Beyond What Meets The Eye

Chapter Eighteen

Mira learned a few things from dinner that night; a man by the name of Carter Erikson was in charge of handling all the records and information databases, Leo was supposed to be at the dinner, and that all of these people absolutely worshipped the very ground her father stepped on. If he jumped off a cliff, they'd follow in a heartbeat. It was horrifying actually.

Now, three days later, she was walking through the front doors of the New York City Public Library, three books in hand. Anything her father said or she overheard any of the higher ranking members talking about she'd write down on a small piece of notebook paper after and shove it within the pages of the novels. It wasn't much, but it was a start, and she needed to have something to offer to the two families.

She smiled as she walked up to the librarian and handed the books over to her.

"Hi, I'm just returning these. I should also have some on hold I wanted to grab." She held out her library card. The woman scanned it and reached under the desk, revealing three new selections.

"You're all set." She said and Mira took the books and slid them into her backpack.

She fought the frown that tried to creep onto her lips as she walked back out towards the car, Leo awaiting her in the drivers seat.

Nothing out of the ordinary had happened since their encounter in the surveillance room, and if anything he was overly friendly, but something about his kindness was sinister. Like that girl in high school that always gave you backhanded compliments that came across nice but secretly made you want to hide in a bathroom stall and cry.

"Never took you as much of a reader," Leo commented as she slipped into the passenger seat. She shrugged.

"Yeah I picked it up earlier this year, I like the break from reality," she replied cooly. The two were basically smothering each other with pointless small talk.

"What, the Bonnano princess wants to escape reality, huh? Go figure, people would kill to be in your position." He scoffed. Mira rolled her eyes. Sure people would kill to be in her position, but coming to terms that her father was a killer had proven itself to be incredibly difficult. Not everyone could blow someone's brains out without batting an eye.

"So what exactly do you do?" Mira asked. She saw him around but still had no clue what it was he did for her father, but she realized after his absence was acknowledged at dinner a few nights ago, that he had to be someone pretty important.

"I'm your father's assistant. Anything too dangerous for him to be actively present at, I go to instead. Sometimes I handle negotiations, other times I make sure transactions run smooth." He replied, shocking her with his honesty. Part of her expected him to give her s smart ass response.

That must've meant Leo had more blood on his hands than her father, physically speaking.

"Gotcha," she said, turning her attention to the window. She had more important things to worry about than Leo, like figuring out how she was going to get into Carter Erik son's office. If she could get into the information database, she could probably find everything the Lucchese needed. Of course that meant finding a way to unlock the door and not get caught by Erickson himself. One thing she did notice about Erikson during their dinner together was that he could be sweet talked. He enjoyed listening about her life, and liked it even more when she complimented his own achievements. If anything, that would be her way in.

Once they were back, Mira balancing her stack of books as she walked down the hall. A few paces in front of her, she saw Erickson stepping out of his office. Sparing a quick glance around to make sure no one was around, she purposefully knocked into him, her books falling to the ground.