“Hope you don’t mind, I helped myself.”
“Of course.”
I like she’s comfortable enough to make herself at home in my space.It feels good.
I briefly rest my hand on her hip as I slip by to get the creamer from the fridge.A small possessive gesture I can’t resist making, knowing Mancuso is probably paying attention.
“I thought I’d give Remi a few more minutes while I made coffee,” she explains to the agent as she doctors up her coffee.“It’s been a rough few days for him.”
“No problem,” he responds, taking a seat on one of the stools at the island.“I could probably use a cup of that as well, if you don’t mind.There’s something I probably should mention before he wakes up anyway.”
Tessa’s hand stills at that last part, and turns to look at Mancuso.
“What is that?”
“I’ll get the coffee,” I jump in, grabbing two more mugs from the cupboard.
I gently bump Tessa out of the way to get access to my Keurig, while keeping my attention on what the agent is saying.
“Your boss’s call earlier this afternoon raised a few flags.We’ve been keeping an eye on the reports of the car thefts around Spokane.We’ve had similar reports come in from Richland and Walla Walla.”
Both those towns are farther south, closer to the Oregon border.If connected to the ones in Spokane, it would suggest a much larger organization.
“Two months ago, a deputy from the Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office pulled over a heavy-duty pickup truck hauling a thirty-foot car trailer, when he noticed a young kid behind the wheel at five thirty in the morning,” Mancuso continues.“The kid said he was hauling the trailer for his father and handed over his driver’s license, but when the deputy went back to his cruiser to run the license, the kid took off running, leaving the vehicle.In the trailer they found two high-end vehicles that were stolen overnight from two houses in the same neighborhood in Walla Walla.”
“Sounds familiar,” Tessa comments.
“That’s what we thought,” the agent confirms.“Especially when you take into account that the kid who ran off and ditched the stolen vehicles was discovered four days later, his throat slit, lying in a ditch along a Walla Walla airport runway.”
“That’s why you got here so fast,” Tessa points out, looking shocked.
“You bet.If this gang is the same one your son got lured into, he is lucky to be alive.”
Glancing over to the couch, I see Remi wide awake, his face once again white as a sheet.
Chapter13
Tessa
“This is bullshit!”
I look into my eldest son’s angry face.
“Linc, come on.It’s only temporary.”
He swings around and pelts his water bottle into the sink.Judging from the sound of breaking, there were some dirty dishes left in there.
“Hey,” I snap.“You’d better calm your ass down, kid.This is a mild inconvenience to make sure we keep your brother safe.”
“Well, all of this is his fault to begin with,” he complains angrily.
Then my six-foot-something kid braces his arms against the counter and drops his head down.
“Mom, please…” he pleads in a softer tone.“I promised I’d take Naomi.”
I feel bad I’d forgotten there is a party scheduled after tonight’s football game.
“I know, kid, but I don’t want to take any chances.”
