Deep in Death: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (22 page)

“Hmm…I sure wish I was with you right now… but at least you’ll be home today. That’s why I’m calling, to see what time I should come to the airport to pick you up.”

“Yeah…well, about that,” I said, my stomach clenching with guilt. “It looks like I’m coming home tomorrow morning instead. There’s a couple of things Uncle Joey needs me for today. But that’s only a few more hours. I mean…I probably wouldn’t make it home before later tonight anyway, so what’s a few more hours, right?” I was borrowing Ramos’ reasoning, but when I said it to Chris, it didn’t sound near as good.

Chris sighed, and I knew he was disappointed. “I’m sorry Chris. If you’ll let me, I’ll be sure to make it up to you.”

“Oh yeah? How are you going to do that?”

I chuckled, knowing from his tone that he was okay about it, probably because he liked it when I owed him. “I’m sure you can think of something.”

“Yeah…I can definitely do that.”

“Good. I hate to say this, but I’m running late, and I’ve got to finish getting ready. I’ll call you tonight, all right?”

“Fine, but is there anything I need to take care of today since you won’t be here?”

“Um…let’s see, it’s Thursday…so just make sure Savannah gets to dance lessons at four…she can probably get a ride with Ashley, so give her a call after school so she can arrange it. Other than that, I can’t think of anything else.”

“Okay…I’ll try to remember to call. What time does she get home from school?”

“Call her around three-thirty,” I said.

“Okay,” he agreed.

“Thanks honey…I love you. I’ll call you later.”

We disconnected, and I counted my lucky stars that I had such an understanding husband. Chris was the best. He put up with me and all this…stuff I had to do for Uncle Joey. It made me cringe just a little that I’d spent a few minutes in Ramos’ arms last night, but nothing happened, and it never would. Still, I vowed to be a better wife.

I dressed in a white knit tee and blue sweater combo with jeans and hoped that was good enough for the day. I hadn’t brought much, and I was running out of different clothes to wear. In the bathroom, I turned my head upside down for a quick blow-dry, going for the wind-blown look, and added a little make-up and lip-gloss. Ready, I checked the time. Seven minutes late. That was a lot better than I thought.

I knocked on Uncle Joey’s door and Jackie let me in. “Good morning, Shelby. Come on in.” She was dressed smartly in a navy pantsuit, and thinking I looked pretty good for someone who’d woken up screaming during the night. That must have been one hell of a bad dream.

Crap! She’d heard me screaming? I thought Ramos said it wasn’t that loud? Now Jackie wondered what she’d said to upset me since I was staring at her with my brows drawn together and my lips turned down.

I quickly cleared my expression and smiled at her. “Hi Jackie. Sorry I’m late. Has everyone already eaten?”

“Yes, but there’s plenty of food.”

She stepped out of the way and I hurried inside. Ramos stood from the small table, taking his plate and discarding it with the others. “Here…I’m done. You can take my place. Grab a plate and eat.”

“Thanks,” I said, relieved there was no awkwardness between us. I got my food and ate pretty fast, hating that I was the last one to eat. I wasn’t that late, but it was obvious that the food had come earlier than Uncle Joey told me. Just as I finished up, he walked into the room.

“Oh good, we’re all here,” he said, glancing at me. “Let’s get started.” He waited until he had our undivided attention and began. “We need to meet with the Passinis today and let them know I’m not dead. I was hoping that between all of us, we could come up with something good to tell the police, since I’m sure they’ll have plenty of questions.” He checked his watch. “Kate’s already at their office. She just texted to tell me that now’s a good time to stop by, so let’s head out.”

I was a little disappointed that Kate was still helping Uncle Joey out, but maybe her involvement today was part of her recompense for screwing up. We dutifully followed Uncle Joey to the parking lot, and he insisted we all ride in his car. Since he insisted on driving, I ended up in the back seat sitting between Ramos and Nick. It was a little cramped, and our thighs were touching, but neither of them seemed to mind.

Nick liked the way I smelled and hoped we’d be done today so he could get home to his girlfriend. Ramos slipped his arm along the top of the seat to give me a little more room so I didn’t have to sit so close to Nick. He didn’t like how Nick was sniffing my hair while I wasn’t looking.

I started to chuckle, drawing the attention of both of them.

“What’s so funny,” Nick asked.

“Uh…nothing,” I said.

Nick didn’t believe me, but Ramos figured it out and sent me a lopsided smile. Put off, Nick turned his head to look out the window. It was another dreary day, with gray, cloudy skies and a touch of rain, but it didn’t seem as bad to me as before. Probably because I was sitting by Ramos and he wasn’t dead.

We pulled into the parking lot of The Passini Shipping Company and got out of the car. Uncle Joey stood straight and tall, wanting to make a grand entrance. He fastened the button on his jacket and smoothed his hair. He looked like a movie star getting ready to play a part in the big scene. Jackie followed suit, straightening her jacket as well. I glanced at Nick and Ramos. They both had on jackets too, but it was mostly to hide their guns.

Compared to them, I looked like an outsider who didn’t quite know how to belong to the group. I shrugged, maybe that wasn’t so bad, and followed them inside. Since they all went in before me, I caught the tail-end of the shock and surprise coming from the office staff. After a ripple of astonishment, the whole place went quiet. Then one brave soul bolted to Jon Passini’s office and barged inside shouting the news that Joe “The Knife” Manetto was alive.

Uncle Joey sauntered in on his heels, and everyone in Jon’s office stood in shock. Julia Passini turned white, then flushed red. Her first thoughts that he was alive brought shock, then relief, followed by anger that he had conned them…and what did he want?

Jon’s relief was more heartfelt, since he knew more than Julia. He hadn’t told her that the police thought he and his family were guilty of murder and had begun building a case against them.

Alec wasn’t surprised at all, although he was certainly putting on a good show. Kate had told him the whole story, even though she wasn’t supposed to. I raised my brow at Kate, but she averted her face and tried to ignore me. She wasn’t real happy with me since I’d claimed this whole fiasco was her fault. It wasn’t, and she didn’t like that I’d blamed her. Uncle Joey didn’t blame her, although he had given her “the talk” about where she stood in his organization.

Uncle Joey ushered us all inside the office and closed the door. “We need to talk,” he said, looking from one Passini to the other and staring them all down. By the time he got done, even Alec was starting to tremble. I couldn’t help but admire the way Uncle Joey intimidated them. His presence alone commanded everyone’s complete attention, and I didn’t envy the Passinis.

He began his narrative, telling them how he and Ramos had survived the explosion, certain that the Passinis had orchestrated the whole thing. At this point, Julia’s anger disappeared, replaced by fear of reprisal. Then her momma bear instincts kicked in and she opened her mouth to deny his accusations. Uncle Joey held up his hand, and her mouth snapped shut. After a moment of total silence, he finished by saying he’d found who it was.

“Someone in my own organization wanted me dead and set you up,” he said. “Just so you know, I have taken care of the situation.”

Both Julia and Jon sank into their chairs with relief, and the tension drained from the room. “The only thing to do now,” Uncle Joey continued, “Is to figure out what to tell the police. I don’t want them to know the truth, but I think with your help, we can come up with something they’ll believe.”

“Yes,” Jon agreed. “That should work, but this is tough. I don’t have any idea where to start.”

“I have an idea,” I said. Everyone glanced my way with interest. “Why don’t you blame the two security guards that were killed? Maybe you could say they were conning both of you at the same time.”

“Hmm…perhaps,” Uncle Joey said. “But how would we make that work?”

“Maybe you could say they planted the bomb to blackmail the Passinis, but they were really telling them it was you doing the blackmailing, and you were going to set it off unless they paid you a certain amount of money. Only it would be them getting the money.”

“Okay,” Uncle Joey said. “I like this so far, but how were they conning me?”

“Um…I guess they were just going to kill you in the explosion? But you got away?”

“That wouldn’t work,” Kate argued. “If Uncle Joey was dead, then the Passinis wouldn’t need to give them the money.”

“Well…maybe they already gave them the money,” I said in defense. “At the same time, the guards trapped Uncle Joey and Ramos in the room with the bomb and told them the Passinis wanted them dead so they wouldn’t have to repay a debt.” I knew that part was true, so it wouldn’t hurt to put that in.

“Then Uncle Joey and Ramos ruined their plans,” I continued, “by getting away and locking the guards in the room where they got blown up. Since the guards told Uncle Joey it was the Passinis who’d wanted him dead, he decided to stay dead until he knew what was going on. That should answer why you didn’t come forward right away and did the whole funeral thing.”

“I think that makes sense,” Jackie said. But she said it like she wasn’t quite sure.

Uncle Joey was thinking it a little far-fetched and made the guards look pretty stupid, but he couldn’t think of anything better. “What do you think?” he asked Jon.

“It should work,” Jon said. “Mostly because I never received word that those two didn’t make it off the yacht. Apparently, no one knew they were missing. So as long as the case gets solved, I think the police chief will buy it. Since they were the only people killed in the explosion…that will wrap things up nicely for them.” He glanced at me, thinking it was a brilliant plan so, naturally, I smiled at him.

“All right,” Uncle Joey said. “Let’s go over our stories and give the police chief a call.”

***

The detective who’d come to the funeral was the one who showed up at the Passini Company. He took everyone’s statements with a grain of salt, thinking that since Uncle Joey and Ramos weren’t dead, he couldn’t bring charges against the Passinis, so it didn’t really matter. He also knew it wouldn’t do a lot of good to look into it too hard since the mayor was cozy with the Passinis, and he’d be happy with whatever the police chief told him.

It still took over two hours to get everything down on paper. At least I had my Kindle, but I felt sorry for the detective. By the time he was done, he was more than glad to leave. He didn’t believe that story for a minute, but what could he do? The chief wanted it wrapped up, so he’d follow his orders. The story was confusing, but in some ways that made it easier to explain. He could sum it up by saying that the cons conned the wrong people. How was that for simple?

Everyone was starving by the time we got done, so Uncle Joey took us to Pike Place Market for lunch. Just as we got out of the car, sunshine broke through the clouds, making the water sparkle in the bay and warming the air. With a lighter step, I followed the others through the market and even watched the fishmongers toss salmon to each other. Lunch in the fancy restaurant was great, and I realized it was the first time I’d had any fun since I’d gotten there.

With our stomachs full and satisfied, Uncle Joey announced that he had to go back to the office to finish up some last minute details and meet with Kate, so we headed back to the car. I slowed my step as we passed the shops, pulled like a magnet to the fabulous items along the path. There were some great tee shirts here that I could get for my kids. Some of the earrings and jewelry caught my eyes too, dazzling me with their sparkle. I lingered over them for several minutes, taking it all in, and knew I just wasn’t ready to leave.

Uncle Joey didn’t need me anymore, so it wouldn’t hurt to stay, and I could take a taxi back to the hotel. I glanced up to catch him, but couldn’t see any of them anywhere and realized they were long gone. Oops. Just then my phone rang. “Hello?”

“Where are you?” Uncle Joey asked.

“Oh, well I got distracted by all the shops, so I’m still at the market. Hey, if it’s all right with you, I think I’ll just stay here for a while. I’d like to pick up some things for my kids. You don’t need me anymore today, right? I can probably take a taxi to the hotel, so you wouldn’t have to come back. Will that work?”

I heard him take a deep breath. Then he said, “Just a minute,” and covered the phone with his hand. I heard some talking going on but nothing I could make out before he came back on the line. “Where are you exactly?”

“Um…” I glanced around. “I’m real close to the guys throwing the fish.”

“Good. Stay there, Jackie’s coming.”

“Okay,” I said, and he disconnected. I realized that meant Jackie was coming to join me, and a broad smile broke over my face. Good for her. Plus, with her along, this could be a blast. She’d been through a lot these last couple of days and if anyone deserved some shopping therapy, it was her.

While waiting, I rummaged through some tee shirts on a nearby table, but didn’t find anything I liked. Just then, Jackie stepped beside me. “There you are,” she said, a little breathless. “When Joe told me you were stuck back here at the shops, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to join you.” She glanced at the tables and shop displays, taking in all the merchandise surrounding us, and rubbed her hands together. “Let’s get started.”