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I nod. I’m not here to pry into another man’s business and I really don’t care about the mother. “Where is your daughter and how did you get this video?”
My gut says I will not like the answer.
“Bailey.”
“We know her name.” All three of us make it our goal to know the enemy better than they know themselves.
“Of course you do. It’s been a year since I’ve seen my daughter as you can see from the date on the security feed.”
“I noticed.” Vi stands and moves across the room, looking out the back sliding door that leads into a garden. He’s getting restless.
He turns and says what I’m thinking. “The Mounts are blackmailing you. Do they have your daughter and why have they taken so long to contact you?”
“This isn’t sitting right.”
That is Augustine.
“We’re not playing games, D’Angelo.” Augustine stands, looking ready to walk. I hold a hand up for him to be patient while D’Angelo collects his thoughts.
D’Angelo crosses back to the TV and keeps his eyes on his daughter as he speaks. “Her friends, daughters of my enforcers, dared her to prove herself worthy of my seat when I die. A stupid idea when my crown already belongs to her for the mere fact she carries my blood. But the stupid girl went through with the dare. It didn’t go over well.”
“How many men did you kill in retribution for the dare?”
Cold, black eyes lock on mine. “You know how many men I had guarding us,” he deadpans. Thick fingers curl around the edge of a large wooden desk as he leans his weight forward. “How many do you see left?”
I grunt. “I would have done the same.”
D’Angelo turns back to the TV. “They are lucky I spared their daughter’s life.”
“Go on.” Augustine joins D’Angelo, crossing his arms. A sign he’s intrigued. I stay in my chair listening to what is not being said.
Like how this video happened a year ago. He hasn’t seen his daughter in that year. There was no news of a dead princess filtering through our world or through the news feeds of Seattle. We wouldn’t be here if she were dead.
D’Angelo looks at his hands. Probably seeing the stains of blood on them and wishing he could kill the men who he thought betrayed him all over again. Old-timers like this man don’t think logically. They are tied down by tradition, loyalty and if anyone connected to you betrays them then you are just as guilty. And why his men are dead for their daughter’s crimes.
“Where did you hide Bailey, D’Angelo?” I ask, my voice void of emotion.
It’s the only logical move a man like him would make.
“When she came back the night she broke into the Mount vault, she handed me her loot and rattled off secrets hidden inside the ledgers you see her reading in the security tap. I only wish I knew why she did this. I couldn’t bear the idea of losing my only daughter so I hid her in New York City with new papers, new life, new identity under her mother’s maiden name—everything. She didn’t understand how I couldn’t be proud of her efforts to help take down Mount.” D’Angelo cups his face and I hear him inhale deeply.
“Three months after severing her from my life, she went missing. I had a way of checking in on her but I couldn't find her anywhere for a long while. I thought she took off. Changed cities or something. I didn’t want to put her in danger so I didn’t dig. Not until this arrived.”
He shuffles a yellow manila envelope to the side and holds up a sheet of paper with a familiar logo at the top. A black crown around a large G. Genesis. The people in Chicago have established a Club Genesis in Seattle. Nothing more than a satellite office compared to the mother ship back in Chicago. If you want to take a hit out on anyone, Club Genesis is where you go. If you have differences to settle or generally want to make a deal with a bad guy to move weapons, establish an underground gambling ring or whatever your black heart can think up, Club Genesis is where you go for a mediator to make sure no one gets fucked sideways in the deal.
“The Mounts took a hit out on your daughter?” Vi stands and takes the paper from D’Angelo.
The worried father’s dead eyes meet mine. “It’s a receipt for a contract with Genesis.”
My gut squeezes with fear for the girl. That’s new. I feel little for anyone, especially someone I have never met face to face.
D’Angelo nods, his face pulled into a grim expression. “The contract pays out five point eight million dollars to bring her back alive. Ten million for a body.”
Fuck, that’s cold.
Vi swears under his breath and shoves a hand through his long hair. He turns to me and I already know what he is going to say before the words leave his lips.
“She’s dead the second someone spots her. There’s not a runner alive who will pass up a chance at ten.” Runners is a nice name for hired assassins employed by the men of Genesis. It’s easier to say that in public than killer, hitmen or anything else you label them as.
