Page 65 of Mob Star

Fecking hell. It smells worse than the Queens Zoo aviary. There’re birds of paradise, and what I think are cockatoos and toucans— definitely not as fun as the freaking cereal mascot. I don’t think Toucan Sam smells like shite. I can’t say I feel sorry for Rowan’s men who will be stuck with the stench in the truck.

With spider monkeys, lizards, and birds, the back of the truck is noisy. We shut the door fast and head out. Since Colleen was a veterinarian and specialized in working with rescued animals, we have a connection with animal protection up here. Without special permits and licenses, it’s illegal to own, propagate, or cultivate exotic animals in Massachusetts. It’s already close to seven-thirty, so our connection should be at work by now. I shoot off a quick text and get an immediate response.

Our license plates don’t match the vehicles, and we all have ski masks to shield us from the security cameras. I don’t give a shite about O’Malley’s men since they won’t live long enough for anyone to find them. The woman who meets us nearly has a heart attack when she sees how many animals we have. There’s barely enough room for all of them. We give her the information about the two homes we took them from. She knows Rowan and Riley are involved, so there’s no need to give her their information.

Our next stop is practically in the heart of the city, just around the corner from the famous Boston Common. We own a boutique near Beacon Hill, the most expensive area of the city. Houses here go for three-point-two mill. This is the perfect place for us to conduct business since no one expects us to be here. The boutique is a legit business that Lisa, my second cousin twice removed, runs. The O’Malleys don’t have her on their radar, so they have no idea she’s related to us.

When we need to stash shite, we come there. She has plenty of space in the back of her store. Everything goes in, and it’ll be safe there until more O’Rourke men can come up from New York tonight and load it up. They’ll bring everything back to us. It’s risky to have these goods change hands so many times, but it makes it harder to track.

Our last stop for this wave of my plan is a meat grinding factory near Lowell. Morning traffic turns what should be a forty-five-minute drive into just over an hour, but it’s fine. Let those men shite themselves, wondering what’s going to happen to them now that the box truck is empty, but they’re still locked inside. Tom and Peter stay there with the O’Malleys to oversee their disposal while the rest of us look for our friend, Corey.

His security detail is lazy as fuck. They don’t notice as I saunter up the path from the sidewalk. They’re snoring too loudly to hear me. Silencers on my guns take care of them. Corey’s ex-wife left his arse twenty years ago. He can’t find anyone to fuck him despite how much he tries to pay women. His sons have their own places above bars they own. I know they’re not home. I contemplate kicking his door open to make a statement that nothing’s keeping me out. But I opt for a more subtle entrance.

With my lock picking set, I let myself in while my men spread out to guard the perimeter. I tip toe up the stairs to the second floor. I ease the bedroom door open. How polite of him to sleep on his back with this mouth hanging open. I put my pistol’s barrel in his mouth.

“Wake the fuck up.” I slam my fist into his sternum.

He jerks awake, his teeth smashing the gun as he tries to snap his jaw closed. His eyes widen as he takes in who’s leaning over him. His eyes dart around the room, and I let him look. There’s not a damn person here to help him.

“Corey, we’re going to have a little chat. If I don’t like your answers, I’ll blow your brains out. Understood?”

He makes some garbled sound then nods his head.

“Did you throw a brick through my girlfriend’s window?”

His brow furrows.

“Oh, so you just assumed you could intimidate Althea with no repercussions?”

His eyes open even wider. I didn’t think it was possible. I’ll take that as a yes.

“Did you cause her dad’s accident?”

He nods.

“Why?” I pull the gun out of his mouth, pointing it between his eyes instead. Terror pulsates off him, and he appears to struggle to put a thought together. He’s certain he won’t survive this chat. Who knew the harbinger of death was a ginger?

“Because he believes he’s too good for his past. So does his slut daughter.”

I slam my fist into his sternum again. “I already told you she’s my girlfriend.”

“Exactly.”

Getting ballsy for someone who’s about to get his junk blown off. I swing my arm to point my pistol at his crotch.

“Did Althea’s father run with your club back in the day?”

The background check my brother Sean ran already told me Thea grew up in Boston but moved down to NYC after med school. Once her younger brother went to college, her parents moved closer to Thea’s mom’s family. It was the slight New England accent I heard when I met Thea. I know Brandon— her dad —had a few arrests for petty shite, but they were before Thea was born. His rap sheet listed no accomplices. Her dad’s background check showed no known associates that concerned us.

We learned our lesson with Mair. Not only do we do more extensive checks on all employees, but we extend it to their family. Sean insisted on that for Thea. I haven’t told her yet, but I will. I don’t want to freak her out, but I’m going to have to admit I know some shite about her family. I just didn’t know this. It makes me wonder if her connection to Corey is what Dillan wanted to tell me, but I said I wanted Thea to tell me on her own.

Her parents’ childhood addresses along with where they lived when Thea was a kid weren’t in neighborhoods commonly associated with motorcycle clubs. Brandon grew up here in Boston, and Thea’s mom— Sandra —grew up in north Jersey. I know Thea’s family struggled when she and her brothers were really young, but her dad made good money after he started at the company he works for now. He got a transfer to a site in Jersey, right outside the city. Her mom stayed home with her kids before they went to school, but she went back to work full time once Thea’s younger brother was in kindergarten. They were comfortable after that.

Corey’s glare is wasted as he answers me. “Yeah.”

“But he got out. Why?”

“Because he thought he was too good for us once he became a welder. Doesn’t matter that he married a Black woman. He thinks he can pass himself off as something he isn’t just cause he doesn’t look like her or us. He didn’t want to ride with our crew once his mom’s side of the family got to him. They thought they were too good for us too, but not for the same reason.”

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