Page 58 of The King's Boy

"Sir?"

I turned to look at Malloy.

"What did he say? Did he know who took him?"

"It was Katrina. Spencer said it was the lady in the red sequined dress. He also said she had a couple of other guys with her when they took him out of the mansion. He called them goons."

I suspected Spencer was not very impressed with them.

"Did he say why she took him out instead of just killing him there? Is she trying to make a statement or set up his death as some spectacle or something?"

I swallowed tightly at the image that brought to mind. I couldn't believe I was even thinking it, but I was almost glad she had kidnapped Spencer. It gave him more time to escape and me more time to find him. If she had shot him right there in the mansion, this would all be over right now.

I turned back toward the window and then frowned when I realized we were headed into Little Jamaica. This was the same area where my warehouse had been hit recently. I couldn't help but think that there might be a connection there.

"Have you found anything else out about the hit on the warehouse?" I asked Malloy.

"No, nothing yet," Malloy replied, "but I have eyes on our other warehouses in the area."

"You think there will be more hits?"

"This feels like an attempted takeover to me."

"You think one of the families is trying to move in on our territory?" That could cause a lot of problems for everyone. It could also cause a lot of bodies to pile up because I wasn't giving up Queens as long as there was a breath left in my body.

"No, and that's the weird part. It feels almost as if an outside faction is homing in on us."

"You are thinking about the uptick in drugs in the area, aren't you?"

Malloy nodded. "From everything I've heard, the increase in drugs in Queens has almost doubled in the last three months. It's always been bad, but it's never been this bad. Even the cops are starting to ask questions."

Well, that wasn't good.

"Do they think it's us?"

"Yes and no. Those who are willing to put in the work to do a decent investigation know you've only been in country for a few weeks, so there is no way it could be you. Those that don't care know that you rule over Queens and since this is where the trouble is, they are laying the blame at your feet."

Freaking fantastic.

"Who else could it be?" I asked.

"That's just it. I don't think it is anyone we would recognize as a threat to our territory. I think it's someone that believes they can be the big fish in our little pond. I also think that is why they are trying to take you out. With you gone, they can step in."

"Ireland would never allow that."

Malloy cocked an eyebrow. "If they are already established here, who could stop them?"

Good question.

"We obviously need to look into the drug trade here a little more."

"I'm working on it, sir, but O'Donnell didn't exactly leave me a list of people I could use to keep watch on things. I have to use the men we brought with us from Ireland sparingly."

Maybe we needed to send for more men, even if it was temporary. Until I could create a solid base of operations, we were kind of flying blind here. I didn't know who we could trust or who would be willing to work with us.

Some of the men that worked for my organization didn't care who was in charge as long as they brought home a healthy paycheck and their families were safe. Others were deeply entrenched in one family or another, holding grudges long after they were gone.

Hell, at this point, I didn't even know who was a part of my organization. Malloy was still looking through the records left behind, trying to organize them into some semblance of understanding.