Page 93 of Callan

Things surely would be different now if someone watched me.

Or if they watched her.

“They put the pictures there,” I say. “Watch your back, Bev. He knows about you.”

“He?”

“Yeah… It’s a man with a weird sense of humor.”

She thinks about what I just said.

“Are you saying he’s an outsider?” she asks.

“It could be anyone. For sure, it’s someone who has too much time on their hands and likes to fuck with people’s minds. Carmen is a pawn. Like her husband. Like Daniela. No one I know would spend so much time plotting this shit out. Maybe they’re after nothing in the end. Only running interference. But he’s a thug for sure.”

“Or maybe this whole thing is a decoy,” she suggests.

“Yeah… I wouldn’t dismiss that. Whatever it is, this is very personal. It’s more than someone questioning my power or stealing from me. Do me a favor. Go back to that file and check all the family members on that list. Maybe there was an uncle or a lost brother––someone aware of the feud between our families but not present when we were at war. Other than that, pay extra attention to any clue. The last thing I want is to have the authorities on my tail. I have a feeling this person would stop at nothing to have some fun at my expense.”

“All right,” she says after a moment. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you too.”

We hang up, and my hand drops to my side, my phone clutched in my grip.

A fresh scent drifts from the Christmas tree before mixing with the aroma of sweet bread flooding the house.

The smell alone brings back memories from when this house was full of people, and my mother and the staff cooked, and we, the boys, couldn’t wait to celebrate Christmas and get our gifts.

Who knew life would look so different in the future?

Look at us now.

I haven’t spoken to Ewan and Duncan in days.

The weird thing is that Ewan is still here in New York. He’s got a new house on the North Shore of Long Island.

I only stopped by his house twice. I had some business meetings in the area and thought I’d say hello.

The first time, no one was home.

He only has staff in the house a couple of days a week––he told me that a few days later when I caught up with him on the phone.

The place is beautiful and gloomy.As if a ghost lives there.

He’s not that far from resembling one.

He is not the man he used to be since the event that changed his life.

And Duncan?

I hate to say it, but he’s not much different.

Being older than us––Alistair and me––didn’t work in their favor. If anything, it made things more challenging for them.

They also lost much more than us.

Closing my eyes and scrubbing a hand over my face, I let out a sigh, my mind going back to that woman.

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