The Spia Family Presses On - By Mary Leo Page 0,26
whispered, “Thank you for that. Up until now I thought I was merely an eye witness to the aftermath of a crime, but now that I’m a suspect I’ll sleep easier.”
“Sorry, but I had to defend you,” I told her.
“Is that what that was?”
I nodded, shrugged and gave her a little smile.
Uncle Ray said, “I only talked to Dickey once all night when he was lookin’ for a wine opener. He told me he couldn’t stick around long. He had one thing to do and once that was done he was headin’ back to the city in the morning.”
“What time was that?” I asked thinking I should get some kind of timeline going.
“I don’t know. I gave up watchin’ the clock when I retired,” he growled. “But I was glad to hear it. I didn’t want him hanging around here any longer than necessary.”
“Are we talking daylight or night?” I asked.
“Still daylight. That I can say for sure. Those little lights wasn’t on yet, ‘cause I remember lookin’ at ‘em thinkin’ how we should hang some more.”
“I opened his wine bottle. Russo’s Pinot Noir,” Aunt Babe said, the sound of her heels clicking up behind Uncle Ray. “Poured out two glasses, one for him and one for me. I was figuring on getting him to spill on what he wanted by coming here, but all he could talk about was how sorry he was for two-timing me. Crazy to see him so sappy over the past. Never thought the day would come.”
“How long did you two chat?”
“Two glasses worth. Honey, when a goodfella is spilling his guts a dame aughta listen.”
“That bastard was playing you, Babe. Men like that ain’t never sorry about what they done,” Valerie said. “I saw the two of you talking and I knew just by watching the prick that he didn’t mean nothing he was saying. He was born mean, and there wasn’t nothing that could change that. Don’t forget he bit off his own mother’s nipple when her milk went dry. He was bad to the bone, Babe, and all that sorry shit he was feeding you was just bullshit, plain and simple.”
“You’re still carrying your own grudge against him, Val. Won’t do you any good now. He’s dead,” Aunt Babe said.
“About time. I was thinking about burning him myself, but somebody beat me to it. Good thing, too, ‘cause I wasn’t looking forward to makin’ that decision.”
“What was the grudge?” I asked Val.
“That’s something better left with the dead,” she answered, tossing me a dismissive look.
“Don’t tread on the past, Mia,” Federico warned in a quiet voice, leaning into me. “It can lead where you don’t want to go. Especially in this family.”
He gave me a wink and a friendly smile, but I couldn’t make out if he was talking about our family or giving me some kind of warning about Valerie.
Then just when I was about to ask Benny about the evening, my mother’s voice rang through the barn. “Mia, honey,” she yelled sounding phony sweet. “You might want to come out here, like right away. Leonardo is here and he brought that nice young man from the Sheriff’s Department, Nick Zeleski.”
“Cops!” Uncle Ray spit out, and my family scattered like roaches in a spotlight, each taking their own route to the nearest exit.
My stomach clenched and I actually contemplated running out with them. Lisa grabbed my arm, firmly. Her eyes went wide, the only indication that she might be anxious. “We need to remember to breathe,” she said, taking in a deep breath then slowly letting it out. “In times of strife it’s best to remain calm.”
“Are you quoting yourself?”
“Yes. The introduction to my first book: your survival depends on a clear head, and you can’t have one if you don’t take in enough oxygen.”
We filled our lungs with a combination of cigar smoke and fear. The toxic combination caused a chain reaction and we both coughed at the same time as we quickly headed toward the opposite door from where my family had escaped from, toward my mom, Leo and Nick Zeleski—the mouth of the dragon.
“Mia, did you hear me, dear? Are you coming out soon? Because the boys are coming in if you don’t?” I could hear the edge to my mom’s voice.
“No!” I squeaked out. “We’ll be right out. We’re on our way right now.”
Lisa followed close behind me as we hurried to the door. “Wait,” she said pulling on my arm. “Mia, we forgot your mom’s gun.”