“And then had his parents report him as missing, for some reason.” That part didn’t make sense either. If Marco’s parents were as inattentive as Judith claimed they were, they wouldn’t have even known to report their son as missing in the first place.
“Why would someone want that, though? If Marco just disappeared, with no one to report he was gone, then why make sure that’s exactly what would happen?”
“Do you think the Snake found out that it was us?” I asked.
Dante shook his head. “How? There aren’t any street cams in this neighborhood or the alley back there. Unless someone saw us….”
“Or was watching Marco’s house.”
“But then why report him missing?” Dante frowned, jaw clenching slightly.
“I—I’m not sure.” Why didn’t it make sense? “Maybe to lead the NYPD to us?”
“The same department both of our families have in their pockets?” Dante asked, skeptical.
“I don’t know! There doesn’t seem to be any reason behind cleaning up our mess other than to mess with our heads.”
Dante studied me for a moment, eyes softening. “Then we can’t let it mess with our heads.”
The intensity in his eyes made me hesitate, breath catching in my throat. When he looked at me like that…like I was the only thing that really mattered right now, it made me want to forget everything else.
Shoving past him, I started back towards his car. Before I could reach his Jaguar's ugly matte door handle, my phone went off. Dante glanced at my pocket before unlocking the car, sliding in as I answered Mateo’s call.
“Yes?”
“You need to get back down here. Main office.” Mateo’s voice sounded strained, anger radiating from each word.
“Why?” I slid into the passenger seat, already dreading his next words.
“There’s been an incident down at the docks.”
I took a deep breath, my eyes closing briefly as I tried to rein in the stress. “What happened?”
Muffled shouting echoed behind him. “Just get down here.” He hung up before I could reply. I stared at my phone, feeling both angry and nervous.
“Mateo?” Dante asked. His voice was light, disinterested, but he wasn’t fooling me.
“We need to head back to the docks. Now.”
“Let’s go.”
As Dante took the side streets back towards the riverfront, a thousand scenarios ran through my mind. I knew it was probably another attack from the shouting and Mateo’s tone of voice. It had to be. But in broad daylight? And just after Dante and I had left?
Dante’s phone rang just as we hit the highway. He checked the caller I.D before turning on the Bluetooth.
“What is it, Killian?”
“You won’t fucking believe what’s on the news right now.”
He sighed. “Just tell me. I don’t have time for your games right now.”
“Okay, damn. Chill. I just thought you’d want to know there’s a raging bonfire down at the docks.”
My heart skipped a beat.
“What?” Dante glanced over at me.
“Don’t worry. It’s not our warehouse. One of the Rosania’s.”