“So, I have some thoughts about how we do this,” Sloane began as she brought back a third serving of pasta from the stove. It seemed she had waited until at least Eli and Jacob had had their fill before bringing up the subject of their mission.
“Tell us,” Jacob said.
“I was going through a mental list of who we can approach and who we need to be careful about. How about you, Eli?”
Swallowing his last bit of food, he wiped his mouth with his napkin. “I do, but why don’t you start?” He had a feeling they were likely thinking of the same people, at least who might cause trouble.
She cleared her throat. “While I was away, I still had a couple of people in the clan feeding me information. Members who hated Ronan. But I don’t want to risk exposing them until we’re all clear and truly rid of Ronan’s influence, so we can’t go to them. So, first on my list is Patrick Gallagher.”
“Good choice.” That would have been his first one too. He rather liked the tough old coot, almost everyone did.
“He’s one of the older members of the clan,” Sloane continued. “A retired enforcer who was in Ronan’s father’s inner circle. He’s not active in that part of the clan’s business anymore, but everyone knows not to mess with him. Even Ronan was afraid to touch him.”
“If he’s so tough, why did he let Ronan run the clan the way he did?” Jacob asked.
“He was nearly eighty by the time I arrived, not sure what he could have done,” Eli explained. “Gotta be nearing a hundred now.”
“Ninety-four, actually,” Sloane added. “Patrick is like everyone’s cranky old grandfather and the last of the old guard. Ronan couldn’t wait for him to die, so Patrick probably hung on just to piss him off. Anyway, he gets along with everyone and it’ll make sense that we want to visit him.”
“Okay, then,” Jacob said. “Who else?”
“Martha Emcott, she was my aunt’s best friend.” Sloane had been raised by her Aunt Ella, who has passed away over a year ago and confessed to Sloane on her deathbed about Ronan murdering her parents. “She’s a sweet old lady. She’ll be thrilledwhen she learns about the baby, which will only make our cover story more convincing.” She chewed at her lip. “How about you, Eli? Who are you thinking of?”
He said the first name that came to mind. The only name, actually. “Matty.”
“Hudson? Yeah, that could work.”
“Who’s Matty?” Olivia asked.
“He’s a human member of the clan,” Sloane explained. “His dad’s a Lycan. He’s got a good heart and the kind of guy who’s everyone’s friend. He was also desperate to be part of Ronan’s crew. At first, Ronan didn’t want him because he’s human, but turned out, he was a brilliant driver.”
Eli tsked. “He could shake any tail. Drove every getaway vehicle I was in.”
“You sure you can trust this guy?” Jacob asked, skeptical.
“We don’t have to trust him,” Sloane reasoned. “We just have to convince everyone we’re coming there to visit him. And, Matty’s kind of a goofy kid. You and him were pretty tight, right, Eli?”
“S’pose so.” Like with Sloane, Eli had been protective of Matty because a lot of the guys on the crew gave him a hard time due to him not being a Lycan. If he did consider anyone a friend in the clan, it would be Matty.
“Okay, that settles that at least,” Jacob said. “Now, who do we have to watch out for?”
Once again, Eli caught Sloane’s gaze, which confirmed that they really were thinking of the same people. He nodded for her to continue speaking.
“There’s three I can think of,” she began. “One is Ronan’s most trusted captain, Sean O’Grady. And the other two are Ronan’s former bodyguards, Danny McGill and John ‘Mickey’ Mickelson.”
Eli huffed. “O’Grady was at the top of ladder in the operation, one of the youngest captains to be promoted in the crew.”
“He’s only a couple years older than us, and made no secret of the fact that he wanted a bigger role,” Sloane added. “With only the Beta and Alpha positions above him, that meant either pushing Garret out or being named heir. Ronan knew this, and used it to his advantage. He had his nose so far up Ronan’s ass you’d think he was giving him an exam.”
“And the other two?” Jacob asked.
A bad taste coated Eli’s mouth. “Just as bad, but mostly because they got off on hurting people. Real mean bastards.”
“So, what you guys are saying is, we need to watch out for all three,” Jacob concluded.
“If they’re as bad as you say, why wouldn’t the High Council charge them like they did with Garret and Forte?” Olivia asked.
“It’s not easy and the High Council only cares about Lycan-related crimes and that’s if they have evidence,” Jacob explained. “They’ve been using the diaries Sloane and I stole, and so far, they can only trace the murders to Garret.”
