by Ali Vali
“Save that and head out on Highway 156 toward Indian Springs.”
“That’s the middle of nowhere, sir,” he said, not believing his boss wanted him to waste time now.
“We just found the two AWOL deputies who’d been sitting on the Lucassi house. Each of them has a bullet in his head, which explains the blood on Caterina Terzo’s face. Mike got a match this morning and it came back to our guys. I have no fucking idea what’s going on here.” The captain stopped for a moment as if overcome with emotion. “Andy, I know you’re swamped, but all this shit is related, and I need you to coordinate the scene. Highway patrol is out there now, but they’re expecting you.”
“Yes, sir, we’ll take care of it.” He took the drive faster than the goons were expecting and a few of them flipped him off.
“What’s wrong?”
“These fuckers have gone too far. They killed two cops, so I hope they can handle more than the Vegas heat.”
* * *
“Brinley!”
The yell got Brinley to scramble out of bed and run to the door of the bedroom.
“Mom?” Brinley met her in the middle of the staircase and started crying as Wilma held her so tight she thought she’d have bruises. “How did you find me?”
“Thank God. Thank God. Thank God.” Wilma finally let go and leaned back to stare at her. “I just knew you weren’t dead.”
“Why don’t you two get comfortable and I’ll go and check on Reed?” Oscar said as he stood at the bottom of the stairs with a smile.
She nodded and held her mom’s hand as she went down. Oscar blushed when she hugged him and kissed his cheek. “Mom, have a seat on the sofa. I’m going to check on Finn. I’ll be right back.”
“What the hell is going on?” Wilma sounded so confused that Brinley wanted to rush the story, but there was something she had to do first.
“I promise I’ll tell you everything, but give me a minute.” She turned and stopped Oscar from going up. “Do you mind giving me a second alone with her?”
“I’m sure it might take more than a second, but I don’t mind waiting.”
She climbed the stairs slowly and thought about every conversation she and Reed had engaged in since they’d met, and how many times Reed had said she wasn’t a nice person. It was a good thing Reed’s mother was dead. If she wasn’t, Brinley would’ve punched someone in the face for the first time in her life. Reed had deserved so much better.
“Hey,” she said when Reed glanced her way.
“You know how I feel about you crying, so it was only to prevent any more of it.” Reed shrugged and it came with another small grimace. “And she can’t stay long, and you need to explain the importance of keeping up her act.”
“Shut up,” Brinley said, moving to sit on Reed’s bed. Reed’s eyes widened a little but she made no move to stop her when she leaned in and kissed her. She moved her hands into Reed’s hair and simply enjoyed the feel of her lips on hers, and how Reed’s breathing seemed to almost stop as if she was enjoying it just as much. “Thank you.”
Reed reached up and wiped away the tears that were falling despite her happiness. “Seeing her again was supposed to make you stop crying.”
“I’m not sure what kind of people you’ve been with in your life, but crying isn’t always a bad thing,” she said and kissed Reed again. “And the next time you tell me you’re not a good person, I’m going to remind you about this.”
“Go on, before she thinks I’m brainwashing you or something. If the kid wakes up, I’ll call you so she can see him too.” Reed’s touch was so tentative that Brinley leaned in to it to show her how much it was wanted. “And you’re welcome.”
She nodded before heading back down and sat next to her mother, glad that her grief was at an end. “I’m so sorry.” She started with that and it made her mother cry.
“Why didn’t you call me? The moment they told me you might be dead like poor Naomi, I fell apart.”
“Believe me, it killed me to see you on television, but this is what happened,” she said, launching into the story. Wilma stared at her the entire time as if she wasn’t exactly sure if she should believe her. “I know it sounds out-there, but Naomi and her daughter should prove to you that I’m not lying.”
“And this woman brought you here and is helping you?” Wilma asked as if she didn’t believe that part at all.
“Reed saved us, Mom. I know it sounds like total crap, but she did. I’m not going to share what she told me about her past, but she couldn’t do what they hired her to do when she saw Finn. It might’ve started with that, but now she’s doing what she can to get us back to our lives without any kind of threat to our future.” She wiped her eyes again and laughed. “Who would’ve thought accounting could be so exciting? Reed isn’t to blame. Dean Jasper and his boss Robert Wallace are the ones responsible for all this.”
Wilma told her about meeting with Dean and all the stupid questions he’d asked her. “I knew that guy was no good. You and Finn were missing, and all he wanted to talk about were the files you’d brought home.”
“Those files weren’t enough, but Reed got what we needed to prove what we suspected but could never verify on our own,” she said, pointing to the kitchen. “All we need to figure out now is how best to use them so we can move on.”
“Where’s Finn?”
“Brinley,” Oscar called from the top of the stairs. “The tornado woke up.”
“Come on.” She stood and held her hand out to her mom.
She almost laughed when she saw Finn on the bed, sitting on Reed’s lap, having what appeared to be a serious conversation with her. He had a limited vocabulary, but he had a lot to say. Reed was listening while holding his hand, and it was the stillest she’d ever seen her child.
“Mom, this is Reed.”
“Thank you,” Wilma said, moving to surprise Reed with a hug. “I owe you everything I have for saving my family.”
“You don’t owe me a thing, except your silence until all this is over.”
“Brinley told me, and I don’t have a problem with that. All I need is your promise that you’ll continue to keep them safe.”
Reed nodded at Wilma’s request and glanced at her.
“Take a nap, and I’ll be up later to change your bandages,” she told Reed. “Come on, big boy.”
“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry hysterically,” Wilma said, watching Finn run around with a truck.
“Trust me, if I decide to write a book when all this is over, it’ll never be published because it’ll sound too far-fetched.” She glanced up toward the master bedroom and wondered if now was a good time to kiss Reed since they couldn’t really talk about it. “That moment I saw her aiming that gun at my head was the absolute worst second of my life. Everything that came after wasn’t much better.”
“You seem to trust her with Finn,” Wilma said in a tone that meant she was fishing.
“I trust Reed with Finn—and with me—because she’s earned it. She gave me a list of choices at the beginning, so my being here is my idea.” The fact she’d kissed Reed was also her idea, but this wasn’t the time to get into it.
“What choices, exactly?”
“I could go and take my chances, I could disappear with a new identity and you would’ve never heard from me again, or I could stay here and let her try to set things right. This was hard on you, but never seeing you again was unacceptable, so I hope you can forgive me, and forgive her as well.”
“Brin, you sound like you really like her.” Wilma took her hand and pressed it against her chest. “Don’t get blinded by all this. Try and remember where you started.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” The smart move would be to listen to Reed’s advice and run when the coast was clear, but she couldn’t. “I’m not that naive that I don’t realize what Reed is, but I’m alive because of her. Finn isn’t dead in a burned car because of her.” She started crying again. “I can’t forget that, and I won’t b
e able to forget her.”
“Oh, baby girl, you’re going to have to force yourself to. You deserve a life where you’re not constantly looking over your shoulder.”
“I know that too, but it’s going to take some time to convince my heart of that.”
They spent the rest of the afternoon downstairs talking things through until Oscar told Wilma it was time to go. “Remember to keep taking interviews and don’t let up on the cops. If anyone suspects Brinley’s still alive, none of us are safe,” Oscar said.
“Can I see Reed before we go?” Wilma asked. “Alone.” She winked at Brinley, who frowned at her.
“What are you up to?” If her mother gave Reed a lecture about anything Brinley had told her, she was going to die of embarrassment.
Wilma turned to Oscar, ignoring Brinley’s question. “May I?”
“She’s awake, and I’m sure she won’t mind,” Oscar said, nodding.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Myers,” Reed said when she came in. “I’m not going to let anything happen to her, and I’m sorry it took so long to get you here.” Reed held out a phone and she accepted it. “For when you want to check in. I know Oscar made you leave your phone at home, but you can use this one. The only number on it is to another burner phone I’ll give Brinley.”
“When can I come back?”
“I have to get back to work as soon as I can walk without pain, but I’ll make sure it’s as often as we can manage. The only thing to remember is one slipup, and we’re done.”
“There are certain things I’m willing to gamble with, but my family is not one of them.”
“Good, she’ll need you once all this is over and I have to disappear from your life.” The words hurt, but they were true.
“That’s probably for the best, but I know my daughter,” Wilma said, taking her hand. “From everything she just told me, it doesn’t sound like that’s what she wants.”
“If life’s taught me one thing, ma’am, it’s that we don’t always get what we desire. You need to remind her of why we met in the first place. That should convince her that this isn’t a happily-ever-after kind of story.”
Wilma tilted her head in acknowledgment. “Life is a conglomeration of our choices, Reed, and not so much about giving in, but fighting for the things we really want. You were hired for something you didn’t do. That changes the way she sees you, and I’m not going to stand in her way if she decides to fight to keep you around.” Wilma laughed. “It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard, mind you, but Brinley is as stubborn as she is beautiful. If that is what she decides, I think you’re strong enough to change certain aspects of your life. Or I’ll do whatever I can to make her change her mind.”
“I think this conversation is the craziest thing ever,” Reed said, “but I won’t forget what you said. You and Brinley need to remember how this started. Nothing I can ever do will make up for it, and I sure as hell can’t change it.”
They said good-bye and Wilma left Reed to her thoughts. It took a few more minutes before she heard the front door close again and for Brinley to appear in her doorway. “You think she’ll do okay?” Reed asked.
“My mom deals with the IRS all the time, so I’m confident she can sell a story if she needs to.” Brinley didn’t move from the door, but Finn came in to play with his toys. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”
“About your mother, or that you kissed me?” She couldn’t decide which thing was harder to wrap her head around. “Seeing the kid, and given what you told me about your ex, made me think you wouldn’t be the type to go around kissing people who try to kill you.”
“Another joke? I’m beginning to think I’m breaking through that tough exterior of yours.” Brinley finally came in and sat on the same spot she’d kissed her from. “This isn’t some kind of twisted Stockholm syndrome if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m more in touch with my feelings than that.”
“I haven’t done all this to put you in danger at the end, so I hope you know I’m not giving in either. You’ll have a life after this, but it won’t include me.” Reed hoped Brinley would eventually see the truth of all that.
“I’m not that easy to persuade, and my ex was a big mistake in ways you don’t get.”
She had to laugh at the absurdity of it all. “Not to put you off, but I need to get up. It’s time to start our endgame, and that starts with a shower.”
“Let me corral Finn and I’ll help you. Oscar’s gone on and on about how much blood you lost, which means I’m not letting you stand up alone, so save the tough act.”
“It’s not an act,” she said indignantly.
“Uh-huh, give me a minute.” Brinley closed and locked the door since Finn knew how to escape an unlocked one.
“Just get me in there and I’ll handle the rest.”
“Are you shy?” Brinley asked with a cocked eyebrow.
It was an exercise in patience, but she stood and allowed Brinley to walk her to the bathroom and get her undressed. She wasn’t shy, but she also tried to ignore that Brinley sat and watched her in the shower after wrapping the wounds to keep them from getting too wet. Surreal didn’t begin to cover it.
She’d been with plenty of women in her life, but none of them had ever looked at her like Brinley was looking now. It shouldn’t have felt sexual, but it did, from the way Brinley had slowly undressed her to the way she touched her. The gentleness of Brinley’s hands felt like landing in some bizarre universe that she wouldn’t know how to find again if she managed her way out. It was like finding unicorns really did exist.
The warm water was relaxing, but the tension was starting to build when she gazed at Brinley and Brinley smiled at her. She was convinced if she asked Brinley to join her she would, but that would only add to the pile of mistakes she was trying to wade through. Willpower was paramount now.
“You seem to be moving better,” Brinley said as she helped dry her off. There was no question her hands lingered, as did her gaze.
“It’s going to be at least a month before I’m back to normal. This isn’t the first time I’ve been shot, so I’ve got a little experience.” She stepped into a clean pair of boxers and took the shirt Brinley held up. “If I start moving around some, it’ll help with the pain.”
They both turned when they heard Oscar call out, and he sounded excited again. “I understand now what you said about Oscar’s state of being. The term nervous Nellie comes to mind.”
She laughed and nodded. “Perfect name for him. Go unlock the door and see what’s got him in a twist now.”
He glanced between them as if trying to puzzle something out, and she could only guess it was her wet hair that made him pause.
“Is my mom okay?” Brinley asked, shaking him out of his silence.
“She’s fine, but there’s plenty of money on the street for information about Victor, Caterina, and Paolo.” Oscar was good at reading the pulse of the town when something big was out there, and this could either be great or the beginning of the end for them.
“Who’s paying?” she asked.
“Remi and Mano Jatibon,” Oscar said, two people they’d never done business with. “They found two dead cops today, and they’re trying to divert the heat off them and their business. Everybody who owes anyone anything is trying to find something to tell the Jatibons since the money’s too good to pass up.”
“Okay,” Brinley said holding up her hands in a T formation for timeout. “Who are Remi and Mano Jatibon, and what do they have to do with this?”
“Sit for a minute.” Reed pointed to the bed. “The only players you know about are Robert Wallace, Francesco Terzo, and his daughter Caterina Terzo, but Vegas has more connected families than that. Wallace was working for the Terzo family, but it was the daughter of another family who hired me to kill Victor Madison.”
“The head of Bellagio, right?” Brinley asked.
“Yes, and really Victor’s death boils down to his wife not wanting to share the assets in a
divorce. The problem is Victor’s father-in-law is Diego Moretti, who’s part of the New York Mob—his heir apparent Paolo is who shot me. Now both the Terzo and Moretti families have lost a child, and they’re pissed.”
Brinley nodded and held her index finger up. “I understand all that, but what does that have to do with these Jatibon people?”
“I’d think it’s a survival of the fittest kind of thing. The Jatibons are the ones standing outside the ring of trouble, and they want to keep it that way. Remi Jatibon and her brother Mano control yet another family, but they’re based in New Orleans. Technically, Remi is the heir apparent in that family, but she pretty much already runs the day-to-day stuff with her brother serving as her right hand.”
“If they’re from New Orleans, what do they care about what’s happening in Vegas?” Brinley asked.
“They have interests outside New Orleans, like owning the Gemini next to Caesars Palace.”
“I still don’t understand why they’d get involved.”
“Remi and her partner in business, Cain Casey, also a New Orleans mobster, are like the thinking arm of the Mob. They treat business like some kind of chess game, only in the end they shove the king up your ass and shove the queen in your eye before you even figure out you’ve lost. What I can’t figure out is what do two dead cops have to do with any of this?” she asked, moving gingerly to her desk chair. The bed was getting tiring.
“Believe me,” Oscar said, “I’m going to start looking for answers to that one, but two of those three people are our responsibility. The amount of money they’re throwing out could become a big problem for us.” Oscar actually wrung his hands and she smiled at the act usually only written about in old romance novels.
“Or it could be our way out,” she said slowly. She might have never done business with the Jatibons, but she knew plenty about the guy who ran the Gemini. Mano, from all her information, was a stand-up guy who didn’t take shit from anyone, especially people like Francesco Terzo. “Do you trust me?” she asked Brinley.
