Page 112 of Peach Tree Family

Out of the corner of his eye, Theo saw Mrs. Del Rio step out of the café. "Mr. Atkins, I'm sorry you aren't willing to sell to me. I hope you'll change your mind," she said.

Since that was obviously a lie, Theo played along. "We'll see," he said to her. What was she doing?

"And who is this handsome gentleman?" Mrs. Del Rio asked while smiling at Jerry. "If you are a friend of young Mr. Atkins, maybe you can get him to see reason. I've made him a very nice offer for his house. He won't get a better one."

With a small wave of the hand, she signaled to Theo that he should go. She kept talking to Jerry and Theo walked away. It looked like Mrs. Del Rio was getting chummy with him, but she was probably just distracting him so Theo could leave.

Theo went home and had dinner with Seth and Ace. They hung out, Ace played some video games and Seth played with Butter. There was still a little time before Ace's bedtime when Theo got a call.

It was Rico. "Come over to my grandmother's. I can't even... Just come by."

Theo thought back to the last time he had seen Mrs. Del Rio, when she was talking to Jerry. This couldn't have anything to do with that. That's what he told himself, but...

"I need to go see Mrs. Del Rio again," Theo said while Seth frowned at him. He could tell something was off, but with Ace there, he didn't ask. "Don't let Ace weasel out of his bedtime," he told Seth and then he left.

Theo planned to text him to let him know what was going on, but for now he just drove to Mrs. Del Rio's house. Before he even got close, he saw red and blue lights. The driveway to her house was blocked by a sheriff's cars. Theo parked and went closer on foot.

He texted Rico to let him know he was there. His reply told him to go around to the back. Theo made his way to the back garden. The police activity was all inside while Rico was standing outside with Andy. Why was Andy there?

"Is your grandmother OK?" Theo asked Rico.

"Insane, but OK," Rico told him.

"What happened?"

Rico just shook his head so Andy answered. "According to my aunts, they dropped by Mrs. Del Rio's and saw that there was an extremely drunk and belligerent man there so they refused to leave her alone with him. Mrs. Del Rio invited the man to have a little chat and resolve some property dispute amicably, but he drank too much then pulled a gun and demanded she open her safe. When he turned to look inside the open safe, Mrs. Del Rio hit him over the head with a marble urn containing her late father's ashes."

"What man?" Theo asked, but he suspected he already knew the answer.

Rico gave him his name. "Jeremy Phillips. Grandma said he was your aunt's boyfriend and that he was bad news."

"He is. He came by the house and tried to grab Ace. I was telling your grandmother about that just today," Theo told him.

"That's not a coincidence," Rico said.

"What is going on?" Theo asked.

"Something fishy, I can tell you that much," Rico said, keeping his voice down.

Andy sighed. "Mrs. Del Rio and my aunts are giving their statements. That man has been taken to the hospital."

Sheriff Jackson wanted to speak to Theo as well, but he couldn't tell her much other than that the real estate deal might have had to do with the sale of the house and that Jerry was violent and abusive. The sheriff told them that Jerry was still unconscious.

Once she had gone back inside, Andy didn't show much sympathy for Jerry. "Going up against Mrs. Del Rio, he should consider himself lucky to be alive."

"He didn't go up against her. He was set up," Rico hissed under his breath.

"What do you mean?" Theo said as he remembered how Mrs. Del Rio had been sweet-talking Jerry and pretending she wanted him to persuade Theo to sell.

"Think about it. This guy was a threat to you and Ace," Rico said.

"You are being paranoid," Andy told him.

"This is Grandma's MO. She is one sneaky old lady," Rico said then he pointed back toward the house just as his grandmother and Andy's great-aunts came out. "Let's get to the bottom of this."

"Are you all right?" Theo asked the ladies.

"Just in need of a drink or two," Andy's great-aunt Bridgette said. She pointed at Andy. "As soon as we get home, you're playing bartender."

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