Hope flooded my heart. “Really? How much later are we talking about?”
“Years… at least nine or ten. Even then, I’m not sure I’ll give it up completely.” Seeing my relief, he continued. “It’s mostly a formality. Chris and I can work out the details, and you can think it over once it’s all spelled out.” That was a concession he’d hoped to avoid, but my reluctance made sense.
“Uh… okay. Sure. That seems fair.” I knew the minute the words were out of my mouth that it was as good as a done deal for Uncle Joey.
His relieved smile lit up his face like he’d just won the jackpot. “Good. And let me just add that you don’t need to worry about your business experience. You wouldn’t be in charge of the day-to-day running of things. You’d only need to check in on the board meetings every once in a while, just to make sure no one had any nefarious activities planned. Basically what you do for me already.”
“Oh… that’s good.” So why was he bringing this up now? Was he really thinking about retiring, even though he said he wasn’t? “But… you’re not going to retire anytime soon, right? I mean… it just wouldn’t be the same without you.”
My declaration softened his heart. Not many people who knew him felt that way. “Thank you, Shelby. That means a lot. But don’t worry, like I said, it’s only a formality.” He waited for my nod before continuing. “There’s also the change to my estate. I don’t know if Chris told you about that?”
“Uh… yes. I thought that was the main reason we were here.”
“So he told you that I want you to be the executor?” I nodded and he continued. “Are you okay with that?”
I shrugged. “I guess. As long as everything’s spelled out in your will, I’ll follow your wishes to the letter.” He nodded, and I caught a hint of underlying worry that sent my heart sputtering. “You’re okay, right? I mean… health-wise?”
That caught him off-guard, and he inhaled sharply. “Of course. Fit as a fiddle.”
“Okay… that’s good.” I tried to pick up if he was hiding something, but his thoughts had shut up tight. What did that mean? He obviously didn’t want me to learn anything, but, did that mean something was wrong? Did he have a health issue he’d just found out about?
“I guess that’s all for now,” he said, glancing at Chris. “Shall we set up a time to go over the paperwork?”
“Yes. I can have the estate plan ready for you, including the business side of it if you want to leave it to Shelby. But I will need more details from you to finish it up.”
“Let’s meet again in a few days. Just let me know when you’re ready.”
“Sure,” he said. “I’ll get started right away.”
“Good.” Uncle Joey glanced my way. “And you can join us.” I nodded, and he turned to Chris. “I guess that’s all for now.”
Chris stood to leave and shook hands with Uncle Joey. “I’ll be in touch.”
I stood to go with him, but Uncle Joey stopped me. “Can you to stay for a minute longer?” He was thinking about Ramos’s adventure last night, and that he wanted to fill me in.
“Uh… yeah, sure. I can stay.”
Chris had hoped to talk to me about this huge revelation. Now he’d have to wait. But what the hell? Uncle Joey’s successor? This was nuts. “I’ll see you later then.” He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, and hurried out the door.
After he left, Uncle Joey took pity on me, thinking that I looked a little shell-shocked. “Don’t worry, Shelby. Like I said, naming you as my successor is just a formality. Nothing’s going to change.”
“Are you sure about that?”
He let out a breath. Now that Chris was gone, he could open up a little. “Yes. I know you don’t want it, and I don’t want to burden you. I just need to know that, if anything were to happen to me, I wouldn’t leave a mess for Miguel to clean up.”
“Of course. I understand that.”
“Good. It will just give me some peace of mind, you know?”
“Yeah. I totally get that. But what about Ramos? He would be lots better at it than me.”
Uncle Joey smiled. “Yes. He would. That’s why I’ll ask him to run the business. He knows it better than anyone.”
“Then why not name him as your successor?”
“I don’t know.” He caught my gaze. “It just seems right to name you. You’re part of the family now. I guess that’s the main reason. Be it right or wrong, I can’t do it any other way.” He was going with his gut, and it hadn’t steered him wrong yet.
I couldn’t get over the fact that he thought of me as his real niece, even though I wasn’t. It seemed a little ironic that pretending it was true had made it true in his mind.
Was that some kind of a syndrome or something? Maybe Bob would know more about it? It probably had a name, and he’d know exactly how it came about. Maybe I could ask him at my next appointment… hypothetically speaking, of course.
I met Uncle Joey’s gaze. “So does Ramos know you want to put him in charge of everything?”
His brows drew together. “Not exactly. I wanted to talk to you about it first. Once you’ve made your decision, then I’ll talk to him. Either way, I think he’d be fine running the business, especially if you’re involved. I mean… he’s always been protective of you, so it only makes sense that he’d want to be there to help you out, in whatever capacity you need.”
My eyes narrowed. “Oh… so I see how it is.”
“What?” He didn’t like my tone.
Was it okay to tell a mob boss he was a manipulative son of a… gun? Probably not. “Sounds like you know what you’re doing.”
“Of course I do. And if it will benefit everyone I love, I don’t have a problem with it.” His direct gaze caught mine in an unspoken challenge. Since I had no idea how to argue with that, I nodded instead, and he relaxed. “Now we need to talk about this unfortunate incident with my tenant.”
“Right. So what happened last night? Did Ramos talk to Slasher?”
Uncle Joey snorted, since he wouldn’t call it talking. “Yes. But he didn’t get the answer we wanted. Slasher told Ramos he was working for me, just like always.”
“So he really didn’t know?”
“It doesn’t sound like it. Of course Ramos knew there was more to it, and he convinced Slasher it was in his best interests to tell him everything about the operation. It sounds like Slasher is a pusher, but he gets the drugs from Vinny who just happens to be Victor’s cousin. You remember Victor?”
“Oh yeah… he was number three on my chart.” I’d met Victor the first time I worked for Uncle Joey. It wasn’t until later that I’d learned his name. Still, I didn’t know him well. “Does he still work for you?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Victor ran the drug side of the business, and now it looks like he’s turned it over to his cousin Vinny.”
I snorted. “That’s hilarious.” Uncle Joey’s brows dipped. He wasn’t amused. “I mean… the cousin Vinny part. You know? My cousin Vinny?”
Uncle Joey rolled his eyes. “The point is—it means that Victor has gone against my wishes to stop running the drug business. Even worse, he’s still using my name.” He shook his head. “Did he think I wouldn’t find out about it? What an idiot. I thought he was smarter than that.”
“Yeah… that’s rough.”
“And here I thought I was turning over a new leaf and getting out of the drug business. Why do these things always happen?”
“Isn’t that the truth? It’s like that saying… no good deed goes unpunished. I thought it only applied to me, but now it looks like you can’t catch a break either.”
He smiled, seeing the irony. “I know… the perils of being a mob boss. I could write a book about it.”
I chuckled. “Yeah. It could be one of those self-help books, and you could call it The Reluctant Mob Boss, or how about The Hazards of Being a Mob Boss. Or maybe, Things You Should Know Before Becoming a Mob Boss.”
His lips turned up in a polite smile, and
he shook his head, thinking I was getting carried away. It might have been funny at first, but I should probably stop now.
I shrugged, not nearly as intimidated as I might have been a few months ago. “So what’s next?”
“I’m going to invite Victor into the office for a meeting. I need you to be in attendance, since I’m not sure I can trust anything he says. Can you come back a little later today? Ramos should be back by then.”
“Of course. Where is Ramos anyway?”
“I sent him to check on the other members of my organization. After hearing about Victor, I intend to find out if anyone else is going against my wishes.”
I nodded. “That’s a good idea. Ramos is good at getting people to talk, but if you need my help, just let me know.”
“You know I will.”
I grinned. “Okay. Well… I’d better get going. I’ll see you in a bit.” I made my way to the door and pulled it open.
“Shelby… wait… I just want to say… thanks for standing by me. It means a lot.”
Surprised that he’d voiced his feelings… out loud… I nodded and sent him a smile. “How could I not? You’re my uncle, right?”
He flashed me a grin, and I hurried out the door.
CHAPTER 5
On the way to the precinct, I couldn’t get over the fact that I’d basically agreed to be Uncle Joey’s successor. What was wrong with me? That was the absolute last thing I’d ever want. But he thought of me as family, and I’d even given in to the whole family thing.
After what had happened in New York, it was an undeniable part of my life now, along with Chris and my kids. We were part of the Manetto clan whether I liked it or not. That gave Uncle Joey every right to name me as his successor, but I never thought he’d actually do it.
Crap. Why did this have to happen now? And, to top it off, it was most likely my fault. I’d been calling him Uncle Joey since the beginning, mostly to bug him. But now I realized there was a reason behind it. I’d counted on that family designation to keep him from killing me. Well… it had certainly worked… and backfired in a big way.
Of course, how could I complain? Being involved with a mob boss had consequences. Good or bad, it was time to pay up. Still, it wasn’t all gloom and doom. Hadn’t he just said he was giving up the mob boss part? That was huge, so maybe things weren’t all that bad, right?
I pulled into the precinct parking lot and slipped my lanyard over my head. Inside, I glanced over the detectives’ offices, looking for Dimples. Not finding him, I decided that maybe it was a good thing. Now I could look up the information I needed on my computer without those pesky explanations.
In fact, most of the desks were empty, and the blinds were shut in the chief’s office. Maybe they were all in there for a briefing?
With no time to lose, I hurried to my desk in the far corner, noticing a stack of files sitting on my desktop. Because it had been nearly two weeks since I’d been there, I could understand that someone had used my empty desk for storage. Still, I couldn’t shake the suspicion that crawled through my mind. Had Willow taken over my desk, too? If she had…
Letting out a breath, I shoved down my anger and pulled out the chair, checking to make sure it wasn’t the broken one Bates had saddled me with earlier. Finding it in good condition, I sat down and turned on my computer, glancing at the files while I waited for it to boot up.
The top file had “Jane Doe” on the front. I opened it to find a photo of a woman with a vacant stare on her face and her clothes covered in blood. This had to be the amnesia case Dimples had told me about.
The second file had the name “Sophie Blackwell” on the tab. I opened it to see the same woman, only this photo was from her driver’s license. The intake form listed all of her pertinent information, along with a summary of the incident.
The third folder had the name “Brock Blackwell” on the cover. Inside, I found a crime scene photo, with the man lying on a bed, covered in blood. Unsurprisingly, the report listed Sophie Blackwell as the deceased’s wife, along with the place, time, and date of his death, including that he’d been stabbed multiple times.
Oh man… this looked bad. Had she killed her husband? Did she still have amnesia?
“Shelby.”
I glanced up to see Dimples coming toward me. Behind him, most of the detectives were leaving the chief’s office. Willow followed them out. Seeing me, her brows drew together, and she wondered why I was sitting at her desk.
Anger rushed over me. My instincts were spot on. Dimples stopped beside me, and I raised my brows. Instant guilt came off him in waves. Holy hell! It was him? He’d put her here at my desk? How could he do that to me?
“I didn’t expect you back today,” he said, scrambling for an excuse. The hurt accusation in my eyes cut him to the quick. After a few heated swear words came to his mind, he mentally apologized, thinking sorry, over and over.
Swallowing an angry retort, I glanced between him and Willow, who now stood at his side. “This must be the case you guys are working on.” I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms. “Made any progress?”
“Some,” Dimples said. “But I’m actually glad you’re here. Maybe you could help us out.” Dread churned his stomach, just like that of a cheating husband who’d been caught, and he wasn’t sure what to do, or how to make it up to me. “We haven’t had any luck with Sophie, but maybe if you spoke with her, we could learn more. It might be worth a try.”
Not ready to let him off the hook yet, I focused on Willow. She furrowed her brow, knowing that Drew usually worked with me, but this was her case now. Why was he so intent on including me? There was more than enough work to go around. Still, she easily picked up on Drew’s guilt, and getting on his bad side, or mine, wasn’t something she wanted to do. She decided a little damage control was in order.
“Hi Shelby.” She tilted her lips in a friendly smile. “Drew didn’t think you’d be coming into work for a while, so he told me I could use your desk. But now that you’re here, I’m happy to move my stuff.”
She reached for the files, so I handed them over, not about to give up my chair or my desk. I still had work to do on my computer, and, since it was mine, she would just have to find someplace else to work.
Dimples was suddenly grateful Willow had tried to smooth things over, and he hoped I’d accept her explanation, since it was the truth. Not liking that he took her side, I spoke up. “I take it Sophie still doesn’t remember anything?”
“Unfortunately, no,” Dimples answered before Willow could open her mouth. “We don’t have any proof of what happened either.”
“We know what happened,” Willow said. “She killed him and ran, leaving her sanity behind.”
“How do you know that?” I asked, speaking Dimples’s thoughts out loud. He may think it likely, but he wasn’t convinced, and they’d found no proof.
She shrugged. “I can’t prove it, but it only makes sense that she must have caught him with another woman and snapped. If we can just find the other woman, we’ll have our proof.”
“So, rather than facts, this is your psychic ability speaking?” I put her on the spot, wanting to hear her explanation.
That question surprised her, since most people didn’t like talking about psychic abilities. “Not exactly. I couldn’t get a read on her yesterday at the hospital, so my intuition and common sense put it together.” She was thinking that they had just received the video feed from the hotel, and they just needed to take a look at it to know she was right.
“Uh-huh,” I said, raising my brow at Dimples, wanting him to acknowledge that she was manipulating him and the whole police department. “So you’re looking at the video feed from the hotel where the victim died?”
Her breath caught. She hadn’t mentioned that, so how did I know? Her eyes narrowed, and she studied me, thinking about the research she’d done after meeting me in person yesterday. She knew everyone thought I was the real deal… or at least I’d tricked everyone into bel
ieving it.
But she wasn’t so sure. From her study of the paranormal, she believed most of a psychic’s ability could be explained by a highly talented skillset of observation and deduction. It was exactly how Sherlock Holmes had operated, and he could have been labeled a psychic, if he hadn’t explained his methods. No one, not even a psychic like her who understood tarot cards and astrology, could do the things I did without it.
Hmmm… being compared to Sherlock Holmes was a definite compliment, but didn’t she know he was a fictional character? So what did that say about her psychic ability? It sounded like she believed she was a psychic because of her devotion to mysticism, and that I might be one based on my talents of observation and deduction.
I needed more time with her to figure it out, but it would have to wait, since I had my own investigation to deal with.
“That’s right,” she agreed, answering my question. “We’ve got the security feed, and we’re hoping it will show us the killer.”
Dimples wasn’t sure what to do or say that would keep him from getting into trouble with either one of us.
I took pity on him and nodded. “Well, good luck.” Glancing at Willow, I added. “I’ve got a couple of things to do at my desk while I’m here, but you can have it back as soon as I’m done.”
“Oh… thanks.” Her brow wrinkled. She hadn’t expected me to be nice to her. What game was I playing? The fact that I wasn’t as enthusiastic as she was about working for the police gave her hope. Maybe she could take my place after all. She never thought I’d want to quit working for the police, but maybe the last few months had changed me, and my position was up for grabs. The timing couldn’t be better.
What the heck did that mean? She headed back to Dimples’s desk, so I turned my gaze to him and whispered, “she’s after my job.”
“Shit,” he said… out loud. His fierce gaze held mine. “Well, it’s not up for grabs.” He thought about asking for my help with the case again, but decided against it. Once it was clear that Willow had failed with her psychic abilities, he’d bring me in on it. Then I could solve the case and show her up at the same time. It would be poetic justice, and he could hardly wait.
Dying Wishes: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Shelby Nichols Adventure Book 14) Page 7
