Caroline took a sip of wine. “It’s so quiet and peaceful. I wish it was like that at home, but I know it’s just wishful thinking on my part. I honestly can’t remember a time when someone wasn’t at the house and to tell the truth, I don’t understand how my mom takes it.”
“Why don’t you get your own place?” Rheyna asked.
“I will eventually, but for now, Mom wants me to stay until she knows for sure that Haven is a success.”
“Well, I’d say from the looks of things, your clinic seems to be doing pretty well.”
“I know it is and so does Mom. I think she’s just using it as an excuse to keep me home. What about you?” Caroline asked. “I’ve done nothing but sit here and talk about me.”
“What do you want to know?”
Caroline took another sip of wine. “Are you from California?”
Rheyna shook her head. “No. I moved here from Chequotah, Oklahoma about two months ago.”
“Why here?”
Rheyna shrugged. “I guess I was tired of the cold and wanted to live in a place where the temperature didn’t drop below thirty.” Rheyna recited the words she had rehearsed umpteen times. She hated lying to Caroline and wanted desperately to change the subject. Out of habit, she glanced at her watch and instantly regretted it.
Caroline stood up and brushed off her jeans. “I’m sorry, I should go. I’ve probably worn out my welcome.”
Rheyna didn’t want her to leave. “You don’t have to leave.”
“Yeah, I do. My dad left for New Jersey today and Mom doesn’t like to eat dinner alone.”
Rheyna reluctantly followed Caroline to the front door. Caroline turned abruptly, causing Rheyna to lose her balance, and before either of them knew what happened, Rheyna fell against her. The force knocked Caroline back against the door. With her face only inches from Caroline’s, Rheyna felt her pulse rate quicken. Her senses were assaulted with the sweet smell of Caroline’s perfume, a mixture of honey and lilacs.
“I am so sorry,” she managed to get out. She felt Caroline’s hands on her forearms, trying to steady her. She felt Caroline’s warm breath against her cheek and shivered. They were too close. Rheyna pushed against the doorframe, trying to upright herself.
“You don’t need to apologize, Rheyna. I’ve been told a time or two that I should add a set of brake lights. Although I’m not sure it would have mattered in this instance.” Caroline winked at Rheyna, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
Rheyna was tongue-tied. “Uh … you can visit Annie anytime you like,” she managed to say and felt her face flush. It was obvious that Caroline was enjoying Rheyna’s discomfort, just as she had the first time they met.
Caroline busted out laughing. She smiled at Rheyna, which only made things worse. Her smile was truly disarming. “I was wondering, um … if you have any plans tomorrow?” she asked.
Rheyna realized happily, that she was not the only one a little unnerved. “I have a photo shoot in the morning,” she lied. “But I’m free the rest of the day.”
“How would you like to come for dinner? You can bring Annie along, too.”
“Are you sure?”
“About you or Annie?”
Rheyna felt her cheeks redden. “Both.”
Caroline grinned. “Yes, both of you, silly. Besides, Mom will want to show you the pictures she chose and … she loves dogs.”
Rheyna opened the door and walked Caroline to her car. “In that case, how can I possibly refuse an offer like that?” she said, closing Caroline’s car door.
Caroline started the engine and rolled the window down. “Dinner’s at seven. I’ll see you then,” she said and then backed out of the driveway.
Rheyna waited for her to disappear from sight and then headed back inside to make her phone call to Laura. She hit the speed dial and slid the patio door pen.
“Well, good evening, Ms. Forrest,” she said happily into the phone when Laura answered.
“You sure sound chipper,” Laura said.
Rheyna was bubbling with excitement. She told herself it was because her plan was working so well. If she were honest, she would admit that her excitement had more to do with seeing Caroline again. “I’m having dinner tomorrow night at seven with Caroline and her mother.”
“Excellent. You’ve really outdone yourself this time and Edwards wanted me to tell you that he was impressed.”
“Really? Edwards said that?” Rheyna asked, a little shocked.
“Yep, and you know as well as I do that impressing him isn’t an easy feat.”
“I hear you, but we can’t get too excited yet.”
“You’re being modest, but okay. I’ll try to contain myself.”
Laura was silent for several seconds, and Rheyna could tell that she was digesting the information. Rheyna also sensed that Laura was thinking along the same lines. This was the opening they were looking for and hoped they would get. They just didn’t expect it to happen so soon.
Rheyna was the first to speak. “Caroline said her father left for New Jersey. You know anything about that?”
“Yeah, just a few minutes ago, Stevens told me Artie picked up the tail at Newark’s Liberty International Airport.”
“Any idea what’s going on?”
“Edwards thinks Castrucci’s gathering support from the Commission, just as we suspected.”
“There’s a real surprise. How are we doing on the warrant?”
“Ron is working on it as we speak.”
“Okay, I was just thinking that I might be able to get something in place before Castrucci gets back.”
“I’ll call you as soon as I get word. Talk with you soon.”
Rheyna hung up the phone and went inside. She walked back to the camera room, grabbed her bag of toys, and took them into the living room. She knew that if the electronic gadgets in the bag were anything like her camera equipment, she was in for a treat. Thanks to modern-day technology and the creation of microchips, covert surveillance was on a completely different level, and because of this new technology, she didn’t have to worry about anyone searching her house. If they did, they wouldn’t find anything suspicious.
She emptied the duffel bag on the counter and sorted the items into two piles. She placed the cameras on one side and the listening devices on the other. “Not sure what they thought I’d do with this,” she said as she picked up a smoke detector and popped open the lid. She had to look real close to see the infrared camera lens. She thought it would look a little bit out of place on Castrucci’s ceiling or walls. She picked up a digital camera, masquerading as a matchbook. It was designed to take a picture each time the flap was squeezed. She looked at several items and decided that the ballpoint pen was the least likely to be discovered. She had no idea where she would leave the listening device. She would just have to wait and see what opportunities arose.
###
Big Tony and Sonny stood just outside the airport entrance and waited for the limousine to come to a stop. The driver jumped out, came around, and opened the rear door. Sonny took his seat across from Big Tony. He grabbed two glasses and a bottle of scotch from the mini-bar and poured them a drink.
Big Tony lifted the phone off the receiver and punched in a number. “Yeah, we just arrived and should be there within the hour,” he said into the phone. “Okay … Got it.” He placed the phone back in the cradle and took the glass from Sonny. A smile formed on his lips as he watched the liquid swirl around in the glass. He tilted his head back and emptied the contents in one gulp.
Sonny refilled the glass before taking a drink of his own. “If Carlos catches word of this, we’ll both be floatin’ in the bay.”
Big Tony dismissed his concern with a flick of his hand. “Who’s gonna tell him? Not Don Vitto, they all want him out, too.” He reached over and patted Sonny on the side of his cheek. “You worry too fuckin’ much.”
Chapter 9
Rheyna glanced at the clock on the wall. It was nearly six
P.M.
She had risen early as usual, and to kill time, she and Annie had spent a couple hours sitting out on the deck, her with a book and Annie barking at anything that moved.
Afterward, they sat on the couch, watching TV. In all honesty, she had spent most of the time watching the clock slowly tick the hours away. She didn’t think the day was ever going to end. Now that it was time to get ready, she felt a nervous energy.
She decided to take a quick shower and get dressed. Although she had shopped for more than two hours and spent over six-hundred dollars on new clothes, she couldn’t make up her mind on what to wear. She stood in front of the closet for at least thirty-minutes, finally choosing a black pair of slacks, and a silk emerald green blouse. She completed the outfit with a pair of ankle-high, black boots that zipped up the side.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror and was pleased with what she saw. The California sun was already working its magic on her skin. She had turned a golden brown, which served to enhance the grayness of her eyes. She ran a comb through her hair and added a little eyeliner. What am I doing? It’s not as if this is a date or anything, she told herself after deciding to add mascara.
Her cell ringing in the other room prevented her from probing the motive behind her actions any further. She laid the tube of mascara on the sink and ran to answer it.
“I just wanted to let you know that we got the warrant,” Laura said on the other end.
“Great. I’ll let you know how it goes.”
“Don’t take any unnecessary risks, okay?”
Rheyna could hear the concern in Laura’s voice. “I won’t,” she said as a way of reassuring her. “If I get the chance, I’ll try to get something in place.”
“All right, and you call me as soon as you get home.”
“I will,” she said, and hung up the phone.
She was feeling a little on edge and decided to have a glass of wine. After she drank the last drop, she put the harness around Annie’s little body. It had taken her several tries at first to figure out how the contraption worked, but she was now a pro at it.
She snapped the leash on and led Annie out to the Jeep. She settled Annie into the seat beside her, pulled the seat belt through Annie’s harness, and buckled her in before securing her own belt.
Within a few minutes, she and Annie had safely arrived at the Castrucci estate. They were immediately granted entry through the gate. When she got to the top of the driveway, she frowned. The same two heavily armed men from her first visit approached the car. She stood there while the same man did his body search. This time, however, she didn’t give it a second thought as she watched her Jeep go though the same treatment.
Caroline greeted the two of them at the door. “Hi, you two.” She looked Rheyna up and down without any reservation whatsoever. “You look great,” she said to Rheyna with a brilliant smile that made Rheyna’s heart skip an all-too-familiar beat.
She thinks I look great
, Rheyna thought as her senses were assaulted with the smell of Caroline’s perfume. She also noticed the smell of something else—food. “Mmm …something smells good.”
“That would be Mom’s cooking,” Caroline said, grinning. “When I told her you were coming, she insisted on giving Rosa the night off and cooking you a traditional Italian dinner.”
Rheyna and Annie followed her through the foyer and past the room where Rheyna had taken their photos. They entered the second room off to the right.
The walls in the dining room were painted a deep burgundy color three-fourths of the way down. White Wains Coating covered the remainder. It was gorgeous, and Rheyna wouldn’t have expected anything less. At the far end of the room, Terasa Castrucci was busy laying out tableware on a Henry the Eighth table that stretched almost the entire length of the wall.