“We don’t have to call them now. We can…I can get in touch with someone.”
“Even if you did manage to call the cops, Anton has people in the NYPD on his payroll. You get in touch with someone who works for him, and you might as well call him and tell him directly.”
He was right. Of course a man like Anton had eyes and ears everywhere.
I slumped back in my seat, at a loss.
Michael chewed his lip for a moment, glancing aside. I could tell there was more, something he didn’t want to tell me.
I leaned forward, my stomach tensing.
“Mike—what is it?”
He hesitated. “Anton didn’t only send me out here as a reminder.”
“Then what’s going on?”
“It’s the time. He gave you a month.”
“Right.”
“But Jason…he’s moving faster than expected. I don’t know if he suspects something or what, but we have less time than we thought.”
It was the last thing I wanted to hear.
“How much time, exactly?”
“Not a month—three weeks.”
I felt totally defeated.
“Three weeks total? So now, what, I have a week and a half?”
“I don’t know what else to tell you, sis. But…you have some good news, right? I mean, you must’ve found something.”
“Nope. Nothing.”
Now it was Mike’s turn to be defeated. “Nothing? Nothing at all?”
I shook my head. “If I didn’t already know about all this, there’s no way I would’ve found out. He keeps everything a secret. And he’s not exactly sharing things with the help.”
“Did you try his office? His computer?”
“I need his fingerprint to access it.”
Mike drummed his fingers on the table. “You have to figure out something, April. If you don’t get what Anton wants…”
“I know, I know.”
“He’ll kill me,” he finished. “And I don’t want to even guess what he’s got in mind for you.”
I knew the stakes. But hearing them like that, so bluntly…it made my stomach turn.
He checked his watch. “I have to go. Anton only gave me a few minutes.”
“Mike—”
“April, I’m so fucking sorry I got you involved in all this.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. We’re family. Whatever we’re in, we’re in it together.”
Mike nodded, as if resigned. Then he rose, and I did too. I pulled him in for a tight hug, feeling scared and helpless.
“I love you, sis.”
“I love you, too.”
That was it. Mike squeezed my arm as he left, and when he disappeared out the door, I knew it could be the last time I’d see him.
It was all up to me.