“We should go to my house and search for those bugs.” Lev says as he accepts his car keys from the valet.
I shake my head. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Morelli told Zara that a good businessman keeps his assets under constant control. If we remove whatever he has installed to listen, he’ll know that we know what he’s up to.”
“But didn’t he just tell Zara that he’s listening to us?” Lev argues.
“He was vague about it. I think he just implied that he had had us followed after the race. But he knew our plans in too much detail. He had to have listened to what we were saying this morning and last night. Until we’re sure about what’s going on, we can’t use your house anymore, or if we do, we need to be aware that we’re being spied on.”
Lev runs a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. “Fuck. You’re right. So if not to my house, where do you want to go? I wouldn’t mind checking on Zara.”
“Don’t do anything out of the ordinary. Zara is safe with Chance at my place. Let’s not draw attention to them for now. I think we need to pretend that we’re none the wiser about what Zara told us, so you should go home tonight. After we go see your parents. I want to know everything they can tell us about Morelli and his family.”
Lev nods, but he doesn’t look happy about it. “Fine. I guess we should warn them too.”
“Your car might be under surveillance, too.” I warn him as I walk around his SUV to ride shotgun. “So we should turn the radio on during our ride to your parents’ office. Once we get there, if you don’t mind, let me do the initial talking. We don’t know if their offices are under surveillance, too.”
The ride to Lev’s family’s law firm is a short one.
As we leave the new marina where the Country and Yachts Club is located, we drive past the pier and the new port, headed toward the heart of downtown Star Cove.
This is one of the oldest areas of town; most of the buildings have been standing since the turn of the last century or even before then.
We drive past Main Street with the Grand Hotel and an array of cafes and restaurants, and upmarket boutiques. These shops serve the tourists during the summer; but, unlike the pier wheremost establishments are seasonal, the core of these businesses remain open year round.
Past the most commercial part of Main Street, we come into view of the Town Hall, the courthouse and the sheriff’s station.
Lev’s family firm, Larson and Reilly, is located right across the courthouse.
The imposing building is covered in white stucco, with columns decorating the front.
A mahogany reception desk is the first point of contact for whoever comes in.
Despite it being past six p.m., the receptionist is still at her desk.
“Good evening, can I help you? Oh, Levin, sweetheart. How nice to see you. Ares, you too. I don’t think I’ve seen you since…” her voice fades away.
She hasn’t seen me since she attended Atlas’s funeral with half the town. Donna has been with Lev’s parents probably since way before we were born and has known all of us forever.
I offer her a nod, and our gazes meet. Her brown eyes are full of understanding and compassion, and no words are necessary. Dad’s sports agency is right next door, and Donna had to put up with me, Lev, and my brothers running around this very reception every time school was let out early. That was before Chance and Lev began playing hockey more seriously and Atlas and I became old enough to be trusted at home without adult supervision.
“Good evening, Donna. Are my parents in?”
The middle-aged woman’s eyes go from us to the flat screen of her computer. “They are. I’m sorry to ask you this, but do you have an appointment? They’re both working on big cases right now, and you know how busy they get.”
“I know.” Lev nods, his tone still kind. “But Ares and I need to talk to both of them. We won’t be long, but it’s important.”
After a moment of hesitation, Donna nods. “Of course. I’m going to let them know. The boardroom should be empty right now; if you want to head there, they’ll be with you as soon as they can.”
We walk past the reception desk and up a grand staircase that leads to the executive offices on the top floor.
The ground floor is occupied by the junior associates and the paralegals who work for the firm.
Despite Star Cove being a small town, Lev’s great-great-grandfather started this firm here over eighty years ago with his college buddy, Theodore Larson. Generations of Larsons and Reillys have been succeeding the founders, and the firm has flourished, working some really big cases all over the county as well as in San Francisco and LA.
The boardroom reflects the old-fashioned opulence of the building with dark mahogany furniture, but a modern twist can be seen in all the glass and chrome accents in the light fittings and the long, rectangular tempered glass table.
A huge screen for presentations occupies one wall, and portraits of the founding members and the firm partners through the generations are hanging on the walls.
Christopher Reilly, Lev’s father, keeps the mahogany and glass door open for his wife.
