by J. B. Lynn
Looking around, I spotted Mike, the crow, perched on a nearby tree.
“Mike!” Katie waved at him enthusiastically.
The crow bowed in greeting.
“I’ll have to stop at the store,” I told him. “Any special requests?”
“It’s not for me. It’s for Boy,” the bird explained. “The old lady neighbor who usually feeds him is in the hospital.”
I frowned, glancing at my watch. We were already running late to Delveccio. Plus, if Katie met Boy, she’d no doubt tell everyone all about him. “Tell him I’ll be by this evening,” I said to Mike.
“Promise?” he squawked.
I nodded. “And I’ll bring DeeDee,” I added, remembering how much the kid had liked the Doberman.
Mike flew off, and we took off for the Delveccio home.
Like most “connected” people in New Jersey, the “alleged” mobster lived in an ornate home with a yard littered with statues and a fountain.
“Wow,” Katie said, staring at the big house. “Maybe the witches could move in here.”
I glanced at her sharply. “Who?”
“The witches. That’s what Aunt Darlene and Marlene call Leslie, Loretta, and Susan.”
“You shouldn’t call them that,” I admonished, unbuckling her from her car seat.
“But they do.”
“They shouldn’t call them that, either.”
Her eyes grew wide. “But they’re grown-ups.”
“Even grown-ups do wrong things sometimes.”
Katie stared at me open-mouthed. “Have you ever done anything wrong?”
I glanced at my sometime-employer’s house, the man I’d killed for, and chuckled. “Oh yeah, I’ve done a lot of things wrong.” Impulsively, I kissed the tip of her nose. “But I’ve done a lot of things right, too.”
She giggled. “Like taking care of me?”
“Taking care of you is one of the very best things I’ve ever, ever done.” I helped her out of the car, remembering the reason I’d gone to work for Delveccio in the first place was so that I could take care of her. There was no way I could have afforded the kind of care she required otherwise.
“Angel!” Katie yelled excitedly.
I looked up to see her former manny, Angel Delveccio, striding toward us. As usual, he was wearing a Navy t-shirt stretched tight across his impressive chest.
He smiled warmly, and my insides melted.
“We’re here to play with Dominic,” Katie announced.
He transferred his grin to her. “So I heard. It’s all he’s talked about all day.”
The front door opened and Gino, Delveccio’s bodyguard, stuck his head out. “There you are.”
“Here I am!” Katie yelled excitedly.
“Come on.” Gino motioned for her to come inside and gave me a thumbs up. “Take your time. I’ll take care of her.”
I nodded at him and told Katie, “Well, what are you waiting for?”
Squealing with delight, she hurried into the house.
“Just let yourself in,” Gino told me, closing the door.
I stared at the door for a long moment, reflecting on how far Katie had come.
“She’s safe,” Angel said gently.
I turned toward him.
“Gino will keep a close eye on her,” he continued.
I nodded. “I wasn’t worried. I was just thinking about how far she’s come…” I got choked up at the end, and my voice cracked under the strain.
Angel closed the distance between us in a few strides, enveloped me in a big hug, and murmured, “She’s okay.”
It felt good to be taken care of for a moment, and I had to blink away tears as I hugged him back.
We stood there for a long moment before he asked, “How’s the crow?”
Chuckling at the memory of how Angel had reacted when I’d asked him for medical help with Mike after he’d been shot, I moved out of his embrace. “He’s fine. He seems to have made a full recovery.”
“Impressive.” Angel glanced at the house. “You know what else is impressive?”
I shook my head.
“The fact that my uncles allow you in the house. It’s their safe place. Usually, it’s just family. They don’t even do business here.”
I shrugged. “I saved Dominic’s life, so he must know I’m not a threat.”
Angel nodded slowly. “That’s part of it, but they’re really fond of you.” He swung his gaze back to me, trying to figure out why.
I looked away nervously. “People bond when they’re sitting around waiting for loved ones to come out of a coma.”
Angel nodded. “I get that. Trauma unites.”
Something in his tone made me look at him closely. “Everything okay?”
He nodded.
“’Cause you sound…” I trailed off as a veil of defensiveness darkened his eyes. I held my breath, startled by his reaction. I flicked my gaze toward the house. “I should make sure she isn’t getting into too much trouble.”
Angel nodded. “Stay out of trouble yourself.”
“You, too,” I added reflexively.
He let out a sound that was part sigh, part groan and then turned on his heel and strode away.
I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as I walked up to Delveccio’s front door.
“That was strange,” God said. “Very out of character for Angel. He’s usually an open book, but he’s obviously got something going on he doesn’t want you to know about.”
I halted and whispered, “He’s allowed to have his own life. It’s not like we’re a couple or anything. He doesn’t have to tell me what’s going on with him.”
“You’re worried,” God replied. “You tensed up talking to him and now you’re trying to force yourself to sound like you’re not.”
“I’m worried,” I admitted as the knot of anxiety in my gut grew heavier.
“Me, too,” God admitted.
And we hadn’t even walked into the mobster’s home yet.
4
I knocked twice on the door before turning the knob and slowly pushing the door open. I took my time, figuring that in a place with armed guards, it wouldn’t be a great idea to make any sudden movement.
There was no one in the foyer with its glittering crystal chandelier and marble floors, but I could hear the excited voices of Katie and Dominic and that of a man nearby, so I followed their laughter like it was a trail of breadcrumbs.
I found them running around a large room that had very little furniture and very many toys.
Gino, standing just inside the doorway, was watching Katie and Dominic race around playing tag. He grinned at me. “Hard to believe these two were once bed-bound.”
I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat.
“The boss is in the kitchen. He asked that you go see him.”
The way the bodyguard said it made it sound like a bit more than a request to go say hi.
“Which way is the kitchen?”
Gino pointed and added, “Just follow the smell.”
I considered interrupting the game of tag to tell Katie that I’d be back, but I didn’t want to intrude on the flow of their fun.
I followed the smell of baking bread to the kitchen, where I found Delveccio sitting at a butcher block table reading the newspaper, a scowl on his face.
For a moment, I wondered if he was reading about his own exploits.
I knocked tentatively on the wall to alert him to my presence. Lowering the paper, he pointed to the chair opposite him. “Have a seat.”
As I slid into the chair, he gave me a thorough once over. “Not sleeping?”
I shrugged.
“Katie’s still staying with your sister?”
Sensing a note of disapproval, I raised my chin defensively. “It was what her mother wanted.”
Delveccio cocked his head to the side and observed me carefully for a long moment. “I was just making conversation, didn’t mean to hit a nerve.”
I looked a
way.
“Are you second-guessing your decision?” he asked gently.
Folding my hands in my lap, I stared down at them. “It’s what Teresa wanted. Darlene is better suited for the whole mothering thing.”
“But you miss her,” Delveccio said softly.
I nodded. “It’s harder now that she’s not just right next door. With the B&B gone, I can’t be part of her daily life.”
“Look,” he said, “I know you’re determined to go all legit, but I’ve got a job.”
Glancing around nervously, I held up a hand to silence him. “Are you sure we’re alone?”
He looked around the empty kitchen and drawled sarcastically, “Yeah, pretty sure.”
“But what if Angel…?”
“One, I do everything in my power to give that do-gooder nephew of mine plausible deniability, so I NEVER discuss business around him.” He held up two fingers. “Two, I’d never endanger you by publicly discussing our biz in front of anyone. And three,” he held up a third finger, “I know for certain that the only ones in the house are you, me, Gino and the kids because I watched Angel leave.” He pointed behind me.
Turning, I saw a security monitor that displayed the outside and main living areas in the house. On one of the screens I could see Katie and Dominic, and Gino who was sitting cross-legged on the floor with them, playing cards.
“She’s probably scamming them at Go Fish,” he predicted.
I nodded. My niece was a bit of a card shark, or cheater, depending on who you asked.
“So like I was saying,” Delveccio continued, “I know you’re intent on going legit, but I think you might want to do this job. It’s got a big payout…one I could get to you through a bank where I have a connection with a certain mortgage lender.” He paused for a moment, letting the weight of his words sink in.
“You pull this off, and you could buy a place for your whole family. You could be a part of the kiddo’s life again.” He jerked his chin in the direction of the screen where we could watch Katie playing.
A kitchen timer chimed, and the mobster slowly got out of his seat and lumbered over to the oven.
“But I’m not gonna lie to you. It’s dangerous. High stakes. And you’d need a partner to pull it off.”
The scent of freshly baked bread and rosemary filled the room as he opened the oven door and peered in. “You good with working with our mutual friend?”
I nodded automatically, then said “yes” out loud when I realized Delveccio’s face was practically in the oven. I had no problem working with Patrick Mulligan.
Straightening, he raised an eyebrow at me. “Despite his current living arrangements?”
I felt my eyes go wide, wondering how much the mob boss had guessed about my relationship with the redhead, who I’d been romantically involved with for a short time, but who had chosen to be with another woman. “Sure.”
Delveccio grabbed a pair of oversized potholders and pulled a tray out of the oven. “You ever had fresh hot focaccia with a drizzle of olive oil? It’s heaven.”
“Fantastic,” God muttered from my bra. “Because your life is hell.”
Delveccio and I didn’t discuss any more business other than him telling me that Patrick would be in touch with a plan.
After the kids played for a couple of hours, I took Katie back to Darlene’s house. Darlene met us in the driveway.
“Did you have fun?” she asked Katie.
Our niece nodded tiredly. “Best. Play date. Ever.”
“I can see that,” Darlene said with a knowing smile. “You look beat. Why don’t you go inside?”
I dropped to one knee to give her a big hug.
“Best. Aunt. Ever,” she whispered in my ear, squeezing me tightly. “Can we put a bowling alley in the new house?”
I chuckled. “Afraid not.”
“How about a swing?”
“That I might be able to manage.” I kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Promise?” she yawned.
“Promise.”
She wobbled inside the house, her limp more pronounced than usual because of her tiredness. My heart ached at the sight.
Darlene and I watched her go in silence. Once the door closed behind her, Darlene said, “The twins are driving me nuts.”
I nodded sympathetically. Aunt Leslie and Aunt Loretta could be a handful under the best of circumstances.
“You’ve got to find someplace for them to go,” Darlene continued.
“I’m working on it,” I told her.
She squinted at me.
“Really,” I pledged.
“The faster the better,” she muttered, heading into her house.
I turned to get into my car when Mike cawed from a treetop. “Don’t forget Boy!”
I looked up at the bird. “I haven’t. I’ll get him some food and then head over.”
“You’re a good gal.” The crow beat his wings and took off in what I assumed was the direction of Boy’s home.
“He probably has scurvy,” God said once I’d gotten behind the steering wheel.
“What?”
“Scurvy…a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C. It can result in exhaustion, anemia, tooth loss, and—”
“He’s not a sailor on a ship sailing across the ocean,” I told the lizard as he scrambled out of my bra and onto my shoulder.
“Scurvy,” he repeated stubbornly.
I stopped at the local convenience and bought the kid a turkey sub with extra lettuce and tomato and a bag of potato chips, and a chocolate chip cookie. Deciding it couldn’t hurt to at least consider the scurvy theory, I bought the biggest container of orange juice they had, a banana and two apples.
“Someone’s hungry,” the cashier, Allison, if her nametag was to be believed, remarked snarkily.
I nodded, fighting the urge to tell her that it was bad business to critique the food choices of customers. Instead, for good measure, I tossed a candy bar into the mix.
She raised her eyebrows. “Did you want that put in the bag, or do you want to eat it in the car?”
I just glared at her until she put it in the bag.
5
Once I had the food, I swung by the hotel.
“Maggie! Maggie! Gotta! Gotta!” DeeDee barked the moment I unlocked the door of the room.
“Use your inside bark,” Piss reprimanded.
Armani, who was lying on her bed, waved at me. “I’m hungry.”
“Isn’t everyone?” God muttered from my bra.
“I’ve got to run an errand,” I told Armani. “But we can go get something to eat in an hour or so.”
She nodded her agreement, grabbed a book off the nightstand, and rolled over.
“Come on, DeeDee,” I grabbed her leash. “You can come with me.”
“Inside bark!” Piss ordered as the dog bounced excitedly. “Where are you going?”
I glanced at Armani’s back, not wanting her to hear me. Plucking my shirt away from my chest, I peered down at the lizard nestled between my breasts. “Now would be a good time for you to answer,” I whispered.
He sighed dramatically, as though I was asking a great deal of him.
“Just tell us,” Piss hissed.
“Fine.” He scrambled out of my bra, perched on my shoulder, and surveyed the room like it was a kingdom he had just conquered. “We are going to feed the boy.”
“Boy,” DeeDee panted. I wasn’t sure if she was correcting him as to the child’s name or just trying to keep up.
“Mike informed Maggie that the child is hungry. She has purchased vast quantities of food for him. According to the cashier, too much for one human. Definitely too much for such a small human.”
“Leftovers eat I,” DeeDee offered hopefully.
“She is not bringing you along to be a living garbage disposal,” the lizard lectured sternly. “You, as a furry creature, will be there to provide comfort.”
“Comfort,” the dog panted with pride.
> Armani rolled back over and complained, “Tell them it’s rude to have a conversation when someone else is in the room.”
“Sorry,” I murmured, snapping the leash onto DeeDee’s collar.
“I’m coming, too,” Piss declared, streaking toward the door.
“We’ll be back,” I told Armani.
“And I’ll be here,” she replied.
“Me, too. Me, too. Me, too,” a voice squeaked.
I looked over at the little white mouse holed up in a tissue box. “Benny says he’ll keep you company,” I told Armani.
She smiled. “Can I keep him closer?”
“Of course.” I picked up the tissue box, winked down at Benny, who was twitching his whiskers, and gently put it down on the night table beside her. “You two stay out of trouble.”
“Great advice,” God drawled dryly, “considering we’re probably off to do something that will result in some new headache.”
Mike greeted us the moment I stepped out of my car in front of Boy’s house. “He’s in the back.”
“Does he have scurvy?” God asked.
“Shut up about scurvy,” I warned.
I let Piss jump out and then grabbed DeeDee’s leash as she tried to bound away. “Hang on,” I told her. “I have to grab the food.”
“Food,” she panted excitedly.
“It’s not for you,” God lectured. “It’s for the child.”
Boy sat on a fallen log. His face brightened when he saw us. “DeeDee!”
The Doberman nearly pulled my arm from its socket in her haste to reach him. She licked his nose in greeting, which made him giggle with joy.
He hugged her tightly. “You came back.”
I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or the dog, so I stayed silent, noting there was a fresh bruise on his arm.
“Thank you for coming back, Maggie,” he said shyly without looking at me.
“I told you I would.”
He shrugged, the sharpness of his shoulder blades poking through his dirty t-shirt. “People don’t always do what they say.”
A lump rose in my throat as I recognized the truth and vulnerability of his observation. I barely managed to choke out, “I always try to do what I say I’m going to.”
Clearing my throat, I took a seat on the log beside him.