30. Vinnie

30

VINNIE

G randfather's words ring in my mind.

You have until midnight tomorrow night.

Rather tonight, at this point.

Raven's call two days ago surprised me. I want to have dinner with her at her place. I'd love to take her to bed again.

I'm happy about it.

Happy to be seeing Raven, of course.

But it also gives me an alibi.

Giacomo Puzo will die tonight while I'm at Raven's.

No one will suspect me.

Not that it matters anyway. It gave me a way to set it in motion.

I found out where he is.

He's in Houston on business.

So I'm driving there now. I'll put into motion my plan to take care of things.

Just as my grandfather took credit for Diego Vega when I know he had nothing to do with his death, I will take credit for Puzo.

After all, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. I spent all day yesterday putting everything together. I remembered seeing in his medical records that he's deathly allergic to peanuts, and I've arranged for his dinner to be laced with peanut butter. I paid off a maid to abscond with his epi-pen.

Easy enough.

He's toast.

Do I feel remorse? A bit. I don't know the man personally, but I know he's a two-bit mobster who's gotten involved with some Colombian thugs.

Arivaderci, Giacomo.

* * *

I reach Raven's house at six o'clock. Again, I'm traveling without my driver.

Having a driver feels all wrong to me.

I hate every part of this life. And frankly? I don't want anyone knowing where I am tonight.

Which is why I rented a car with cash and a fake ID.

I remember a few secrets from my youth.

Who to call to get a fake ID is one of them, and to my surprise it's even easier now with technology. I had to jump through many hoops to get my papers to leave the country and I forged many more documents while I was abroad. Today? It was easy.

Perhaps I'm still being followed. I don't know.

But I do know there's no tracer on this rental. There is one on my Mercedes, no doubt showing my grandfather everywhere I go. It wasn't difficult to find it, and I left it there. Let him think he's controlling me. At the moment, my car is at my parents' house.

The car I rented is a beige Ford. Non-descript. It's perfect. It's tiny, and my long legs are cramped in the driver's seat, but I don't care.

If I could get the hell out of here—and take Raven with me—I'd be happy to drive this car for the rest of my life.

I'd be happy to live in a hut in the hills.

But that's not my destiny.

My destiny is to take down my grandfather and destroy the legacy of our family.

I will do it.

I get out of the car and go to the door, knocking lightly. Raven opens the door with a smile on her face.

Only…something is wrong with her smile. Normally when she smiles, her eyes crinkle really adorably, and a tiny amount of blood rushes to her cheeks, making them glow. Right now, her eyes are a little distant, and her face is pale. It doesn't seem…real.

I haven't known this woman long, but already I feel like I can read her. Something's bothering her.

Maybe I'm wrong though. She is recovering from cancer. Even though she's well on the road to recovery, she might just be a little more spent than normal today. Hopefully not too spent, because I have been looking forward to dinner—and maybe even a little dessert—with her since she called and arranged our date.

"Hi, Vinnie. I'm so glad you could make it."

I walk through the door, give her a kiss on the cheek. "You okay?"

And then, to my surprise, Raven bursts into tears.

I guess she's really had a bad day.

I go to her, take her in my arms. Kiss her head, her cheeks, her neck. "Raven, baby. What is it?"

"Do you think we can speak freely here?" she asks.

I drop my jaw and pull back from her. "What's going on, Raven?"

"I shouldn't tell you this. But when I was at CJ's the other day, I called an Uber to drive me home. At some point I must have dozed off, and when I woke up, the driver had pulled over to the side of the road?—"

I go rigid.

What did this driver do to her? Did he hurt her? Force himself on her?

I can't help but wonder if my grandfather is behind this. He's always trying to assert himself over me. And he knows who my Achilles heel is.

But we shouldn't talk about this here. Raven is right to be concerned. No one has lived here for the past several years, and my grandfather did know where I was the other night.

Anyone could've come in and put in surveillance equipment. And nobody would've been the wiser.

"Jesus fuck."

"He didn't hurt me, Vinnie. I swear."

"Are you sure? If there is one mark on you…" I look around her house. I didn't pay much attention the other night as I couldn't wait to get her into bed. Then I left so quickly and took her home.

If the house is bugged…

"Do you have a security system here?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "No. I was going to get one, and then I got sick."

"When was the last time you were here? The other night? With me?"

"No. I was here yesterday cleaning up. My doctor gave me the okay to drive, and then I came over today and got groceries, and?—"

I place my fingers over my lips to quiet her. "Let's go outside."

She nods and leads me through the foyer to the kitchen and out the French doors. We walk off the large redwood deck and into the grassy area behind her house. The pool house and swimming pool are off to the right, and an alcove with a gazebo sits to the left.

She leads me there and we sit down.

"Tell me everything. Did he hurt you? Is there a mark anywhere on you?" My heart is racing, and my hands are balled into fists.

"No, there isn't. I swear to God, Vinnie. I'm unharmed. Other than the fact that he scared the hell out of me."

"Did he have a weapon?"

"Not that I saw."

"Where did you stop?"

"On one of the back roads between Austin and Summer Creek. I suppose I could've gotten out of the car and run, but where would I have gone?"

I grab her arm a bit more forcefully than I intend. But I don't let go. "Tell me what happened, Raven. Every single detail. That motherfucker will pay."

She looks around, gulping back a sob. "I'll ask you again. Do you think we can speak freely here?"

I take her in my arms again, embrace her, kiss her lips.

I look above the gazebo. It's unlikely there's surveillance, but how the hell should I know? I take her hand and we walk out into the yard, the Texas sun beginning its descent in the west.

"Talk now," I say, cupping her cheek. "We should be safe here."

She gulps. "He just said that I needed to call you and ask you to dinner tonight. Then he gave me this burner phone." She pulls it out of her back pocket and hands it to me. "He said to get you here, and then I'd get further instructions. But nothing has come. At least not yet." She points to a few lawn chairs sitting around a fire pit in the distance. "I need to sit down."

We walk toward the chairs and sit down next to each other.

"I just need you to know," she says, sniffling. "I heard what you said the other night. That it can't happen again with us. The call for tonight. It wasn't about that. It was because he made me call you and—" She gasps.

"What?" My heart thumps. "What is it, Raven?"

"I… I forgot to cancel the date with Brick. He's probably showing up at my house right about now. How could I be so stupid?"

"Your mom can send him away."

She shakes her head. "No, I didn't tell her I was going to break the date. She would just send him here." She runs her hands over her scalp. "Except Mom said she might take Dad out for the evening. So he'll just arrive to an empty house. God, he'll think I'm such a bitch!"

I take her hand, rubbing my thumb into her palm. "Do you have your phone on you?"

She nods.

"Text him now. Quickly. Then that's one thing off your plate. Tell him you lost track of time and… I don't know. Just make something up."

She pulls out her cellphone and taps lightly. "Done," she says.

"Okay. That's one less thing to worry about." I attempt a smile. "Did he say anything else?"

"No. But he hacked my Uber app. That's how he got to me. When I called an Uber to take me home from CJ's. Or the Puzos'. Whatever."

The Puzos. Fuck it all. How is this all related?

"We need to get out of here," I tell her.

"What?"

"We need… Whoever called you knows where we both are tonight. It's not safe here, Raven."

A look of determination takes over her fine features. "This is my home, damn it. I made you dinner. Spaghetti with marinara sauce. And I grabbed a baguette from the local bakery."

"I'm sure it's delicious. We can wrap it up and take it with us."

But her eyes say something else. She won't be chased out of her own home.

Damn. I could so easily fall for her beauty, her strength, her integrity.

Then she jerks in her chair. "What's that?"

"What's what?"

"Some kind of buzzing sound. Don't you hear it?"

I concentrate, and yes…I hear it. "It sounds like a dragonfly or something."

But it's no dragonfly.

"Stay here," I tell her.

"I'm going with you, wherever you're going," she says adamantly.

I put my fingers to my lips again and look toward the noise.

A drone floats above us about twenty-five feet in the air.

Raven throws a hand over her mouth. "My God!"

I point to the house. "Go back toward the house. I'll take care of it."

She nods and walks briskly away. I take out my phone and text my grandfather.

Get out of here or I'm done.

I wait for a response. Five minutes. Six agonizing minutes. Seven. Eight…

The drone finally flies away.

"Motherfucker," I say under my breath.

A cheap rental car and a fake ID isn't enough to throw Mario Bianchi off track. I didn't for a minute think they would be.

It should be enough to throw Puzo's goons off track though.

Because right about now?

Puzo ought to be good and dead.