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My brother is crazy competitive. If he’d been in the Donner party, he would’ve pigged out. “John, let’s go—”
“Here’s Mom now.” John turned, and my mother opened the French doors to the patio, making a chic silhouette in a dark Chanel pantsuit, backlit by the chandelier. Marie Spano Devlin had the only brown eyes and strong nose in our family, and her olive skin was spared our regulation-Irish freckles. Silvery strands gleamed in her onyx-black chignon and lines bracketed her mouth, but to me, she’d only gotten lovelier with age. I adore my mother, and she always has my back. She calls me her little devil, which fits.
“Boys, time for dinner.”
“Mom, sorry, we have to go.” I detected Lambrusco on her breath,sipped out of sight because of my sobriety. The scent wasn’t strong, but I’m McGruff for booze.
“Go where?” My mother blinked, puzzled. “We’re about to eat.”
“I know, sorry.” I tugged John into the dining room, and my mother stepped aside, her lips parting in dismay.
“TJ, what’s going on? You can’t miss dinner.”
“Please, eat without us.” I hustled past the table as everyone looked at us in surprise, especially my father. Paul Francis Devlin had graying light brown hair, and we looked a lot alike. We had the same blue eyes, round and set far apart with thick eyebrows, a longish nose, and a mouth that was on the big side. Every time I looked at my father, I saw a successful version of myself. I can only guess what he saw when he looked at me.
“TJ, where do you think you’re going? You’ll miss dinner.”
“I know, I’m really sorry but it can’t be helped.” I kept moving but my father was already out of his chair. He’d taken off his tie, and his white oxford shirt was wrinkled from the workday. He was a big guy, six three and in decent shape. He’d played basketball at Villanova before they were Final Four good, a former power forward who still exuded power.
John added, “I’m sorry, too. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
“John, what did TJ donow?” my father snapped, assuming that I was in trouble and John was helping me, which even I had to admit made sense. I was the Bad Son and John was the Good Son. Our roles in our family are like our seats at the kitchen table. Forever.
I dragged John out of the house and down the flagstone steps to the circular driveway. My parents lived in a McMansion that reeked of curb appeal, on six acres of perfect landscaping in Philly’s exclusive Main Line. Automatic sprinklers whirred in the garden, and the air smelled like ChemLawn. I never felt at home here because wegrew up in the Devlin starter house, and our problems started after we got rich. Not that I have anything against money. Money has something against me.
We walked to my car, which was parked behind John’s and my sister’s black Range Rovers. My father and mother both have black Range Rovers, too. Sometimes I’m surprised they didn’t name the firm Devlin & Devlin & Devlin & Devlin.
“I’ll drive, let’s go.” I opened the door and jumped in my car, and John followed suit, frowning.
“New car? You’ve owed me two grand since forever.”
“You’ll get it back, I needed new calipers.” I’m a car guy. I buy cars at seized-asset auctions, fix them up, and flip them. This one was a 2020 Maserati Quattroporte, formerly owned by a drug kingpin. Basically, I put the car in cartel.
“Don’t drive crazy.”
“Have we met?” I pressed a button, igniting one of the most distinctive engines on the planet.
We took off.
Chapter Two
We whizzed past big stone houses, townhome developments, and strip malls. John let his anxiety show now that we were alone, raking his hand through his hair again. I gave him time to calm down, but I had questions.
“So, John, tell me what happened.”
“It’s horrible, it all happened so fast, I just reacted.”
“What happened? Break it down.”
“I don’t know where to start.” John rubbed his face. “There was so much blood. I didn’t mean to kill him. I wasn’t aiming for his head. I was aiming for the gun.”
“Who’s the client? Do I know him?”
“No. His name’s Neil Lemaire. He’s the accountant at Runstan Electronics.”
“Why were you meeting with him?”
“Okay, well.” John tried to rally. “The company’s being acquired, and I was doing due diligence. I found irregularities in the accounting.”
