He gives a noncommittal grunt.
“You know… before you get yourself killed.”
Astor heaves a long-suffering sigh. “Yeah… probably a good idea.”
“But…”
“But you already know—there area lotof people relying on me. Directly and indirectly. It’s not as simple as just closing up a storefront.”
“I could help?—”
“Absolutely fucking not.”
It’s my turn to sigh. We’ve already discussed—even argued—about this numerous times over the last few years. “So what… you just wait until someone comes along and kills you?”
Like my father.
The anxiety in my chest tightens further, like a coiling snake writhing in pain.
Astor remains quiet, and we sit in comfortable silence for several moments before a new suggestion tumbles out. It’s impulsive and thoughtless, but...
“What if I found you someone?”
I can feel his eyes rolling from here. “No.”
Despite his rejection of the idea, the wheels of my mind begin to turn.
As if the very thought was a harbinger of fate, I hear the softwhooshof my burner phone receiving a message. It sits in my nightstand, connected at all times to a VPN in French Polynesia.
Almost never used.
Only Jeriko, a military buddy who owes me, has the number.
Opening the drawer, my heart kicks up in anticipation as I finally grab my burner phone.
My eyes scan the message over and over again.
“Found your starling.”
Starling,being one of the birds known to usurp nests by killing their inhabitants, is the code name for the person responsible for my father’s death. Somehow, Boston’s most powerful mafia has been run anonymously since my father was killed.
Until now.
And my heart is hammering in my chest.
Astor says something in my ear, but my thoughts have grown distant. It takes a few seconds for his question to register in my mind. “So when are you coming back down to visit?”
I’m holding my breath as the dancing ellipsis pops up beneath his message—Jeriko typing out a second message.
369 Harbinger Lane
Sagaponack, NY 11962
Astor isin my ear as I stare at the address. “Hello?”
I quickly hammer out a reply to Jeriko before I can think of an answer to Astor.
You certain?