Page 17 of Queen Crow
I pull up a chair to sit next to her, mindful that it’s been two days since I had the chance to vacuum down here and I don’t want to end up covered in dust.
We sit there in silence, the only noises are of coffee consumption, and we just stare at the tangled mess I’ve found myself in. My eyes keep drifting back to the same three photos.
Noah.
Amanda Donnelley.
And Bingley Crawford.
An hour later there’s the sounds of life happening at the top of the stairs, groaning and laughing, then Harley and Aodhan join us. Aodhan kisses my cheek before finding another chair to pull up and sit with me.
Harley crouches down to kiss Lips but when he notices how focused she is, he leaves her to it, slumping back on the couch with another groan. He sounds exactly how I feel but I just take a sip from my now stone-cold coffee.
“Fuck, do you remember when our murder boards fit on a whiteboard and it felt like too much to handle? This is too fucking much,” Harley grumbles from the couch, and I ignore it. Aodhan does too, his eyes on the Crawfords like he’s trying to find some clue in the photos that will fix all of this for us.
Honestly, I hope he does.
I’m still trying to come to terms with the fact that not only have I killed Bingley, but that Atticus was the one hiding him away all of this time.
Why keep him alive? If he was already keeping the ruse of Bing being overseas, living his best life and sampling all of the underage prostitutes his heart could desire, why not just kill him and be done with it?
I never realized Atticus craved torture or control in this manner.
Does it make me a monster that I don’t even care about that? That it’s only the motivation questions that are eating me, not at all that he actually did it? Maybe that’s the Beaumont in me.
Finally, Lips speaks, “Okay. I have some solid ideas. Aves, do you want my help here or am I just subbing into your plans?”
Aodhan jerks around to give her a look as I giggle, my voice still wrecked from the moonshine and Irish wake. “No, Lips, I need your help. You already know what I have ready, if there’s anything you can add here thenpleasedo.”
She turns back to the wall and says, “I have some leads in mind. I have a few for that cunt Amanda and there’s some people we can leverage for the Crawford situation. Atticus always did focus on a very different brand of information than Illi and I do, but there’s some crossover I can take advantage of. Let’s go with the shit we can take care of without Illi for now, leave him with Odie and Johnny for as long as we can before we have him back on the streets.”
I agree wholeheartedly with that plan. Honestly, if I thought we could retire him altogether so he was at home with them forever, that would be the plan, but he was born here, the Bay is in his blood, and there’s no walking away from that.
Lips has tried enough that I know that for sure.
Aodhan rubs at the shadow of a beard on his face, he clearly rolled straight out of bed and came looking for us without a shower and shave, and says, “Just tell me what you need and I’ll do it. I’m sick of chasing our asses with this.”
Harley nods approvingly, his eyes on his little Mounty. “What are you seeing up there that we’re missing, babe? What does the Wolf see that the Butcher can’t?”
She shrugs and points at Amanda. “I see a daughter. Cartel don’t usually spare much time for grown daughters unless they’re selling them off. Women don’t matter, not unless they’re wives, mothers, or grandmothers. They have to contribute first, give some part of themselves away before they have a chance to have a voice. What has Amanda given away?”
I scoff. “She’s given herself away a million times over. She probably bartered with information to get out of a marriage.”
Lips shrugs. “Doesn’t matter. Her father is where we go for her. We get everything we can on him and then we go to him. Once she’s dealt with, we take out the Crawfords. Randy, then Holden. Fathers can be very fucking tricky if they lose their heirs.”
We share a look and I nod. That’s a reasonable enough plan. Aodhan looks between us and then shakes his head with a grin. “I have no doubt you’re going to get this sorted out, but you’re giving me nothing to go on here. Dig up some information and that’ll do it? Sounds too easy and easy never wins out.”
Lips grins back at him, then turns back to the wall. “Oh, I plan on killing a lot of people in this plan. As many as I can, really. I need to remind everyone what I can do if you threaten my family—it’s been too long.”
Harley scoffs at her. “It hasn’t been that long.”
I lean into Aodhan a little more, finding comfort in the firm planes of his chest. He also smells amazing, not at all like the moonshine or the smoke from the bonfire that had been lit at some point.
When we hear the others waking up and banging around up in the kitchen, we finally head back up so I can cook something greasy to soak up some of the hangovers. Lips grabs my hand and points out Lauren’s photo to me.
“We start with her. We might need Illi for that one though, he’s more recognizable than I am. Or maybe we can borrow Harbin for the night.”
I nod, happy to let her make some decisions for a day or two without much input. Whatever she has, I’m happy to give it a fair go.