Читать книгу Merciful Law - Darby Sr. Rae - Страница 11

It was barely 5:30 and I was on my third cup of coffee, impatiently waiting for Sal and Ruiz to show up. I had been waiting twenty-six minutes since I found the letter in the sack of mail I had been ignoring. Finally they arrived. I handed the papers to Sal. He scanned them and passed them to Ruiz.

“Divorce papers, Lawrence?” Ruiz asked.

I could hardly answer. The wild animal inside me was clawing to escape. “Yes.”

“The cops know?”

“No.”

“What now?” Ruiz asked. Sal continued to remain silent. “You still gonna play the loyal husband…worried she’s kidnapped…desperate to find her?”

If I’d had my gun, Ruiz would have been dead for his condescending tone. “What now?” I reiterated. “You find that betraying bitch, that’s what now.”

“We’ll send-”

“You won’t send anyone…you will send everyone!” I roared. There was no dissension from either of them. They understood. “Send men to watch her sisters, old friends, people she knew at the gym, clients—especially those with out-of-state locations, everyone she called from her cell phone for the last year!”

“And her parents?”

“Her parents are dead.” She’ll join them soon enough.

“How should we handle this attorney?” Sal asked waving the divorce papers.

“Theresa O’Connell, watch her. I’ll take care of her after Deborah is found.”

“She may have information…” Sal broke in.

“Then get it—stealth. We don’t want her alerting Deborah. And Sal, Ruiz, I don’t want another Amy Holtz incident. No unnecessary carnage; understood?”

“Understood.” They agreed.

“Bring Deborah back alive. I will deal with her.”

“But—”

“Alive, Sal…no buts.”

Father’s Day was coming up in a week and a half and the boys were working on things at school for their father. They wanted to do something special for him so we talked about our options. My sister used to put together a scrapbook every year for her husband with pictures and artwork from the kids, so I offered that idea. They loved it. I told the boys I would sneak around and take pictures of them with their father. They were excited about the little adventure and we spent the rest of the day taking shots of them with their reptiles and outside playing.

Dinner was uneventful, although I could tell they were just barely tolerant of my cooking. I would have to work on that. They all helped clean up and Emmet took the boys upstairs for their bedtime routine. I stayed downstairs and read the local paper to familiarize myself with my new community.

Like clockwork, at 10 p.m., Emmet came downstairs to let Romulus out. I joined him, resigned to spend time with his hairy monster. Emmet insisted I take turns throwing the tennis ball for Romulus. It was painfully clear this was not my sport of choice. Emmet didn’t talk much, which was fine with me. I rather enjoy silence.

“Anything I need to be aware of from today?” He asked.

“Nothing at all.” I responded, mirroring his flat tonality.

“Good to hear. I am going to have a guest for dinner tomorrow so you and the boys will eat without me. Susan will prepare everything. If you wouldn’t mind serving, I would appreciate it.” Romulus came running out of the bushes and halted abruptly. His ears perked up and he lowered his head. Emmet wasn’t paying attention to the dog. He was turned toward me waiting for my answer. Over his shoulder and well past the garage I could see a shadowy figure move. It was too far away to see much. Should I say something to Emmet? It could be Michael checking on me. Romulus blazed a trail in the direction of the shadow.

“Annie? It isn’t required,” he said.

“No.”

“No?”

“No, it isn’t a problem,” I said, unintentionally taking a step away from him.

He cocked his head to the side squinting at me. “Something wrong?”

Yes, something is wrong. Your attack dog is charging after someone as we speak. It could be my guardian, Michael, it could be my ex-husband, Lawrence, or it could be one of his hired killers…but hey, let’s just talk about dinner tomorrow night. I shook my head trying to recover. “I was just envisioning you and your guest having to endure my cooking. Not a pretty picture. I’d be happy to serve dinner. Thrilled that Susan is preparing the food.” I rambled. “I imagine after dinner tonight you know I’m not much of a cook. You and the boys were quite well mannered not to make any faces while you ate.” I paused. “Is it 10:30 yet?”

“Not yet.” He peered in the direction Romulus ran. “Romulus is chasing something other than the tennis ball.”

“Other?”

“Rabbit, raccoon, red fox. The iron bars on the fence keep Romulus in, but they offer enough room for small animals to wander onto the grounds.” He whistled loudly and Romulus came running. I was relieved he didn’t have blood dripping from his mouth. “Whatever it was climbs trees or Romulus would have caught it.”

I wondered if Michael climbed trees.

“It’s time,” he said turning toward the house and gesturing for me to go first. His expression remained curious. I wasn’t sure if he thought I was an insubordinate employee or an escaped mental patient.