“So you think she could do a better job?” That came out a little louder than I’d intended.
“Oh hell. No. Not at all. I shouldn’t have been thinking about her. It’s just the way my mind works, but I didn’t mean it.” Mortified, he rubbed a hand over his face, knowing he’d messed up big time. What kind of a friend did that?
Wretched and miserable, he hurried to make it up to me. “She’s not even a fraction as good as you. In fact… I never should have brought it up. I don’t know why I did that.” He glanced my way. “Can you forgive me?”
Sure, he’d hurt my feelings, but he hadn’t brought it up. It was all in his mind, and I only knew because I’d been invading his privacy. If anyone should apologize, it was me. “This reality I live in is a little crazy. I used to tell myself that I shouldn’t get upset about what people were thinking… mostly because if I couldn’t read minds, I’d never know.
“But… on the other hand… I’ve learned that what people think is who they really are inside. And usually, if they’re thinking something, I need to take it at face value.” I glanced his way. “So it puts me in a bind with my family and friends, but I’ve learned that it’s more important to cut them a little slack, even if my feelings get hurt. In other words, it’s fine.”
He let out a sigh. “Okay. So… we’re good?”
“Yes, we’re good.”
“Thanks, Shelby. This whole thing with Willow has got to stop. I don’t like her coming between us, so once this case is over, I’m telling the chief that I won’t work with her again.”
I sent him a big smile. “Thanks… Drew.” He smiled back, showing off his dimples in all their glory, and suddenly, all was right with the world.
We arrived at the precinct, and Dimples headed toward the door. I hung back. Noticing, he turned to look at me. “What? You’re not coming in?”
“I’ve got other things to do, and you’ve got Willow to deal with. Why don’t you call me if you discover anything new?”
“But I thought you’d want to gloat.” Disappointment washed over him.
“Yeah… not really my thing. I’ll gloat when we find the real killer, how’s that?”
He huffed out a breath. “Sure. But will you still help me out?”
“Of course. I have to come in tomorrow for my next counseling appointment, so I’ll check in with you then.”
“I guess that’s better than nothing. Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Sure… or you can call if you get something before then.”
“Thanks Shelby.” With a grateful nod, he headed into the precinct.
As I walked to my car, I wished things were different. Why did this Willow person have to come along and mess everything up? Now that Dimples had her to work with, it left me on the outside. I wanted to solve Brock’s murder, but my hands were tied. Stupid psychic.
It would have been nice to have Dimples’s help with Mack Haywood’s investigation too, but that was out of the question. I checked my watch, finding it much later than I’d thought.
I might as well head over to Thrasher Development and see if Ramos was back. Then, tomorrow morning, I could talk to all of Mack Haywood’s neighbors and friends.
With that settled, I drove to Thrasher Development and headed up to the twenty-sixth floor. After a quick greeting, Jackie sent me to Uncle Joey’s office, and I knocked before entering. He waved me in, finishing up his phone call.
Glancing my way, he rubbed his hands together, thinking that deal had gone well, and now that I was back he could take care of this drug business once and for all. “Have a seat and I’ll get Ramos. He just got back, so this is perfect timing.”
As I sat down, Uncle Joey called Ramos, summoning him to his office. He hung up and smiled at me. “Ramos checked everyone out, and didn’t find any of my people in the business cheating me, so that’s good news.”
“Uh… yeah… for sure.”
Ramos opened the door, wearing all black and looking sexy as hell. Life was so not fair. He sent me that sensual smile of his and sat down beside me. Naturally, I caught a whiff of his scent and tried not to let it go to my head.
“All right, let’s do this,” Uncle Joey said, pulling me out of my reverie. “Ramos, why don’t you make the call to Victor? I’m afraid my anger might get the best of me, and I don’t want to scare him off.” He was thinking that anyone who double-crossed him was worthy of death, and he wouldn’t hesitate to kill Victor if he’d made that mistake.
Ramos nodded and put the call through. It surprised me that Uncle Joey was so open about killing him. He usually blocked those sorts of thoughts from his mind. But he just waited with anticipation to see if Victor answered his phone, openly looking forward to the upcoming confrontation.
I thought if Victor was smart, he’d get out of town fast, but he picked up instead, and Ramos began talking. “Vic, Manetto wants to see you. How soon can you get here?” Ramos listened to the answer. “Good. See you in a few minutes.” He disconnected. “He’ll be here in about twenty minutes.”
“Did he sound worried?” Uncle Joey asked.
“No. But once he sees Shelby, I think that’ll change.”
I was starting to get nervous. “What if it’s true? What are you going to do about him?”
Instead of answering the question, Uncle Joey turned the tables on me. “What do you think we should do?” He thought that, since I was going to be his successor, this would be a good learning experience and a great time for me to voice my opinion.
Ramos’s brows drew together. Why did he ask me that? What was going on?
