As I downed my coffee the next morning, I realized something: I was in Carolina Bombay’s hometown. I could stop by and see her and ask her about my orders. Yes. That would work. Aunt Carolina would have to give me something to work with. Mainly because I wouldn’t leave her house until she did.
I called first, because I’m not rude. Carolina sounded thrilled that I was in town. By the time I got to her house, my cousins Gin and Dak had joined her for a little family reunion. In spite of the fact that this was business, I was happy to see them.
“Coney!” Gin squealed as she hugged me. Dak grinned from behind her, holding his son’s hand. Louis smiled up at me.
“Hey, cuz. Great to see you two.” And I meant it.
Carolina emerged from the dining room carrying a tiny, redheaded infant. She introduced the baby as Dak and Leonie’s daughter, Sofia.
“You guys sure are settling down,” I observed. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined Dak married with kids.
“So when will this happen to you?” Gin asked.
I winced. A month or so ago, I would’ve thought it possible. Now it seemed like I would never start a family. With a twinge of surprise, I found myself feeling sad about that.
I took the baby from my aunt and cradled her in my arms. “I don’t think so.” Sofia cooed and promptly fell asleep. She smelled like talcum powder, and I realized I was sniffing her head.
“Yeah, right.” Dak laughed.
I tried to smile. I really did. But something about holding that baby made me feel sick inside. I cursed the Bombay family for taking this chance away from me. Carolina brought out some wine and cheese, then took the baby back. I watched her expression of unadulterated bliss.
“I know Georgia would be a wonderful grandmother,” Carolina said, looking directly at me.
“I think you’re right,” I said. But that was impossible. First of all, my idiot brother, Richie, had to go and get himself killed-which was okay, because I was pretty sure any spawn he had would’ve been born with the mark 666. And second, well, unless I got a surrogate, there wasn’t much hope for my procreating.
“What brings you to the area?” Gin asked as her daughter, Romi, burst into the room only long enough to grab her cousin Louis and run off.
“An assignment. Your mom called. I thought I’d get some details.”
I watched as everyone looked at one another. While it wasn’t unheard-of for Bombays to talk over their assignments, it was still pretty rare.
“Should we leave?” Dak started to rise to his feet.
I waved him back down. “No. Stay. It doesn’t matter to me.”
In fact, the only person it would matter to was Carolina. She was a member of the council. If it was top-secret, she’d let us know.
My aunt seemed to think about this for a moment. “No, it’s okay. What did you want to know?”
“Why do you want me to bring these two people back to Santa Muerta?”
“What two people?” Gin asked.
“My girlfriend and my former vic.” There was a stunned hush. I don’t know if that was because they were surprised I had a girlfriend or at the fact that any vic was considered “former” and not “late.”
Carolina nodded. “You didn’t clear your assignment. You brought Vic to the island, then took him off…alive. We want to know why.”
“And the reason I am supposed to bring Veronica Gale into all of this?”
“We think she knows too much,” Carolina said slowly. She knew she had to be careful. Both Gin and Dak had involved their mates in the family and almost had to kill them.
“I was careful,” I said, hoping that would be enough.
“We have to make sure,” my aunt said evenly. “For everyone’s safety.”
“I can’t let you kill her. I won’t allow it. If we leave her alone, she will never know anything.”
Carolina shook her head. “You know the rules, Coney. Unless you marry her and tell her everything, she is dangerous to the family.”
“That’s not going to happen, Aunt Carolina.” I felt a stab of pain. I wanted to marry Ronnie. But there were too many complications.
“What?” Gin shouted. “That’s so wrong!”
“What are you complaining about?” Dak asked her. “You’re retired, remember?”
His sister shot him a look that would’ve eaten paint off a wall.
“That doesn’t matter. I still think it’s unfair.”
Carolina spoke up. “This is the wrong business for fairness, Gin.”
“I don’t like it either,” Dak said. I was thinking I might not have to say anything at all. “The council once put a hit on my wife.”
His mother nodded. “I can see that. However, sometimes there are gray areas when it comes to a job. It’s not easy to come up with reasons all the time. You will just have to trust that the council knows what it’s doing.”
That stopped us all short. Trust wasn’t exactly a typical family trait with the Bombays. In fact, it was usually quite the opposite.
“Well, I think that’s bullshit,” Gin spit.
Carolina snapped, “You will not swear around Sofia!” She even covered the sleeping infant’s ears.
“It is bullshit, Mom.” Dak’s temper was rising. “I think there should be a family meeting about this.”
“We’ve never had a family meeting to decide how the council does things. Not in four thousand years,” Carolina said calmly. “The business is evolving.”
“And what if we refuse?” Gin asked. Clearly she forgot that she was the only Bombay ever given retirement. But I admired the fact that she was sticking up for the rest of us.
“Don’t tell me how to do my job,” Carolina snapped.
Dak stood up and pointed at his mother. “This is wrong. And you know it.”
“What do you think, Coney?” Gin asked.
“I think I’m tired of this whole mess.”
Dak frowned. “What do you mean?”
I stood up. “I’m sick of the fact that we can’t get involved with people without the scrutiny of the council, wanting to know everything.”
“And what about your vic, Coney?” Carolina asked calmly. “Why didn’t you clear your assignment?”
It was a good question. A fair one. “I just didn’t feel like it.”
Gin and Dak looked from me to their mother, who stared openmouthed at me.
“Coney, you know the rules,” Carolina said steadily. “We have a client who paid us to have Vic killed. You don’t get to say no.”
I shrugged. “Well, this time I did.” I understood this was earth-shattering. Dekker wasn’t a saint. He was a bad guy. But there was more to it than that. And maybe after four thousand years, it was time to say, Enough.
“Do not put us in this position,” Carolina pleaded. “I don’t want to sign your death warrant. I don’t want to do that to your mother. She’s already lost Richie.”
“Do what you must,” I said, wondering if she would kill me right then and there.
“Mom?” Gin said weakly as her brother sat down and dropped his face into his hands. “Mom, you can’t take Coney out. He must have a good reason for not killing his vic.”
“You aren’t going to do that, right?” Gin repeated. I knew what was going through her mind. It was the same thing Dak and I were thinking. This would either be the end of the Bombay family business or the end of me. The shock crackled in the atmosphere that hung around us like lead weights.
Romi shouted from the yard, and Louis came running in. “Grandma! Romi got a splinter in her elbow!” He tugged on his grandmother’s sleeve, and she passed the baby to Dak and left.
“Coney, are you really going to stand up to the council?” Gin asked.
“Yes. I’m done.”