He brushed my comment aside. “No, I haven’t formally passed on the family legacy, but you know you’re running things, I know you’re running things, and so do our enemies.”
“I took a deep breath and blew it out hard.”
My father smiled. “It’s a heavy weight, but it’s also a privilege.”
I nodded. I believed that as much as he did.
“I’m not saying you don’t know how to take action. I’m not saying I wouldn’t trust you, or that I wouldn’t hope it was you leading the charge if someone came after us directly. It’s not an easy balance.”
“You did a great job, Pop. I want to be as good.”
“You will. Listen to me, then go with your gut. Whoever you think is the lead on moving this stuff, you’re probably right. Listen to X too. Franco Marchesi says X is one of the few men he wouldn’t want to turn against them. Those are big words. He’s an important contact to have.”
“I know, Pop.” As if I weren’t worried enough about the meeting as it was.
He smiled. “Now, if you’re right, and the Landrys are connected—and I believe they are—this whole thing stinks just like everything they put their hands in. So what are you going to do about them?
“You’re really turning this over to me?”
He nodded. “I am.”
I narrowed my eyes, studying him. “You don’t intend to step in before we make our move?”
“I promised Marjorie I’d step back, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
“You deserve more time with her.”
He nodded. “I do, and I’m lucky to have sons who can take over for me so I can take that time without worrying the family business is going to fall apart.”
“We want to be here for you, Pop.”
“Good. Now tell me what you plan to do about the Landrys.”
“Every time we’ve gone against them, we’ve stopped short of annihilation, and they’ve come crawling back like roaches when the light goes out. It’s time to take more permanent action.”
He nodded. “I agree.”
“We need to eliminate all the powerful players and anyone who has been directly involved with the gunrunners.”
“Does that include Elandra?”
Elandra Landry was Timon’s wife. He was the family boss, but she was a most unusual wife for our world. She had her hands in as much of the business as he did, maybe more, but we had rules we always stuck by. We didn’t kill women, and we didn’t kill children. In this case, though, things were different than they’d been in any of the other battles I’d engaged in. “I don’t know, Pop. That’s a hard call.”
“Yes, it is, son.”
“And you’re not going to tell me what you’d do, are you?”
“No, not this time. Not right now anyway.”
“If she comes for us directly, if she shoots first, then she goes down with her husband.”
“That is why I always worked hard to keep your mother out of everything I did. Then Marjorie didn’t want secrets between us, and I didn’t want to keep things from her.”
If I thought Elandra only knew secrets like my stepmother did, I’d make sure she left town and couldn’t come back, but if I found out the rumors were true and she’d killed my cousin Dustin, she wouldn’t get an offer that kind.
Dustin had been shot in the back the last time we’d tangled with the Landrys. He’d only been twenty-two, and he’d been brash and stupid and took a hell of a lot of chances, but he was family. Our rules were important, and we stuck by them faithfully, but sometimes a person’s actions deserved consequences that made it necessary for us to break them.
Pop and I caught up on some more minor matters of business before wrapping up. My father stayed in his office, and I found my stepmother and said goodbye.
“Don’t let your father get involved in whatever is heating up with the Landrys,” she said.
“I’ll do my best, but he’s stubborn, and ultimately he’s the head of the family, so…”
“Tell him he can direct things from here.”
“I have a feeling he’s more likely to listen to you than me, but if it makes you feel better, he seemed to be backing off. He really wants to do this for you.”
I said goodbye and left, not feeling any less concerned about the situation than I had when I’d arrived. I wanted my father to have time to relax. I wanted my stepmother not to be worried about him all the time, but this was a heavy weight. I needed to make sure the family looked strong while also seeing that my father didn’t overexert himself. It fell to me to keep my brothers and everyone I cared about safe. I pushed all those thoughts aside. No matter how much I’d taken on, I deserved to occasionally enjoy myself, so I was going to take Henri on a shopping expedition.
10
Henri
I took some time to explore Remington’s house. He’d told me I could, and I wasn’t about to turn him down. The place was gorgeous, and I was hoping I might learn something about him. I considered seeing if I could get into his locked office, but even if I did, I was sure he’d figure it out. I didn’t want to think about what the consequences of my defiance would be.
Still, there was plenty to discover in the rooms that were open to me. On a cart in the kitchen, I found a stack of cookbooks, most of them vintage. I guessed they were collectibles rather than something he used regularly. He seemed like the kind of man who just knew what he wanted and made it.
On the ground floor, along with the kitchen, there was a modest-sized living room that made me feel as if I’d stepped into the 1920s with its antique furniture and black-and-white pictures on the wall showing New Orleans during that era. There was even an old phonograph in the corner, and I wondered if it actually worked. Before I explored
