2. Chapter 2
two
New York City—Mid-January
A gentle swish of a glass door opening, allowing a quick burst of the outer office buzz in, made Lina Cheung swivel in her chair to face whoever just entered her office.
“You’re back!” said the bear of a man who suddenly made her office cramped.
Lina smiled at her boss, Marcus Barret. “You knew very well I’m back. You probably know which flight I was on, what time it landed, and who sat next to me in 4B.”
“Nobody sat next to you because you had the single business class seat by the window,” he replied with a grin, pointing out her attempt to trick him. “It’s good to see you, kid.”
Lina walked around her desk to give Marcus a quick hug. He might technically be her boss and a former senior officer in the Army, but he was also a good friend and confidant. Nobody knew her like Marcus Barret did, and he was the only person who could call her “kid” without risking having their ass kicked. Enveloped in his thick arms, she felt like a pixie that he could easily squash, though at five-foot-nine, she wasn’t dainty. And she wasn’t easy to squash, either.
“You and Ken didn’t miss me too much, did you?” Lina quipped. Ken Yasuda was the other named partner of Barret and Yasuda Security. She herself was one of the three junior partners and the newest at six months in the position.
“Of course we did,” Marcus retorted with a smirk as he sat on her guest chair. For a retired colonel, he didn’t have a stern bone in his body, but authority exuded from his every pore. Nobody could miss it. “You did good getting the Souros account set up with our partners in Europe. I’ve read the report. It was a well-spent month despite hitting the holidays and all.”
Lina perched on the edge of her desk. “It had to be done.”
The Souros Agriculture Group was one of Greece’s biggest businesses. Securing them as a retainer client for Barret and Yasuda Security was a big notch on Lina’s belt. Working over the holidays hadn’t bothered her. After dedicating a decade of her life to the Army, she found most of B&Y’s work relaxing.
As if he knew what she was thinking, Marcus said, “I'm glad you decided to join us four years ago. I know we see little action, but—"
Lina shook her head, interrupting him, “Believe me, I don’t miss it.”
She remembered feeling so burnt out from the “action” that she’d grabbed the fluff job Marcus had offered her when she’d gotten out of the military. Running security for a rock band on tour had been exactly what she’d needed. Traveling the country and through Europe had been practically a vacation for her. Readjustment to civilian life hadn’t been easy, and she was grateful for those memorable months with Canis Major.
Again, as if he was in her head, Marcus asked, “You remember that band you covered when you first joined us?” He handed her a file he’d been holding.
Lina’s eyes narrowed on Marcus as she seriously wondered if he was clairvoyant. “You want me to get a team ready for another tour? Is this the schedule? I’ll start working on the plan. I think John will be a good lead for it.”
“No. It’s not about the band.” He gestured for her to look at the file.
Lina opened it and found a copy of a police report. She scanned the content and certain words popped out to her: stabbing, Stiletto, died on the scene. Then her breath caught in her throat.
Curtis Bisset.
Her alarmed gaze flew back to Marcus for a brief second before diving back into the report, reading it more thoroughly: Curtis Bisset witnessed the stabbing of Sean Murphy at The Morrigan’s nightclub. He identified and provided evidence against the perpetrator, leading to the arrest of Rocco Stiletto.
“Rocco Stiletto? Is this one of those Stilettos?” Lina questioned, thinking of the city’s infamous organized crime family.
Marcus confirmed with a nod. “He’s Serafina Stiletto’s youngest son.”
“Shit. Why is Curtis’ name all over this report? Shouldn’t the police keep his identity concealed?”
“It is now. We made sure of it when his name popped on our morning report that day.”
Ken’s army of computer whizzes scanned the internet twenty-four seven for anything concerning their clients: corporations and the people involved with them. And Marcus’ network of informants did the same for anything they couldn’t find on the internet. Since Curtis Bisset’s band, Canis Major, was under the wing of Aquarius Media Corp—a big client for B&Y—he was a person of interest to them. Most of the reports concerning their celebrity clients were benign gossip or media-related, but when their names popped up on a police blotter, it would send a red alert to Marcus or Ken.
Lina glanced at the date of the police report: December 12.
“This report is a month old.” She flipped to the next set of paper, some news article printouts. She started reading them.
“The stabbing victim was a member of the Murphy family, formerly known as the Irish mob and a Stiletto rival. They used to deal in the same stuff Stiletto is in, but the Murphys have gone legit, at least on paper. From what we know, he had no record except for a note of his familial connection with the Murphys. But the two young men got into it, and one ended up dead and the other in jail,” Marcus said.
“Does Curtis need to appear in court to testify?” Lina asked, already thinking about the protection he’d need during a trial that would definitely get a lot of attention. And the press wasn’t her concern at all.
“Well, that’s not an issue anymore,” Marcus said. “Rocco Stiletto was shivved last night in jail, presumably a revenge kill by the Irish.”
That information wasn’t in the file. Lina set it aside.
“Damn,” Lina said. “That’s not a good development, but it’s a problem for the NYPD. Why are you bringing this up?”
She had a good idea what the answer to her question was, but the look in Marcus’ eyes confirmed it.
“Rocco was Serafina Stiletto’s baby. She is out for blood,” Marcus said.
Understanding what that meant, Lina straightened. “We need to ensure Curtis Bisset’s identity isn’t leaked to the Stilettos. You know better than I do that these people have their own sources in the police department. Who knows about Curtis?”
“Detective Steve Bolt and the ADA. Then there are the first responders at the club,” Marcus answered.
“Meaning the Stilettos could easily get his name if they were asking,” Lina concluded.
“I’ve heard no one asking—”
“They’re asking. They most likely already have it.” Lina grabbed her jacket. “We need to assess the situation. I’ll go check on Curtis.”
“Good. I was going to suggest you do that while I put my ears on the ground. I’ll have Ken’s people keep an eye out on their end.”
Lina walked out of her office, Marcus right behind her.
“Where’s Ken?” she asked as they walked to the elevator banks.
“On a special project in Southeast Asia,” Marcus said.
Lina nodded. If Marcus could elaborate, he would, but he didn’t. Without another question, she swiped her specially coded card to open the door.
“Hey.” Marcus put a hand on her shoulder. “The Stilettos are most likely to focus on the Murphys. This is just a precaution.”
“Of course. We wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t make sure there’s no threat.” Before she slipped through the door, Lina added, “But when it comes to Serafina Stiletto, we can never be too careful.”