“And you think he’s working for the Ramsays?”
“I’m positive about that. After we ran him off, he abandoned the apartment he had on the east side and moved to the west side. The house he moved into is owned by one of the Ramsay’s shell corporations. He’s been living there over a month now, and when Reid’s hacker checked the rental car, it was paid for out of one of the Ramsay’s accounts.”
“But what exactly is he doing for them?” My own paranoia sets in as I try to come up with a plausible reason this supposedly random guy would be following my Cherry. “Do you think he’s…he’s protecting Cherry?”
“If he is, it means she’s working with them. Either way, we have a problem.”
Cherry working with the Ramsays?
I taste bile in the back of my throat. This can’t be right—it just can’t be. Cherry is sweet and naïve and couldn’t possibly be involved with people like the Ramsays. It’s just not possible.
Is it?
I should have killed that guy when Pops told me to.
“We need to have him picked up,” I say. I glance at Pops, waiting for him to remind me of his previous advice about Cherry’s date, but he just leans against the wall, smirking. “We need to know what he knows.”
“Agreed,” Antony says.
“I want to know who the fuck her real parents are, and why the Ramsays are interested in her. If he’s working for them, he might be able to give us the answers we need.”
“I can pick him up tomorrow.”
Tomorrow. No fucking way. I want that guy right here and right now. Cherry can’t possibly be involved in any of this, and I need to hear that from his mouth.
“I want to talk to him now.” I move around the desk and pull open a drawer.
“Why the rush?” Antony asks.
I reach into the drawer and grab the gun and holster inside. I can’t help but see the black velvet box sitting next to the weapon.
“Antony?”
“Yeah, boss?”
I take out the velvet box and hold it up.
“I was going to do this next week at the end of the festival.” I open the lid to display the brilliant diamond solitaire inside.
“I understand,” Antony says when he glances at the box.
“Do you?” I lean against the desk, place the diamond between us, and force him to look at me. I hope the panic that is starting to rise inside of me isn’t obvious. “I’m serious about this, cousin.”
“We’ll get your answers before then.” He nods, and I can see his throat bob as he swallows. “I swear.”
“We need to get those answers now.”
“I’ll go see if the car is in front of her place.”
“I’m going with you.”
“No, boss.”
“What?” I slam the gun down on the desktop in front of me.
“If she sees you there…we don’t want to risk that.” He takes a step away from the desk and holds up his hands. “I’ll get a couple of the guys together—people Cherry hasn’t seen before—and we’ll take care of it. I’ll stay out of sight. Once we have him, I’ll call you.”
I have to admit that Antony is right. I can’t risk Cherry looking out her window and seeing me grabbing someone out of a car. She’s far less likely to recognize Antony from that distance. As long as Antony stays out of sight, the risk is minimal.
“All right,” I finally say, “you go get him.”
“Boss, before we go pick him up, there’s more you should know.”
“Jesus, Antony—I don’t think I can take any more right now.” Giving up on trying to hide how this information is affecting me, I drop down into the chair and try to slow my breathing and heart rate. My hands are starting to shake, and I press them to my thighs to conceal their trembling.
“I know, Nate, but I need to tell you. I can’t walk out of here until you have all the information I have. It’s about where I found the original birth certificate.”
“Where?” I look up again, apprehensive.
“Right next to this one.” He places yet another copy of Cherry’s forged birth certificate on the desk.
“Where?” I ask again, knowing full well that I am not going to like the answer.
“In your business files,” he says quietly. “From the dates of the other documents, I’d say Micha placed it there about two weeks before we found him in the woods.”
“How do you know Micha put it there and not Pops?”
“Because it was in a file from March of last year,” Antony says. “Carlo was in Seattle, working out that document deal with Franks. Your father was out of town that whole month before Micha was found. Micha made sure the information was dated, and I think his handwriting is on some of it. There’s also some stuff about the club, and Pops didn’t give a shit about the club.”
“What? And he does now?” I look over at Pops and laugh.
“Who does what?” Antony narrows his eyes.
“You think he gives a shit about the club now that he walked in there once?” I point my thumb in Pops’ direction. Antony glances up, but instead of asking Pops outright, Antony turns back to me.
“When did he go to the club?”
I roll me eyes and stare at the ceiling for a moment before glaring at my cousin.
“Forget it.” I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. Get back to Micha.”
“Okay.” Antony gives me a strange look before he continues. “The gist of it is, Micha had a copy of Cherry’s forged birth certificate.”
“So he had it, but why? Do you think…you think the
