“Sure. Thank you.”
“No problem. Pierce, when are you taking care of that other matter for the Russians?”
He looked up at her. “Boris is getting his package shortly. Temo and I are meeting the messenger at nine at a coffee shop several blocks away. I thought that was smarter than sending it from here.”
“That’s excellent thinking. Well done.”
He winked at her. “Just earning my keep.”
With a laugh, she gave his arm a little squeeze, then walked back through the kitchen to get her coffee. She added cream and sugar before going down the hall to the office.
Charlie was at the smaller desk. Her laptop was open, but she also had a headset on and seemed to be listening to something.
“Morning, Charlie.”
She put her hand over the microphone. “Good morning, Governor. I’m on with the governor of Pennsylvania’s office. They’d like to set up a meeting in the next few weeks.”
“Okay, sounds good.”
Charlie moved her hand away. “Yes, that sounds fine. Governor Barrone is looking forward to it. We’ll confirm by email. Have a great day.” She typed something on the laptop before looking at Donna again. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t apologize for work.”
A little smile curved Charlie’s mouth. “You’re in early. I expected you to go back to sleep after dealing with Rixaline.”
“I probably should have, but I had some things to take care of. I’ll settle into a more normal routine soon, I’m sure. Might need to nap later, though. But I figured since I was up, I might as well stay up and get some things done.”
“How did it go with Rixaline? You said she was hungry?”
“It went fine. And yes, I found her in the kitchen with the refrigerator open. I don’t think that pizza went very far, considering how little she’d had to eat lately. We fixed that with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cake.”
Charlie smiled. “Good. I’m glad that’s all it was. I saw Pierce earlier. He told me they had shopping to do.”
“The girl needs some clothes that don’t have holes or look like prison hand-me-downs.”
“She does. That’s very nice of you, ma’am.”
Donna leaned against the door, her coffee cup in both hands, the warmth seeping into her in the most pleasant way. “Seems like if you grant someone sanctuary, you’re also agreeing to take care of them for as long as they’re under your protection.”
Charlie nodded. “I agree with you.”
Donna was glad for that. So far, Charlie and Temo had seemed pretty amenable to the decisions she’d made as governor. “I think Rixaline could be a very valuable asset. Not that that’s the reason I offered her sanctuary. Clearly, she was in desperate need. But if she wants to be part of the team, I’m not opposed to giving her a chance.”
“Maybe like an internship?”
“Sure. That sounds good.” Donna sipped her coffee. “Did Claudette ever have any sanctuary cases?”
“No. It doesn’t happen all that often. Maybe one every few years. Sometimes once a decade.”
“Do we need to notify anyone about it?”
“Like Artemis?” Charlie answered. “Completely up to your discretion.”
“Okay, I’ll mull that over. Anything else on my schedule I should know about?”
“Not yet.”
“Good. I have some personal business to take care of. Like calling my daughter. And talking to my contact at the FBI.”
“Oh?”
Donna went to her desk and sat, putting her coffee down. “In the interest of keeping you in the loop, you should know that last night my supposedly dead husband appeared on the surveillance cameras Temo installed for me. Pretty sure he was trying to get into the house. Of course, I’d already changed the locks and the alarm codes, so he was out of luck.”
Charlie’s mouth dropped open. “He doesn’t sound very dead to me.”
“Not even slightly dead. Sadly.” Which freakin’ meant she was still married to him. Crap.
“You’re sure it was him? Never mind. Of course you’re sure. But that’s just…crazy.”
“Yeah,” Donna said. “It really is.”
“What are you going to do?”
Donna took a sip of her coffee. “Nothing until I talk to Rico. He’s my FBI contact. He was on a stakeout last night, so we couldn’t really talk, but I sent him the videos so he’d know what’s going on. I’m sure he’ll have a plan.” She hoped. “Whatever happens, regardless of my feelings, I want Joe to end up in custody.” Dead was okay too. She wasn’t going to quibble.
“No kidding.” Charlie shook her head. “What are you going to do about the fact that you’re still legally married?”
Donna rubbed her left temple as the reality of those terrible words set in. “I don’t know. That just hit me a second ago.”
Pierce appeared in the doorway, laptop in hand. Rixaline hung behind him in the hall. “We want your opinion on this dress, but I overheard what you’re talking about, and I know what you should do.”
“About me still being married?” Donna said. “What?”
He nodded. “File for divorce. Immediately.”
Chapter Sixteen
Pierce seemed to think for a moment. “You should contact your insurance company too. You do not want to get wrapped up in a fraud dispute. If they find out he’s alive before you tell them, and that check is on its way…” He made a face. “Call them and tell them you have reason to believe he’s faked his death. Trust me, you want to be on the good end of this.”
Donna pressed a hand to her forehead. “That’s for sure. I have enough going on.” She picked up her cup, in desperate need of more coffee. “Can you handle the divorce? I know it’s not your area of legal expertise.”
“I’ll do as much as I can. At this stage, we really just need to get the paperwork ready so that the moment he’s officially not dead, you can file and get things underway.” He paused like another thought had just come to him. “Any chance you can prove adultery?”
“I can, actually. I have a file of stuff. Receipts, mostly, that I found in his pants pockets when I was doing laundry or getting dry cleaning ready.”
“For what kinds of things?”
“Motels I never stayed at, meals I never ate, gifts I never received. All the usual. Is that enough?”
“Would be better if you had photos or could get the woman, or women, involved to testify, but I think I can work with that. Regardless, let me look at them and see.”
She sighed. “They’re at the old house. You still have the key I gave you?”
“And the alarm code. We’ll get them. Temo and I can go by after we take care of our business at the coffee shop. You’ll just have to tell me where they are.”
She nodded. “Okay.” Then she smiled, ready for a distraction. “Show me and Charlie the dress in question.”
He turned the laptop around and brought it closer. The dress was burgundy with a tiny flower print and flouncy skater skirt. It wasn’t anything Donna would have guessed that Rixaline would choose.
“I like it,” Donna said. “I think it’s super cute.” It was also very feminine, and she wondered if that’s what the girl liked about it.
Charlie nodded. “That would be great with boots and a little leather jacket. I love that whole edgy-but-girly vibe.”
“Me too,” Donna agreed. She looked up at Rixaline. “Maybe edgy-but-girly is your thing, huh?”
“Maybe.” Rixaline smiled a little. “Mr. Pierce ordered me some boots, but…”
Donna looked at Pierce and gave him a little nod. “Get a leather jacket too.”
“On it,” he said. “And I’ll dig into the divorce stuff.” He turned the laptop around. “C’mon, Rixaline, we have more shopping to do before I have to leave.”
As they went back to the living room, Donna’s phone chirped. She pulled it from her pocket and checked the screen. Instantly, she answered the incoming call. �
��Hi, Rico.”
“Hey, sorry we couldn’t talk last night, but wow, how are you doing?”
“You mean now that I know Joe’s alive?” She laughed. “Surprisingly well. Sure, I’m having a lot of fantasies that, if acted upon, would land me in jail, but otherwise, I’m just peachy.”
“You know, we suspected him of this, but the dental records matched.” He blew out a breath. “He is not getting away with it.”
“Good. And I guess this is a great reminder of why you should never underestimate the mob.”
“You got that right. Listen, do you have any idea where he might be holed up? I’m thinking it can’t be too far away.”
“Not a clue, but if anyone knows, it’s his shady sister.”
“We’re thinking that too. We’ve been keeping a close eye on Lucinda, but so far, she hasn’t done anything outside of her normal routine.”
“Which is what?”
“Basically, coffee with the rest of the wives, the nail salon, the grocery store, and the bakery.”
“When did coffee with the rest of the wives start?”
“A couple days after Joe’s funeral.”
Donna snorted. “Didn’t take long for her to find a way to make sure they all reported in to her. She’s so afraid of losing control. What about Big Tony?”
“He’s not leaving the house much. He’s had some visits, though. Some interesting faces, but nothing we can act on. Yet. Which reminds me, those ledgers you gave me are getting more interesting the longer we work on them. My boss wants things airtight, so we’re still deciphering them and building up the streams of evidence, but there’s a lot there. A lot.”
“You said before that the ledgers don’t include any names.”
“The more we dig, the more that’s changing. And since Joe was meticulous about recording everything the crew did, we’ll have a ton of stuff to seek indictments for. When we start putting this gang away, they’re going for a long time.”
She let out a happy sigh. “I’m so glad to hear you say that. What about Joe? What will happen to him?”
“We have to find him and get him in custody first, but if we can do that…the truth is, I don’t know. He was smart enough to write those ledgers in such a way that they don’t actually incriminate him. Not in any kind of major way. So far, he’s made himself look like an errand boy.”
“He was a lot more than that.”
“I know, I know. We just don’t have him on anything concrete.”
“Then we need to get him on something concrete.”
“I’m not arguing with that at all. We just have to figure out what that is.” Rico hesitated. “What do you think he wanted from your house? The money? Or the gun?”
“I’m sure he wanted to get in that stash room. So maybe the gun? Do you have anything off that yet?”
“Not yet, but I should have the report by the end of the day, tomorrow morning at the latest.” Rico took a breath. “Do you think Joe knew you weren’t home?”
“The only way he would have known whether or not I was home was if he was watching the place. Which I suppose is possible. In fact, I saw a Chevy Tahoe there that could have been him. But if he’d been watching, wouldn’t he have known about the new cameras?”
“Only if he was watching when they were installed. And he didn’t act like he knew about the cameras.”
“He didn’t. I’m guessing he thought I was in the house and just figured he’d be quiet enough not to wake me. After all, his office is on the first floor, and our—my bedroom is upstairs. Plus, I’ve been known to fall asleep with the television on.”
“Or…” Rico started, his tone darker, “he had other plans for you.”
Donna’s blood chilled. “You think he was going to kill me?”
Charlie whipped around in her chair, eyes wide with concern.
“We don’t know,” Rico said. “But we’re not leaving out any possibility.”
“He can’t hurt me.” Donna waved at Charlie. This was nothing for her to be concerned about. “He doesn’t even know where I am. Or what I’ve become.”
“All true.” But there was something else in Rico’s voice.
“What?” Donna asked.
“We think the only way to draw him out is for you to be at the house.”
“No. I’m not moving back there. I’m the governor now. I have responsibilities.”
“I realize that,” Rico said. “But I’m not asking you to make it permanent. Just for a few nights, until he tries again.”
“He’ll try again tonight. This time, he’ll come with the proper tools to break in. You don’t need me.”
“Is he still on the deed?”
“I guess. But isn’t that a technicality?”
“You can’t be arrested for breaking into your own home. But if you were there, and you got him talking, you might be able to get him to say something we could use.”
“Or even better, maybe he’ll attempt to kill me?” Donna laughed, but the sound was humorless and bitter. “You realize that the way I feel about him right now, if he came after me, I’d probably tear his throat out.” She knew she shouldn’t say things like that over the phone, but her irritation at Joe’s reappearance in her life was back.
“I understand. Just think about it, okay? We’d wire the house and have agents in place ready to go. I’d be there with you too. All you’d have to do is get him to admit a few things out loud, and you’d be done. Then he’d be done. For good.”
“I’ll mull it over.”
“We want to do it tonight.”
“I have group tonight.”
“That’s fine. He didn’t come by until after 1:00 a.m. last night. We’re pretty sure he’ll stick to that schedule.”
She closed her eyes and ground her teeth together while she reached for her crucifix and prayed for strength. And patience. “I promise I’ll think it over. I’m barely awake. Give me a few hours.”
“Okay. We need time on our side to get things set up too.”
“I understand. I’ll be in touch.”
“Thanks.”
She hung up and tossed the phone onto her desk.
“You okay, ma’am?”
Donna picked up her coffee, but she could tell by the cream congealing on the surface that it had gone cold. “The FBI wants me to help with a sting to catch Joe. They want me to stay at the house tonight so that when he shows up again, I’ll be there to talk to him and get him to confess enough stuff that they can put him away for a long time.”
“Seems…reasonable. It’s a solid plan, right?”
“It is.” Donna couldn’t argue with that.
“And getting your husband dealt with would be a good thing.”
“It would be.” She couldn’t argue about that either.
“But you really don’t want to deal with him, do you?”
She looked at Charlie. “Not in the slightest. I’m so tired of dealing with that whole corrupt family, and now to find out that Joe’s still alive? How much more could he lie to me about?”
Charlie’s look held all kinds of sympathy.
Donna growled softly. “Everything he does complicates my life. Alive, dead, or otherwise. Now I have to deal with the insurance and getting a divorce. If not for my kids, I’d wish I’d never married him at all.”
“You know we’ll help you with whatever we can. But this with the FBI seems like something you should do.”
“I know.” She took a deep, cleansing breath. Then she flicked her eyes up at Charlie. “So you’re my admin and my conscience now?”
“I didn’t mean—”
Donna’s gentle laugh interrupted her. “No, you’re right. I didn’t mean that to sound harsh. I know I need to do this. Not wanting to because Joe gives me murderous thoughts isn’t really reason enough not to. If anything, it’s probably another check in the For column rather than Against.”
Charlie smiled. “It still wasn’t my place.”
“Listen, don’t th
ink that way. We all need a little kick in the keister sometimes, right? I’m a big girl. I can take it.”
“If it makes you feel any better, you have that party at Francine’s tomorrow night.”
“Ugh. I keep forgetting that’s tomorrow. I feel so scattered. I still haven’t gotten an invite.”
“You did, actually. It came to the governor’s email. I left you a note about checking it.”
“Oh.” She looked at the laptop on her desk. Charlie’s note was right beside it. “I suppose I should turn this on and do that, hmm?”
“I have access to the governor’s email as well, so I check it constantly, but I guess I should have reminded you. If you don’t want me to have access, feel free to change the password. Claudette always liked me to keep on top of it.”
Donna pushed the power button. “No, I’m with Claudette on this one. You stay on top of it. I’m perfectly happy with that.”
“Very good. There are a few emails you should probably read. Some upcoming events, a couple petitions for help, things like that. Nothing too pressing.”
As the laptop came to life, Donna pondered Francine’s party. “Do you remember what the invite said about attire?”
“Dress to impress,” Charlie answered.
“My wardrobe’s a little weak on formal wear. I suppose I could wear that black dress I wore to dinner with Pierce.”
Charlie grinned. “I have some things being sent over from Neiman’s. I hope that’s okay. We keep an account there. I checked your closet yesterday for your sizes.”
Donna wanted to kiss her. “Thank you!”
Charlie’s grin widened. “Dresses, shoes, and evening bags.”
“Fantastic. I need to remind Pierce to get his tux in order. I’m pretty sure he has a tux.”
“He does. It’s being pressed. Should be back this afternoon.”
The computer screen lit up with a picture of a deep-green forest. “You really make this job a piece of cake, you know that?” Donna chuckled. “Too bad taking care of Joe isn’t as easy.”
Chapter Seventeen
Before Charlie could respond, Pierce stuck his head in. “Temo and I are headed out. He wants you to know that there are two new security people joining the team today, but they’re not really that new. One has been used before for special events, and one is Temo’s cousin, who he personally vouches for. Obviously.”
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