Page 86 of Alonzo
“In a mobster kind of way as well?”
Belinda looks at me. “Yeah. Maybe. I could see it. Anyway. I can’t tell you what I saw that night, Tare. Because I don’t really understand what I saw and…” She looks down the street at the Dumas house now too. “And while I do hate Tony’s guts”—she kinda glares at me—“and Alonzo’s too, I really love their mom. I’m not going to spread rumors about them unless I know they’re true. So—”
She stops again because the screen door to Zach’s cottage once again swings open. The dude who may or may not be Johnny Boston exits. Looks at us. Nods. We nod back. And then he gets back in the waiting car and drives off.
Belinda and I look at each other and laugh. “What the fuck was that?” I ask.
“Dude.” Belinda and I both turn to see Vann standing on the porch next door. “What the fuck is going on here?”
“What do you mean?” Belinda asks.
“This whole place feels… shady. I couldn’t sleep last night so I was out here just kicking it on the porch. And the old man”—he juts his chin at the Dumas house—“he comes creeping out of his house at like three AM, rolls his truck down the driveway in neutral without starting it, and then pops the clutch and goes zooming off towards the ocean. I would say the whole Dumas family is weird, but it’s not just them. It’s these Boston dudes too. Doesn’t it seem like everyone’s got a secret, but it’s not the same secret?”
“It does,” I admit. “It really does. And you know what the funny thing is?”
I look at Belinda, but Vann says, “What’s the funny thing?”
“The funny thing is… Lonnie kinda hired me to figure out what the Boston brothers are hiding. He says Jesse told him that Emma found out that Jesse was up to something. And now she’s involved too, and Alonzo needs to know what she knows so he can keep her safe.”
“Bitch,” Belinda says.
“What?”
“You already have a job down here?”
“What?”
She turns to Vann. “What did I tell you?” He shrugs.
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him that you were never coming back with us.”
“I can’t go back! I’m on the run, remember? Diablo?”
“Yeah, but Vann’s brothers already ran Diablo out of town. He’s gone, Tara. You can go home. The bitties at the library will take you back and—”
“No. Just… I can’t… I need to figure this shit out with Lonnie first.”
“You love him?” Vann asks.
Belinda shoots him a look. “Vann?”
“What? It’s an honest question.”
Belinda sighs. Then she looks at me and forces a smile. “I’m happy if you’re happy. Forget about home for now. What’s this job about? Maybe I can help?”
“I need to figure out who these Boston men are and what they’re really up to. So how do I make Jesse Boston chatty?”
Belinda chews the side of her cheek for a moment. “Well, if he was sent here to help Alonzo out with love lessons, then wouldn’t he be interested in getting to know you better?”
“Hmm. That just might work.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - ALONZO
There’s not much time to think about your personal problems when your client hooks a three-hundred-pound swordfish two hours into the charter and you spend the next three pulling it in. My day flies by in a way I’m grateful for. Because if I had not been busy, I’d be dwelling on telling Tara so much last night.
Why did I do that? Why didn’t I just… lie to her?
