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Listen to me… I sound like a crazy person. As if anyone’s going to question it.
I’m standing outside in the freezing cold—flurries flying in all directions—staring at the phone in my hand. A part of me feels like I’m interrupting Uncle F’s detective work in these critical hours before my father is gone for good, but deep in my gut IknowSilver’s right.
The mark is undeniable.
I swipe for Ferraro and clickcall.
“Hey, hun, how we holding up?”his belly-deep voice is warm and comforting.
“Been better.”
“Jacob tells me you’ve been circling the block and running up and down the stairs for the last six hours.”
“Tell Jacob he went to college and suffered six months at the academy just to be a rat.”
“Quinn Dall!”he scolds me. “We’re here to protect you.”
What about my father?I think to myself. He needed protection too.
“How’s the search? Did you find him?” I ask.
He clears his throat. “Not yet. One of our trails went cold, unfortunately. Onto the next.”
My heart sinks into my belly, leaving me lightheaded. Gravity keeps coming and going like some twisted merry-go-round.
“Quinn?”he makes sure I’m still there.
“I—think I have a lead.”
“What? Quinn… I’m very busy right now. These hours are dire—”
“Uncle F, I need you to trust me.”
He huffs. I can feel him rolling his eyes on the other end of the line.
“Alright, hun. Let’s hear it.”
His voice has that placating tone… like I’m the same little kid playing on the swings in his backyard. For the sake of my father, I really hope he has the sense to listen.
“On the side of the house, there’s this mark that wasn’t there before. I’ve been searching online all day, and it looks like an unfinished sketch of the Russian mafia star. It signifies rank, I think, and it’s undeniable. Let me send you a picture.”
He grumbles quietly to himself on the other end.
“Hun, I shouldn’t be saying this over the phone since it’s an ongoing investigation, but all the leads are cartel. We even have one camera shot of the shorter man. He’s not Russian complexion.”
My brow furrows. “But—”
“Quinn. You need to get some rest. You’ve been running on fumes all day.”
I shake my head—thinking back to the awful memory of my father being shoved around. In the flashlight shading, I’m almost sure both men were white.
“Uncle F, I think the men were white. I know this mark is new…please.”
“Quinn, enough. We’re going to find your father, but you have to let us do our job. Pat’s my brother as much as he’s your father. I’ll give my life to have him back.”
“Just promise you’ll have a look—”
“Sure, Quinn. I’ll have Jacob hear you. Now get some rest. And don’t give him a hard time.”