“Your sisters were telling me about some of your plans,” Troy said.
Savannah felt betrayed. Troy was an outsider, and her sisters shouldn’t have been discussing their plans with him, or anyone else. She tried not to show her annoyance.
Montana spoke next. “Troy has convinced us that we should all stay here.”
Asia added, “This will be like our command central.”
“Thanks, Troy.” Savannah crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.
She listened to them go on and on about their plans, as if it weren’t her idea to start with.
“Enough already!” she yelled.
The room once again got silent.
Troy intervened. “I’m sorry if you feel like I stepped on your toes.”
“By all means, I’m glad, with my short stint in the bathroom, you had time to bond.”
The house phone rang. Montana looked at the caller ID. “It’s Uncle Raymond.”
“Don’t answer it,” Troy said.
Savannah stood up and took the phone from Montana. “I’m still the queen of this abode,” she snarled. “Hello.”
She turned her back to Troy and her sisters. “No, everything is fine,” she lied. She turned around to look at Montana. “She was just having one of her moments. She’s here now. She said she’ll call you back later.” A few seconds later, Savannah disconnected the call.
10
“Savannah, you might be mad at me, but please don’t take it out on your sisters,” Troy stood and said.
“You’re so conceited.” She threw her hands up in the air. “I answered the call because if I wouldn’t have, he would have been trying to track us down, and at this point I’m trying not to get him involved.”
Asia said, “Don’t you think you should tell her.”
“You talk too much,” Montana snapped.
Savannah walked and stood near the sofa. “What is she talking about?” Savannah tapped her foot. “We don’t have all day. I have to leave for the bank in a minute, if I’m going to get there before they close.”
“Nothing,” Montana responded.
Savannah grabbed her purse and stormed toward the kitchen.
“Ladies, I’ll be back. Lock up. Activate the alarm,” Troy said as he rushed behind Savannah.
Savannah was opening the garage door when Troy entered. “Savannah, stop,” he asserted.
“You don’t need to come with me. Stay and protect my sisters. I don’t need your protection,” Savannah snapped.
“You might not, but you do need me to be an extra set of eyes.”
It appeared as if Savannah thought about it for a moment. She unlocked the passenger door. “Get in!” she yelled.
The tension between the two didn’t dissolve during the less than fifteen minutes it took to get to the bank. “Your sisters are only trying to make things easier for you, you know,” Troy said.
“I didn’t ask you,” Savannah snapped.
“I just don’t like feeling this tension between you all. Between us.” Troy said the last barely above a whisper. He knew she heard him because the light in her eyes sparkled for a few seconds.
Before either could say anything else on the subject, Savannah was pulling up in the bank’s parking lot. She removed her gun and placed it in the divider between the seats. “Just in case there’s a metal detector.”
“I got your back.”
“If I’m in there longer than thirty minutes, come in shooting,” Savannah joked.
Troy felt relieved that she was at least joking with him now. He handed her a pen. “If for some reason you run into any trouble, push the top of the pen and it’ll signal me.”
“Thanks,” she said as she exited the car.
Savannah’s stomach turned flips as she entered the bank. She tried to act normal. She tried to act like the information she was coming to retrieve meant nothing. The information in the safe-deposit box could possibly be all she needed to determine who had killed her father.
After she showed proper ID, the bank branch manager led her into the room where the safe-deposit boxes were kept. He entered a code and she used the key she had to open the box.
“I’ll be outside if you need me,” he said, leaving her there to go through it without being watched.
She sat at the table and removed some of the items. She held both her parents’ wedding rings. “Mama, why did you have to die so young?” Savannah wept.
She wiped the tears from her eyes. She felt like she was prying into her parents’ private life. She looked at the pictures and other items. So far, she didn’t see anything in it related to her father’s old job.
“Voila,” she said when she found a brown envelope. She read the enclosed letter first, and could hear her father’s voice in her mind as she read.
My dearest Savannah,
If you’re reading this, it means that someone got to me before I could get to the bottom of things. As much as I want you to seek justice on the person or people behind me not being there with my girls, I do not, under any circumstances, want you risking your life. The information on this disc should be handed to one person, and that’s Troy Bridges. By now, you’ve probably met. I just hope you haven’t hurt him (smile). Troy can help you get justice. If by chance someone is coming after you because they suspect you know more than you do, then promise me that you and your sisters will use the skills I taught you. My enemies will underestimate you because you are women, but I have full confidence that you will prove them wrong. Before giving the disc to Troy, make sure Asia makes a copy. Tell her to use the secure path. She’ll know what I’m talking about. It pains me to write this letter, but I didn’t want to leave you without the tools to solve my murder. I love you. Take care of yourself and your sisters. I’ve also enclosed separate letters for Montana and for Asia. Please give those to them. Love you all.
Love,
Dad
P.S. Take care of Troy too. He doesn’t realize it, but he needs you just as much as you need him. Please find it in your heart to forgive him. He was young and scared. Under the circumstances he did the right thing.
Savannah placed the disc and the brown envelope with the letter in her purse. She placed the remaining items back in the safe-deposit box. She signaled for the bank manager and watched him secure the box back in its place.
With the disc and letters from her dad, Savannah felt better about the path she had taken. She would hold on to the disc until Asia was able to make a copy, and then she would turn it over to Troy. She wondered how her father knew about Troy. She wasn’t sure she could give him another chance. What she wanted to do to Troy would land her in jail.
“I was about to send in the cavalry to get you,” Troy teased as Savannah was safely buckled behind the steering wheel.
“No, all’s well.” Savannah refused to look him in the eyes. “I’m sure my sisters are worried.”
“They love you.”
“I know,” Savannah responded as she pulled out of the parking lot.
Savannah decided to turn on some music, with hopes of avoiding a conversation with Troy. “Good system,” Troy said, once they pulled up into the garage.
Savannah pretended not to hear. She didn’t wait for him to exit the car. She jumped out, and he was on her heels as she walked into the kitchen. Montana and Asia were nowhere to be found.
“Wait here,” Savannah directed.
“I need to make a few phone calls, anyway,” Troy responded.
“She asked you to wait, but you wouldn’t listen. What if she’s right? What if he knows something that led to Dad’s death,” Savannah overheard Asia say when she made it to the top of the stairway.
“Savannah, can be hot-headed. When she told us her plans, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with talking to Uncle Raymond. I never thought this would happen.”
Savannah was livid. “You idiot! I told you not to talk to Uncle Raymond. Now it explains why those men broke in here.”
Montan
a’s body shivered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
Savannah removed the brown envelope from her purse. She threw the letter at Montana. “Sorry is not good enough.”
Montana bent down and retrieved the letter from the floor. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she read it. Asia took the letter from Montana.
Savannah watched them read it. “Satisfied?”
Between sniffles Montana said, “It still doesn’t prove anything.”
“Maybe not. Asia, here’s the disc. Please copy it so I can give it to Troy.”
“I’ll be in our secret place,” Asia responded.
Montana was behind Asia. “Don’t move!” Savannah yelled.
“I was going to help out,” she responded as her voice crackled.
Savannah closed the door behind Asia. “Here’s your letter from Dad.” She handed her a sealed letter. Savannah knew Montana thought she was going to go off on her for talking to Uncle Raymond. Although she should, Savannah knew that reading the note in her father’s handwriting probably was more than enough guilt.
Montana read the note out loud.
“‘My sweet Montana, Words could not express how much I love you and your sisters. I hope you’re not taking out your frustrations on your sisters. This is the time you all need to pull together. You’re more like your mother, Ellen, than you’ll ever know. She could be pigheaded, but I loved that woman. Before I digress, I don’t want you to close out your heart. I know it’s hard for you to trust people. Trust your sisters and trust the love that your mother and I had for you. No matter what happens, know that you were loved.’”
Montana dropped the letter on the bed. “I can’t read any more.” She wept, and Savannah rocked her back and forth in her arms. They stayed in that position until someone knocked on the door.
11
Troy turned to walk away right before Savannah opened the bedroom door. “I need to head out, but wanted to make sure all was secure here. I’ll be checking on you all later.”
Savannah said, “Let me walk you out.”
Troy followed Savannah down the stairs. “I ran into Asia downstairs and she told me it was okay.”
“It’s fine,” Savannah said as she waved her hand.
Troy walked to the front door. “If you need anything, and I do mean anything, don’t hesitate to call me. Make sure you sleep in shifts. Activate the alarm as soon as I leave.”
Savannah saluted him. “Yes, sir.”
Troy paused. Savannah placed one hand on the doorknob. “You’re not going to ask?”
“When you’re ready to share the contents of the safe-deposit box, you’ll share.”
Savannah leaned on the door. “What are you not telling me?”
“Tomorrow at zero nine hundred I’ll meet you here.” Troy reached around Savannah for the doorknob. He could feel the heat coming from her body, or was it his?
“Tomorrow,” she said as she moved and allowed him out the door.
Troy couldn’t hold back a smile. Although he and Savannah seemed to be like oil and water, there was something about her that made him want to protect then set up a meeting.
“Okay, boss.”
“Man, you know I hate it when you call me that.”
“Get used to it. Business is booming.”
“Sad for them, but good for us.”
Parker sat across the desk from Troy. He updated Troy on a few more cases. “Do you need any additional manpower on that special case you’re working on?”
Troy wasn’t sure if he should disclose what he was working on with everyone yet. The less information folks knew, the better. Some still had ties with The Agency, and he didn’t want it leaked that he was investigating there. “No, I got it. It’s just a favor for a friend. I’ll be out for the next few days, though. If you can hold it down here for me, I’d appreciate it.”
“I got your back. Just call me if you need me.”
“Will do.” They shook hands. Parker left Troy alone with his thoughts.
Troy checked his voice mail. He made notes as he listened. The final voice mail made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. “Relentless, I heard you’ve been in contact with Savannah.”
Troy said all sorts of curse words. This was the last thing they needed. Hopefully, he could talk to Commander Raymond Steel without him blowing his connection with Savannah and her sisters out of proportion. He never felt the need to check in with anybody before, but before he called his ex-commander back, he needed to talk to Savannah. He phoned her to discuss this development.
“Your uncle knows I’ve been in contact with you.”
“I know.”
Troy balled up the paper in his hands. “When were you going to tell me? I thought we were going to keep our liaison a secret.”
It sounded like the phone was muffled. “Montana took it upon herself to tell him more than she should have.”
Troy didn’t like the direction the conversation was heading. “What exactly did she say? Word for word.”
“I’ll let her tell you.”
Montana came on the phone a few seconds later. “I’m sorry, Troy. I was scared and he’s been our uncle since forever.”
“Calm down,” he said in a soothing voice, although he was infuriated with her.
“I only told him that you helped Savannah get away when those guys broke in the other night.”
“Anything else you’re not saying?”
“He did say you were bad news and that we should stay as far away from you as possible.”
“Figures. Let me talk to Savannah,” he said, dismissing Montana, but not trying to sound annoyed.
Savannah said, “You got more out of her than I did.”
“Look, Savannah. When he asks, because he will ask, tell him I stopped by because I was feeling nostalgic about Major. I just happened to be there when the burglars came.”
“Sounds like a feasible story to me.”
“I got to make a call.”
He dreaded dialing the numbers, but it was best that he got it over with. “May I speak with Commander Steel, please? This is Relentless.”
“What’s the word?”
Troy wasn’t up on the new password. He had to think on his feet. “I’m a former op. I’m returning his call.”
“Hold, please.”
Steel immediately went into a rant. “If one hair gets hurt on my girls’ heads, your head is mine.”
“Hello to you too.” Troy twirled his chair around to face the window.
“Trouble follows you wherever you go, and from what Montana told me, it followed you to Savannah’s. Stay away from her, and I mean it.”
“Sir, I apologize if someone was following me. I have it under control and promise you that nothing will happen to her.”
“Exactly. As of today all communication between her and you will cease.”
“Sir, I mean no disrespect, but who I talk to on my own time is none of your business.”
“It might not be, but Savannah is. She’s like a daughter to me and I’ll be damned if I let your line of work be the cause of her death, like Major’s.”
“Speaking of Major, have you gotten close to finding his killer?” Troy asked.
“No, I have no leads.”
Troy thought it was odd that he didn’t stay on top of his best friend’s murder. He made a mental note about it. “It still tears me up that he was taken out like that,” Troy said.
“Let me worry about that. You just worry about your security firm, and leave everything else to us.”
“So you think his death is related to one of his previous assignments?”
“If I did know, I wouldn’t tell you. If I didn’t know any better, I would think you’re up to more than what you’re letting on.”
“Sir, I’m just following up. My clients keep me busy, believe that.”
“If there’s nothing else, Relentless, I hope not to talk with you again.”
When the phone clicked, Troy said, “I hope no
t either.”
12
“It’s done,” Asia said, walking into the living room, where Savannah and Montana were sitting. Asia sat down on the floor near the coffee table. “Sorry, it took so long, but I had to make sure I didn’t accidentally erase the contents.”
Savannah placed the newspaper down. “I’ll give Troy the original tomorrow.”
“Speaking of Troy, don’t you think he’s fine with a capital F?” Asia asked.
Savannah responded, “He’s all right.”
“All right. Girl, you would have to be blind not to see how fine he is,” Montana added.
“If you think that, go for it,” Savannah responded, picking up the newspaper to hide her face.
Montana reached over and pulled down the paper. “Now, you know the golden rule is never to go after the man one of your sisters has an interest in.”
Savannah put down the paper again and faced Asia. “I didn’t know you were interested in Troy.”
Asia threw a pillow at her. “Don’t even try to play us. We see the looks.”
Savannah feigned innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The doorbell rang and interrupted the conversation. All made sure they would be ready just in case it was trouble at the door. Savannah looked through the peephole and said, “It’s Uncle Raymond.”
Montana frowned. “Sorry.”
“Let me do most of the talking,” Savannah said. “Put those away.”
They put their guns in a nearby drawer.
“Uncle Raymond,” Savannah said with enthusiasm, and a smile. Each sister took turns hugging him.
“Thought I would stop by and check on my favorite girls. I actually didn’t expect to see you two,” he said, looking between Montana and Asia.
Montana looped her arm through his. “We decided to have a girls’ night.”
“Do you want anything to drink?” Savannah asked.
“Some water. I’m trying to lay off the alcohol—doctor’s orders.”
Montana volunteered, “I’ll get it.” She left them in the living room.
Asia asked, “Is there something you haven’t told us?”
He patted his chest. “This old man here is in perfect shape. Don’t go writing my obituary yet.”
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