Stan hissed. “You’re shitting me.”
“I’m not. No. Man, that’s some fucked-up coincidence?—”
“Who’s Anastasia Brackton?” I demanded.
“I’ll explain later.” To Star, he asked, “Did she give him the files?”
“Yeah. It’s marked as payment received. But he was a real cunt. He always upped his demands. Once she gave him that file, she was in his pocket for good.”
“Tell Aidan,” Stan insisted.
“Wait, no!” I sputtered. “We weren’t?—”
“We have no choice. This is bigger than us now, Kitty. Bigger than Beatriz.”
“According to the files, she’s dead. That’s the only reason for him to archive her folder.”
“She isn’t dead. We saw her a couple hours ago at the Sinners’ compound in Ohio.”
Star fumed, “What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to get in touch with Martinez about this. He needs to know. This might have happened years ago, but the repercussions might still be felt now.”
“They might not,” Star pointed out. “This could be old news to him.”
I shook my head—the vibe during that meal at Martinez’s place when he’d brought up Beatriz had been grief-stricken, not interrogative.
“What’s your gut say?” Stan caught sight of my headshake. “Mine’s screaming. Thiscan’tbe a coincidence.”
“No.” Star sighed. “You’re right.”
“Even if I’m wrong, she could be in danger.”
“She’s safe with the Sinners. Especially the Ohio chapter. It’s a lot quieter there, more than ever since Storm took over. The brothers are nearly all family men and?—”
“Do you want to risk those families?” Stan bit off. “Do you want their blood on your hands if something goes wrong?”
“I’ll tell Aidan. You contact Martinez. Maybe we can hook up a meeting between the pair of them?” Star cleared her throat. “I’ll phrase this as Valentini intel.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you’re the one bringing this info to the table and it’ll shore up ties between the two families. You forget, Stan, that with your sister’s ties to theCamorra, the Sicilian presence in the UScouldusurp Irish dominion. Especially as the Irish are beginning to fade into the background with their other plans in mind…”
Stan rubbed his eyes. “Did I mention that I hate politics?”
She snickered. “Yeah. Many times. But it’s all for the good. Your faction’s relationship with theLobos Rojosis stronger than ours and you and your brother are tied to the Irish with your choice of brides?—”
“We’re not married yet!”
“Operative word here being yet, Kitty,” she said dryly. “Okay. I’ll get in touch with Aidan.”
“Yeah, I’ll contact Martinez. Update me as soon as you can.”
“Same?”
“Sure.”
As he ended the call, he was already scrolling through his contacts, but he answered me before I could even ask a question: “Have you heard of Graham Brackton?”
