19. Raven

19

RAVEN

I knock lightly on my father’s door to his study.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Daddy. Raven.”

“Come in, sweetie.”

I walk in to see my father on his cell phone. “I have to go, Connor. I’ll be back in touch.”

“Was that one of our attorneys?” I ask.

“Yeah. Looks like we don’t have anything to worry about with that dead lawyer. The police believe our alibis, and there are other more likely suspects in his murder. I just had a very interesting conversation with one of my attorneys who works at his firm, and it turns out the firm was looking for a way to get rid of him anyway.”

I drop my jaw. “Daddy?”

He frowns. “I didn’t mean for that to be as callous as it sounded, sweetheart. But frankly, we don’t need this mess right now. I’ve already got the EPA breathing down my neck about the excavation of that land near the border. Those federal agencies are a big pain in the ass.”

I keep my face noncommittal. I still don’t know what Falcon and the guys plan to do. At some point they’ll have to get in there and make sure the body of Diego Vega and all those drugs are gone. Then what will they do with the remains? I have no idea. Maybe it’s better that I don’t.

I swallow. “I understand, Daddy. But in light of what happened, I need to ask you for another referral.”

“For an attorney, I understand. For your nonprofit.”

I nod. “Right.”

“I’ll find you someone good.” Then he sighs, rakes his fingers through his graying blond hair. “Are you sure you’re up for this right now, honey? With everything going on… The death of that lawyer… In your bed…”

“You just said we don’t need to worry about that.”

“We don’t need to worry about the police investigating,” he says. “They’ve accepted our stories as true.”

“Why shouldn’t they? Our stories are true.”

“They are, honey, but there are holes in them.” He scratches at his chin. “Your mother and I didn’t notice the body until the next morning, and you were alone at your place for part of the night. I know none of us had anything to do with that lawyer stuff, but…”

“But what, Daddy?”

He shakes his head. “Never mind, Raven. What’s most important is your wellbeing. Are you feeling okay, honey?”

“I’m feeling fine.”

Physically, that is. Mentally I’m a mess. At least I didn’t have to look at the dead body. It will be a long time before I can sleep in that room again. If I ever do. All the more reason for me to move back into my own home. Especially since Falcon has arranged for some big bodyguard to live there with me.

“All right. I suppose it will help for you to have something to focus on. I’ll get you another attorney right away, sweetheart. In the meantime, you know you can count on your mother and me for anything you need. Money, support, whatever.”

I slowly rise. “I’m sure I’ll need all of those things. Thanks, Daddy.”

He nods and picks up his phone.

That’s my cue to leave.

CJ and I didn’t get to have our visit on Sunday. The cops were still milling around.

Maybe I could go see her again.

I grab my phone out of my pocket and give her a call.

“Hey, Raven,” she says into the phone. Her voice is a little bit off.

“Hey, CJ. Sorry I had to cancel on you Sunday.”

“It’s okay.” She pauses. “Things are…a mess here.”

“Yeah? What’s going on?”

“Well, you’ll notice I didn’t text you back when I got your text about Sunday.”

I honestly hadn’t noticed. But I was obviously otherwise occupied. “Yeah, I know.”

“Mr. P—my boss…”

“Yeah?”

“He’s… He’s…uh…dead.”

The phone falls from my hand and lands on the carpeted hallway with a soft thud. I pick it back up quickly. “Oh my God, CJ. What’s going on?”

I haven’t told CJ about the dead lawyer in my bed. They couldn’t possibly be related, could they?

“When did it happen?”

“The forensic team thinks it happened sometime Friday night.”

My blood runs cold. Friday night is when Brick Latham was killed. Murdered, and then placed in my bed.

My mind races. This is all way too much of a coincidence…

“Oh my God.”

“Yeah. He was in Houston on business. The maids found him dead in his hotel room Saturday morning. But like I said, the forensics team thinks the time of death was sometime Friday evening.”

“Does this mean you’re out of a job, CJ?”

“Not necessarily. I don’t know yet. Mrs. Puzo is busy taking care of the details, of course, and the girls… Well, they know their father’s dead. But they weren’t very close to him, hardly ever saw him. I’ve been spending a lot of time with them, trying to get them to understand what’s going on, but without upsetting them.”

“Isn’t that what their mother should be doing?”

CJ scoffs through the phone. “In a perfect world, yes. But she’s such a socialite. Not even the death of her husband can disrupt her schedule. She’s not really their mother. In name only, if you know what I mean. She barely knows them.”

I don’t know what CJ means. My parents were hands-on. They taught me everything I know about ranch work, homemaking, and how to be a good person.

“So anyway, what’s going on with you? Why did you have to cancel?”

“You’re not even going to believe this,” I say. “But do you remember that date I had with that lawyer?”

“Yeah.”

“I ended up canceling it at the last minute, because I was with?—”

“You were with Vincent Gallo.”

I nearly drop the phone again. “I…”

Her voice gets playful again. The CJ I remember. “Don’t try to deny it, Ray. I saw the sizzling chemistry between you when he showed up at the Puzos’ home. I knew you had sex. And who could blame you? The man’s a stud.”

God. Vinnie. The Puzos’ home. He was there, asking to see CJ’s boss. He had no idea I would be there.

Is he behind Mr. Puzo’s death?

Oh God…

“Ray? You there?”

I quickly gather my wits. “Yes, I’m here. And yes, there was something between Vinnie and me, but no longer. The point is that I broke the date with the lawyer, but he didn’t get my text in time and he ended up at our house.”

“Oh, talk about awkward.”

“It was way more than awkward, Ceej. He…” I gulp back the nausea that threatens to erupt out of my throat. “Someone killed him, CJ. Someone killed him.”

She gasps through the phone. “Oh my God.”

I leave out the part about him being found with his throat slit in my bed. That’s too horrible to even think about, let alone say.

Plus, my father will keep as much of this quiet as he can. But he can’t keep the death quiet. There will be an obituary. He was a young man, had his whole life ahead of him. People will mourn him.

“I wasn’t home,” I say. “Neither were my mom and dad. They had gone out for the evening.”

“My God, I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks. I’m sorry about Mr. Puzo, too.”

She sighs. “I hardly know him. Knew him. I think I met him twice. He kind of had a greasy look about him, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Mrs. Puzo is a lot younger than he was. She’s beautiful. The match didn’t make a lot of sense in my book. But of course the house they live in… I might be able to sleep with some greasy guy if it meant I could live in this house.”

“Well, she won’t have to sleep with him anymore.”

“Nope. She seems distraught, for real. But it could all be an act. I don’t know. It’s not like I ever saw them spending any time together, and I live here twenty-four-seven. He was almost never home, and like I said, they kept their bedroom locked.”

“Well, I was going to ask if you want to get together, but I’m pretty sure you’re busy.”

“Yeah, I am. Anna and Paulina are staying home from school this week, so I’m on duty full time. Once all the dust settles, I’m not sure if I’ll still have a job.”

“I’m sure Mr. Puzo left Mrs. Puzo very well taken care of. And she’ll still have all of her causes and societies. The kids will still need a caretaker. My guess is you’ll still have a job.”

“True. The question is whether I want it. I love the girls, but all of a sudden this house feels strange to me. Like ghosts are watching me or something.”

I rub my arms against the chill that erupts. “Yeah, I know what you mean. When someone dies, it feels that way.”

“Maybe this weekend though,” she says. “I still have Sundays off.”

“Okay. We’ll set it tentatively. But I understand if you need to cancel.”

“Ditto,” she says. “Take care, Ray.”

“You too.” The call ends with a soft click.

No sooner does CJ hang up when my phone rings again.

It’s Falcon.