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Mr. Murphy contemplates the two of us in silence for five beats. “Follow me.”
Sansone disappears inside for a few seconds before reappearing and holding my waist. The quiet night accompanies us as we follow my neighbor to his house. When we enter, Mr. Murphy doesn’t stop until we take the last step into his basement.
“He didn’t look like one of yours.” Mr. Murphy walks over to a man hog-tied and with a black hood covering his head. He removes the hood, revealing a face I don’t recognize. Mr. Murphy’s hostage glares at us, but the gag in his mouth makes everything he says indecipherable.
“He was creeping around your property, and I don’t know what them other folks you pay were doing, but they didn’t catch him when he nearly broke into the young miss’ house.” Mr. Murphy pokes the man with his cane.
I glance at Sansone whose lips are in a thin line. “What people is he talking about?”
“Soon-to-be unemployed people whose only job is security. You didn’t think we moved here without them, did you?”
“They’re better at hiding than the ones at your mansions.”
He squeezes my waist. “We’ll talk about them after we handle the situation at hand.”
“Okay, but I want to know where you stashed them.” I swing around to my neighbor, reeling that I’ve been under surveillance and didn’t know it. On top of everything, how did this man bypass the extra security I installed around my house when Omari alerted me to Dusan?
My instincts are falling off, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s because of the sense of safety being with Sansone gives me. “And look at you, Mr. Murphy.” I can’t hide how impressed I am by his ability. “You have skills I don’t know about. How’d you get that man here?”
Mr. Murphy harrumphs. “If you got to know your neighbors a little better, you wouldn’t be surprised to know we show up for each other.”
“Can you give us time with him?” Sansone nods toward the man.
“Take all the time you need. I expect you want to question him away from the little one.” Mr. Murphy walks toward his steps to return upstairs. Before he ascends the first step, he swivels his upper body. “Don’t make a mess that will cause me problems with the law. I’d rather not deal with a bunch of folks who take themselves too seriously.”
“We won’t,” I promise.
He nods and proceeds up the stairs. Before he disappears through the door, he gives us a backward wave and says, “I’m a sound sleeper, if you were worried.”
Sansone and I stare at each other
I mouth, “What the fuck?”
He leans toward my ear. “Every negative thing I said about him, I take back. I might become his number one fan.”
I shake my head and spin around to take in the scowling man on the ground.
“Who do you work for?” Sansone removes the gag, all the rage he didn’t display while Mr. Murphy was with us is clear in his flaring nostrils and narrowed eyes. “Why were you trying to get into my house? If you think you’re walking out of here without explaining why you think it’s okay to endanger my wife and daughter, you are in for a hard education.”
The hostage tries to spit, but nothing comes out since he’s been gagged for a while. When he doesn’t respond to any of the questions asked of him, Sansone punches his face and keeps hitting him until Sansone’s knuckles become discolored.
I grab his fist before he knocks the man unconscious. “Why don’t we do this my way?”
Sansone pauses, his breathing leveling. “I’m listening.”
“I always get answers if we use my method.”
“That would mean going to the cabin. We didn’t make arrangements for Jinx.”
I pat his chest. “Are you telling me you don’t have a place closer to home?”
“I do.” He lets out a defeated breath. “But we’ll have to delay getting answers because we’ve been lucky Jinx hasn’t woken with a nightmare in a while. I don’t want to push it with another late night out.”
I nod towards the man on the floor. “What do we do with him in the meantime?”
Sansone takes his phone and makes a call. “Mattia, I have a job for you.”
Within five minutes, Mattia arrives and we return to the man in the basement.
