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8

CONOR

LATER THAT DAY

Lyra was shy.

Beyond shy.

It was only then that I realized I wasn’t used to shy kids. Jake was rowdy, Seamus’ confidence was that of a politician in the making, and even Victoria was self-assured. As for Kat, she had the confidence of all three of them, but Lyra was more prone to hiding in corners with her nose buried in a book, a stone’s throw from Troy’s side, than stepping into the spotlight.

“I’ve tried,” Kat wailed, drawing my attention away from the little girl who wore noise-canceling headphones and was reading a paperback thicker than her waif-like frame.

Star huffed. “Kat, she’s my cousin. You can’t say ‘tried’ as if you can’t try again. Don’t you want her to feel comfortable with us?”

Katina pulled a face. “What if she doesn’t want to be comfortable with us? What if she wants to just read her book and I’m disturbing her? It’d be like me trying to yap at you when you’re coding. Don’t you get mad at me when I do that, huh?”

I hid my smile by pretending to rub my fingers above my upper lip.

Star, of course, noticed and glared at me. “That’s a dumb example, Katina, because you often interrupt me, and do I ever not answer one of the million questions you ask on a daily basis?”

Katina’s nose crinkled but she mumbled, “She doesn’t like me.”

“How do you know?”

“She takes ages to talk, and I have no idea if she’s being rude or just…” Her small pout spoke of her uncertainty with the situation. “I tried to get her to play Mario Kart with me, and last night, I heard her tell Troy that I was annoying and loud-mouthed.”

Star grimaced. “I’m sorry she said that, Kat. That was very rude of her.”

The little girl wriggled her shoulders. “I was being loud, and I figure I kept annoying her because she had to stop reading her book whenever I tried to talk to her.”

“How’s it feel to be right?”

Kat’s eyes widened. “I’m right?”

“Yup,” Star agreed with a shrug. “I was wrong for pushing you and I was wrong for not listening. Sorry, kiddo.”

She glanced at me. “You heard that, didn’t you, Conor? You’ll be my witness.”

“If it ever goes to court, Kat, you can count on me.”

Star shot me a look that had my smile twisting into a grin. “Nice to know whose side you’re on.”

“I’m on the side of right and wrong,” was my pious retort. “Payback’s a bitch,” I mock-whispered to her in retaliation for earlier.

“I’m on the side of right and wrong too, Conor!” Kat chirped, thankfully not hearing the second half of my declaration. “I’m going to play games now. If you’d like me to whoop your butt, then please feel free to play with me.”

With a cascade of giggles, she rushed off, did a cartwheel down the hall, and nearly knocked over one of the vases on a console table in the process before dashing into the family room with the gaming consoles in it.

Star huffed as she sank back into her armchair. “It’s a good thing I’ve got money because I need to fix a lot of the shit she breaks by being clumsy. This past year, she’s gotten worse than ever.”

“She’s going to be tall so she’s growing into her arms and legs.”

“I did that too and I didn’t manage to knock furniture over like a stampede of wildebeest.” Though she was huffing at Kat, she was studying her cousin with concern. “She’s very…”

“Shy,” I agreed.

“Timid, I was going to say, but yes. I’m not used to shy kids.”

“Me either. She’s just an introvert.”

“I don’t know how Troy raised an introvert,” she mumbled with a shake of her head.

“I’d imagine with a family like hers, she would understand more than most how to give a child what they need.” At her arched brow, I continued, “How to let them be themselves, I mean. It was well documented that Elena ?ela was forced to attend ballet school and the like when all she wanted to do was ride horses.”

“Where was it well documented?” she asked, though her eyes flared at the mention of Troy and ballet.

“I read a book about the case. The cops were stumped?—”

“—when aren’t they?”

“—and it was a big investigation for a while. I was curious because Da wanted to set up a stable with ?ela and he’d set me the task of seeing if the deal was worth it or not.”

“What did you decide?”

“I thought that the whole thing stank. I recommended against getting involved with them.”

“That must have lost them a lot of money.”

“Big time. But it was just before the Belmont Stakes, and it made me wonder what was going on. Turned out the horse wasn’t great—they just had mad skills with race-fixing. Their stable was a sham.

“When the horse showed up dead and the daughter was gone and ?ela was more grief-stricken about the stallion than his fucking kid, that just settled things in my mind.”

She studied me. “How do you know so much random shit?”

I chuckled. “I like to read.”

“There’s reading and there’s reading.” She shook her head. “Okay, so where were we before Kat interrupted us?”

“I finished telling you how we can snatch Foundry and Smythe this week. It’s where you want to put them that’s the problem.”

“I was thinking about calling in Kuznetsov for that. He managed to get Reinier to the Catskills. I don’t see why he couldn’t get them there too.”

I watched as she typed out:

Star: Anton, I need the coordinates for the shipping container in the Catskills.

“Say, ‘please,’” I directed.

She huffed.

Star: Please.

When Anton sent them over, I mused, “And in the aftermath of their disappearances? Why hasn’t there been a press release about Reinier’s absence, hmm? If Smythe and Foundry go missing, that’ll be three high-ranking officials in less than a month that’ll have disappeared. It’ll trigger a stink.”

“Then we make sure the stink is diverted elsewhere.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning I remember Rachel Laker having some meetings with Foundry.”

“The Sinners’ attorney?”

“And the Valentinis’ and countless other people’s legal representation.”

“She won’t be able to tell you anything. Attorney-client privileges.”

“I’ve heard of that before, thank you very much.” She shot me an unimpressed look. “But she could point me in the right direction.”

Without waiting for an answer from me, she snagged her cell phone off the coffee table and scrolled through her contacts.

A few moments later, the ringtone sang through the speaker, and then:

“What do you want, Lodestar?”

“Sounds like you’ve left quite the impression as usual.”

Her nose crinkled at my observation but to Laker, she mused, “You’re mad at me.”

“Now, I wonder why. You didn’t just take off and leave us wondering if you were okay or if you were even coming back?—”

“I had a job to do, Rachel. If anyone should understand that, it’s you.”

Rachel huffed down the line. “I wouldn’t just leave my family in a lurch like you did.”

“I left her with people I trust. Not only goddamn that, I left her with a brother-in-fucking-arms. A man I’d go to war for and who’d go to war for me.

"I was heading into hostile territory, Rachel. What would you have preferred me to do? Bring Kat along for the ride? Fuck your judgmental ass!”

“Star,” I grumbled. “Flies and honey, not vinegar.”

“No, Conor. I’m sick of this bullshit. I left Kat with her sister. I left her with a goddamn war veteran who, even though he’s sick, is still deadlier than your average Joe. Hell, he hospitalized your ass and he’s half-crippled with his migraines.

“I didn’t leave her on the steps of a fucking orphanage. I left her with family. I made promises to her that I kept until I was physically unable to do so because I was being held against my will!

"I’m sick of the Sinners making it out that I’m a piece-of-shit mom because I?—”

“I never said you were a piece-of-shit mom. I said you left your family in a lurch,” Rachel interrupted, but I didn’t think that made it any better from Star’s narrow-eyed glare. “You just dumped us, Star. All of us. Rex and I had a baby, for God’s sake. I appreciate the flowers. Not.”

Because I sensed genuine hurt behind the bitchy statement, I grabbed Star’s hand and quickly translated, “She’s saying they’re your family and you left them behind, Star.”

For a second, there was silence, then Star drawled, “If you’re saying you missed me, then there are nicer ways to do it.”

Rachel scoffed, “I never said that.”

My lips twitched.

“What did you call the baby?”

“Sommer.”

“First Wynter, now Sommer… You aiming for an Autumn and a Spring next?” Star joked.

“No. Two daughters named after seasons are plenty.”

“She okay?” was Star’s next question. This time it was uneasy.

“She’s beautiful, and Rex is a sucker for her.”

“I’d like to see that.”

“The compound hasn’t moved,” she retorted. “You could stop by for a damn visit. I couldn’t believe it when Maverick told Rex that you’d had Kat picked up and brought into the city.”

More hurt.

I squeezed Star’s hand again and translated, “Star, you hurt her feelings.”

“Damn straight she did,” Rachel groused. “Whoever that is, give him a medal. He deserves it.”

“I prefer pies,” I retorted with a quick grin.

Rachel sniffed.

“I’m only here on a pit stop. Plus, I… I genuinely didn’t think you guys would care.”

“Well, we do.”

Star’s expression was blank—she had no idea what to do with that information—so, Star being Star, she cut shit down to the basics. “If we’re family, then you won’t have a problem with why I’m calling—I need your help.”

“Flies and honey,” I muttered with a sigh.

Both women ignored me.

Rachel argued, “I need a massage, a pair of tits that don’t leak, and a night off. Some things just aren’t possible right now.”

“This is important.”

“If you think I’m going to let you blackmail some other?—”

“I’m not!” Star barked, speaking over Rachel and darting me a guilty look.

"Do I even want to know?" I mumbled to myself.

Star cleared her throat and forged ahead, “I want to ask you about David Foundry.”

I'd take that as a no.

“The attorney general? What about him?”

“I’m right, then. Last year, you were in touch with him?”

“Of course. I come into contact with him fairly often. Too frequently in all honesty. The man’s a grade-A creep.”

“Fits the profile,” I muttered.

Star nodded. “We’ve come to learn that he’s a Sparrow.”

Rachel’s lack of reaction was telling. Then, in the background, I heard the sound of a pen being tapped against a hard surface.

“Does that come as a surprise to you or not?” was Star’s brusque retort, and when she received radio silence for her pains, she urged, “It’s important, Rachel.”

“I’m not an idiot, Lodestar. I managed to figure that out on my own. How do you know he is?”

“We believe he was associated with Justin DeLaCroix. Along with Sheridan Reinier and Garry Smythe. Each is a top-ranking official?—”

“Garry Smythe?” she bit off.

“Yes. The White House chief of staff.”

Rachel’s exhalation was audible. “You didn’t hear this from me.”

“Of course,” Star complied easily.

“Foundry negotiated the purchase of a…” She cleared her throat. “…brothel in Las Vegas.”

“A brothel?” My brow furrowed. “Why would the attorney general involve himself in a business like that?”

“Because it’s a special kind of brothel. One of my clients used it for a blackmail source.”

Star and I glanced at one another. “Don’t suppose you’ll give us the particulars?” she wheedled.

“No, but I can tell you which company he used to transfer ownership over to him.” Another loud exhalation. “I suppose that I should have known.”

“What’s the name, Rachel?”

“The Bird’s Nest LLC.”

I choked out a laugh. “ Original . They take this 'Sparrows' shit too seriously.”

“The clientele is highbrow and nearly all politicians. I suppose that’s handy when the chief of staff is a friend.”

Star’s mouth tightened. “Thank you for the information, Rachel.”

“You’re welcome.” She hesitated. “I’m glad you’re back, Lodestar. You might be a treacherous pain in the ass, but I wouldn’t want you on anyone’s side but my own.”

When she cut the call without another word, I drawled, “You make friends wherever you go, don’t you?”

She shoved me in the side. “Hush.”

Grinning, I snatched her hand and kissed her fingertips. “So, the White House has its own internal source of influence … Interesting that Davidson isn’t a Sparrow but Smythe is, don’t you think?”

“Depends. You know how the Capitol works. It’s ‘you suck my dick, I’ll lick your ass.’”

“Think most of the fuckers up there would prefer not to believe they had homosexual tendencies.”

“Jackasses,” she agreed, her gaze distant. “What’s their endgame?”

“World domination,” I said lightly.

“Joking aside, we need to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“Agreed.”

Her mouth turned taut. “Can one of the guards drive Katina back home tonight?”

“Of course.” With her fingers still knotted with mine, I squeezed them gently, pulsing them twice in reassurance. “We can end them this week.”

“We will end them this week,” she rumbled, her gaze dark as it locked on mine before it darted away.

As she frowned, I twisted and saw that Aoife had stumbled into the room, her features blanched. “Aoife? What is it? What’s wrong?”

She staggered over to the couch and passed her cell to me.

Concerned, I flicked a look between it and her then read the text conversation.

“Need to meet,” Star repeated, her confusion clear. “From…?”

Aoife’s eyes clenched.

“Your father,” I answered for her.

“We’ve started talking but he…” Her mouth worked. “We can’t meet. For obvious reasons.”

Considering what we’d just been discussing…

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” I commented.

“Me either. Fuckers,” Star agreed grimly. “It stinks of leverage. This is either a trap or they’re trying to offset guilt by shifting most of the upcoming news cycle on the president’s secret love child than on them.”

Aoife blanched at our rundown, sagging back into the couch with wide, scared eyes that made me want to hurt Smythe and Foundry more than I already did.

“That’s a grandiose assumption seeing as they kill first, ask questions later,” I remarked.

“DeLaCroix was arrested, Reinier’s disappeared, and there’s an Interpol department being established as we speak… They must think we don’t want their blood, just their asses in a jail cell.”

There was no arguing with that logic so I shot her a smirk. “How foolish of them.”

Her dark eyes turned flat. “Perfect, more like.”