Chapter 31
Katarina
“Hey, I saw everyone leaving,” Klara said as she found me in the kitchen. Her dark hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail.
“Yeah. Club business,” I said as I handed her a plate with a muffin and some cut fruit. “Coffee?”
“Please.”
I poured her a mug then topped off mine. “Was Niko with them?”
She nodded as she pulled a bite from the muffin and said, “Yep, the car was pulling away behind rows of motorcycles,” before she popped the bite into her mouth. “This is delicious.”
“It’s a box, but thank you.”
“Hey, we use premix at the restaurant,” she joked.
“True. Sometimes it just makes sense. But I’m baking cookies and thought of something a little more intricate later.”
“I can help. I need to do something with my hands. Oh!” Klara pulled out her phone. “I figured it out.”
“Figured what out?” I asked as I pushed the sweep broom around the floor. We had a slight mishap with the flour before Hawk came in.
“I knew I’d seen that woman before. She looks different now, but her mother doesn’t,” she said as she scrolled on her phone. “I was too wound up to sleep so I was scrolling last night and remembered this fundraiser the ballet had done a few years back.”
She handed me her phone and I touched the picture so I could blow it up. At first glance it didn’t look like her, but the woman next to her did. Squinting, I looked again. “I see it. But maybe it’s not her.”
Klara swallowed down the bite she had and Mama Hen came in.
“Mama Hen, does this look familiar to you?” I asked, holding the phone up.
She grabbed the phone, then held it up, moving it away from her face. “Wait.” She squinted, moving the phone closer and further. “That sort of looks like Jeannie. That older lady certainly does.”
I gripped her arm. “That woman is Anna De Luco and that’s her daughter, Gianna.”
Mama Hen’s brows pinched. “The New York Mob family?”
Nodding, I said, “Yes, she’s not the head of the family’s wife. But she’s still one of them.”
“I don’t know much about them, but I heard Raven mention them. They weren’t someone he wanted to do business with,” she said, still looking at the phone.
“Most don’t. And rumors were circulating for years that I would be married to that family, but I never once heard my father say that. Or Niko.”
She looked up at me. “Instead, your father promised you to us.”
Klara was still picking at her muffin. “I always heard that rumor. But I also heard they were into some bad dealings. Our company owner told us to be polite because they were big contributors, but to never be caught alone with them. Which is weird, because it wasn’t unheard of for us to be encouraged to get chummy with patrons, if you get what I mean. ”
“Eww, really?” I grimaced.
She shrugged. “Just another reason I didn’t stick around.”
“I met them a few times in passing at galas. But this woman is older,” I said, looking again at the phone as Mama Hen passed it back. “And her name isn’t Jeannie.”
“Oh I’ve seen enough plastic surgery. That could absolutely be her,” Mama Hen said, sidling up next to me.
“I’ve seen plenty,” I said.
“Smack some fake blonde on her, a boob job, and some fillers. Same woman,” Mama Hen said.
The longer I stared, the more I realized it had to be her. Same eyes, same jaw line. But Jeannie had bigger breasts and fuller lips with a slightly thinner nose and of course, blonde hair, while the woman in the picture had dark hair. She also looked younger but if she had fillers, that would help.
“I don’t understand, though,” I said out loud, mostly just pondering.
“Well honey, if I’ve learned anything in this life, it’s that anyone willing to change their appearance and their name is hiding something. Either hiding themselves from someone trying to hurt them, or hiding who they are to do something shitty. Was she reported missing?”
“No, it would have been all over the news, at least up our way,” Klara said. “They’re a prominent family. No way one of them goes missing and there’s not a huge search.”
“I want to know why,” I said, still looking at her picture.
The other women stared at me.
Lacy walked in. “How are the cookies coming?”
“I have to go,” I said, handing the phone to Klara.
Mama Hen grabbed me. “Hey, you can’t go alone.”
“Go where?” Lacy asked.
“To Jeannie’s. You stayed there, right?” I asked her. “You can tell me how to get there.”
Lacy’s eyes were like saucers. “We can’t leave here.”
“I can leave. I just can’t go to the strip club, if you wanna get technical,” Mama Hen said. “And I won’t let you go alone.”
“Wait. What is even happening?” Lacy said.
Daisy and Kristie came to the kitchen. “You gonna cook all day, or want to go binge watch something? It’s my turn to choose,” Daisy said.
“I need your help,” I told them. “I have to go. But even if they let her go, they’ll be suspicious. I need a decoy.”
Klara raised her hand. “I volunteer as tribute. They’re all hooked up. I’m free as a bird.”
We all looked over.
She held her hands up. “I assume you meant to use my body to distract them.”
“I mean, maybe. Or you know, just say I’m sick at home if anyone asks,” I said.
“You seriously cannot leave, Katya.” Lacy had her hands on her hips. “I’m sorry, but no.”
Daisy grabbed Lacy’s shoulder. “I’m fairly certain she outranks us, or something.”
“I outrank all of you,” Mama Hen said. “I wanna speak to her, too. Woman to woman. This is bullshit.”
Kristie put her hands up. “Wait. What did we miss?”
After Klara gave the run down of Jeannie not being who she said she was, the energy of the room changed.
Kristie sighed. “Shiv isn’t here.”
We all looked at her and I said, “That’s correct. But why is that important?”
“She’s the doctor.”
Daisy cut in. “Not to be the voice of reason because that’s Lacy not me, but what will you do? Are you just gonna roll up there and beat her ass? Because I’d love to see that.”
Mama Hen banged her closed fist on the counter. “No. We aren’t taking the caravan. This is First Lady business.”
My breath hitched. But I couldn’t think about that too much right now. “No. She’s right. We can’t put you all in danger just in case, but we do need a plan.”
“I know what we need to do.” Mama Hen opened the oven then grabbed a potholder and pulled the trays out.
“Act sick. I’ll walk you to your house. That way if someone asks, they can say you’re lying down.
My car is over there. I’ll smuggle you out.
But I gotta grab something from the house first. Ladies, you keep your mouths shut.
Lacy, finish these cookies. I’ll send an SOS to Keys if we need help. ”
Lacy worried her lip, shaking her head. “I don’t like this. Every time they tell us to stay put and we don’t, something bad happens.”
I stroked Lacy’s arm. “It’s still broad daylight.
We’re just going to her house to confront her on her bullshit.
Just like the men handle club business, we have to handle it, too.
Plus, I can take care of myself and Mama Hen.
I just don’t think we should all go. It would be harder to leave, anyway. ”
Mama Hen scoffed. “I appreciate your Kung Fu, hon, but I’ve been in this club longer than you’ve been alive. I can take care of us both. Especially against Jeannie.”
Rolling my eyes, I didn’t correct her. We didn’t have time to discuss the detailed history of various fighting disciplines. Plus, Mama Hen always left early on the weekends for her grocery haul, so it wouldn’t seem suspicious if she was leaving soon.
I started to leave, but Daisy stopped me. “They track our phones.”
I knew that, but the reminder slowed me down. “Shit. He’ll know as soon as I leave.”
Kristie leaned on the island, arms crossed. “I’m with Lacy. I don’t like this either, but if you’re going anyway, maybe leave your phone here?”
Mama Hen said, “I’ll have mine. He’ll be able to track us, but he won’t get suspicious right away. We could even be heading back by the time he realized I passed the turn to the grocery store.”
I hadn’t been out of the clubhouse much, but there was nothing around for miles. We were tucked away on a long stretch of rural highway. Her trips to the store always took a while, so maybe we could pull it off without anyone noticing. Especially if they didn’t know I was with her.
“I had a plan though that required my phone,” I said as I tapped my chin. “How else can we record her?”
Mama Hen grinned. “Like I said, I need to grab something from the house. Let’s get you looking sickly and to your house. You’ll have to sneak out the side window since he probably has cameras at the doors, but you can climb in the back of the SUV once I move the car enough between the houses.”
Lacy ran over and threw herself onto me. Suddenly, Daisy and Kristie had piled on as well. “Be careful,” Lacy said.
Daisy squeezed us all hard and I laughed before she said, “Don’t get killed.”
“Don’t be heroes,” Kristie told me.
“Girls, c’mon. Stop being dramatic,” Mama Hen said.
The women all let me go, then turned and bombarded Mama Hen. “You too. We love you.”
Mama Hen chuckled. “Okay, okay. We’re just going to talk. Hell, that’s if she’s even home. You all are overreacting. Now remember,” she said pushing the women off, “Katya is resting, not feeling well. But only offer that up if anyone directly asks. No reason to be obvious.”
Klara grabbed me, “Here,” she said, shoving her watch into my pocket. “It looks like a regular watch, but it’s a phone. And it’s mine. So no tracker.”
“Thank you. But seriously, the only issue with this operation is how mad Hawk’s going to be if he busts me. Jeannie is a piece of cake.”
“Well, just in case. Consider it my small contribution to the cause. Because I really hate that woman,” Klara said before squeezing me.
I finally pulled away, and Mama Hen and I headed to the door. I shook my shoulders and arms to loosen up and get hunched over a bit. I couldn’t very well be straight as a board if I was unwell.
When I got to the door, I turned back once more. They all nodded and huddled together, blowing kisses at us. I blew one back. They were all silly, but it was nice to know they were so worried.
“Okay, Operation What the Fuck, Bitch is underway,” Mama Hen said before we both stepped through the door.