Chapter 23 #2
“No I don’t. I ate nothing but Doritos and cheeseburgers for four years, and not one damn friend told me I was getting fat.
Too scared to say what they saw. They just quit being my friend.
I was always tall and strong for a girl.
Perfect build to help women train with weights.
But, one day I let it all go. Theo has never mentioned it.
” She sighed. “I get it, Mackenzie. I get how this looks. An obese woman married to a skinny squirrel. I get it. But it’s what we have.
I don’t judge him about the squirrel thing.
He doesn’t judge me about eating entire pizzas and sitting at the computer all day. We’re happy. No one gets hurt.”
She didn’t look happy.
“I ordered the GLP-1 shots. They get here tomorrow. I still think of myself as fit and soon I will be again. Be whatever you want. Theo wants to be a squirrel, he’s a squirrel.”
I rubbed my eyes. “You said you work in Remi’s world?”
She nodded at my prompt. “I was broke. Emile and I were friends, and said she could get me work as a girlfriend for guys into strong girls. I tried but that wasn’t for me.
I know I don’t look it, but I’ve always been great with computers.
No friends growing up, so, you know, I did the gym and computers.
Emile and I planned on going into the business together.
Scamming men. I really loved her, she was so beautiful.
I was nobody before her, and when she died, I decided to carry on with our plan.
So I did. Not in the old world of Duane and Remi, but the new world. ”
“How’s that?”
She made a snort. “Remi and Duane were dinosaurs. On their way out. The old world of organized crime is dying, Mackenzie. There’s no more unions, gambling is legal now, family territory lines matter less now everything is online,” she said.
“The biggest commodity now is data. I’m into medical records, false identities, Medicare fraud, PPP fraud, scamming elders. I’m good at it.”
“And no one gets hurt?”
“Only big companies. That’s why people have insurance. I know people doing ransomware and crypto-scams, but that’s too techie for me. There’s a fine line, I know, I stick to what I’m good at.”
I summarized, “Emile left Amish Country for Philadelphia and you befriended her at the gym. Soon after, Emile married Duane. Through Emile and Duane, you are introduced to the underworld.”
“Pretty much.”
“And you met Theo through them.”
“Yes. I was like a caretaker for Emile, as she adjusted. One day her brother showed up, and I did the same for him, until it turned romantic,” said Piper. “Or whatever we called it. I don’t know why I’m babbling. I’m nervous.”
“Then you started dabbling into scams using your computer skills. Theo became a squirrel. Emile died in Naples. Did that all happen around the same time?” I said.
She looked upward, like trying to remember.
“I guess it did. But Duane was a dead man no matter what. He was powerful but hated. A relic who could only think about territory and girls and drugs. He was obsessed with the Italian families and old grudges against the Russians. That’s just not how it works anymore. ”
Her phone rang. She checked the caller ID and let it go to voicemail.
“Work work work,” she said and smiled sadly.
“So many people to extort,” I said. “So little time. After Duane and Emile vanished, the government handed their young daughter Sophia to her uncle Theo?”
She grew still. “Yep that’s how it went.”
“Did you buy this house around then?” I said.
Her chin rose and she lost some of the manners she’d been trying to use.
“Okay look. I know what you’re getting at, and yes.
Yes, okay? Someone had to take in Sophia.
Her parents vanished, and Theo is Emile’s brother, her only family other than the crazy mom in Amish Country, so yes we adopted Sophia and yes that meant we assumed control of their estate, all of which passes to their daughter, and yes in one more year Duane will be missing long enough to be declared dead, and Sophia will inherit his life insurance.
It’s worth millions. Yes there have been huge financial benefits to us taking in Sophia. Are you here about the damn money?”
“That wasn’t why I came,” I said. Her defense of the money was the first she’d shown animation.
“We love Sophia, with or without the windfall. Understand? The money doesn’t matter.
Besides, there’s no other family, either side.
Truly no one. I don’t know what your client wants but you can both go screw yourselves if you think you can break up this family.
She’s perfect. We adore her.” She finished her Mountain Drew and crushed the bottle and threw it into the grass.
Embarrassed, looking at her shoes, she said, “And yes. Technically control of Duane’s estate passed to Theo, not me, and that’s why I’m still with squirrel boy. ”
“Would you be otherwise?”
“I don’t know.” It was a lie.
“Did Theo work with Duane?”
“Yes,” she said. “And Remi too.”
“Doing what?”
“He was the muscle.”
“You’re,” I said, “kidding.”
“It’s true. He’d put on a mask and stalk people. Scare people. Steal stuff. Do whatever Remi or Duane needed. He’s still doing it, just with his furry pals.”
Manny spoke from the shadows near the jacuzzi. “Foot prints all over the ground below the trees between houses. His furry amigos are here a lot.”
Piper nodded without looking at either of us. “The neighbors hate us.”
“What are you worried about?”
“What do you mean?”
“You slammed the door. Theo attacked me. What are you worried about? Something’s off,” I said.
“You’re from Duane’s world. You won that tournament. You’re here for the money. You’re here to ruin us.”
“Except I’m not.”
“I didn’t know that. And I don’t believe you. What else could this be about? It’s been seven years since Emile died.”
I stood from the slatted chair, irritable and tired. This awful conversation had soured me.
“Some wounds don’t heal, Piper,” I said.