Chapter Two
Santino Conti walked down Main Street and entered the grocery store.
Grabbing a basket, he waved at Siobhan Mohan and walked down the aisle until he found what he’d been looking for.
Pasta. Not as good as the kind he made from scratch, but he’d been busy organizing his home after the move, setting his business up, meeting the people of Robinson, and traveling back and forth from the city.
After six months, he finally felt like he’d settled, and he needed to get back to cooking his own food from scratch, just not that day.
Hae’d met Sheriff TJ Redding on an embezzlement case involving a former council member and a resident, which had had some minor complications, he’d decided to move to Robinson after hearing many stories from TJ about the town.
As the forensic accountant assigned to the case—for the defense—he’d gone over all the evidence and had passed on what he’d discovered.
For him, it had been cut and dry. Cass Paarman and Angelo Ricci were clearly guilty, and even though he’d been hired to help defend them, he’d hoped a jury would see what he had. The jury had indeed found them guilty.
Some cases were like that. He’d be called in to defend someone, see the evidence, and know they were guilty.
Sometimes the defendant’s lawyer would bring someone else to give the jury a complicated version of the truth.
A few times Santino had been called as a hostile witness for the prosecution.
In reality, he wasn’t, but since he’d been hired for the defense…
“Santino.”
Santino turned around and smiled when he saw TJ.
He genuinely liked TJ and his partner, Cody.
When he’d first met them, he’d noticed the age gap, but after spending time with them, he saw how they clicked, how perfect they were together.
He knew Cody had gone through some shit when he’d been younger, but he’d never pried.
If Cody wanted him to know, then Cody would tell him.
All Santino knew was that he wanted what they had. That closeness, that connection.
At thirty-one, Santino felt tired of the chasing and dating and clubbing, and he wanted a man to come home to.
Someone who didn’t mind spending cozy nights in, watching movies or reading.
The club life had been fun while it lasted.
The quick hookups, and occasional fucks, but he’d grown past that.
Now he wanted what he saw TJ and Cody had.
A home built on love and trust and obvious respect.
“TJ. How are you?”
“Busy.” TJ frowned, then shook his head and smiled. “How are you settling in? It’s been five months or so now, hasn’t it?”
“Around six now, and yeah, everything’s set up. I have two cases right now that I’m reviewing evidence for, so I’m busy.”
“Bit of a commute.” TJ flipped his sheriff hat over in his hands.
“It is, but I needed to get out of the city. It can be overwhelming, and after hearing about this place, I figured why not.”
“You should come over soon now you’ve settled. Should have asked you sooner.” TJ winced. “I need to sort something out first.”
“Anything I can help with?”
“I don’t think so. It’s something that was a long time coming, but when it arrives, you don’t expect it.” TJ messed with his hat in his hands, then put it on his head, frowned and took it off again.
“Problems?” Santino pointed to the hat.
“New. I liked my old one, but it died, so now I’m breaking a new one in, and it doesn’t fit right.” Sighing, he shoved it back on his head. “I have your number—”
TJ’s phone rang. “Sheriff Redding.” He nodded, then said, “He is? I’ll be right there.” TJ hung up and gave Santino a close-lipped smile. “I have to go and pick up the pieces.”
“What is it?”
“I can’t talk to you about it right now. It’s an ongoing investigation, but if I had my way…” TJ inhaled, exhaled heavily, then moved his hat on his head. “I have to go. I’ll call you and we can arrange a meal over at our place.”
Santino waved TJ off, noticing the deep furrows on his forehead. “It’s Orsen Catlow.” Santino glanced behind him and saw Siobhan. “Poor kid.”
“Who is he?”
“Someone who should have been helped a long time ago, but there was too much red tape. They like to keep families together even when it isn’t in the kids’ best interest.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Orsen’s dad was a mean drunk. Took his anger out on Orsen, only he went too far and Orsen killed him.
Self-defense, I’m hearing, and it doesn’t surprise me.
We all knew Ambrose would go too far one day.
And there’s always been the mystery of Allison disappearing.
That’s Ambrose’s wife. Was here one day and gone the next.
Left Orsen behind. I’m twenty-one and even I knew all about the Catlows.
At least he’s free, unless they charge him for something. ”
“I don’t think I’ve met anyone with that name.”
Siobhan snorted. “No, because Ambrose only came in to buy booze, and he kept Orsen at the cabin. He’s still in the hospital, so it must be bad. Poor kid.” With a smile and a wave, Siobhan walked off. Santino grabbed what few items he needed, paid, then walked home.
Walking inside, he laughed when Charlie, Santino’s chocolate lab, walked over, toy stuffed in his mouth and his tail going so fast it had to hurt. Santino crouched in front of him, ruffling his fur, then moved to the kitchen. “Hungry, boy?”
Charlie barked as Santino picked up his bowl, cleaned it, and put fresh dog food in it. Charlie abandoned his toy and Santino and inhaled his food. When he choked, Santino said, “Slow down, Charlie.”
Did he listen? No, and soon enough he coughed again.
Santino sighed and put the items he’d purchased away, then grabbed the pasta and put it next to the pan.
His laptop pinged to tell him he had a new email, and he sat at the table, opening it and reading the contents.
Another case of possible money laundering.
Santino responded, asking for the relevant information to be forwarded to him, then made his dinner. Sitting in front of the TV, he picked up his phone when it rang and smiled when he heard his sister Bianca’s voice. “You no call, fratello.”
“Ah, sorella. I’ve been busy.”
“You’re always busy. No time for me or mamma.” Luna was Santino’s mamma, and he spoke to her regularly, something he was certain Bianca would know. “You been eating? Taking care of yourself? You’re so far away from home. When are you coming back?”
“I like it here. Robinson is a good place to be. When you come to visit me, you’ll see. They need some Contis to liven the area.”
“Are they boring? They don’t have parties?”
“They do. I’m just messing with you. I’m going out to see the sheriff soon. And I have other friends now.”
“I’m glad you have friends, but I miss you.
I want you to come home.” Bianca was another reason he’d left, and she wasn’t the only one either.
Coming from a large Italian family, everyone knew everyone else.
There were no secrets, and they were in each other’s lives all the time.
It was amazing having those connections, but Santino needed to escape.
He couldn’t breathe with them all right there, breathing down his neck every single day.
Moving here had been the first time he hadn’t had a member of his family walking into his home like they owned it or demanding he fix something or date some long-distance cousin.
The flip side was that they weren’t there, and for the first time in his life, he spent a lot of time alone.
At first it had been fine, and he’d been able to relax, but now he found he did miss them.
Only a little, though. The interfering always became too much for Santino to handle.
“When everything here is how I want it, then me and Charlie will come to visit.”
“I can’t believe you have a dog. You know how Mamma feels about dogs.”
Santino was well aware of how Luna felt about dogs. “I’ve always wanted a pet, Bianca, and now I have one.”
“You can’t bring him home. You need to find someone to take him in.”
Santino rolled his eyes. “I know.” He needed to work harder to win them over where Charlie was concerned.
“Tell me. Are there any hot single men available there?”
“No, sadly. I looked for me, but there was none. At all.” If there were, Santino would warn them to stay away from his sister.
It would be much easier on them. “I have to go now. Love you, sorella.” He didn’t wait for her reply.
Sighing, he glanced down at Charlie and ruffled his fur.
“If they ever came here, I’d let TJ and Cody take care of you.
You’d be safe there. And once they left, I’d book us on a trip somewhere to recover.
I love my family, but loving them from a distance is much better. ”
Santino sighed and finished watching some comedy that wasn’t a comedy, then switched the TV off.
Washing his dishes, he took Charlie out for a walk, waving to his fellow dog walkers.
It made him chuckle thinking how he knew the dogs’ names, but none of the owners. They probably thought the same too.
As he walked back into his home, he tripped over one of Charlie’s toys, his knee hitting the edge of a step.
Grunting in pain, he sat on his butt and stared at the blood pouring from a cut above his knee.
Charlie licked his face, whining a little.
“You and your toys will be the death of me. Serves me right, buying you so many.” Charlie whined again and nudged closer. “Let me get this cleaned up.”
By the time he’d seen to Charlie and dragged his leg into the bathroom, Santino was biting his lip. Sitting on the toilet lid, he grabbed the wipes and cleaned it, gritting his teeth at the pain. The blood kept flowing, and Santino could tell his knee had become swollen already. “Shit.”
By the time he’d finished treating the wound, he could barely bend it. “Fuck.” Charlie nudged his head under Santino’s hand and lay his head on Santino’s thigh. “I guess a hospital trip is in my future. You need to keep your toys in one place, and I need to stop buying them for you.”
The drive to the hospital had Santino breathing through his mouth, and the walk into the ER left him gasping.
Checking in, he sat and waited, then was seen by a doctor, then sat and waited, then had an X-ray and sat and waited, and finally had stitches put in his knee and was told to rest for the next couple of weeks. And a hefty bill coming his way.
As he left, he saw TJ walking in and waved to him. TJ came over, looked at his leg, and muttered, “You fell over the dog. See, this is why I tell Cody we can’t have one.”
“I fell over Charlie’s toy.”
TJ grinned. “Now I have some ammo with Cody.”
“Is everything okay?”
“I have to see someone.” TJ’s face closed up. “I can’t talk about it.”
“If it’s about the kid, then everyone knows already. Something about his dad being a mean drunk and attacking him.”
“Fuck. This is what I hate about small towns. The fucking gossip. When everyone found out about me and Cody, you should have heard it, but I didn’t want this for Orsen.”
“Anything I can do to help? I could reach out to some of my contacts in the city.”
“You know, I might take you up on that.” TJ ran his fingers through his blond hair. “He needs a break in life. I’d have him come to stay at mine, but with the kids…”
“You do have a unique family. Is there anyone else, or will he go into the system?”
“The last place I want him to go is into the system.” TJ glanced away and frowned. “What the hell is he doing here?”
“Who?”
“Crompton.” Santino watched as TJ walked over to a truck that had seen its last day many moons ago.
An old wiry man with a full bushy beard got out.
The man waved TJ off, then walked past him into the hospital.
“Looks like one problem has been solved.” TJ walked in after the old man and Santino shrugged.
The pain injection would be wearing off soon, and he wanted to be home and in bed when that happened.
Asleep, preferably with Charlie taking his spot at the bottom of the bed.
Hobbling away, Santino somehow got into his car and drove home, leaving the hospital and whatever was going on behind.