It's not morning yet, but everything necessary, has already been done, and the rest is just aftershock.
This is the hour I prefer for business, because anyone who calls now is serious or dead.
I'm at the desk in the operations wing, curtains drawn, lamp set low, the only light the powder-blue of the tablet and the thumbnail glare of my cigarette.
The whole floor is soundproofed, more for paranoia than necessity, and the air tastes of old lacquer and the anticipation of crisis.
The call comes in on the encrypted line, silent vibrate, no chime.
I pick up before the second pulse.
"Go ahead."
The informant doesn't bother with preamble.
"Connollys have a pulse in Sandymount. Two men, sometimes three, mostly freelance. They're not watching the house, but they're asking questions."
I make a note in my head, not on paper.
"Type of questions?"
"Financial. No one's asking for your head, just for a spreadsheet."
"And the topic?"
There's a pause as if he's scrolling the night's log.
"Donnellys. Or what's left. They want to know if the Crowleys have absorbed the family or if it's a cut-out. They're also asking about the girl."
My hand tightens on the pen, but it doesn't move.
"How direct?"
The informant's voice is dry as a post-mortem.
"Not at all. They buy a round for the bookie, mention the Donnelly daughter in passing, maybe an old story about school. Never about location, always about movement. Who she's seen, what she's spending, if she's making friends in the neighborhood."
"Who's answering?"
"The usual barflies. One of yours is playing dumb, but the others are just flattered anyone cares."
I look at the wall, where the last month of shifts is posted on magnetic tiles.
"Have they flagged any new faces?"
"Not yet. But I'd say they're laying ground, not digging for gold."
I light another cigarette, slow, controlled.
"Keep listening. Don't move until you see a pattern."
There's a soft hiss.
"Do you want me to escalate?"
"Absolutely not. The truce is real until it isn't. We're not the ones to break it."
He hesitates, which is rare.
