What a Meth Page 13

They walked away and Nick walked up and sat next to me on the steps.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Really? Why would you give a fuck?” He’d abandoned me in my darkest hour and he wanted to know if I was okay?

  “Look, Mimi, I can’t do this right now. Are you okay or not?” He looked weary.

  “Other than one crispy body, and another dead one, I’m just peachy.” I forced a grin.

  “Crispy? What did you do, Mimi?” Nick leaned away from me and glared.

  “I didn’t do anything, thank you very much!” I wanted to hit him. “That Helen lady said a blue van drove away from the King house right after my tires were slashed, and well, we saw a blue van, ran the…, I mean followed it, and ended up at a motel in Castroville.”

  “Okay, you lost me at ‘tires were slashed’, and I caught back up at the point where Jackie called me and asked me to run a plate. The van belonged to the Kings.”

  “I went back to the King house. I needed answers.”

  “Mimi, you need to stay as far away from this as you can. You’re going to end up behind bars when people start pointing fingers.”

  “I just had this feeling that Alyssa and Jeff were alive. And I was sure they had an escape plan, and I was right. They set that fire, to throw everyone off, and they ran for the hills. Literally.”

  “Oh, boy.” Nick was frustrated at this new information.

  I told him about the blanket Jackie found, and the hill, the road, and the picture of the van. I was sure Alyssa had come back for that blanket.

  “So you saw the van and followed them?” Nick rubbed his forehead.

  “Then we saw Alyssa King get out of the van. She went into the hotel and came out with a soda bottle. Then boom.”

  “Boom, it blew up?”

  “Sure as shit did. Caught her and the car on fire. Ironic, huh?” I was still unnerved by my lack of empathy for Alyssa.

  “Ironic,” Nick said. “And now this. What are you doing here?”

  This was a conversation I didn’t want to have with Nick. I didn’t want to tell him I was here to ask about Dominic. I didn’t want to admit to him that I thought he really may be alive and squatting at the fruit stand property.

  “Mimi…” He prodded.

  “I came here to ask her about her involvement with the Capurro family, and find out what she knew about Dominic.” I blurted the words.

  Nick shook his head. “I’m looking into that. I’m waiting to hear back from the sheriff’s department up there.”

  I gazed off toward the garden, saw Irma’s body, and panicked because I didn’t know where to look, because I didn’t want to face Nick.

  “I don’t need you in my business.” And I meant it.

  “What is wrong with you?” He stood.

  “Nothing,” I snapped. “Can I go now?”

  Nick looked out to the garden, then at me. “Just answer a few questions.”

  Getting restless, I said, “What?”

  Nick started to ask me something, but then Charles came running up behind him, with Blondie and Blackie chasing him.

  Nick put his hand up. “It’s okay. He’s good.”

  Blondie and Blackie looked pissed, but they stopped and went back down the driveway.

  Charles came up and hugged me. “Are you okay?”

  Why, oh, why, couldn’t Nick have asked me this way? I wanted Nick to be hugging me, not Charles, but at this point, I’d take what I could get.

  I started bawling. “Noooo…” I tucked my head against his shoulder and wailed.

  Charles said, “What did you do to her?”

  I heard Nick, in a resigned tone, say, “Nothing.”

  Charles held me for a moment more. “Can we go?”

  Still resigned, Nick said, “Fine. But I want both of you, and Jackie, to meet me at Mimi’s house in two hours.”

  I felt Charles nod.

  “If I’m running late, I’ll call you.” His voice sounded far away. “What a mess.”

  Charles said, “No, what a meth. All of this because of meth. So tragic.”

  Charles wrapped his arm around me and we walked away.

  “I need to get my gun back.”

  19

  I called Jackie out of the car and then sprinted to the driver’s side, jumped in and took off.

  I didn’t even look in the rearview mirror, because I knew Jackie and Charles would be furious. I looked down at the passenger seat when my phone rang, but I didn’t pick up.

  In the first fifteen minutes of the drive, my phone rang nineteen times. Ten were Charles, six from Jackie, and three from Nick. But I didn’t pick up, even for Nick.

  I didn’t want to tell anyone where I was going, because I was sure they’d try to stop me. I wanted to do this one thing on my own. It was my issue, and I needed to get it resolved once and for all.

  I didn’t mean to shut everyone out, but I didn’t want input, help, or pity.

  As I drove north on 101, I looked at the hills on either side. It seemed like they were always brown, dull and brown. I knew they’d have their season of green, but this seemed to be the season of death.

  The leaves fall from the trees, the grass goes dormant, and the temps fall. But this was California, and the seasons just didn’t have a place here. It could be eighty degrees in July as well as December. That’s what I loved about my home state. I’d lived in places where there are real seasons, and I’m here to tell you, they are overrated.

  Lately, I felt like I was in a state of perpetual fall. Things seemed to be dying all around me. Not the simple death of growing old, or the change of seasons, but violent death. I wondered if it was an omen, and if my end was coming soon.

  The Hollister Road turnoff was on me before I knew it. My heart skipped and my stomach did a summersault. As I took the turn, I wondered if this was a mistake. Did I really want the answer?

  Yes. Definitely, yes. I needed answers. If Dominic’s brother owned the fruit stand, then it was part of the family business. And if I’d seen Dominic here, then he was a part of that business.

  The Capurro family had a part in Irma’s death, I was sure. She’d made her bed, and she lay down with dogs. The fleas didn’t only bite her, they killed her. Drugs were bad news, no matter if you were lowlifes like the Kings, or on the distribution end like the Capurros. All were cut from the same cloth.

  I could hear my mom’s voice again, “Birds of a feather flock together.” This kept replaying on the reel in my head. Dominic was a Capurro. He had to be in this up to his sexy eyebrows, and I’d been caught in the middle, even though I hadn’t seen anyone from his family in years.

  As I drew closer to the fruit stand, I slowed the car to a crawl. I didn’t see anyone outside, but I did see the BMW in the carport on the far side of the property. I assumed there wasn’t a full garage, because who’d leave that car out if they didn’t have to?

  Next to the BMW was a copper Ford Taurus. I didn’t remember seeing that car when we were here before. I hadn’t planned to investigate. But…

  I slapped myself up beside the head. Aloud I said, “No snooping. Just go to the door and knock.”

  I drove past the property and then pulled over on the shoulder of the road. I was a good half-hour from Irma’s house. Sure that no one followed me, I decided I had thirty minutes to “meet and greet” with “Dominic.” In case everything went sour, I wanted backup.

  I grabbed my phone and sent a group text to Nick, Charles, and Jackie. “I’m at the fruit stand. Don’t have any answers yet.”

  I knew this would bring all three of them flying to my rescue, whether I needed it or not.

  If it was Dominic, I had thirty minutes to get answers before Nick and the Feds showed up to take him away. They were closer than they let on, and for all I knew, they were watching me now, and I wouldn’t get my time with my “dead” husband.

  Enough stalling. I could feel my heart pounding against my chest as I made a u-turn and drove back to the fruit stand.


  I stopped alongside the road, next to a hedge of trees that blocked the main house from the road and the stand. I sucked in a deep breath, and for some reason, I checked my gun and unsnapped my holster before I got out of the car.

  My phone was suddenly blowing up with texts and calls. I turned it off and put it in my pocket. I could do this.

  Another deep breath and I put one foot in front of the other, walking carefully over the gravel that led to the house. I stopped at the white gate that separated the yard from the business area and gave myself a chance to change my mind.

  I looked up at the Spanish style home and saw movement inside. It was too late to turn back now. As I opened the gate, I thought I heard a rustling behind me. I turned around and saw nothing. My imagination was working overtime.

  I tried to ignore the pounding in my chest as I walked up the paved path to the house. In fitting with the house, the doorway was arched. The door had thick, solid metal braces painted black, and an antique knocker.

  I stared at the knocker for a full minute before I raised my hand and lifted the metal. I let it fall lightly against the door. I waited.

  It wasn’t a minute, but no one had come to the door. I turned to leave, but then I heard the clink of a bolt being turned. I turned back to the door, and when I looked up, I saw the most stunning pair of brown eyes I’d ever seen. I knew those eyes. Capurro eyes.

  His hair was slicked back in the same style I’d seen yesterday. His olive skin, clear and fresh, and his smile melted me.

  He wore casual “board shorts” and a white tee. His demeanor was in total contrast to when I saw him with Irma.

  My breath caught, and I had trouble speaking.

  He took me in with unabashed lust, his eyes stopping at my breasts. I’m not sure he even saw my face. The voice that greeted me had a heavy Italian accent. “Ciao, Bella.”

  I started to respond, but I heard a pop and something whizzed past my head, and suddenly he flew backward from the door, landing on his back in the foyer, blood spilling from his white shirt.

  It happened so fast, and yet it was in slow motion. I knew that sound before it registered that Dominic was shot. I grabbed my Beretta and turned in the direction I’d heard the rustling earlier. I aimed and shot.

  I fired my gun at least six times before I came to my senses and realized my target was no longer standing. He’d crumbled in a pile where he stood. Like Irma, he was missing most of his face.

  My only question at that moment was whether his bullet was meant for me or for Dominic. That, and who the hell was he?

  I turned back to the house, not caring if the gunman was dead or alive and I checked Dominic’s pulse.

  He was unconscious, but I thought I could feel a thin pulse. I looked up and saw a small curtain that hung over the window on the front door. I reach up and ripped it from the rod, putting it on the bullet wound and applying pressure.

  I fumbled for my phone, cursing myself for turning it off. The blood on my hands made it slick, and I couldn’t get a grip so I could push the button long enough to turn it on.

  The man on the floor moaned, and I looked at his young face. “Don’t you die on me, damn it. I need answers.”

  20

  I was wrong about having thirty minutes. Cop cars came flying up the driveway. Only it wasn’t the local cops, this was the Feds, and they meant business.

  Behind the Feds, I saw Nick’s police issue vehicle. I wasn’t sure if it was relief that flooded me, or terror.

  Nick jumped out of his vehicle and ran toward me. Helen stepped in front of him to stop him, but he put his arm up and pushed her aside like she was a Pop Warner football player to his NFL.

  Nick dropped to his knees beside me. “Let me do it. I can put better pressure.”

  I let him take over. Tears streaked down my face as I realized this was really the end. I’d never get the chance to find out why. And my Dominic had left me again.

  “Dominic!” I screamed. “Don’t you dare fucking die on me, you son of a bitch. You owe me answers!”

  I must have sounded hysterical, because the Feds stopped dead in their tracks and stared.

  21

  I looked up and saw Special Agent Luke…what the hell was his last name?

  “The Kings aren’t dead.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  He smiled a sad smile. “I know.” Then he leaned down and softly grabbed my elbow. “Come on, you need to come with me.”

  Panic gripped me as he got me into a standing position. “I can’t leave Dominic. This may be the last moments we ever have together.”

  Helen’s expression melted, and she turned away.

  Luke leaned in close and said, “Honey, that’s not Dominic.”

  I looked down at the dying man. His color was getting too pale. He wasn’t going to make it. But then I looked really close, comprehension overwhelming me.

  That man couldn’t be Dominic. He’d have to be older. Dominic died more than three years ago, and yet he still looked as young as the day we met. What was wrong with me? Did I want him to be alive that bad that I’d forget what he really looked like?

  Luke spoke again, a little louder this time. “This is Teodoro Cappuro, Dominic’s half-brother.”

  I looked at Luke, not understanding.

  “Dom Capurro had many women, and this is one of his many sons from one of those women.” Luke nodded toward Nick and Teodoro.

  “He looks just like Dominic.”

  “Mimi, there’s some things I need to tell you.” He pointed to his car. “Can we go talk away from everyone?”

  I looked at Nick and he said, “Go. You need to go with him.”

  I dragged along behind Luke as we walked to his car. He opened the passenger seat and helped me sit.

  “Teodoro was supposed to be in that plane that went down with your husband in it.” Luke stated. “Dom Capurro was trying to get rid of him.”

  “What?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

  “Teodoro has been a thorn in Dom’s side since he was a teenager, and so was his mother. Teodoro was supposed to be on the plane, and it was supposed to explode in mid air.”

  I stared at the ground, not daring to look up at Luke.

  “Somehow Teo got Dominic to take his place at the last minute, and Dom didn’t have the chance to call the flight off.” Luke shuffled his feet. “That man on the floor in there was responsible for your husband’s death.”

  I stood up and slapped Luke across the face. “Fuck you, asshole. You could have told me this when you were at the office.”

  I didn’t understand why he’d kept it from me.

  “There are so many reasons I couldn’t tell you. And some day, when all this is all cleared up and the drug ring is broken up, I promise I’ll come back and explain everything.”

  I wanted to slap him again, but I refrained.

  “I’m truly sorry.”

  No he wasn’t. He was doing his job, and victims be damned. I looked him in the eye. “Right,” I sniffed. “Now what? And who fired that shot?”

  I knew in that moment that I’d be going through the grieving process all over again, as if Dominic had died again, right in front of me this time. Knowing that his half-brother was responsible was killing me inside. I wanted to go back to the house and shoot the man again.

  “The man you shot was Jeff King.”

  My eyes went wide. Until that moment, I’d only seen him in pictures, so it hadn’t registered who he was when I fired. I only knew that he’d shot my husband. Well, you know what I mean.

  “Good. I’m glad that fucker is dead. And I hope his wife lives long enough to suffer before she dies a painful death. I hate both of them for bringing me into this.”

  I heard Charles say behind me. “You don’t mean that, Mimi. That’s the grief talking.”

  Charles came around the car and grabbed my hand. I leaned against him.

  I thought I meant it at the time, but I knew I’d feel bad for saying i
t later, when I was fully coherent.

  Covered in Teo’s blood, Nick joined us. He looked at me and Charles, then at Luke. “If you don’t need us for anything right away, I think Mimi should go home and take a shower.” He looked down at himself. “I’d like one, too.”

  Luke stepped back. “We’ll need statements, but since the property was under surveillance, we have the shooting on video, so there shouldn’t be any issues.”

  I looked up to Nick to tell him thank you. When my eyes met his, he looked away, then turned and walked out of my life.

  Epilogue

  This is Charles. I’ve let Mimi bloviate enough on this case. A lot of people died, and that’s a shame, or is it? Not one of them was on the right side of the law. Oh, and Mimi got her wish: Alyssa suffered a long and painful recovery process in the months that ensued. Before the doctors could get her back into the hospital for her skin grafts, she overdosed and died. It was three days before anyone found her. The maternal grandmother was given custody of the children.

  Luke and Helen disappeared from our lives, leaving many questions unanswered. Luke promised to report back when they finished up the case, and he was true to his word.

  The small fish in the pond we had been swimming in turned state’s evidence on the bigger fish of the cartel, getting a reduced sentence. That bigger fish turned state’s evidence on the entire Capurro Cartel, getting a nice new life in WITSEC, the Federal witness protection program. Jax’s family disappeared without a trace, and he was stabbed to death while working in the laundry facility at Soledad State Prison.

  As for Dominic, the Feds assured us he’s dead. Having no idea that the plane was supposed to go down, he had no way of escaping. Again, they promise if they ever find evidence to the contrary, they’d “be in touch.”

  Not that you’d care, but Irma Tucker’s husband died last year, so Wanda inherited everything. Oh, wait, the government actually got everything, as Irma’s properties were seized as part of the cartel bust. How Irma got involved is still a mystery.