Page 74

Ah, crap.

Morgan turns and sits down on my right. She lets out an amused, almost infectious, sigh and crosses her legs. “Well, this is an odd place to be looking for my brother’s killer,” she says. “I mean… if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were leaving town without fulfilling your obligation to me. Now, how do you think this makes me feel?”

“Honestly, Morgan… I really don’t care.”

Her eye twitches. “Mr. Murray, I don’t think you’re taking this job seriously.”

“Whatever gave you that impression?” I quip.

That sour smile returns. “Turns out,” she says, “your horrible work ethic is a well-known liability.”

I frown. “Says who?”

Someone plops down on the bench to my left. I turn to see Daniel Quinn glaring at me with a large, white bandage covering his busted nose.

I sigh. “Fuck.”

“Yeah,” he says. “Fuck.”

Morgan licks her lips. “I heard about the loss of one of Daniel’s men,” she says. “In honor of my brother, I called to extend my condolences. It’s not easy to lose a valuable member of your family to such tragic circumstances.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, the community really sheds a tear every time a mobster gets whacked.”

She blinks slowly, fanning the flames in her eyes. Maybe I should cut back on the snark. Then again, fuck ‘em.

“Daniel and I had a lot to talk about,” she continues. “And guess whose name kept coming up?”

I don’t answer. She leans forward, expecting me to say something. I shrug, playing dumb.

“Yours, Mr. Murray,” she spits, impatiently. “Yours.”

“Ohhh,” I say.

Daniel slaps my shoulder. “Hey, show some respect, you little shit.”

I laugh. I can’t help it.

“I need help tracking down my brother’s killer. Daniel needs help fortifying his food truck enterprise. What’s that saying?” Morgan asks. “Oh, that’s right. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Daniel will take over where you failed and help me find Canon’s killer. I will provide my family’s resources to help his food truck get into business again after your little fuck-up in exchange for half the profits. In the end, my brother got his wish. Peace and cooperation between the families really was the best thing for us.”

“Wonderful,” I say. “I’m so thrilled you two could bond over your mutual hatred of me.”

“So are we,” Daniel says.

“Now that y’all are bosom buddies, can we put all this behind us?” I ask. “Mob war averted. Whiskey for all.”

“Not all, Mr. Murray,” Morgan says, tapping my cheek. “Not you.”

“How about I make this solution super easy and promise to leave Boston and never come back? How does that sound? I was just on my way out, anyway.”

“Not good enough,” she says. “You see, both me and Daniel here want to take a piece of you home with us today. He’s happy with your head. Just—” She slices a line along my throat with her sharp, red fingernail. “Lopped off, right at the neck. Me, however… I want something a little more below the belt.”

“Oh, yeah?” I ask, growing even more fed-up with this mob bullshit. “Is it my balls?”

She beams. “Very good, Mr. Murray!”

“You know killing me won’t solve any of your problems, right?” I ask. “You still won’t know who killed Canon.” I twist toward Daniel. “The cops still know everything about your dumbass food truck business. It’s only a matter of time before you and your whole families are rotting behind bars.”

“I don’t think you’re in any position to make threats, Milo,” Daniel says. “It’s actually a little rude.”