Chapter 13 #3
“Yes. We have eyes on him in New York,” Asher added. Kara noticed that their bodyguard was carefully monitoring all of the faces in the room, his eyes seeming to take in each expression and log them away.
The three Cabrini brothers exchanged glances and seemed to agree on whatever their silent communication was about before Leo spoke again.
“It appears our interests for the moment are aligned. We don’t want the Irish on our turf. We’ll watch the city, focusing on the places you might not have access to.” Leo told the security specialist. “Do you have enough help watching her?” He nodded at Kara.
“Yes, for now,” Asher replied.
Leo relaxed lightly, his shoulders loosening some of the stiffnesses seemingly relieved that Kara was well guarded. All her years of reading people’s faces had finally come in handy in a moment that while seemingly small to others, was monumental to her.
I can trust these men. They might be able to help me with something that matters to me.
The Cabrinis still terrified her, but at least for now, she trusted that they weren’t interested in using her.
“Mr. Cabrini,” Kara spoke up. “Angelo was attacked by one of Callahan’s men while he was in the hospital. The man was looking for me, and he would have killed Angelo.”
Leo’s eyes widened and his two brothers who had been silent through the exchange both shifted restlessly.
Angelo had gone very still beside her, and she suddenly worried that telling the Cabrinis might have been a misstep. But they needed to know that Angelo had been targeted too.
“You certainly didn’t mention that to me on the phone,” Leo chided Angelo. But Kara heard the depth of concern in Leo’s voice.
“Because it doesn’t matter, I’m not the target,” Angelo’s voice held a note of tense exasperation.
“But it does matter,” Tommaso spoke up. “People in our line of business will use anyone and everything to get to someone. If they think for one second they can use you to get Kara to come to them, they will.”
That was something that Kara feared more than her own safety.
If Angelo was threatened, she would give herself up to save him.
He had a family, a restaurant, and a group of friends who needed him.
But her? She had no one who needed her. She wasn’t pitying herself.
It was simply the truth. There was no one who would miss her, but too many people would suffer if Angelo was hurt, including her.
Leo looked toward Asher. “Can you send us everything you have on Callahan? We’ll put our men on watch. Rest assured, only the men in this room will know about Kara’s existence.”
Asher nodded. “Give me a secure email address, and I’ll send a link with the digital dossier on him.”
Leo handed Asher a business card that had only a cell phone number and email address on it.
“Thank you for helping us,” Angelo said to the Cabrinis.
The youngest of the brothers, Gabriel grinned at Angelo. “You’re going to cater our next party, then?”
“On the house,” Angelo promised.
“Good,” Gabriel chuckled. “We only serve the best, and you are the best.”
Leo and his brothers signaled their bodyguards they would need to leave, and Kara watched them go.
Angelo put an arm around her waist, silent beside her for a long moment before he spoke again.
“Let’s finish our spaghetti.”
Our spaghetti. Her heart lifted.
Somehow… the thing she feared, the Cabrinis turning on her hadn’t happened. She was safe, maybe even safer than before. Hope, such a fragile thing, blossomed in her chest. She let herself be distracted by Angelo’s ready smile as they headed back into the kitchen together.
“Yes. I’m definitely hungry,” she replied.
Declan Murphy inserted the lock picking tools into the lock on the door in front of him.
After a few moments of careful twisting he heard the click of a deadbolt sliding out.
He pocketed his tools and pushed the door open.
The apartment was dark, quiet, just as he expected it to be.
He knew exactly where the woman was. Not here.
No, this was a recon mission. He had to know if he could find a go bag, a hidden driver’s license, or anything else he could use to follow her if she escaped again.
He flipped on the light by the door and stared at the dingy little kitchen and living room.
It was empty save for a folding chair and a card table.
He prowled through the single bedroom and bathroom.
Still nothing. He had gotten her address from a corner store bodega owner who thought he was an undercover cop.
Declan had kept the badge of the officer he’d knocked out.
He couldn’t flash the badge just anywhere, but it worked in moments where he was convinced no one would question it.
This woman was smart to leave nothing behind.
He re-entered her bathroom, bent to retrieve a single red hair on the floor and slipped it into his clear bag.
They could put her DNA profile in the police database.
If he was clever about it, she’d be easier to track.
It was a small victory, one he’d take for now.