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“Yeah, but a lot of people think you did,” Dom said. “But others are quietly saying that it was this Tiho because he’s been doing shit to move up in the family ever since.”
“Why hadn’t he climbed before his dad died,” Quinten mused out loud. “Even bastards of bosses are given cushy, high-ranking positions.”
“No one could really say,” Dominic said. “At least not any of Ashe’s sources. There was one woman who said she met him one time and she would swear on a stack of bibles that he was a straight-up psychopath.”
Quinten frowned. “You would think that would mean Miloš would move him up faster, use him as a weapon.”
“The impression I got,” Dom said carefully, “was that there was concern he couldn’t be controlled, that his impulses were stronger than his obedience.”
Quinten nodded, rolling that information over in his head. “It still doesn’t make sense to me,” he finally said out loud. “Why kill his father and then come after me in such a strange way?”
Dare shrugged, and Dominic said over the line, “I don’t know. Nobody’s heard anything about what happened or the little gift he left you at the warehouse. Whatever he’s doing to you, he’s not sharing it, not even within the family.”
Quinten hummed and then asked, “Did you get contact information for him?”
“I got a previously known address, but Ash and I checked it out, and it was abandoned. I’ve also got a phone number. I’m not sure it’s working anymore.”
“Give it to me,” Quinten said, copying down the numbers as he rattled them off. “I’m not playing whatever games this sick fucker wants to try and draw me into. If he wants to be the new head of the family, then he has to follow the same goddamn rules his father did. If he won’t… Well, then, we’ll show him who really owns the city, won’t we?”
Dare grunted in agreement, always down for a little bloodshed.
Clearing his throat, Dom said, “I get that, man, but maybe we should wait and see if I can find out any more information. Ash says he has a few more sources that he could check with.”
Quinten shook his head, even though Dom couldn’t see him. “Keep looking, but I’m not waiting. I don’t want to give the impression, even for a second, that something like this can go unanswered.”
“You’re right. Okay, I’ll keep looking.”
“You’ve done good work,” Quinten told him. “Thank you for using Ash.”
Dominic chuckled. “That fucker is crazy, but not so bad… for a necromancer.”
Dare spoke up right before Quinten hung up. “See if his mother is still alive and where she is.”
There was silence on the other end for a long moment, and then Dom said, “Alright, you got it,” and hung up.
Quinten eyed him and then typed the phone number Dom had given him into Dare’s phone. “Should I be worried about you bringing his mother into this?”
Dare shrugged but didn’t answer.
Quinten let it go, setting the ringing phone back on the desk. He thought it was going to go to voicemail, but it picked up at the last second. “Who the fuck is this, and how’d you get this number?”
The voice on the other line sounded nothing like his father. Miloš had emigrated from Serbia half a century ago but maintained a thick accent his whole life. This guy sounded like every other American Quinten did business with.
Cocky. Aggressive.
“This is Quinten Amato,” he said, keeping his voice even and hard. “I got your message, Tiho.”
There was nothing but crackling on the other end for a moment, at least nothing that he could hear. Dare had his eyes closed and was leaning over the device with his head turned so his ear was just above it, listening intently for any clues in the background.
“Quinten! I wasn’t expecting your call,” Tiho said cheerfully.
“I can’t imagine why not.” Quinten settled into the chair behind his desk. “You left me a nice present after all and a signed note. Did you think I wouldn’t be able to find you because you’re some low-level street thug barely worth your father’s notice?”
There was a sound on the line, almost like a choked-off yell or growl, and then there was nothing.
“It’s muted,” Dare said lowly. “Somebody’s with him. I could hear them breathing in the background.”
“Interesting,” Quinten said, and then they waited.
