Page 31

“You can’t threaten me with murder.” Marisela grins as though her words are some form of protective shield she has.

“I did not threaten you with murder. I said I would bury you, nothing about you being dead first. Now, I suggest you go to your room and freshen up after your ordeal of getting here. We grown-ups have things to discuss that would bore you, I’m sure. Run along and stay in your room until you are told it’s safe to come out.” Allegra puts her hands out in front of her and wiggles her fingers as if to shoo her away. Marisela stomps her foot and realizing she has just demonstrated that she is indeed a child, storms off to her room.

We sit at the table for an hour and discuss this turn of events. None of us believe a word of what she has said. We all know that she hasn’t walked here from town, or that she is alone in this. Her husband is around somewhere and won’t be far away. A sudden thought has Allegra slap the table.

“What if she is here to claim her inheritance early?” Both Vortex and I look at Allegra in surprise.

“I don’t know how things work in Italy, my love, but over here you can’t claim your inheritance until… You think she’s likely to try that?” Vortex looks at her with genuine concern on his face.

“I believe it is a strong enough possibility that I should stay here with Silas for a few days. I know Ghost and Chips are here, but they are not with Silas throughout the day.” She looks at me as what they are proposing is slowly sinking in.

“I would like to say that my daughter isn’t capable of what you’re suggesting, but in all good conscience, I think it’s a possibility. I don’t want Allegra put in a dangerous position, though. I have the two brothers. When Marisela finds out about them, that should derail any plans she may have.” I must look worried, and truthfully I am not sure about being here alone with Marisela.

“No. I’m staying. Pack me some things in a travel bag, Vortex. I won’t need much, but be sure to pack a weapon. It may come to that,” Allegra tells him and reaches for my hand across the table.

Vortex takes off, and I expect he’ll be back in not much more than an hour. In the meantime, I take Allegra for a walk and go to meet Chips and Ghost to fill them in on our latest development.

Chapter 18

*~* Vortex *~*

Allegra has insisted that she stay with Silas until we get the Marisela issue resolved. I wanted to stay too, but she was right when she said that would tip our hand and alert Marisela to our suspicions. I still don’t like it, but she has Ghost and Chips if she needs them.

Noah offered to work there as a ranch hand as soon as he heard on the grapevine what was happening, but Pres quashed that as he is needed on construction. That kid has a soft spot for Allegra and I’m sure he’d take a bullet for her without hesitation. I know we all would if it came to it, but we’d have to fight him for the privilege.

I called Allegra earlier, and she told me that Marisela hadn’t left her room until Allegra called her for supper, which made me smile. Marisela may be cruel, heartless, and capable of murder, but I don’t think she’d hold a candle to Allegra when the chips are down. If she makes an attempt on Silas’ life, the chips will definitely be down and Allegra will go full-on momma bear, or the Italian equivalent.

My phone pings, and I check to see who the message is from. Cannon.

Cannon: Get your ass in gear. I’ll pick you up in five.

I don’t bother responding, I just grab a soda, down it quickly and then wait by the gate with Leo, who’s on gate duty today. We only get to say ‘hi’ when Cannon’s truck pulls up, and he honks at me.

Slamming the door shut in protest at his honking, I ask, “What’s got you so all fired up and in a rush?”

“That fucking sign was still on the fence this morning and it pushed all my buttons at once. It sent me to DEFCON 1, and we’re going to unleash it on that damn realtor. You told him to take it down, and he hasn’t, so I have. It’s in the bed of the truck. He’s having it back this morning, and I never want to see another of his signs anywhere on that fence again.”

“Wow. All this over a sign? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, or did Barbara have a headache?” This all seems an overreaction to a sign that everyone had forgotten about.

“Seeing the sign was just the last straw for me. I heard about Allegra staying with your friend Silas and about the daughter maybe wanting to kill him. It’s just so all fucked up that something snapped. We’ll dump the sign and leave him in one piece, but I’m getting this off my chest now that we’re nearly there.” Cannon sighs, and I grin. He rarely loses his shit like this, so maybe being a daddy now has boosted his protective instincts or something.

Walking into the realtor’s office, Chris’s chair is empty. Candi looks disappointed when she sees who has just walked in. “Candi? What’s the matter?”

“Two guys came by this morning as soon as we opened, and they took Chris. They took his car, too. He’s got involved with some very bad people, and I think he’s out of his depth.”

“I thought you were just using him to get enough money to get away from here?” I remember what she told me when we went to the viewing.

“I thought so too, but it’s not like that anymore.”

“Do you know where they’ve taken him?”

“I put a tracker in the car a while back. They’ve gone to the estate by the lake. At least the car is there.” She looks genuinely worried.

Cannon dumps the sign and walks out without saying a word. I nod at Candi and I see the question in her eyes but she doesn’t voice it. I climb into the truck, and Cannon sits staring out the windshield. He takes his phone out and calls Pres. They talk briefly, and Cannon hangs up.

“Pres is going to grab the guys from the bar and meet us on the lake road. You know what that means?”

“He’s going to bring a lot of guys with him and spoil any fun we were going to have.”