Page 30 of Iron Cross

“Youdid, when you let me have Keith,” she said with malicious glee in her eyes.

I’ll never forget her manic euphoria as she shoveled dirt onto him as he was still breathing. She was an avenging angel, sending him to Hell where he belonged. It was a sight to behold. One that even Kira would have marveled at, in her golden heart.

“And you callmemacabre?” I opened the driver side door and stepped out, feeling the wet ground splash against the soles of my boots.

She followed suit, as I made sure to lock the doors, but not the trunk.

We’d need easy access to that soon enough.

“Listen to me, Chicken Alfredo,” Shiny said, her swollen knuckles holding her blade at the Durante boy’s throat. “If you don’t start clucking, I’ll detach your balls, stuff them in your mouth, and bury you that way.Capiche?”

For a girl who used to love fairy tales and Disney, she had really caught up on her mafia movies. Too bad they were utter nonsense.

“Capiche isn’tactuallyan Italian word,” I chided, from my place at the wall, watching Shiny do a fantastic job of scaring the piss out of our Italian friend. “Capiche is an Americanization ofcapisci, which is the second-person singular present indicative form of the verb—”

I cut my response when Shiny glared at me. “Hey, boss? Do you mind not correcting my non-existent Italian in front of the hostage? It sends a mixed message.”

I raised my hands in surrender and leaned back to the wall, looking around the cramped basement with its metal tables and borderline-medicinal equipment. Acquiring the crematory had been my father’s stroke of genius. We were the silent partners of a funeral home out in these little towns as a means of disposal.

Our dismal purpose was covered by the subtle floral perfume in the air. Like sweetpea and lillies, now mixed with Alfredo’s coppery blood.

Best to let the pawns do the dirty work, after all.

That was part of leadership - stepping back and letting others take the lead. At least that was what Morelli said - only do the dirty work if it made a point.

I wondered if that had been my father’s philosophy. If so, why had he never taught it to me? Why was I handed lessons on Vlad Tepes when a course or two on Organizational Psychology would have done the trick? The simple task of stepping back and letting my captains lead changed my view of the chessboard before me. That was one of the ways I had extended my hand.

“Fucking nerd,” Shiny grumbled as she turned back to our captive guest.

“When you have kids,” I couldn’t help but say, “we’ll need to make sure they speak Italian.”

The world was getting smaller, not larger, and anyone who was multilingual had a distinct advantage. Her children, Dairo’s twins, and mine, needed to be raised to take their place among the New York City elites. After all, New York was one of the world’s great epicenters. Best the Greens get ahold of their little kingdom.

“We’re not in the ‘having kids’ part of the marriage yet,” Shiny said, sighing.

Well, that was peculiar.

“You used to want a dozen children, Shiny. I’m sure it won’t take you long.” I pulled my own blade out, and as was my habit, began picking dirt from behind my nails.

“I mean, we’ve talked about it,” she sheepishly admitted, as Alfredo Durante groaned and whispered, his head lolling about as tears streaked his cheeks. Shiny stood up straight and brought her blood-stained blade to her lip, using it to think. Then she sighed. “I thought I was going to be married at eighteen. There was a ton of time to have all those kids. I’m no spring chicken. Neither is Ajax. Two might be more than we can handle—”

“Oh, come on, Shiny. It’s not like we wouldn’t be able to hire help or, hell, Aoibhean and everyone else would be more than willing to do it for free. We have an entire village—

“Let me go…” The low, quiet voice of our hostage broke our domestic discussion.

“Don’t interrupt!” I lunged forward, and slapped Alfredo on the cheek like he was a misbehaving child.

The man was as bruised as an overripe tomato. Half his face was swollen. At least two teeth were on the floor. We broke his arm hauling him into the trunk when he unexpectedly started to put up a fight. I was fairly certain that Shiny’s well-landed blow had broken a rib or two as well.

“Listen, asshole.” Shiny almost sounded amused as she swung her blade, slicing the air. The eerie sound made my heart jump with sadistic glee. “Tell us what you know about Kira Kekoa—”

“Green!” I corrected, pushing off the wall, coming to my full height. “Her name is Kira Green!”

Shiny rolled her eyes and continued. “Tell us what you know about KiraGreenand we might think about letting you go.”

Which was an absolute lie. The only way he’d get out of here was in pieces.

And not very big ones either…

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