Micah held his phone up to talk, the cool glass pressed against his ear.
Outside the wide hotel windows, night had descended over Atlantic City, a strip of glittering lights that ended when it touched the darkness of the ocean beyond.
Kylie was in the bedroom of the hotel suite, throwing their clothes in their luggage so they could leave before Salvatore Grande’s enforcers tracked them to the Ocean Resort.
A woman’s voice answered the phone and said into his ear, “Hello, Micah.”
“Hello, Dr. Bell,” Micah said. “The plan went off without a hitch, though in a different manner than I’d anticipated. However, the Philly Mafia and New York Genovese crime family will be at war with each other within days.”
“Excellent,” Mary Varvara Bell said. Her accent was British with traces of Russian. “You are proving yourself very useful, Micah Shine, as Logan assured me.”
A chill rippled over Micah’s skin under his suit. “I’m pleased to be of service.”
“We’ll discuss more when you’ve eliminated the Sokolovs.”
Micah frowned. “The Sokolovs are in disarray after what happened at Maxence’s enthronement. They’re not a threat.”
“Oh, no. All of those other bratvas and borgatas are run like hydras, growing two heads if one is cut off. The Sokolovs and the Butorins are both gaining power every day under new leadership.”
Micah smiled. “Then they’re next.”
“If you can eliminate those two, I think the books could definitely be open,” Dr. Bell said.
“I appreciate the opportunity.”
The term the books are open was an old Mafia saying, one Micah hadn’t heard for years. It meant that the metaphorical book of membership was open, that there were openings to become a “made man” in the family.
Mary Varvara Bell said, “Don’t disappoint me, Micah.”
They hung up, and Micah yelled, “Are we ready?”
Kylie trotted out from the bedroom, pulling both their suitcases. “Let’s go.”
They ran out of the suite and pressed the button for the elevator.
As they pulled the suitcases in, the door from the stairwell banged open.
Tony Fava and Grande’s other burly goons lumbered into the hallway, heading for the door to Micah’s suite.
Micah shoved Kylie against the side wall of the elevator with one hand to get her out of their line of sight.
Tony glimpsed Micah through the narrowing space between the elevator doors.
Micah smiled at him and didn’t let his eyes waver.
Tony yelled to the other guys and gestured with his handgun.
The other hit men pivoted toward Micah and Kylie, drawing their guns.
The elevator doors touched, and the elevator accelerated smoothly as it dropped.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
On the run from the Philly Mafia, Kylie Miller and Micah Shine make a wrong turn and end up in even more hot water.
With the Philly Mob, the New York Genovese Mafia, and a Russian bratva breathing down their necks, the two of them can’t make a predictable move, or they’ll be goners.
Luckily, Micah Shine is anything but predictable.
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