by Lynn, JB
I nodded my understanding but didn’t trust myself to speak. Tears burned the back of my eyes, my heart was beating out of my chest, and I was fighting the urge to vomit in the nearest potted plant. The idea of losing my beloved niece angered and frightened me.
“This is a disaster,” Loretta declared, dropping her head into her hands. Her twin patted her shoulder, offering support. “We’ll get through this.”
Considering Aunt Susan had physically attacked one of her nieces, I wasn’t sure if Leslie’s assessment was correct. It felt like everything was falling apart.
20
I would have guessed that I wouldn’t get a wink of sleep, I was so worried about Katie and Darlene, but my exhaustion caught up with me. I collapsed into my bed less than an hour after the family meeting dispersed and slept the sleep of the dead. I didn’t wake up until the next morning, when I was being suffocated.
Okay, I wasn’t really being suffocated, but when you’ve got a pig resting her snout on your face, it really feels like you’re not able to get any air into your lungs.
Sleepily, I shoved Matilda off of me. “You’re supposed to sleep outside,” I grumbled.
“Grouch,” God called from his fishbowl.
I flipped him the bird.
That’s how pathetic my life was. I was insulting a lizard by performing an obscene hand gesture.
The ridiculousness of it would have made me laugh, if I didn’t then just burst into tears.
I just sobbed and sobbed into my pillow, unable to stop the torrent of tears. DeeDee came over and licked them away, but they kept coming.
Piss purred softly in my ear, “It will be okay, Sugar,” repeatedly, but I took no comfort in her words.
“Cry, cry, cry,” Benny squeaked sadly from his tissue box.
“I’m sorry,” Matilda oinked. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“It’s not you, you bacon butt,” God said. “She’s losing everything.”
Considering that my apartment had been blown up, as had the B&B, I no longer had my job with Insuring the Future, and Patrick had thrown me over for some idiot girlfriend who then tried to kill both of us, I’d thought I’d already lost everything. But the idea of losing Katie is what pushed me over the edge.
Apparently, my sobs were so loud that they could be heard from the hallway. I heard a soft knock on my door.
I tried to ignore it, but DeeDee, ever helpful, barked, “Door! Door!”
“Let me in,” the person on the other side called.
I shook my head. “Go away.”
“That’s not going to help anything,” she said.
“Well, talking to you won’t help anything, either,” I said childishly. I pulled my pillow over my head and pretended I couldn’t hear her.
“Maggie,” she cajoled. “Let me help.”
Grudgingly, I dragged myself out of bed and opened the door. Marlene, looking like she actually had not gotten any sleep, offered me a weak smile. “I’m sorry. I heard what Darlene said.”
I shrugged, pretending that it hadn’t bothered me. I’d learned long ago not to bad mouth one twin to the other. I shuffled back into my room and sat down on my bed. Marlene sat beside me and grabbed my hand.
“I know better than most what it’s like when people say terrible things about you,” she said haltingly.
I nodded. Marlene had been a prostitute for years and I couldn’t imagine the things people had said about her.
“And she’s wrong,” Marlene added, growing stronger. “Everyone knows how much you love Katie.”
“Thank you,” I murmured.
“Everyone knows how much you’ve done for her.”
God piped up, “If they knew, you’d be in jail.”
Marlene let go of my hand and wrapped her arm around me, rested her chin on my shoulder, and gave me a squeeze. “We’re not going to let her take Katie.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
“You don’t have to do everything alone, Maggie,” she chided gently.
“I know.”
Marlene surveyed the animals sitting at our feet, the Doberman, the one-eyed cat, and the pig. Her gaze flicked around the room to the lizard and the mouse.
“When I say you don’t need to do things alone,” she said very carefully. “I mean, you can accept human help in addition to animal help.”
I chuckled. “I know.”
“We’ll come up with a plan,” she assured me.
For the first time, I looked her in the eye and saw she had a haunted look. “This must be harder for you than anybody else. You’re her twin. She left you once, she’s getting ready to do it again.”
Marlene nodded, tears coming to her eyes. “She didn’t really come back, you know. I mean, physically she’s been here, but it’s been so hard to reconnect with her. She won’t talk about anything. She won’t share anything…not her children, not her thoughts, nothing. Not even with me.”
“I didn’t realize,” I apologized.
She shrugged. “What was I supposed to do? Complain that my twin wasn’t spending enough quality time with me? That sounds really pathetic.”
“You have a special bond,” I said.
“She’s my twin,” she said, resting her forehead against mine. “But you’re my sister and we have a special bond.”
I swallowed a lump that rose in my throat. Marlene and I aren’t always terribly close, we each have our own secrets that we guard, but it felt good to be sharing this with her.
“Come have breakfast,” she urged. “Templeton is teaching Armani to make something.”
I chuckled. “Meaning, she’s sitting there watching while he cooks?”
Marlene shrugged. “It seems to work for them. They seem to get along quite well.”
“They’re the outsiders, it makes sense they’d band together.”
Marlene nodded. “Come on, eating something will do you good.” She stood up and reached for my hand.
“Let me just change clothes,” I said, realizing that I was wearing the exact same thing that I’d been wearing the day before.
“Don’t be long,” she warned. “Otherwise, the coffee could be all gone.” She walked out of my room and closed the door behind her.
I switched my attention to the animals, who were all watching me. “I appreciate each and every one of you,” I told them.
“Too we you appreciate,” DeeDee barked.
“We believe in you,” Piss purred, rubbing against my ankles.
“You’re brave,” Matilda oinked. “You saved me, I’m sure you’ll be able to save this Katie.”
“She’s not this Katie,” God corrected. “She’s our Katie.”
“Nobody’s going to take our Katie from us,” I said with determination. “Nobody.”
I wasn’t sure how I was going to stop Darlene, or even if I could stop her, but I knew for certain in that moment that there was no way in hell she was taking Katie with her.
21
I’d expected a showdown with Darlene when I went to pick up Katie, but the little girl was waiting for me on the stairs.
I saw no trace of my sister besides a curtain falling back into place. She’d been looking out for the welfare of the child but was obviously avoiding contact with me.
I forced myself to smile as I got out of my car and opened my arms wide. “There you are, baby girl,” I called.
She ran over to me at full speed, nearly knocking me over as she leapt into my arms.
I hugged her tightly, loving the smell of her hair, the feel of her cheek against mine.
I’d sacrificed a lot, and done unspeakable things, to bring Katie to this point. I’d become an assassin to pay for her medical care. All of that, up until now, had seemed worth it.
“You shouldn’t let her out of your sight,” a voice called.
I searched the trees and spotted Mike, the crow, watching us, dark eyes gleaming.
“The gal’s getting ready to jackrabbit.”
I n
odded my understanding. I buckled Katie into the car seat and drove to Delveccio’s, listening to her talk about her day. Her sweet innocence was at such a contrast to my roiling internal landscape that it was hard to focus on what she was saying.
“Don’t you think?” she said.
I had no idea what she had been talking about.
“Aunt Maggie?” she said.
“Say it again, sweetheart,” I urged.
“Don’t you think?” she asked.
“Think what?” I asked.
“You’re the best aunt ever, silly,” she said with a laugh.
I looked at her in the rearview mirror, her smile wide, her eyes bright. “Is that what you think?”
Suddenly, she grew solemn, as though she understood the importance of the question. “I know you’re not supposed to love somebody more than other people, but…” She bit her lower lip, as though she was trying to decide if she should finish her thought aloud.
“But what?” I prompted gently.
“But I love you more than anyone else,” she blurted out.
“Can you keep a secret?” I asked.
She nodded enthusiastically.
“I love you more than anyone else, too.” She clapped and beamed and made my heart smile.
I expected God to make a sarcastic comment on our expression of emotion, but he remained oddly silent, curled up between my breasts.
“You’re going to have a good time with Dominic,” I told Katie.
“Uh-huh.”
“But I need to talk to his grandfather for a little while. So Gino will probably watch you play.”
“I like Gino,” Katie announced. “I beat him at Go Fish.”
Shaking my head, I chuckled. Katie beat everyone at Go Fish, not because she’s some sort of card shark, but for the very simple reason that she cheats.
Somehow, none of us had the heart to call her on her less than stellar habit.
“Do you like Gino?” my niece asked.
I nodded. “I really do.” I didn’t realize what a mistake that had been until we arrived at Delveccio’s house and got out of the car, and she ran up to greet Gino, who’d come out to say hello.
“Gino, Gino,” Katie yelled. “Guess what?”
“The moon is made out of salami,” Gino joked.
Katie shook her head. “Aunt Maggie really likes you.”
Gino raised his eyebrows and looked over at me. I busied myself with pretending to look at my cell phone as a heated blush climbed up my cheeks.
“Boss’s waiting for you,” he told me.
Dominic, Delveccio’s grandson, ran out to greet Katie. Together, the children disappeared into the big house.
Gino fell into step beside me.
I held my breath, wondering if he would say anything about me really liking him, but Gino is a pro.
“Anything new on your investigation?” he asked.
“Investigation? If you want one of those, you should probably have asked the cop for help.”
“Why so testy, Maggie?”
“Because everything’s falling apart,” I muttered under my breath.
He looked at me sharply. “Can I help?”
I shook my head. “Not this time.” While he went to supervise the playing children, I made my way to Delveccio’s kitchen.
I really hoped he wasn’t going to offer me food, considering Templeton and Armani had made a feast for breakfast. An odd feast, considering Armani’s penchant for combining strange foods, but one that was strangely good. Peanut butter, chocolate chip pancakes, though I’d skipped Armani’s dill pickle butter.
“Have you found it?” Delveccio asked, standing at the head of the table, fiddling with his pinky ring.
I shook my head.
“Did you even look for it?”
There was a bit of an accusation in the mobster’s tone, and I fought back the urge not to be defensive. “I’m doing my best to find it,” I told him, fighting the urge to cross my fingers behind my back. “It might help if I knew more about—”
His hand came up and he pressed a finger to his lips, signaling for me to be silent.
A moment later, Angel strode into the kitchen.
“Hey, Maggie,” he said. “Katie looks good.”
“Katie looks great,” I said with a smile, grateful that things were less awkward between us. I added with a nod in his uncle’s direction, “So does Dominic.”
The mobster nodded, clearly pleased with his grandson’s recovery. “I’m going to go check on them.” The mob boss trundled out of the room, leaving me on the opposite side of the large table as Angel.
“We didn’t leave things off too well the last time.” He rubbed the back of his neck, as though trying to massage away tension.
I nodded, thinking that was an understatement.
“I went through a lot with those guys,” Angel began.
I waited patiently. Those guys he referred to were old Navy buddies who tried to steal a helicopter and a human heart. They’d used Angel for his hospital access and one of them had even tied me up in a hotel room to keep me out of the way. They were all dead now, thanks to Patrick Mulligan and Gino. And the heart had ended up somewhere that Zeke had promised was worthwhile.
Angel shook his head. “It doesn’t track, Maggie.”
“What doesn’t?”
“The official story,” he said. “We were on the roof, and then I lost consciousness, and then everyone’s just… gone?”
I shrugged. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what the official story was that he was talking about, and rather than lie and mess something up, I decided that silence was my best friend.
“What they were doing was wrong,” Angel admitted. “But I’m worried that what happened to them was wrong, too,” he confided. “You’re the only person I would trust to tell me, and you won’t say a word.”
“You got out of it alive,” I told him. “When he tied me up in the motel room, Fitz told me where everyone was headed. I was worried about you, so I went there, too.”
“And the police detective just happened to show up?” Angel sounded skeptical.
“From what I read in the paper,” I said slowly, “the string of organ thefts had been known about for a while. Armani’s boyfriend is a reporter and he was investigating it.”
He shook his head. “You’re not telling me the truth, Maggie.”
“I most certainly am,” I declared hotly. I was actually kind of offended. I’m not a great liar, but I was telling him the truth. Fitz had told me, I was worried, Jack had been investigating.
“Not the whole truth,” Angel said with conviction.
“You still have your job. It was a win for you.”
He shook his head sadly. “How can it be when I can no longer trust you?”
I closed my eyes, feeling like he’d just punched me in the gut. “You can trust me.”
“No, Maggie,” he said. “I just don’t think I can.”
He walked out of the kitchen without another word. Gripping the edges of the table for support, I fought to keep myself from hyperventilating.
“It’s not like I ever thought I had a future with him,” I muttered aloud.
“You were hoping you did,” God piped up from his hiding spot in my bra.
“You always knew he was too much of a Boy Scout for you,” the lizard added.
I nodded and pounded the table with my fist, then went in search of my niece.
My love life might be out of my control, but what happened with her was not going to be.
22
Angel wasn’t the only one feeling distrustful. I wasn’t sure I should bring Katie back to Darlene’s house. I was afraid that my sister would abscond with my niece in the middle of the night and I’d never see her again.
“Maybe I should take Armani’s RV and run,” I suggested to God as I stood in Delveccio’s backyard, watching Katie and Dominic play a robust game of freeze tag with Gino.
“Oh sure,” the lizard said. “Kidna
p a child and take the most conspicuous vehicle available to make a run for it.”
“Well, do you have any better ideas?” I snapped. “We’re running out of time.”
The lizard was silent for a long moment. “You could kill her.”
“What is it with you guys trying to get me to commit acts of violence against my sister,” I asked. “First, Mike wanted to scratch out her eyes and, now, you’re saying I should kill her.”
“That’s the way things work in the animal kingdom,” God intoned. “Only the strong survive.”
“Have you been watching some sort of National Geographic special?” I asked.
“The point is, it might be extreme, but you don’t have any other plans.”
I shook my head and tried to focus on the joy of the children playing. “I’m not killing her, I’m not injuring her. Besides, she could probably kick my butt.”
“No doubt,” God agreed.
“Maybe I could stash Katie with Ian for a little while,” I mused. “Just long enough for Darlene to come to her senses.”
“I don’t think that will work. It’s not like she seems like a hysterical fool. She’d quickly figure it out,” the lizard said. “She seems like a woman with a plan.”
“Well, Katie’s not going to be part of that plan,” I snapped.
Hearing her name, Katie glanced over at me, a question on her face. “You’re doing great, sweetheart,” I yelled, forcing myself to smile and wave.
She nodded and returned to her game, but I saw the concerned look that Gino gave me. He wasn’t convinced by my act.
“Gino could take care of Darlene,” God suggested.
“Nobody is taking care of Darlene,” I said firmly. I was furious with my sister, but I wanted no harm to come to her. I just wanted to figure out a way to keep my niece in my life.
“Maybe you should talk to Archie,” God suggested.
I didn’t even know how to respond to that. “Why?”
“He’s very good at disrupting things,” the lizard pointed out. “Plus, somehow, he always seems to end up on his feet.”
“But he leaves a trail of chaos and destruction behind,” I felt the need to point out.