Chapter 3 #2
I folded my arms and leaned back on the Cadillac, tilting my head in coy curiosity. “Wasn’t aware I could do that… But now that you mention it.”
A blush crept to her face, and her lips threatened to curve up. “I’m committed to getting back into a routine, starting today, and I will see you after work.”
I nodded once, lazily dragging my eyes down in a way that made her fidget on the spot.
“Oh my god, okay, bye.” She turned and headed for the office, shaking her head to herself before calling back over her shoulder with a smile. “Say hello to Sofia for me.”
Mom had texted on the drive over that she needed a lift to a vet appointment with her puppy, Bella, today for vaccinations. Truthfully, like any other time I had visited her, I wasn’t looking forward to it; to lying to her face and pretending our life hadn’t gone to shit because of my choices.
My thumb drummed faintly on the steering wheel as we drove to a vet in Bensonhurst. I tried to stay present, with Mom in the front seat and Bella on her lap, but my mind was preoccupied. Distant. Mom was talking, but I couldn’t concentrate on what she was saying.
How much time do I have before I’m arrested—before Mom has to figure out how she’ll do things on her own when I’m gone... Mark is using her situation to blackmail me, but what’s stopping him from telling immigration after I’ve been sent to prison—?
Sound crashed into my thoughts with a blast of a car horn nearby.
“What were you sayin’?” I asked.
“How is Lily?” Mom repeated, scratching the caramel fur on top of Bella’s head.
“She’s doin’ alright.”
“Is that all?” She tutted, brushing her thick braid of long black hair from her shoulder when Bella took an interest in chewing the end of it.
I half smiled. “She started work today.”
“Oh, good—so when are you moving in?”
My eyebrows shot up as I let out a breath and looked at her. “Cuttin’ to the chase, I see.”
“You’ve been there so often already,” she shrugged. “Move in together.”
“That’s very un-Italian of you. Most Italian mothers want their adult sons to stay home.” I smirked, knowing that was never her way of thinking. She loved the idea of family staying close, but she always encouraged me to do what made me happy.
“Oh, pfft,” she scoffed.
When we arrived at the vet parking lot, my attention was quickly drawn to a gray sedan parked in the only wheelchair access zone.
“Fuck’s sake,” I muttered.
The driver was leaning against the car door on his phone and showed no signs of needing a wheelchair.
“Language,” Mom whispered. She then brushed off the issue with a wave of her hand. “There are other spaces.”
“Not for wheelchairs…”
Jaw ticking, I drove on and found an empty spot.
After helping Mom out of the car and into her chair, with Bella waiting in the driver's seat until I scooped her up and plopped her onto my mother’s lap, I brought them from the parking lot and along the sidewalk to the clinic doors.
Mom checked Bella in at the desk, the woman behind the desk cooed over the excitable puppy, and I stood by the waiting room chairs until Mom was done with the sign-in.
“I’m gonna wait in the car. Text me when you’re ready.” I began moving to leave, but Mom caught my wrist.
“The parking space we have is fine.” Her blue eyes sharpened with a warning. “Non confrontare quell'uomo.”
Do not confront that man…
Shouldn’t be too hard.
“Non lo faro.” I smiled easily, flipping my keys around my finger. Ever the charming, completely well-behaved son…
“Dean,” she warned.
“I promise. I won’t talk to the guy.”
I smiled again and then left the building through the automated doors, stuffing my fists into the pocket of my hoodie as I followed the sidewalk to the parking lot again.
At least if my fists were tucked away, there was less risk of me hitting the guy on the way back.
It didn’t help that I had to walk directly behind his car to get to mine.
He got off his phone as I passed him and strode in the direction of an ATM down the street. I assumed that’s where he was going. It was a good four minutes away.
I got to the Cadillac and unlocked the passenger door, and then popped open the glove compartment with one thought in mind.
Four minutes is plenty of time.
Among the things I rummaged through was a bag of Dum Dums, Lily’s idea to help me quit smoking. They kept my mouth busy and curbed the cravings whenever I felt the urge to put a cigarette between my lips. Which was exactly what I needed right now.
I grabbed a lollipop, along with the things I was looking for, then straightened from the car and closed the door. Tearing the wrapper open, I retraced my steps through the parking lot and shoved the lollipop into my mouth, flicking the stick to one side as I honed in on the gray sedan.
No one was around as I stepped in beside the driver's side door and began peeling back the rubber lining on the window directly above the door handle.
Using my body to block what I was doing from view, I pushed the bent coat hanger wire down into the narrow gap of the door and jimmied it until the lock popped.
I pulled open the door and climbed in, ducking my head for a better view of the underside of the steering column before getting to work on removing it using a screwdriver.
The amount of times I had done this in the past, usually in more of a hurry if I was desperate, was something I shouldn’t have been proud of, but I couldn’t fight the satisfied smirk that spread on my lips when the car’s engine started after several taps of the exposed wire ends.
Two short blasts of a horn made me peer up quickly over the dashboard.
A large van, with windows down the side and a wheelchair sticker, had stopped in front of the car as the driver leaned out of her window.
“You know you can’t park there, right? At least not without a sticker or sign.” Her eyes drifted across the car, looking for those exact things. “I don’t mean to be assumptive, but it kinda looks like you don’t need the space.”
The kid in the back was in an electric wheelchair and holding a teddy up to partially hide their face as they watched.
“I’m just movin’ it.” It wasn’t a lie.
I offered them a half smile and put the gear stick in reverse, resting my arm on the back of the passenger seat as I pressed the accelerator.
There were several other spaces nearby that this guy could’ve taken, so I chose one that was the furthest away.
Once the car was off, I fixed the steering column and window to look like they hadn’t been tampered with.
On the way back, still sucking on the lollipop, I gave a simple nod to the woman of the van now taking up the wheelchair access point.
She was standing at the back of the van, waiting for the kid to slowly reverse down a ramp as she watched me.
At first, she sent me a look of gratitude before her brows furrowed in confusion when she watched me climb into the Cadillac.
Not long after, the sedan driver returned, shocked at first that his car was gone and then baffled when he found it several minutes later in a completely different spot.
I watched through my mirrors, satisfied, until my attention was pulled to my phone as it buzzed on the dashboard.
My gut instantly twisted at the Unknown Number written above the message.
It was only his address and a time, but suddenly, the past month of peace was shattered.
This simple text would set the ball rolling for what would be the end of my freedom.
Work with Detective Whitmore would increase, and everyone I cared for would unknowingly have their lives on the line if I fucked this up.
I picked up the phone and opened my contact list, working my jaw as I reconsidered going through with this. I could lie for a week, or maybe a month, and pretend Antonio never reached out.
And run the risk of Mark finding out, getting annoyed I lied, and then having Mom deported because I didn’t cooperate.
I tapped his name and waited as the phone rang on the other end.
“Ah, my favorite person.” Mark’s sarcasm dripped through the phone. “Have anything good for me?”
“He’s made contact.”