Page 50 of Fall
17
Natalia
I have too much on my plate for this conversation, but from the grim tone of Tammy Lou’s calls and messages, I can’t dismiss my friend. It’s bad enough that I’m leaving without her knowing. She and Cassandra will be mad as hell when they find out. But I can’tworry about that now. Not with several lives potentially on the line, including my own. On my way to the airport, I send her a message that I’ll pop by her place, then I ask Vinny to make a small detour so I can speak to her face to face.
We find her sitting on the front steps of her place. On her short walk toward our SUV, Tammy Lou looks back nervously, her eyes seeming to glance up ata bedroom on the second floor of the colonial style house.
“Hey,” she greets on opening the door.
"Everything all right in there?" I ask as she climbs in the back seat beside me.
“Yes… well, I don’t know.” She gives me a brief hug, then looks out her window, her hands running along the sides of her legs as her attention returns to the same bedroom window as before.
I turn my body sideways, angling my legs in Tammy Lou’s direction. “I’m a bit pressed for time. What did you want to talk about? It sounded pretty serious.”
“I’m not sure where to start…”
“Just tell me, Tams. You’ve been acting strange since the party. Don’t think I didn’t notice. Something’s been eating at you.” I wait for her to answer, but her eyes keep darting up to the room.“Tams, talk to me…. please.”
Finally, she looks at me. “Okay. Look, you have to promise not to say a word of this to anyone.”
“I don’t know if I can promise you that… but if I have to discuss it with anyone, I’ll keep your name out of it. You have my word on that part,” I tell her, and tap on the back of the driver’s and Vinny’s seats. “Vinny, will you guys step outside and givemy friend and me a minute?”
"Sure," Vinny answers, and nods at me through the rearview mirror. "We won't be far. Let's go," he tells the driver, and they both step out, shutting their doors almost simultaneously.
“Okay, Tams. Talk to me.”
She takes my hands in hers and gives me an earnest look. “I’m trying not to freak you out, but I’m really worried,” She starts. “I'm worriedfor my sister...and I'm scared... for you and your family. Maybe it’s nothing. I could just be paranoid or something, but… I’m just not sure.”
“You’re not making any sense. What are you talking about?”
“Let me start from the beginning,” she mutters, sighing in a long breath. “My sister, Ray-Ann has been seeing this guy. Before I say his name, just know that he’s older. And…”
“And what?” I ask, seeing her hesitation.
“I think he might be targeting your family for something… a scam or something shady.”
This time, I wait for her to continue, to fill in the details on what makes her sister’s budding new relationship a problem. But she doesn’t explain. “You’re not making any sense. What exactly are you trying to tell me?”
"Okay, okay. Just, please…let me get it all off my chest before you ask questions. I'm not used to having to sort through this type of thing."
“Fine.” I rub her shoulder supportively. “Take all the time you need,” I say, although Vinny’s standing a few feet away, looking back and forth between the SUV and the time on his phone screen. “Go on. Take your time.”
“All right. The best way I can put it is, theguy my sister recently started seeing, well...he told her he was going away and wanted to take her with him. Very soon. He left here the night after your party and told her he had to leave ahead of her first, that he needed time to take care of the arrangements. From what I know, he told her that he was coming into some money. A really big score, from a bigshot family he worked with for years. Peoplewith pull. It's kind of surprising that Ray-Ann would say anything to me about it. But we've been really close since we made up over that last big fight we had. She didn’t want to leave without telling me. Anyway, I know it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but the part that had me all worked up is not the news itself… it’s the guy. I’ve only seen him a couple of times…” Her lips press togetheras she seems to labor over her words again. “I'm really sorry, Nats. I should’ve told you right away. I saw him at your party.”
“Who are you talking about?” I press. “What's his name?”
"Hang on let me finish. The first time I saw him was just hours before the party. Ray-Ann's been super secretive about him. She never really brought him around our place. She never introduced Mom orme to him. But a few hours before I left home to start getting dressed at your house for the party, I just happened to be looking out here when some guy drove up in a silver Mercedes sedan and handed her a brown duffel bag. I saw him step out of the driver seat for a second to give her the duffel bag. And I saw him later, at your party... hovering around your dad most of the night. I tried to convincemyself it was a different guy, but I saw him leaving your party in the same Mercedes."
“Tell me who,” I say again, my stomach in knots. She has to be mistaken. Honestly, on its own, it’s not a big stretch for someone close to the family to have set aside money for a rainy day, or to want to give it to someone they trust, someone at arm’s length, for safekeeping. But if he’s stealing fromFather or doing some sketchy deal behind his back to come into that money, at a time like this, it’s a problem. And like Tammy Lou said, it’s not just the news that worries me. It’s the guy. That’s the grizzly detail she left out, but deep down, I have a sinking feeling. Only one person in our close-knit circle drives a silver Mercedes sedan. My family doesn’t stand a chance if her news is all true.
I have to be sure. “Tell me his name, Tammy Lou. Please just tell me.”
“I don’t know his full name, but my sister calls him Lorenzo.”
The sound of his name on my friend’s lips sends a chill down my spine. No one in my family is safe.
In a panic, I reach across her body and open her car door. “I need to leave. Don’t say a word of this to anyone.”
