I glanced at Irene and her face was a sharp mask. “I need names,” I said to Kira. “As many as you can remember. And contacts inside the family if any of them will talk to me.”
Kira’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve never asked for that before.”
“Something’s changed.”
“What happened?” she asked. “You caught Ronan with his dick in the wrong hole?”
“Better,” I said. “We found evidence and I want to break him with it. But I might need some of the girls to help first.”
Kira grunted and glanced toward Irene. “You think he’s full of shit?” she asked.
Irene shook her head. “He wants to kill Ronan,” Irene said. “That much is for sure. Whatever he’s doing, that’s his final goal. If you want that, then help him.”
“Ronan Healy deserves to die,” Kira said. “I only worry the girls won’t be so safe.”
“I promise, they will be,” Irene said, although I didn’t think she could make that guarantee. I didn’t plan on putting any of them in danger, but even just talking to me could be a death sentence. Irene might not have realized that yet, but she would.
“Names and contacts, Kira,” I said. “We’ll pay double the normal rate.”
“I’ll do it,” Kira said, drumming her knuckles on the paperback. “So long as nobody gets hurt.”
“I’ll do what I can,” I said.
She flashed a rueful smile. “Of course you will. Always doing your best.” She waved a hand at me. “Go and leave me alone for a while. I’ll send you a few girls that are willing to talk, but no promises how many it’ll be.”
“Thanks,” I said and stood up. “You’re a real doll.”
She looked at Irene curiously and chewed on her nail again. “If I were you, I’d be careful with this one,” Kira said, nodding at me. “He’s trouble.”
“I’ve known him for a long time,” Irene said. “I’m well aware of what he is.”
“Lovely speaking with you,” I said and walked off, hands shoved in my pockets.
Irene followed quietly, leaving Kira to her book. I headed out to the sidewalk before Irene caught up and looked up at me with a curious expression on her face.
“What are you going to do with these girls, Cam?” she asked.
I stopped walking and stood under the awning outside of a shoe place. Neon signs advertised Nike and Adidas, and a hand-painted sign claimed to fix all soles and all laces. For a second, I thought it said all “souls” instead, and I was tempted to go inside. I had a feeling my soul was irrevocably broken.
“The profiles are a lot, but we need more if we’re going to hammer them,” I said, looking down at the flattened black patches of old gum that were baked into the concrete. “If we can get a few girls to corroborate what’s in those spreadsheets, then we’ll be able to make some big moves.”
“Like what?” Irene asked. “Leak the info to the cops?”
“That’s one option,” I said with a shrug. “The Don’s got contacts in the department. We could take down the heart of their operation that way. But mostly I want to use it to lure Ronan out into the open.”
“I see how that might work,” she said and tugged at her hair, smoothing it out over her shoulder. “I’m only afraid you’ll get someone hurt.”
“That’s not the plan.”
But I didn’t say it wasn’t possible.
I’d seen too many people get hurt in the mafia, and I didn’t want to lie to her.
She sighed and looked over her shoulder across the street toward the houses that stretched up north. “We’re near the old neighborhood,” she said softly.
She was right—we grew up maybe ten blocks from where we stood.
“You plan on visiting home?” I asked.
She laughed. “No way in hell,” she said. “I left there for good.” But she hesitated, still looking in the direction of her old house. “Do you know how they are? My parents, I mean. They’re alive, right?”
“Last I heard,” I said, which was true, although I hadn’t checked in on them in a while.
“They haven’t… changed, right?” She asked almost too quietly for me to hear. It nearly broke my heart, the hope in her voice.
“No,” I said. “They haven’t. Not that I know of, anyway.” I stood up straight and touched her arm.
She flinched away, then relaxed when I touched it again. I moved closer and could feel the palpable tension between us, like a compressed spring ready to burst.
I wanted her as badly as the first time I met her. And I knew she felt the same, even if her anger held her back.
But she was like a wild animal, still untamed and liable to lash out. I had to show her that I wouldn’t hurt her first, and then I could take what I wanted.
“Let’s head back,” I said and took her back to the truck. We didn’t talk as we drove to my place, and she disappeared back into the bedroom. I figured she needed some time alone, so I gave her some space, even if all I wanted to do was break down that door and make her all mine.