you’re thinking about this all wrong?”
Simon places a cup of coffee in front of me. “One ice cube, how you like it.”
“Thanks.” I smile up at him.
“And that’s a solid point,” he tells me before returning to Magnus.
“Because this seems a lot less about claiming the throne and more about sabotaging both sides. Is this an enemy? Someone you crossed somewhere along the line. Maybe someone who worked for both sides at one point? Johnny used to be a runner for Franklin, now he’s leading the east coast. It doesn’t seem completely unheard of that someone would have access to both.”
Dominic runs his hand over his beard and considers my theory. “But Johnny was an errand boy. He didn’t have access to the inner workings. Although…”
“What? You can’t leave me hanging like that.” I take a cautious sip of my coffee and wait for Dom to finish.
“Do you guys remember that big dude that used to work for Frank? What the fuck was his name?” Dom wracks his brain trying to remember.
“You’re going to have to be more specific than that, boss,” Magnus tells him.
“He was alley muscle over on Brantley.”
“Josey,” Coen announces.
Dom snaps his fingers and points to Coen. “That’s right, Josey.” He bobs his head up and down. “He worked for Franklin for a while until the restructuring. Now he’s with Johnny.”
Simon speaks up. "A lot of people switched sides once they realized they wouldn't be killed for it. You know how many people were displaced from their families but found their way back once Franklin was dead? The list is too long to track." He sets a cup of coffee in front of Dom. "Plus, Josey is Johnny's right hand. He wouldn't do that. That would be like accusing me of doing it."
Dom glares up at him. “Did you?”
Simon sighs and moves away. “Clearly.”
“What about the group youthoughtwas responsible? Is there anyone you can question?” I try to think of any possible angle we could take to figure this out. There has to besomethingthey haven't thought of. That's why I insisted on being here—to be in the loop and to help solve this mystery.
Coen doesn’t look at me when he says, “We killed everyone.”
“Okay, well, there goes that lead.”
“The Santorini’s were always doing shady shit, but that never sat right with me,” Magnus says.
“Who benefitted from getting rid of them?” I ask the guys.
"Us," Dominic answers. "They were flight risks and abused our pull with the police. Countless offenses were thrown out between the lot of them. I was glad when they were gone."
“So, the organization benefitted. Who else knew about what they were up to?” I continue following every thread that might lead me to answers.
“Everyone.” Dominic sips his coffee and turns to Magnus. “Anything stronger in there?”
Magnus grins and reaches into a cabinet to pull out a bottle of bourbon. "I knew it was five o’clock somewhere." He grabs a handful of glasses off the top shelf and pulls the cork out of the bottle with his teeth, spitting it onto the counter. He pours some into each glass and distributes it around the table. First to Dom, then to Coen, then to me.
Simon puts his hand up. “I’m good.”
“You sure?” Magnus presses.
“I’m more of a tequila guy, anyway.” Simon glances at me briefly.
“They’re here,” Coen mutters as he stands from his seat.
