Laced In Lies

  “Uh… we’re meeting at the concert… so there will plenty of security and stuff. Plus, Uncle Joey and Ramos are making plans to take care of the drug part without me, so I won’t be involved in all that stuff either. I should be fine.”

  Chris caught my gaze, thinking he’d heard that before. “I really don’t like this.”

  “Yeah. I know.”

  He pulled me into his arms. “You still owe me for that extra night in New York. Now you’ll owe me double.” He was thinking that, for as much as I owed him, it would have to be something big.

  I let out a sigh and caught his gaze. “Yeah, but I don’t mind owing you so much. Uncle Joey maybe, but never you.”

  He let out a big breath, and then nodded. “All right. Um… I’ll try and get home before you leave. But if I don’t, text me when you can, so I know you’re all right.”

  “I will.”

  He gave me one more kiss, then pulled away. “How are you getting home, anyway?”

  I shrugged. “Oh… my luggage is in the limo, so I was going to see if Ricky could take me home.”

  “You’re going back to Thrasher?” He didn’t like that idea too much, especially in the pants I had on, and the fact that Ramos might see me wearing them. Maybe he should take me and reschedule his two o’clock appointment.

  Just then, Elisa knocked on the door and opened it. “Sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Fletcher is here for your two o’clock.”

  Chris pursed his lips and sighed.

  “Hey,” I said. “It’s no big deal for Ricky to take me home. Besides, I need my luggage and all the souvenirs I got for everybody.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you later. Be careful and stay safe.” He squeezed my hand one last time and watched me leave with a sense of foreboding. I wanted to reassure him, but Mr. Fletcher walked inside, so I missed my chance.

  Still, it bothered me that he was so worried, mostly because it started to make me worried too, and I didn’t like that much. Besides, I was going to be with Ramos. I’d be fine. Nothing bad was going to happen. Sheesh!

  Elisa closed Chris’ door behind me and hurried to her desk, still feeling guilty that she’d eaten my sandwich, especially since she’d basically lied, and had already eaten her lunch when Chris offered it to her.

  I sighed and shook my head. Was everyone a liar when it suited them? Last time I checked, a half-lie was still a lie. Lately it seemed everyone lied, or at least didn’t tell the whole truth, and hardly felt guilty at all.

  But was I any different? Not really. In fact, I was probably worse than most, considering the whole family thing with Uncle Joey. Lying to my kids… how was that right?

  “Uh… did you need something?” Elisa asked, since I made her nervous just standing there.

  “Oh… no. Just lost in my thoughts. How are you doing anyway?”

  “Good, thanks. Uh… sorry I ate your sandwich.”

  “That’s all right. You had no idea that I’d just show up like that after I said I wasn’t coming. So how’s the job? Still liking it here?”

  “Yes. It’s the best. I’m learning a lot.” She was even thinking about taking the LSAT again. She’d totally tanked it the first time, but she’d learned a lot working here. Then she thought about asking Chris where he thought she should start, and what books he’d suggest studying from his library.

  Right then, she was thinking of how much help he could give her, and I could see the wheels turning in her brain about how that would open the path for more involvement with him. I tried not to give her the evil eye, but something about my penetrating stare and raised eyebrow brought her up short, and her eyes widened.

  I leaned in close and lowered my voice. “I hope you know how lucky you are to have this job.”

  She swallowed. “Uh… yes I do. I love working for… uh… here.”

  “Then I’m sure you won’t do anything to jeopardize that, right?”

  “Uh… no… of course not.” She was a little offended that I thought she’d go beyond her professional boundaries. Sure Chris was a hottie, and she loved looking at him, but that’s all it was. She’d never… he was off-limits… she knew that.

  “Good, because I have a favor to ask.”

  Her eyes widened with curiosity and apprehension that I was going to tell her off, even if she didn’t deserve it.

  I leaned in closer. “I think Ethan is spying on Chris, and it worries me. I was doing a little digging and found out that Ethan knows the police chief. And… there’s something he’s hiding. If you spend some time with Ethan… and maybe get to know him a little, he might tell you what’s going on. What do you think? You’d be doing it for Chris, but he doesn’t need to know about that. Let’s just keep this between us. Okay?”

  “Sure,” she agreed. “I can do that.”

  “Good.” I straightened and smiled. “That’s a huge help. Maybe we can talk again next week or the week after and you can let me know if you find out anything.”

  “Okay, sure.”

  “Great. Thanks Elisa. It’s nice to know you’re helping me with this.”

  “No problem.”

  We said our goodbyes, and I turned down the hall, hoping that spark of curiosity Elisa possessed could be turned into something good and help keep her mind off my husband. I listened real close and picked up that she thought there must be something to my suspicions, since I was a bona fide private investigator. Then she thought about all the times Ethan had asked her questions about Chris’ clients, and her curiosity sparked even higher. What was Ethan up to?

  I turned the corner and lost her thoughts, but I’d heard enough to know that I’d made the right call in asking for Elisa’s help, and I was almost glad she’d been thinking about Chris and goaded me into it.

  It hit me that I should be cultivating friendships like that all the time. Knowing what people really wanted could tell me a lot about what buttons to push to motivate them to do what I wanted. There was so much I could do with my abilities once I got people pushed in the right directions. It would be a little like Uncle Joey, only on the good side.

  Wait… what? Did I just compare myself with Uncle Joey? Holy cow! He was really rubbing off on me. But he wasn’t all bad, right? Still, having something in common with a mob-boss should be a red flag of some sort, and maybe I’d better do something about it. Like… pray harder.

  It was nice to get back outside into the warm sunshine and cool breeze. And the walk to Thrasher helped clear my head. I took deep breaths and managed to feel a little more settled by the time I walked into Thrasher Development.

  Jackie was the only one there at the moment, but she put a call through to Ricky and said he’d be there in a few minutes. She asked me about New York, and then told me that she could hardly wait to visit. “How are the New York Manettos? I’ve never met them.”

  “They’re great… just like one big happy family. You’ll love them.”

  The elevator dinged, and Ricky walked in. I said my goodbyes to Jackie and followed him into the hall. On the ride down, he noticed me in my skinny jeans and immediately thought about his girlfriend and wondered if she could fit into such tight pants.

  Yikes! I quickly put up my shields and hoped my face didn’t turn red with embarrassment. Still, I caught that he thought I looked good, so maybe it wasn’t too bad, but I certainly didn’t want to hear any more.

  The ride home passed quickly. And stepping into my house filled me with relief. Even though it was nearly three o’clock, with the time change it felt like it was a lot later. All I wanted to do was lie down for a minute.

  After unpacking, I succumbed to the temptation and lay down on the bed. Just minutes later, Josh and Savannah came home, so I stumbled up and rushed down the stairs to greet them.

  We spent the next little while talking about Miguel and New York. Savannah noticed my New York t-shirt, so we all tramped back upstairs for their souvenirs. “We’ll have to go back,” I said. “Maybe this summer for Miguel’s first performance.”

/>   It was still hard to believe he had the part, and the kids thought so too. So what was I going to tell them about the Manetto family? I sighed and decided not to worry about that until I needed to.

  Savannah loved her stuffed animal, especially after I told her that Miguel helped me pick it out. But she squealed over the Aladdin t-shirt, and I was glad I got it for her. Josh wasn’t as thrilled with his baseball, but he smiled and told me thanks anyway.

  After I showed them the license plate with “fuhgedaboudit” for Chris, Josh laughed, then caught my gaze, thinking that’s it, and my heart sank. Crap! Had I just given him the biggest clue about Uncle Joey, or what? How stupid was that?

  I listened real close and picked up that it suddenly made sense to him. His eyes widened as he put it together. The house, the plane, all the money, the private school for Miguel. Was Uncle Joey a mob-boss? And did I work for him?

  As he tried to think things through, his brows scrunched together. How long had this been going on? He hadn’t paid much attention until he’d met Uncle Joey, but he knew I’d started working soon after the bank robbery, where I’d been shot in the head. Wasn’t that when I got my premonitions? Was Uncle Joey really related to us? And didn’t Dad work for him too?

  “Mom?” Savannah asked. “Did you hear what I said?”

  I jerked my attention to her, not having a clue that she’d even been talking. “Oh… uh, sorry. No… what did you say?”

  “I just wondered if I could call Miguel and congratulate him.”

  “Oh… of course. I’m sure he’d like that.”

  She smiled, and a pulse of excitement shivered through her. “I need his number.”

  “Oh… right.” I pulled out my phone and found his number. At the same time, I listened in to Josh’s thoughts and picked up that he wasn’t so sure it was a good idea to encourage Savannah. Couldn’t I see that she had a huge crush on Miguel? The son of a mob-boss? Shouldn’t I discourage her?

  I had to literally bite my tongue to keep from replying, especially when he thought Miguel probably wasn’t really our cousin at all. What else had I lied to him about?

  The enormity of it all sent his head spinning, and doubt crept in. Maybe he was just making it all up? How could it be true? Miguel was cool. He wasn’t a bully or anything like a mobster’s son. Maybe his imagination was just running wild. Yeah… that was probably it.

  “I’m hungry,” he said, and promptly left the room.

  Savannah danced out too, punching in Miguel’s number and heading into her bedroom. As her door shut, I sank down onto my bed, completely shell-shocked. I didn’t have a clue about what to do now. I probably should do something but, for some reason, I couldn’t think what that could be.

  Chris. He would know. I grabbed onto that hope like it was the only thing keeping me from getting swallowed up by quicksand. We’d talk it over. We’d figure it out together. Maybe we’d tell Josh everything… no, not about my mind-reading, but it was clear we’d have to tell him something.

  But whatever it was, we’d do it together, and it would be what was best for our kids.

  My stomach gurgled from all that anxiety, reminding me that I’d missed lunch, and I’d better eat something before it got worse. But how could I eat now? Sighing, I hurried downstairs needing to find out if Josh was all right. I entered the kitchen as he popped the last of a PB&J into his mouth, and lifted the milk jug to his lips.

  “Josh! Stop! Get a glass.”

  He hesitated with the jug partway to his mouth, and his lips twisted up into a smile, reminding me so much of Chris that my breath caught. His gaze found mine, and he started to raise the jug anyway.

  “Hey!” I stormed to his side to grab the jug, but he held it away from me, turning his body and holding it up high so I couldn’t touch it.

  “All right, all right,” he said, thinking that he’d been drinking out of it for two days now, so it didn’t really matter anyway, but whatever. He quickly pulled a glass out of the cupboard and filled it up. “There. How’s that?”

  Only he didn’t say ‘there, how’s that’ out loud, so I just shook my head. “Have you been drinking out of that jug the whole time?”

  His guilty gaze caught mine. “Uh… maybe.”

  I sighed, then moved to the fridge to grab a yogurt. I sat at the table and ate it while he finished his milk, eavesdropping on his thoughts. I didn’t pick up anything about Uncle Joey, and I let out a relieved breath.

  Instead, he was thinking about dinner and what I was going to fix. They’d had eggs and hash browns last night, since that was about the only thing Chris knew how to cook, and he was hoping for some enchiladas or something good like that.

  “What do you think we should have for dinner?” I asked him. “I was thinking enchiladas. Does that sound good?”

  “I was just… yeah… that sounds great.” A knock sounded at the kitchen door, and Josh glanced at me. “Oh… I forgot to tell you that Chloe was coming over to do homework. Is that okay?”

  “Um… sure.”

  He let her in, and we exchanged pleasantries before they headed into the living room. I let out a breath, relieved they hadn’t gone downstairs, since I kind of wanted to keep an eye on them. Then I tried to look on the positive side. At least Josh wasn’t focusing on me and Uncle Joey right now. That was good, right?

  Just then, Savannah came into the kitchen, a happy flush covering her face. Among other things, she was thinking that Miguel was the coolest person in the whole world. Visions of them together in all kinds of romantic situations floated across her thoughts at a dizzying rate. Whoa. She had it bad, and a spike of alarm threatened to overwhelm me.

  Maybe she could set the table for dinner. That might take her mind off Miguel for a minute or two. With a jolt, I suddenly realized that I had to leave in an hour, and I wouldn’t be home for dinner. Crap! I was a terrible mother. Here I’d been gone for two nights, and now I was leaving again.

  My breath whooshed out. Before despair overcame me, I clenched my teeth with steely resolve. Sure, I might be leaving for a couple of hours, but I could still make dinner for my family. I jumped up from the table and grabbed some chicken out of the freezer, then rolled up my sleeves and got to work.

  Half an hour later, I was nowhere near being done. The chicken was still partly frozen, and there was no way I could stuff the tortillas and get them into the oven in less than twenty minutes. Plus, I still had to get ready for the concert.

  In defeat, I turned off the stove and called for pizza delivery. Then I put the half-cooked chicken in the fridge, along with the rest of the ingredients. At least it wasn’t a total loss. I could still make the enchiladas for dinner tomorrow.

  I ran upstairs, trying to figure out what to wear. Since I was going with Ramos, it should probably be black, so I slipped on my black jeans and black boots. Wanting a little bling, I wore a different t-shirt that I’d picked up in New York. It was a fitted light blue tee with depictions of the Statue of Liberty and all the tall buildings. On top of that, sparkly rhinestones accented the words New York City.

  A little thrill of excitement, combined with a touch of nerves, washed over me when I realized I was actually going to meet Jodie McAllister. Besides being a huge star and totally gorgeous, she was Ramos’ ex, which made it a big deal. I didn’t want to look like a washed-out wallflower next to her, so I added a little darker eye-shadow to highlight my eyes, and freshened my lipstick.

  Next, I shook out my hair to get that wind-blown look, and spritzed it with hairspray. On impulse, I also sprayed a touch of my favorite French perfume to my neck and wrists. My leather motorcycle jacket was a little rough around the edges after my exploits in Paris, but that added a touch of character that totally worked with the look I was going for.

  Ready to go, I glanced in the mirror, and my lips tilted up in a sassy grin. Yup. I looked pretty hot for a middle-aged person, and now I could meet a gorgeous music star with confidence.

  Chris hadn’t made it home yet,
but it was time to go, so I found Josh and Savannah to explain that I had to help a client tonight, and that both Chris and the pizza would be there soon.

  “But wait for your dad before you eat the pizza. And Chloe, you’re welcome to stay if you want.”

  Since they were all hoping she could, I figured I might as well grant them their wish. Plus, letting her stay distracted them enough that they hardly noticed I was leaving.

  “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” With a quick wave, I made sure the VIP pass Dusty had given me was tucked inside my purse before I hurried out to my car.

  To get in the mood, I listened to Jodie McAllister’s breakout album on the drive to Thrasher Development. Now that I knew it was all about Ramos, I enjoyed it more than ever. I even played Devil Rider about three times before I pulled into the parking garage.

  I got out of my car, totally in rock star mode and singing the chorus out loud. Before reaching the elevator, I checked around the corner to see if Ramos’ motorcycle was in its usual parking place. Yup. There it was all shiny and gorgeous.

  A secret hope that we’d take the bike rose in my heart, mostly because of the whole Devil Rider thing. I mean, Ramos was the actual guy in the song, and if he showed up at the concert on his bike, it would be like the song had come to life. How cool was that? Just thinking about it sent shivers down my spine.

  Caught up in the moment, I started singing the first verse. “He came riding into town they say… like thunder crashing on a cloudless day. Demons chasing him from the past… riding behind, coming at him fast. Bringing the storm, bringing the rain, stirring the breeze, flowing with pain... You love me, then leave me… you devil rider. Hold me close, don’t let go… you devil rider. Break my heart, take my soul… you devil rider. You broke my heart. You took my soul….”

  The sound of someone clearing their throat stopped me cold. With wide-eyed mortification, I jerked around to find Ramos leaning against the pillar with a crooked smile on his face.