My da’s heavy breathing sounded down the line.
“We’re starting to think that his haul is related to the robberies. Those gems had to be fenced somewhere, and even though the robbers gave us a number, it was a dead end.” Here came the kicker. “He dropped his tail this morning.” I closed my eyes, waiting on the explosion, and when it came, I just gritted my teeth at the verbal bombs he hurled my way. When his rant was over, I snapped, “If you’re done, I have some good news.”
“Oh, you do, do you? What the fuck would that be, Bren? Have you figured out who’s behind this fuckfest but decided to let them go free because they said sorry?”
My top lip curled into a sneer. “Fuck off, old man. I’m as knee deep in the trenches as you are. I’m pulling my weight and doing what I can to unravel this mess. I can’t do any more than I already am.”
A gust of air was my answer, before he rattled out, “What’s the good news?”
“We got a name from Coullson.”
“You sent it to Conor?”
“Yeah, but he’s not picking up his phone.”
“Probably on a bender. You know what he’s like when he’s on that damn computer,” Da dismissed, and his leniency with Con, though I was glad for his sake, pissed me off.
Fucking favoritism.
“Yeah, probably.”
“What’s the name?”
“Ainsley McKenna.”
Silence fell at that, then he muttered, “Why does that sound familiar?”
I cocked a brow he couldn’t see and asked, “Really? If you figure out where you know it, clue me in. As it stands, I’ve got Bagpipes going to the Census, and I’m going to ask the Sinners to use their contacts to find this guy.”
“No, don’t share the name with them.”
“Why not? We need to find this bastard. At the moment, he and Coullson are all we’ve got. Caro Dunbar ain’t reliable. I don’t know how long she’s got left but she came to The Hole complaining about picking up a tail.”
“She has. One of us.”
“You could have told me,” I snapped.
“Like you tell me everything?”
My nostrils flared with anger, but I just bit off, “Well, she’s safe then.”
“As safe as a double-timing rat can be.” He grunted. “Okay, keep me in the loop about this guy Coullson dropped. This McKenna.”
“I will.”
I didn’t say bye, neither did he as I slammed the phone down on him and he probably did the same to me.
For a second, I stared at the mess I’d made in my office, then I twisted around, plunked my ass on the side and stared out the window at the shit heap outside this building.
The sensation of drowning was hard to overcome.
I hadn’t shared everything with him, because he was enough of a lunatic without me adding to that by telling him the Sparrows were behind the drive-by at Finn’s wedding, and that Ma had picked up a tail along the way as well.
We were getting nowhere fast with the Sparrows, and all I knew was that their reach, theirtouchhad been directly affecting my family for years without us even knowing it.
Finding their nest had never been more important, but it had never felt more impossible either.