The Spia Family Presses On - By Mary Leo Page 0,111

that night if she knew Dickey was in there?” Something that had always bugged me.

“What, you think I am crazy? I did not divulge the details of Dickey’s whack to your mom. She was in no state to hear it. I merely told her that he had met with an unfortunate end. It was all she needed to know at the time.”

This was good news. “But she lied about the worker cutting his hand on the millstone. Why would she do that?”

“Sweetheart, your mom has been around the block. Give her some adlib credit, will you?”

“So my mom didn’t lie, she improvised?”

“Yeah, that is what she does. She improvises.”

And to finally understand the way my mother’s mind works?

Priceless.

“Okay. I’ll talk to her, but can I see her so soon after she’s been booked?”

“Yes. I got a special circumstance approval from the shift supervisor for you just a little while ago.”

“How did you know I’d agree to this? Wouldn’t it be easier if you just bailed her out?”

“It’s going to take a few hours for the family to raise bail. Besides, you know how to handle your mom better than I do.”

“You owe me,” I told him. “Big time.”

“Sure, hon. Whatever you want.”

“A different family.”

“That I cannot do.”

“Then, don’t make offers you can’t keep.”

“I will try to remember that next time.”

He chuckled and hung up.

I hit number two on my phone and Lisa picked up on the first ring. “My mom’s been booked. She’s in jail for Dickey’s murder. The bullet in his head was from her gun just like you said, but please don’t tell me Nick already told you ‘cause I won’t be able to handle that you didn’t tell me as soon as you found out. I mean, my nerves are pretty much shot right now and knowing that my best friend—”

She interrupted me. “Mia, of course I didn’t know. He wouldn’t tell me something like that, and if he did, I’d have called you the minute I knew. So stop fretting and slow down.”

I backed my lead foot off the gas. I had been doing almost ninety. “But how did you know I was driving?”

“I didn’t. I was talking about slowing down your emotions.”

“Oh,” I said now that the speedometer read sixty-five. “That too.” I eased my death grip on the steering wheel.

“I haven’t heard from Nick since last night. When did this happen?” She sounded sleepy.

“I don’t know. Benny just told me. I was on my way to Santa Rosa to pick up my mom, and now it’s just for a visit. This could get ugly.”

“Look at it this way. You’ll finally be able to talk to her alone.”

She made my mom’s incarceration seem like an advantage.

“Do you always look at the bright side of things?”

“Only when my best friend is running on empty. You probably hardly slept last night, and I know you’re not eating, which describes the life of a teenager, but not a thirty-year-old woman. You’re going to self-destruct if you don’t slow down.”

“I’ll slow down when I’m on that plane to Maui.”

“We’re still going? I thought now that your mom—”

“Nothing, short of my own death, can keep me from going.”

“You made my skin prickle. Don’t say that kind of shit out loud. Not while there’s a killer running around in the family nest.”

I let out a heavy sigh. She was so right.

“One more thing to add to the family tree, whoever killed Dickey had it all planned.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ll tell you all about it when I see you. After catching Liz last night this sleuthing thing is getting easier. Thugs always seem to screw-up. We just have to find the screw-ups. Wait. I just realized your phone is working. Since when?”

“Since my mom picked up a new one this morning. There’s a real saint under all that bluster. They were able to save my SIM card so everything’s cool.”

When she said “cool,” I thought of Jimmy and an idea saturated my thoughts. “Hey, what are you doing later this afternoon? I’m thinking we should pay Jimmy a visit. Clues are adding up in his favor, especially since my conversation with Hetty.”

“Don’t jump to any conclusions until you talk to your mom. There’s no telling what she might say now that she’s facing a life sentence. Maybe Benny did it, or Ray. Did you ever think of that?”

“Benny was still in witness protection when Carla was murdered, and Ray was living in New Jersey running his fake plumbing business. As for killing