There’s a knock on my door, signaling my men are here. “Come in,” I call.
“Got that situation with Malone handled,” Ian reports as soon as he’s through the door. “He paid in full, plus the extra ten percent for making us hunt him down.”
“Any trouble?” I ask, pouring three glasses of whiskey and sliding two across the desk to where they’ve sat down.
Colin shakes his head. “Nothing serious. Got a little mouthy at first, but…” He shrugs, the implication clear.
“Good.” I sit back down. “What about the Kendrick property?”
“Signed over this morning,” Ian says. “Clean transfer, no loose ends.”
We spend the next hour going through business matters; who’s paid, who’s late, who needs a reminder that the Russo family doesn’t extend credit indefinitely. It’s routine, familiar. The work I was raised to do.
“One more thing,” I say when they look like they’re ready to leave. “I went to collect the Brewer debt today.”
They both straighten in their seats as I explain I have Alina Brewer here and that her sister had left, seemingly without telling anyone.
“Damn,” Colin whistles.
“That’s fucked up,” Ian growls.
“I want every inch of not just Cleveland, but all of fucking Ohio scoured for her,” I order. “Use every fucking resource we have available.”
There’s no logical reason for me to hunt down Sabrina since she was never the collateral. But the way she left and destroyed Alina’s things doesn’t sit right with me. Maybe I’ll charge her for that since I have to replace the clothes unless I want Alina walking around my home naked.
Hmm, I wouldn’t mind that, actually.
Colin nods slowly. “She’s the influencer chick, right?”
“She is,” I confirm.
“We could contact the social media platform,” Ian suggests. “We might not be able to pull strengths with the big ones. But the local ones, like… what’s that one called again?”
“LakeEffect,” Colin answers.
“Yeah, man. That’s the one.” Ian looks downright giddy now. “It’s this weird thing that popped up last year. Basically, it’s a Cleveland-only app that combines reels, event discovery, and local clout metrics.”
While he talks, I download the app onto my phone and create a burner account. It doesn’t take long to look through the features, which cover Shoreline Stories, restaurant tagging with influencer score, weekly trending neighborhoods, and even a verified local badge.
It doesn’t take more than five taps to find Sabrina Brewer, or @SabrinaLux as she’s called. “Looks like she’s still in Cleveland,” I observe, turning my phone around to show them her latest check-in.
They both laugh.
“Gotta love social media,” Colin chortles.
“What a dumb bitch,” Ian guffaws while rolling his eyes.
Noticing the time, I instruct them both to keep an eye on Sabrina. “I don’t want anyone to corner her or even threaten her. I just need to make sure she doesn’t disappear.”
“You got it, boss.”
“Absolutely.”
“One more thing,” I say, looking straight at Colin. “Is your half-sister Allie still unemployed?”
“She is.”
That makes me smile at how perfect the timing is. “Tell her she just got promoted to help run the Brewer Family Bakery.”
