“Whatcha need, bro?” Archer asked fondly. “I know you’re not calling cause you miss me.”
Atticus went to return to his seat on the arm of the couch, but Jericho snagged him, pulling him into his lap. “I need a meeting with the Dai Lo of the Red Lotus Clan out of Hong Kong. Any of your buddies have a contact?”
Nico shot a startled glance at Mal and then Jericho. “What is he doing?” he asked in a frantic stage-whisper.
“What he always does,” Jericho answered. “Going straight to the source.”
Archer hesitated for a count of ten, then asked, “You…need a meeting with the boss of a Chinese gang? I thought you retired.”
“It’s for one of the kids. Do you have a contact or not?”
“Maybe not a direct contact,” Archer said. “I can ask around and see if anyone knows anyone. But why not just ask Dad? Are you hiding something from him?”
This time, it was Atticus who fell quiet, his look of confusion almost comical. Finally, he asked, “Why would I talk to Dad about setting up a meeting with the head of a gang?”
“Uh, because Dad plays tennis with Minato Yamisaki who worked on the AOC task force through Interpol.”
“What’s the AOC?” Seven asked.
“Asian Organized Crime,” Archer answered, clearly having picked up his question.
Atticus sighed. “Is there anyone Dad doesn’t know?”
“He’s a billionaire running a top secret government program teaching black ops to psychopaths…so, no. If he doesn’t know them personally, he only has to make two phone calls to get the information you need.”
Atticus shook his head. “Ugh. Fine. I’ll call Dad.”
“Let me know how your meeting with the triad goes,” Archer said, his amusement obvious.
Atticus hung up without saying goodbye, then immediately pushed more buttons, presumably to call Thomas Mulvaney, who answered after only two rings.
“Hey, kid. What’s going on? Where are my babies? Are they asleep already? I want to say goodnight.”
Nico grinned at Thomas’s excitement. Who would have thought the eldest Mulvaney would have become so weak over a bunch of sticky, drooling kids?
Jericho chuckled, then said, “They’re already asleep.”
“Oh,” Thomas said, his disappointment evident. “Then what’s up?”
“Who is it?” Nico heard someone ask. Aiden probably.
“It’s Atticus,” Thomas said, his voice muffled, like he’d put his hand over the speaker.
“Don’t take too long. You said you’d take a bath with me,” Aiden said.
Everyone snickered except for Atticus, who looked pained.
“Sorry, I’m back,” Thomas said. “Aiden said hi.”
“No, I didn’t!” Aiden called from farther away.
Thomas sighed heavily. “What do you need, son?”
Atticus hesitated for only a moment before saying, “I need to set up a meeting with the Dai Lo of the Red Lotus Clan out of Hong Kong. Archer seemed to think you’d be the person to call.”
“Of course, I am,” Thomas said, as if that were obvious. “Who else would be able to arrange something like that?”
“Well, I thought Archer, but I guess I was wrong. He said you knew someone. Minato something or other who was on a task force for Interpol.”
