Dante zip-ties his hands behind his back. We walk him down the back stairs to avoid any nosy neighbors. Shove him into the trunk of my car.
The warehouse is twenty minutes away. One of our older properties in Red Hook. The kind of place where screaming doesn't matter because there's no one around to hear it.
We drag Lee down to the basement. Dante cuts the zip ties and shoves him into a metal chair. New zip ties secure his wrists to the armrests.
Lee is shaking now. Full-body tremors. He knows what happens in places like this.
"I'll tell you whatever you want to know," he says before we even start. "Just please don't kill me."
"That depends on how helpful you are." I pull up another chair. Sit down across from him. "Start with who hired you."
"I don't know his real name. Irish guy, goes by Murphy. Found me through a guy who knows a guy, you know how it works."
I nod. I do know how it works. "What was the message?"
"Something about a debt. Gambling debt, I think." Lee swallows hard. "I was supposed to rough her up a little. Make sure she understands they're serious."
My blood turns to ice. "How much money?"
"Didn't say exactly, but it's gotta be a lot. Murphy said if the debt isn't paid soon, they're gonna start taking payment in otherways." Lee swallows hard. "Said something about the girl being pretty enough to work off what's owed."
I'm on my feet before I realize I've moved. My hands are fisted at my sides. Dante puts a warning hand on my shoulder.
"Easy, brother," he murmurs. "Let's get all the information first."
I force myself to sit back down. The rage is still burning in my chest like acid. "What else?"
"That's it, I swear. Murphy gave me an envelope to deliver along with the message. I don't know what was in it. The girl took it before I could... before things got rough."
So Elena has whatever was in that envelope. Hidden somewhere in her apartment.
"Describe Murphy."
Lee gives us a description. Average height, stocky build, Dublin accent, scar on his left hand shaped like a crescent moon. It's not much but it's more than we had an hour ago.
"How are you supposed to contact him?"
"I'm not. He contacts me when he needs something. Uses different numbers every time. Burner phones probably."
"When's the last time he contacted you?"
"This morning. Around six. Told me to meet the girl in the park, deliver the message and the envelope."
"How'd he know she'd be there?"
Lee shrugs. "I don't know, man. Maybe he's been watching her too."
The thought makes my skin crawl. How long have the Irish been surveilling Elena?
"What else?" I lean forward. "And think carefully before you answer. Because if I find out later you held something back, I'm coming for you."
"That's everything, I swear." Tears are streaming down his face now. "I'm just a runner, man. I deliver messages. I don't ask questions. Murphy pays cash, I do the job, that's it."
I study him for a long moment. He's telling the truth. He's too scared to lie.
I stand up and nod to Dante. We step away to the corner of the basement.
"What do you want to do with him?" Dante asks quietly.
