Irrevocable (Evan Arden 5)

“What the hell do you grow out there?”

“Nothing. They do have an actual fleet of shrimp boats, but they haven’t left dock in sixteen months.”

“Does Stark own it?”

“Nope.”

“Who then?” Jonathan leans back and looks at me.

“It’s an anagram.”

“No shit! Of what?”

“I took the letters of a couple of names and rearranged them into something else.” I lean over the laptop and point to the company logo. “Greyter Sailor can be repositioned to spell Taylor and Segreti.”

“Ho-lee shit. That’s custom.”

“Exactly.”

“Beni Segreti and Joshua Taylor have a company together?”

“I looked into it. Beni and Justin actually got it started. I think when Justin was eliminated, Beni pulled Joshua on board. They also have an office building in Seattle.”

“He needed someone on the outside to cover his tracks.”

“And Joshua is glad to help eliminate the man who killed his brother.”

“But Rinaldo didn’t order Justin’s hit. That was all you.”

“He doesn’t know that,” I say.

“But Beni does.”

“Beni wants to be on top. He needs funds to get himself there as well. Joshua is the ideal answer. He’s got motive to get back at the family and is the perfect liaison between Beni and the southern gangs. He has no other Chicago affiliations and would also work as the perfect scapegoat if it comes to that. More importantly, Beni needs Rinaldo out of the way, and Joshua is happy to help out.”

“Joshua is the one working with the gangs; we know that.”

“We need to figure out where he’s hiding,” I say, “and how he’s getting information to the gangs.”

“Do you think they’re still in it?”

“They at least started that way. Even after Marcello was eliminated, they still held some of our guns.”

“Like the one used to kill Felisa.”

“Just like that one.” I nod slowly as I stare at the screen, not meeting his eyes.

“We should bring this all to Rinaldo.”

“Not yet.” I shake my head. “We have to tread lightly. If Rinaldo thinks Beni has something to do with Felisa’s death, he’ll act immediately. We need to flush out anyone else involved.”

“You don’t think he could hold off?”

“Not with the funeral still ahead of us.”

“Point taken.”

“I do need to give Rinaldo something though.” I step back and take a deep breath. “I’ll tell him about the connection with Joshua. As long as we don’t know where he is, there isn’t a whole lot of action Rinaldo can take.”