Page 61 of Mob Princess

18

Israel

My eyes scannedthe papers in front of me as blood thundered throughout my body.

That chief of police wasted no time in getting me documentation I could pour over myself while his men were working around the clock. And what I saw in these documents made me furious. Even to the untrained eye, it was clear something had been covered up. The redacted statements were easy enough to read, especially since they hadn’t deleted the text. Just placed faded black blocks on top of all the words.

Almost as if they wanted someone reading what was really happening.

I held the paper up to the light and held it down in my lap. I contorted the papers every which way, adding heat and water and scanning the documents into my laptop. I manipulated them every which way I could before I finally pieced the redacted text together into cohesive sentences that were easy to read.

And with all of that information in play, I already had theories as to who was responsible for the cover-up of the murder of Bonnie’s parents.

“Hey, Israel?”

Her voice made my heart jump, but I kept my cool on the outside. “Yeah?”

“Could we talk for a second?”

I slid the papers easily into the file, hoping not to startle her with my movements. “Yeah. Sure. What’s on your mind?”

She walked in and sat a glass of wine in front of me. “Here. You look like you need a drink.”

I reached for it. “I do after that run-in with your uncle.”

She sat down in front of me. “I’m so sorry that happened today. I wish I would’ve been with you.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay. I had myself convinced that when I got home, you’d be dead on the floor in the living room or something.”

“I’m fine. I promise. No one’s been here all day.”

I threw the wine back with one gulp. “All right. Hit me with it. What’s on your mind?”

She gazed down into her glass. “Who was that woman your father brought to the anniversary party?”

I blinked. “You mean Alice?”

She nodded, but still didn’t look at me. “Yeah. Her. Who is she?”

“Just a girl.”

“A girl you were with at one point, right?”

I sighed. “Bonnie, look at me.”

Her eyes slowly rose. “All I want to know is if she’s a threat to us. A rival family, maybe? Or someone your father introduced you to in order to throw you off?”

I stared at her. “Is that all you want to know?”

She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, a slight tsking sound escaping her lips. “It is, yes.”

“Because here again, I think you’re lying to me.”

“I’m really not. We haven’t actually had a chance to talk about the party over the past few days. I’d like to talk about it now if that’s okay.”

“And it can’t wait until tomorrow?”

“Not unless you want me to be up all night thinking about it.”

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