The Bourbon Brotherhood

by F J messina

  “Who’s the wiseass?” It was Jet.

  Sonia smiled back and forth between the two. “Oh, that’s right. You two have never met. Tee, this is my partner, the one, the only, Jet, a legend in her own mind if I do say so myself.” She turned back to her sister, smiling. “Jet this is Teresa, Tee to most of the world. She’s down here from Cincinnati.”

  Jet gave Tee a big smile. “I’m glad to see that not all Eye-talians are wound as tight as your sister, here. Welcome to the Bluegrass.” The two women hugged while Sonia unlocked the door and led them inside.

  Tee’s eyes roamed through the space, her artistic sensibilities pleased by both the rugged earthiness of the brick walls and unfinished floor and by the modern glass and wood walls that created the private offices. “Nice. Very nice. I like it. I could do great things in this space.”

  Sonia gave Jet a quick look as if to say, “Apparently, we haven’t done anything of note with the place so far.” She took Tee by the elbow and led her toward her own office. “Come, see the view. It’s pretty cool.”

  They moved to the large window in Sonia’s office and looked out over East Main. “That brown-brick building across the street is the school district’s Central Office. That’s where I used to work when I took a job here in Lexington as a technology specialist. Brad’s company, Semper Fi Investigations, is in the white house that’s next to it.”

  Tee scanned the scene. “What’s that little restaurant on the corner like?”

  Jet chimed in. “Seems like it changes hands every few months. If you like French food, go this week. If you want Cajun, just wait a month, another month later it’ll be something else.”

  Sonia took hold of Tee’s elbow again. “Come on. Let’s go downstairs and get some coffee and maybe a little treat. Then you can tell us all about what’s going on in your life.”

  Jet opened the door and nudged them out onto the landing. “And then we’ve got to get back to work.”

  8

  It was her first visit to Magee’s, and like most folks, Tee was immediately taken by the warm, inviting atmosphere, not to mention the smells of the pastries and coffees. Sitting across from Sonia and Jet at one of the larger tables, she wolfed down her almond croissant and most of her first cup of coffee. As she did, she told them both about her life immediately after graduation. A degree in studio art hadn’t exactly put her on a path to a job in upper management, and it had turned out that her boyfriend, Ricky, had the perfect look for a rock star but none of the commensurate talent.

  Sonia wasn’t far behind in finishing her pastry. “So, you’re just here for a weekend visit with your big sister?” She licked some sugar off her fingertips.

  “Weekend, maybe longer.” Tee batted her eyebrows blatantly. “If that’s alright with you.”

  A tentative smile crossed Sonia’s face. “Of course, it’s alright with me, I love having you down here with me.”

  Tee glanced over to Jet and then back to Sonia. “Are you sure?” There was real concern in her voice. “I don’t want to intrude. I could go back home tomorrow.”

  Sonia’s hand was on Tee’s forearm in an instant. “No, no, no. I want you to stay, please stay.”

  Tee cocked her head, asking a silent question.

  Sonia leaned forward. “It’s just that we’ve recently taken on a case, a real tough case, one with an incredibly short time frame, and I’m afraid I won’t have a single moment to share with you.”

  Jet had been waiting patiently for the right moment to say something. “She’s right, sweetheart. Trust me, I know your sister, and the only other time I’ve ever seen her light up like she did when she saw you at the top of those stairs was when Mr. Hotstuff from across the street first came into her life. As a matter of fact,” she stuck her finger in her mouth, feigning gagging, “that still happens every time she sees him.”

  Sonia tossed her head back gently, ran her fingers through her hair, and grinned. “Well, you can’t blame a girl, can you?” She turned to Tee. “Listen, I really do want you to stay, and you can, you’ll just have to understand, you know?”

  Tee seemed to be thinking beyond the immediate question. “So, what’s the deal with this case? Tell me more about it.”

  Sonia started. “So, this morning─”

  “Ahem,” Jet lifted a hand to her mouth.

  Sonia was confused for an instant, then grasped Jet’s meaning. She turned back to Tee. “Well, I’ve just been reminded that this case is so hush-hush that we had to sign a non-disclosure agreement with the client. I’m afraid I can’t tell you anything about it.”

  Tee gave Sonia the look that young folks give adults when they think they’re taking things way too seriously. “Come on. I’m your sister. You can tell me. Who am I going to tell?”

  “Listen, cupcake,” Jet wagged her finger gently, “this is no joking matter. If we tell anyone outside the firm what we’re doing or why we’re doing it, we could face some serious legal trouble. Heck, they could put us out of business if they wanted to.”

  Silence enveloped the table for a moment as each one of the three took a sip of coffee. Eventually, Tee nodded her head in agreement. “Still, I’d like to stay, if you don’t mind. It’s just good to be away from home and all that stuff back there. I’ll just hang out here and chill for a while.”

  “Sure. There are lots of neat things to do around here, especially since it’s gotten warmer.” Sonia found herself sounding more like Tee’s aunt than her sister.

  Tee responded. “Neat.” It sounded to Sonia like Tee was somehow making fun of her. After a moment, Tee poked again. “I really would love to know what that big case is about.” There was a bit of mischief in her voice, a silent request for a breach of confidentiality.

  Jet must have sensed that it was hard for Sonia to say, “no,” to her sister. She jumped in. “Honey, not only can’t we tell you about it, we don’t even know how in the world we’re going to deal with this case.”

  Sonia put her cup down and started. At least that was something she could share with her sister. “That’s right. We’ve only got five days to solve this thing, and right now we’ve got thirteen people─”

  “Fourteen,” Jet corrected.

  “Right, fourteen people we’ve got to talk to, and that doesn’t even count all the follow-ups that could come from those first conversations.”

  “Fourteen,” Tee twirled a lock of her long, black hair around a finger, “that’s a lot, isn’t it?”

  Sonia let out a big sigh. “You bet it is. And what’s worse, we have a pretty good idea what the core of the case is about, but we haven’t decided on how to get started putting the pieces together. Brad will be home tonight. We’re going to put him to work talking to some of the people we won’t be able to get to.”

  Tee’s head kept nodding. She spoke softly. “Brad’s coming home and you’re going to ask him for help?”

  Jet smiled and tipped her head. “Trust me, girl. He’s a sharp one. I’m sure your sister told you he spent twenty years in the Marines, lots of them with NCIS. He’s almost as good as your sister at figuring things out, and we can use all the help we can get.”

  Tee’s shapely body seemed to get even smaller as she spoke─softly. “Yeah, I’m sure Brad’s sharp. And I’ll bet you can use his help.”

  There was a moment of silence as everyone at the table seemed to ruminate on the situation, then Tee continued. “And he’ll be able to help because you’ll, what do they say on TV, read him into the case?”

  Sonia looked at Tee, sensing she was missing something. “Well, yeah. He can’t help us if we don’t tell him what’s going on.”

  Tee lifted her coffee cup to her lips speaking over it to her sister. “And why is it okay if you tell him about it?”

  Sonia looked at Jet, then back to Tee. “Well, I guess it’s because we have a special relationship with him and his firm. We work together sometimes.” She turned to her partner. “Right, Jet?”

  “That’s right.” Jet
sat up taller, her body language conveying confidence. “When we need some muscle for something or need to tap into some old connections he has, we can go to him for help.”

  Sonia followed quickly. “And sometimes he needs help from us. An extra pair of eyes, or maybe some task a woman is better suited to.” She smiled confidently as well.

  Tee put her cup down. “So, your non-disclosure agreement allows you to share information with another firm, Brad’s firm?”

  Sonia’s eyes opened wide. “Now wait a minute. Brad would really be working for us as a consultant. He’d be an employee, not just some stranger.”

  Tee’s energy level was subtly rising. “But that does mean that BCI can have more people on staff than just the two of you.”

  Sonia looked at Jet and shrugged. Jet shrugged as well and looked at Tee. “Well, yes. I guess you could think of it that way.”

  “Okay then. I’ll just sit around being useless and doing neat things in Lexington while you guys are killing yourselves tracking down more leads than you could possibly get to─unless . . .” Her palms turned up; she lifted her shoulders.

  “No, no, no.” Sonia was shaking her head. “I see where you’re going with this.”

  Tee plowed on, the words flying out of her mouth. “Unless, of course, I become a temporary employee of BCI and help you guys accomplish all this work you’ve got to do and have no chance of completing in five days.” The smile on her face was somewhere between smug and joyful.

  Jet picked up her paper cup and started tapping its bottom ridge on the table. She spoke to Sonia while looking over her non-existent glasses at Tee. It was pure southern belle. “Well, well, well. Sure ‘nuff looks like smarts run in the family.” She turned to Sonia. “Smarts and wiseass.” She turned back to Tee. “Looks like somebody has figured out a way to worm herself into the firm and us with no reasonable way to say no. Ain’t that true, Miss Sonia?”

  Sonia’s response was just the opposite and just as emphatic. “No. No way I’m letting you get involved with this. Somebody got killed. This could be dangerous. You’re not getting anywhere near this thing, Tee.”

  Tee picked up her all-but-empty cup for effect. “Might as well let me now. You already broke your fancy agreement. I now know that somebody got killed, that you’ve got more than fourteen people to talk to, and that you have a pretty good idea what the case is about. I’m pretty sure it’s your job to figure out who done it. Right?”

  Sonia’s head was shaking, her toe tapping like mad. “Ab-so-lutely not. You don’t know anything about being a PI. We’re licensed.”

  Jet kept her eyes on Tee. “Well, she’s smart enough to have just sandbagged the two of us, isn’t she?” The accent was gone. “And Lord knows, we sure need the help.”

  “Really,” Tee’s tone of voice shifted, cajoling. “I can help. I know I can. Just give me a chance. I’ll do anything you ask. Even if you just need somebody to go along with one of you to record stuff or share perspectives.”

  Jet’s eyes were still locked on Tee, but her hand reached out and touched Sonia’s arm. “I’m afraid she’s right, honey. We need all the help we can get. And I do think that if we make her an employee, we’ll be okay with the non-disclosure thing. Heck, if we’re not, we can’t even get help from Brad, and there’s no question we need that.”

  Sonia looked at her sister through squinted eyes. Part of her was so pissed she could spit. She certainly didn’t want her sister getting involved in a dangerous case─a murder case. The other part of her was darn proud of Tee. She chuckled silently. She led us right down the primrose path and sprung her trap just as smooth as silk. Sonia let out a short breath. “Okay, employee number zero-zero-three. You start right now. We’ll do the paperwork tomorrow, get you some sort of ancillary standing with the board since you don’t have a license. But you do exactly what I say. EX-ACT-LY.”

  Tee smiled a Cheshire cat smile. “Great. Listen. I’d pay for the next round coffees but I don’t have any money. By the way, can I get an advance on my first paycheck?”

  9

  At seven twenty-two on Friday evening, Sonia and Tee were at Blue Grass Airport, meeting the Delta flight coming from Omaha, Nebraska. They were waiting for Brad Dunham─formerly, Captain Brad Dunham of the United States Marines, assigned to NCIS, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service─the man to whom Sonia Vitale had recently become engaged.

  Before meeting him, Sonia had heard a lot about Brad, the sole proprietor of Semper Fi Investigations. In fact, she’d had a pretty negative impression of him. Their first encounter had been in Magee’s, where she’d noticed a big man, maybe six-three or six-four, who had to weigh at least two-twenty, all of it lean muscle. But what she had noticed most were his bright, blue eyes, set in a rugged, attractive face. Over the course of several weeks, Brad Dunham had gone from an almost mythical local figure to an adversary, then a partner, and finally, the first man she had cared about since she had been left at the altar by John Eckel three years earlier. After a pretty rocky period, including some revelations about Brad’s past, they had finally worked things out, and Sonia had accepted Brad’s proposal of marriage.

  Waiting at the bottom of the escalator that led to the baggage claim area and the front of the terminal, Sonia was jittery. She couldn’t tell if she were more excited about seeing Brad after his having been gone a week or telling him that Tee was in town and would be staying for a while. When he appeared at the top of the escalator, she was certain it was the former. Her chocolate brown eyes radiated joy.

  “There’s my girl.” The sound of Brad’s voice was deep and rich, almost as if it came directly from his well-muscled chest. He pulled Sonia’s face into his body, smiling. As he did, he looked over her shoulder. “And who’s this attractive waif? Anyone I should know?” He closed one eye. “Oh, wait a minute. Didn’t I attend your college graduation recently? Aren’t you that famous artist, Teresa Di Vitale, painter of the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel?” He closed his other eye instead. “Or was it the painter of the ceiling in her own bedroom?”

  Tee gently used her middle finger to scratch her nose.

  “Get over here and give me a hug, future sister-in-law.” He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to him, winding up with both women in his arms. “What are you doing here in town?”

  Tee extricated herself from his bear-hug. “Just came down to see my sister. Heard she had gotten in with a bad crowd. Hoping to talk some sense into her.”

  Sonia stood silently beaming, enjoying the easy relationship that had formed between two people she loved.

  “Well, before you get on her for that,” Brad picked up the overnight bag he’d dropped at his feet, “this member of that bad element hasn’t eaten since he left Omaha. How ‘bout I take you two beauties out for dinner? We’re just a hop, skip, and a jump from Malone’s, and they’ve got some of the best steaks in town.”

  There was a huge grin on Sonia’s face. “Sounds wonderful. You don’t have any real luggage, do you?”

  “Never have, Babe. You know that. Now let’s get this show on the road before I start rummaging through that huge tote your sister has hanging over her shoulder. God knows what I could find to eat in there.”

  After a delicious steak dinner and a few glasses of wine, Sonia, Tee, and Brad left Malone’s and headed to Brad’s home in a nice neighborhood off Tates Creek Road. On the way, Sonia put in a call to Jet and told her to meet them at Brad’s place in half an hour. By nine-thirty, though the May evening was comfortably warm, they were all sitting in comfortable chairs around the fireplace in Brad’s spacious family room. Brad and Sonia sat next to each other on the couch. Each of the four had a glass of Horatio Blevins Single Barrel Bourbon in their hand. Sonia, Tee, and Jet were drinking theirs on the rocks. Brad had his bourbon neat─no ice, no water, no anything. He had already been told about the case and Tee’s new role in the firm.

  There was a warm, cordial feeling in the room when Sonia shifted gears. “Okay, enough family a
nd friends.” She looked across the faces of her three partners. “We’ve got five days to solve this case and Day One is almost over. Let’s get to work.”

  “Yes, sir, ma’am.” Brad gave her a smiling salute, but then he got down to business as well. “Okay, Jet, did you bring that list of folks that constitute our starting point?”

  Jet reached in her purse and took out the list that Mason Holiday had given them. She read off the names of the general managers and master distillers that Holiday had highlighted. “Then, of course, we’ve got the former wives, the son, the sister, the father.”

  Brad furrowed his brow. “What about his business relationships? Anyone we can talk to there?”

  “Actually, there is.” Jet reached for her purse again. “I made a call while you all were out at dinner and I found out the name of his business manager. Turns out it’s a woman, Missy Charles. Apparently, she’s been with him for years. Knows everything there is to know about his business dealings.” She twisted her lips. “Of course, she may not be willing to tell us everything, if you know what I mean.”

  Sonia sat up tall, indicating she had something important to say. “Which brings me to something that’s been bothering me all day. John O’Neal and that guy who helped him─”

  “Bobby Ray,” Jet interjected.

  “Right. O’Neal and Bobby Ray didn’t tell the police that they’d found Rasmussen dead, and neither did any of the other bourbon guys.” She lifted her shoulders. “But hasn’t anyone reported him missing?”

  Tee jumped in. “Well, he’s divorced, twice, and his son is older. He doesn’t live at home, right?”

  Sonia pressed. “I guess not, but somebody must have expected to see him.”

  Jet held up the piece of paper with the business manager’s name on it. “You mean somebody like Missy Charles?”

  “Yes.” Sonia nodded in Jet’s direction.