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“Is that because there isn’t any wine here?” I give her a smartass grin.
“Yeah, but I could’ve easily ordered some from downstairs and I didn’t,” she replies, looking for a little recognition.
“Mom, I just want you to be happy. If wine makes you happy, you should drink wine.” I place my hand on hers and look into her eyes. “You have been unhappy long enough.”
She begins to shake her head and a sad look fills her eyes. “Wine doesn’t make me happy, it just makes me temporarily forget the fact that I’m totally unhappy.”
“Mandy and I are flying to Lynchburg tonight, would you like to come with and visit Ray?” I ask, knowing that he has been a major source of her sadness over the years.
“No. I need to stay here and keep an eye on your brother,” she says taking responsibility. “I’ll have a talk with Vanessa too.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that,” I tell her, patting the top of her hand. “You and Ray will have the rest of your lives to do whatever you want.”
“Yeah, you tell him to hang in there and we’ll see each other soon,” she tells me with a restrained smile. “You don’t need to mention anything about Crusher.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.” I give her another chuckle. “I know how little you two have in common, so I wasn’t too worried about him being my new step father or anything.”
“Thank you for stepping up and taking care of things, Trey,” she adds as we rise from the couch. “I don’t know what we would’ve done around here without you.”
“From now on, you will always be able to count on me,” I assure her. “But right now, I’ve got to go take care of Tommy.”
“You be careful,” she replies stepping toward me. “I need you in one piece.”
“No worries, Mom. Anthony isn’t going to let us out of his sight. He’s made that very clear.”
After exchanging a hug, I’m off to hook up with Anthony and Mandy. I know I should tell her about the close call Mandy and I had the night before, but I choose not to. The only thing it would do is cause her to fret and she already has enough to worry about.
Chapter 19
Mandy
While Trey was talking to Vanessa and his mother, Anthony and I were taking care of business as well. Bolt has the new case file and is already on his way to Tommy’s office to meet us for the big confrontation. I just touched base with Agent Mitchell who let me know that the Russian man who was killed was not actually a foreign diplomat. He was on both the FBI and Interpol Most Wanted lists and was known for using false identities and fake visas. That bit of news made Anthony feel much better about taking him out.
“Let’s go do this,” Trey says as he emerges from his Dad’s place. “I’m ready to kick some ass and take some names.” He gives Crusher and Gator a wink as we turn to head for the elevator.
“You badass,” Crusher sneers, winking back at us.
“Romeo, what’s going on down there?” Anthony asks, after taking his call. “Okay, well that’s what we expected. Just turn everything over to the local authorities and send a copy of the details to Agent Mitchell. There isn’t too much more that we can do.” After a few more seconds of listening he adds, “Tell the boys thank you and I’ll have their money wired later this afternoon. You might want to just hang tight for a couple of days, until things sort out down there. I’m going on a quick jaunt to Tennessee with Trey and Mandy, so I’ll be out of town for a bit.” He bobs his head and a half smile hits his lips. “I’ll go easy on them. Hit me back if anything changes.”
“What’s going on?” Trey asks as the elevator stops at the lobby and we exit the building.
“The blood and DNA samples from the scene match Carly,” Anthony informs us.
“So they assume she’s dead?” I ask.
“I assume she is either dead or she was determined to look dead,” Anthony says with a glimmer in his eye. “If I had just committed a crime spree like that, I would want people to think I was dead too. Only if we can find her dead body will we know for sure.”
“What are the odds that they find anything?” Trey asks suspiciously.
“Probably close to zero, unless somebody wants us to find her.” The valet sees us coming and immediately sprints into the garage to get our vehicle. “Now that’s the kind of service I could get used to,” Anthony says as the kid hands him the keys. “Make sure you tip him well,” he tells Trey. As if Trey needs any prompting in that regard.
