Chapter 5
LYRIC
It’s only been a couple of days since I last saw her, but I need to see Lennon immediately. I look at my laptop screen and can’t believe what I’m seeing. As part of Ainsley’s plan, I’ve been hacking other organized crime groups. I hated doing it, but I didn’t want to leave my sister hanging.
I didn’t do much damage. I rescheduled all of Aldo Barone’s appointments for a week. He’s the head of the Italian family. Then I hacked into their restaurant and did the same thing I did to the Lucky Dice, messed up their reservations system. I canceled all of them for a couple of days. Paddy MacEvoy, leader of the Irish family, I hacked his information and put him on a singles website. I imagine his email is blowing up. I don’t think I really damaged any of their businesses, but the fact I hacked them, thus touching them, is bad enough. I was just poking around the Triad’s system when I found this board that scared the crap out of me. I contacted Lennon to meet me as soon as I found it. But I also need to tell her that Dmitri’s hacker is still digging, trying to figure out who I am.
The door to the cybercafé opens, and I look up in time to see Lennon step inside. She gives me a subtle nod and avoids eye contact. I look out the window and notice a man standing just in the shadows of the building across the street. I return my attention to my laptop, keeping her in my peripheral vision. She orders a drink and then moves toward the seat behind me.
I lift my phone to my ear as she passes. “Hold your phone up like you’re on it,” I say. I give her enough time to get settled before I continue. “You’re being followed.”
She laughs bitterly. “You think. Dmitri.”
Damn, I should have known he’d have a guard on her.
“His hacker is still digging, and I’m doing everything I can to keep him out,” I confess.
“Sorry. How is Ainsley? Do you need money?”
I hate that she’s more concerned about us than herself. It shows how selfless she truly is.
“Stop. We can take care of ourselves. It’s about time she learned to live within her means.” I’m so angry, I nearly spit out the words.
“But if I can help, I want to.”
“Have you talked to your father yet?” Her father could help protect her from this newest information.
“No,” she replies, and I can tell she’s still angry with him.
“Why?”
“Just leave it, Ly.”
“I can’t. Ainsy wants to meet up so we can discuss the next stage of the plan. I think we should stop.” I’m honest with her. This has gone too far. Innocent people are getting hurt.
She’s quiet for a moment. “I agree with you. You know I didn’t want to do this in the beginning. I’m worried about what happens if they find out.”
“I know. Right now, I’m worried about you. I came across some chatter. The Triad still has you in their sights. I’m trying to get a deeper look into it.”
“What?”
The door opens, and in walks the head of the Bratva.
“Say goodbye as soon as he sits down,” I say softly.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you soon.”
I sit there and listen in on the conversation. He talks to her a bit about how Dmitri cares for her and her sister Sparrow.
“I’m very sorry I put her in danger. It wasn’t my plan to hurt her or risk her that way. I thought I was doing the right thing. I guess I should have been straight and just talked to her. I didn’t know Daron had a gun. I’m sorry your guard got shot.”
I cough to cover up a gasp as it passes my lips. I text Leni, needing to know what the fuck is going on.
Me
WTF! He had a gun. Goddamn him. I knew we shouldn’t have trusted him. He’s just a fuck buddy of Ainsley’s.
Leni
Yes. He shot a guard and then tased Sparrow.
Me
That fucker. I’ll cut off his balls when I find him.
When she apologizes for being on her phone, that’s my cue to get out of here. I pack up my gear and quickly scrawl a note on a napkin before pushing back my chair. I leave the note on the table for her and then walk out the door. As I pass the window, I signal peace with two fingers so she knows I’m okay. Then I head for the bus stop so I can get home and question Ainsley about Daron. I remember Lennon mentioning it the night of the Bellagio. But so much happened that night, and we’ve never discussed it all.
I just hope she finds the note I left. With the Triad after her now, she is going to need the Bratva to protect her.
By the time I return to the apartment, Ainsley is already at work. I will have to wait to question her. In the meantime, I’ll research more into Jimmy’s disappearance.
A couple hours later, I watch the video footage, unable to believe what I’m seeing. I lean back in my chair and cover my mouth in shock. I figured out what happened to Jimmy. I watched him die. I didn’t know why they killed him, but I kept digging to find out. I couldn’t believe Andrei would have him killed just because he went after the Lucky Dice. I’ve done enough research to know that Andrei holds his family and those he cares about above everything, even business, which seemed odd at first, considering what Ainsley and I had believed.
So I went backward, and that’s when I found the footage of Jimmy boarding a flight to Eastport, Rhode Island. From there, I figured it out. When I couldn’t prove the Lucky Dice was stolen from him, he went after the one thing that means the most to Grayson, his wife, Erika. The woman from the tattoo convention. I piggybacked on security camera feeds, watching as Jimmy killed one of Erika’s guards. Then he shot Grayson and tried to kill another woman, who was heavily pregnant.
Andrei and his men took Jimmy to a warehouse near the water. They roughed him up but kept him alive until Grayson arrived. I watched as Grayson left the warehouse without killing Jimmy when he had every right to. I don’t know why the other man killed him. Was it because Andrei gave the orders, or was there something else?
I dig into Jimmy’s background next, knowing everything he told us was false.
“You in there?” Ainsley calls from outside my bedroom.
I close my laptop and walk over to the door. “Yeah, what’s up?” I ask as I open it.
“You’ve been going at it all night. Everything good?”
I realize she’s standing in front of me in her pajamas. I didn’t sleep at all. I stayed up all night, searching for answers.
“I’m good. I’m doing some research.”
“Okay, well take a break. You’ll give yourself a migraine.”
She’s right, I will. It’s happened in the past. “Okay, I will stop in a bit and lie down.”
“What did you find?”
I hate lying to her, but I’m not ready for her to find out. “Nothing yet, but I see Jimmy went to the airport in July. He headed to the East Coast.”
“I knew that idiot who owns the Lucky Dice was involved. That’s why he made Aleksei a partner.”
“What?” With everything going on with Lennon, I haven’t hacked into the Lucky Dice in a few days.
“Yeah, didn’t you know that? Your former lover is now part owner in the casino. Are you sure he’s on the up and up?”
I turn away from her and grab my robe off my bed. The October air is a bit cool for the desert, and our living room is chilly. I slip the robe over my shorts and tank top as I pad into the kitchen in my thick, comfy socks.
“Are you even listening to me?” Ainsley rants behind me.
She pushes my shoulder, and I’m propelled forward against the counter. I turn on her.
“No, I’m not listening to you. Do you realize Daron took a gun with him when he went to help Lennon? Your fuck buddy almost got our sister killed.”
“Sparrow isn’t our sister. I don’t care about her.”
“You are a heartless bitch. She is Lennon’s sister, our sister. Sparrow was raised in even worse conditions than we were. Yeah, she wasn’t in the system, but maybe it would have been better for her if she had been. Lennon told me how bad it was for her.”
“I’m so mad at Lennon. Just like you, a little cock has her thinking we shouldn’t progress with our plan. We need to bring them to their knees. We need to find out what happened to our father.”
I slam my coffee mug down on the counter. “I don’t want to continue it either. Don’t you see how dangerous it is?”
“Our father is missing. We should care.”
“Well, I don’t give a fuck about him. He doesn’t care about us. Him being missing is exactly why we shouldn’t find him. He must have done something, or he doesn’t want to be a part of our lives.” He only cared about us when he learned that Ainsley worked at the Lucky Dice and that I could hack into most systems. “I’m done.” I turn away from her, not wanting anything to drink now, and head for my bedroom.
“You owe me.” Her words stop me, and I drop my head. My chin falls to my chest. I hate that she’s bringing this up. I hate that she’s going to hold this over my head. “You know you owe me. I took it for you,” she continues.
“Please don’t do this.” I turn around.
“Do a complete deep dive background check on Aleksei and Dmitri,” she orders me.
“Please, please don’t make me do this.” I shake my head. “Neither of them has anything to do with this. They still have a hacker looking for me. I could be found.”
“I don’t care. We need to find out where our father is, and if he’s dead, we need to avenge him. Forget the other families. Find out about the Morosovs.”
“I can’t do that.” I continue to shake my head and hold up my hands. I don’t want to do this. It opens me up to more issues. I could be found. Plus, I don’t want to find out more information on Aleksei. What if he’s moved on? I can’t see that.
“I took it when you didn’t. You’ll do this for me.”
Her words cause my heart to clench. She shouldn’t ask this of me. Yes, it happened to her and not me, but I was traumatized too. I was used and an innocent child too, but she was the one who he focused on more than me.
“Okay,” I say as I close my door.
I fall onto my bed, knowing I’ll never be able to face Aleksei again.