Page 18 of Takedown in Savannah
“Nope. He’s gonna help Tony down at the pawn shop until Elvira hires him back. You hear a lot of the local buzz. What do you know about this gang?”
“They’re bad news. One of the worst we’ve had infiltrate the area. The cops are scrambling to catch them. It looks like Luigi inadvertently got caught in their net. I’m sure the investigators are taking a closer look at him. Who is the lead investigator?”
“Detective Wilson.”
Sam grimaced. “He’s a by-the-book, hard-nosed guy.”
“I remember him from another investigation. He’s pleasant enough until you hit his radar.”
“I’ll swing by to let Luigi know I’m here if he needs anything.”
“You’re a sweetheart, Sam Ivey. I’m sorry things didn’t work out.”
“Me too.” Sam attempted a half-hearted smile.
Carlita gave him a quick hug. He returned the hug, holding her tightly, and she could feel sudden tears well up in her eyes. “You never know what the future holds.”
“You never know.” Sam pulled away. “Mercedes is giving me back my full deposit, even though I’m breaking my lease.”
“I don’t think we’ll have any trouble renting this place.” Carlita glanced around. “All we’ll need to do is a little painting, and it’ll be good to go.”
“Thanks for understanding,” Sam said. “I haven’t told any of the others yet… Autumn, Luigi or Cool Bones. If you don’t mind, I would like to break the news myself.”
Carlita held a finger to her lips. “I won’t breathe a word.”
“Thanks.” Sam escorted her to the door. “As soon as I finish moving out, I’ll drop the keys off at the pawn shop.”
“Sounds good.” With a heavy heart, Carlita trudged back across the hall to Mercedes’ apartment. She found her daughter standing on the balcony, staring out.
“Sam is packing. He seems a little sad.”
“He’s been hinting around that he was thinking about moving. I wasn’t sure if he was serious, but I guess he was.”
Carlita studied her daughter’s face. “You seem okay with it.”
“It’s almost a relief. Our relationship has been ping-ponging back and forth for a while now,” she said. “We’ll need to start looking for a new tenant.”
“I’m gonna miss Sam.”
“Me too, but not romantically. It feels more like my friend is moving away.” Mercedes told her she was already working on an ad. “We had planned to increase the rent, anyway.”
“Sam said you were waiving the early termination fee.”
“I guess I should’ve run it by you first, but I figured considering the circumstances, you would be okay with it.”
“Of course. I hope none of our other tenants have one foot out the door.”
“Autumn, Cool Bones and, of course, Luigi all love living here and plan on sticking around.”
“It sounds as if you have it under control.” Carlita turned to go. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, Ma. Us Garluccis are a tough bunch. You can’t keep us down for long.” Mercedes playfully flexed her muscles. “I’ll be by later, after my shift ends, to hang out with you and my awesome nieces.”
“See you then.” During the walk home, Carlita mulled over Sam’s decision to move. Perhaps it was for the best. The two had been drifting apart for a while now. The sudden appearance of Natalie, Sam’s ex, was the beginning of the end for the couple’s relationship.
Even though Carlita’s daughter was putting on a brave face, she knew it had to be hard. They had dated for a couple of years and weathered several major storms together. Not to mention the fact that Sam wasn’t put off by the Garlucci’s sketchy background.
Hopefully, the next man her daughter became involved with could look past a history some would run away from, and for good reason. A former mob family wasn’t for the faint of heart.
