As they went over, Enrico asked, "Where did you disappear to?"
"I've had an update from the sheriff's. Opal at the reception desk told me the latest about that so called Mr. West. His name is Monty Baker, an ex con. A while back this Monty was involved in a robbery. A security guard died and Monty got sent to prison. That I should have known. That suit was decades old and the pasty, unhealthy look on him." Shaking her head, Mrs. Del Rio sighed. She still blamed herself for what happened, but Mitch didn't see how she could have done more than she did.
"What was his connection to Harry Dunbar?" Enrico asked.
"Monty robbed an armored truck when it made a stop at a fancy department store where Harry Dunbar worked," Mrs. Del Rio said and let them draw their own conclusions.
"An inside job?" Enrico said.
"Remember that letter Harry left apologizing for something he did?" Mrs. Del Rio said. "He must have felt responsible for that security guard's death."
Mitch filled in the blanks. "If Harry Dunbar ended up with the money from the robbery, he might have stashed it somewhere. When Monty got out, he wanted his share. The numbers inside the nest egg are for the money."
"Did they connect this Monty with Harry Dunbar getting killed?" Enrico wanted to know. "It seems like a weird coincidence that he was shot just when this guy was on the hunt for this egg."
"They haven't gotten that far. But I remember hearing that the robber who killed Harry was hurt in the scuffle with him. Left blood on the scene," Mrs. Del Rio said. "You know how that will end."
Mitch thought back and he did remember that Monty was protective of his side. If Mitch had known, he could have taken advantage of that.
Enrico had other regrets though. "I can't believe that egg caused so much trouble just because I gave it to Sammy."
"It wasn't your fault," Mitch told him. "But I'm glad they caught him so fast. I think that will help put Sammy's mind at ease."
"I hope so. Sam looks like he's ready to set the table. I'm going to go make myself useful," Enrico said and he went off.
"That poor, sweet girl," Mrs. Del Rio said as she looked at Sammy and the other kids playing together.
"She has been doing pretty well," Mitch reassured her. "And thank you for having us stay over at your place."
"Of course. That big house wasn't meant just for me," she said. "At one time I thought my Enrico and I might come and live there after he retired. I mean my other Enrico, my late husband. The quiet life would have suited him."
"Doesn't seem all that quiet to me," Mitch said.
"True. We've had even too much excitement, you could say. I think my Enrico would have been happy living in Peach Tree. After he died on me, I came back here to give myself a way to keep going." Mrs. Del Rio had such a sad look on her face.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Mitch told her.
"I'm just grateful that I found him. I had my share of fun times, but so many of the guys I went with didn't consider me the kind of girl you marry. We were even on that score. After all the men I've known, I thought I was never gonna find one worth marrying." She took a breath and Mitch saw a light fill her eyes as she said, "Then my Enrico came along. The sweetest man in the world and a dentist of all things. A dentist and a washed up showgirl. That's a love story for the ages. Then he goes and breaks my heart and dies on me. We did have so many good years, but I'm still never gonna forgive him."
"Was he like your grandson?" Mitch wondered and looked toward Enrico.
Mrs. Del Rio dismissed that idea right off the bat. "No. This Enrico is just like me, a live wire, itching for something more, never willing to settle. That's why he could never be a dentist. His heart wasn't in it."
To Mitch what she said sounded pretty discouraging. Did it mean that what he had with Enrico right now was all he was ever going to have? Maybe Enrico was going to disappear from his life and think back on him only as some guy who wasn't exciting enough, didn't quite measure up? His heart was sinking at the thought.
Noticing that Mitch grimaced, Mrs. Del Rio slapped him on the back. "Buck up. If young Enrico settles on you, there's no doubt he found what he was looking for."
"A handyman with a kid?" Mitch said doubtfully.
"And what a handyman and what a kid," she told him with a wink. "I had my heart stolen by an unassuming dentist. But you're a hot commodity in your own way, young man."
That's when Enrico came back to join them. "What's going on here?" he asked. Maybe he noticed the odd mood.
"Your grandmother was flattering me," Mitch told him.
Enrico looked at her suspiciously. "Was she hitting on you? Want me to have a word with her?"
"In my day, I turned heads like you wouldn't believe," she told Enrico. "Just consider yourself lucky that you inherited some of my good looks."
