All Hail - J. Bree Page 0,35

kidnapping.

Illi heads to my list of high society figures that were owned by Senior, every last one of them the scum-of-the-Earth types who would buy at the infamous Bay skin auctions. Thank God the Vulture is dead.

“I know this guy, why isn’t his name up here or any information?” Illi murmurs, pointing at one of the photos.

I arch an eyebrow at him. “Bingley Crawford? You mean Atticus’ older brother? His name isn’t up there because it’s already seared into my brain forever thanks to being forced to spend time with him as a child.”

Illi is very good at hiding his tells, one of the best, but I’m even better at spotting them.

I supposed he met Bing at the auctions… it would be just my luck that he probably bid on Odie and Illi has a score to settle with him.

“The entire Crawford family is awful. All of them except Atticus, so if Bing did something terrible please just— please don’t kill Atticus for it. I won’t stop you from hunting his entire family down and bleeding them out though.”

Illi cocks his head and jabs a finger at the photo. “Where is Bing these days? You know much about what he’s up to?”

I shrug and glance over at Aodhan but he’s engrossed in the Diarmuid information. “He’s the middle child so I know more about where Holden is than Bing but I’d assume he’s still partying in the Maldives with the underage prostitutes he enjoys. Atticus has made very sure that Bing hasn’t been around me since he cornered me at a party their father held and told me he wanted to feel how tight a Beaumont cunt was. I was thirteen.”

Illi nods slowly and I can practically see him running numbers in his head.

I open my mouth to question him more but Aodhan cuts me off, “Who do you have following Diarmuid? Who took this photo?”

I leave Illi to stare at Atticus’ twisted family tree and walk over to Aodhan. “An old police officer who was fired for trying to investigate the auctions. I’ve paid him a lot over the years, I trust him as much as I can trust someone outside of my family. He’s been offered money before to lie to me and not only did he refuse, he killed the man who offered it to him. I give him big bonuses.”

Aodhan chuckles. “I guess being richer than God has its benefits.”

I shrug. “I haven’t found many downsides. I won’t ever feel bad about having the resources at my disposal to take over the Bay now the Jackal is gone.”

He shrugs and says, “So where is the warning photo? It’s not up here.”

I walk him to the small lounge chair I’ve fallen asleep on more times than I can count and grab the photo. I’d stashed it down here the moment I’d found it just in case the MBPD came back for some inane reason.

Illi frowns at the photo and I watch him carefully. “You know him?”

He nods slowly. “Yeah, not by name but he was known on the streets as the Collector.”

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. Typical Mounties, everyone has a stupid code name. Aodhan smothers a snort at me and Illi shoots him a look until he gets a good look at my face too.

“You can’t talk, Queenie, whispers are already starting on the streets about you. The Stag shouldn’t have paraded you around the party down at the docks if you didn’t want a name of your own. The Queen of Mounts Bay… has a ring to it.”

I finally just let my eyes roll with a huff. “Could you not have picked something a little more… classy? I don’t at all feel very queen-like.”

Aodhan chuckles again and crosses his arms. “I’m sure you could give any royal a run for their money in the manners department… and shoes.”

I refuse to preen under the assessment but I can’t deny that it’s nice to have someone notice the care and effort I put into my appearance. Life outside of the snake pit of Hannaford is actually pretty nice.

“Where was this photo taken, Queenie?” Illi says, his attention back on the photo and he’s frowning again.

I shrug. “It’s from the party. I’ve been digging into the political web of the Bay, preparing for the Game and everything that will come with… I assume I’ve pressed someone's buttons a little too hard and now they’re sending me threats.”

Illi places the photo on a blank section of