48
Deb and Aimee arrived with Pia and her parents a couple of hours after Sin had spoken to her. “Pia is awake, but weak. Would you two help her from the car?” Deb asked Troy and Danny.
“There is a room at the end of the hall on the second floor that the Black 6 gang didn’t disturb,” Sin said. “Take her there.”
Moments later, Troy and Danny were back. As they carried Pia into the house, Dominic Russo comforted his daughter with every step. Aria LaBarbara walked beside her, cradling her daughter’s hand. She looked frail and small. Nothing like the description Dominic painted of her days earlier. Russo, himself, was a shell of the man Sin met just days before. Shell or not, Sin needed his help and she needed it now. She had precious little time before she kicked this mission into another gear. She rode the elevator to the second floor with the others, no one speaking but Russo. He continued to rake his fingers through Pia’s matted, dirty hair, assuring her that everything was okay and that he loved her.
Deb and Aimee were in the room by the time the boys helped Pia down the hall. “She needs to rest,” Aimee said. Looking at Deb, she continued. “I, we, need blood tests to be sure all the poison is out of her system.”
Deb snapped a pair of latex gloves on and approached with a syringe. “Pia, I need to draw a little blood,” she said in a soft, compassionate voice.
Pia responded with a slow head nod and a grunt.
Deb drew two vials of blood and handed them to Danny. “Would you do me a favor and take these to the Naval hospital. Ask for Dr. Horito. Wait there for the results. He’ll rush the sample.”
“Is he able to email or fax the results to us?” Sin asked.
“I suppose.” Deb answered.
“Danny, once you hand the vials to Dr. Horito, get back here. This mission isn’t over, and I could use your help.”
Danny fisted the samples and left the room.
Deb used her cell to call Dr. Horito and explain that the blood on its way was top priority. “Kim,” she said, “I need you to personally run the tests. I’m hoping they’re clear but there may be unidentifiable chemicals in the sample.”
She listened for a moment and smiled. “No, nothing hazardous. No need for level three protocol. Just hurry.”
Sin approached Russo who hadn’t left Pia’s side. “Dominic, we need to talk.”
“Not now.”
Sin placed her hand on his broad shoulder and squeezed. “Now. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t crucial.”
“Talk.”
Sin eyed Aria. “Not here. Meet me in the library in ten minutes.”
Russo looked up at Deb and Aimee, who assured him that Pia would be fine.
“And these tubes?” he said pointing to the tubes that were still in Pia’s chest.
“If the blood tests come back negative, which I believe they will,” Deb said, I’ll removed them. It’s an easy process. Pia won’t feel a thing.”
“I want to be here when you do.”
“Fine. If you’re not back here, I’ll find you before I do anything,” Deb said.
Russo turned and faced Sin. “Ten minutes.”
Sin entered the library with Troy, happy to see it unmolested. She sunk into one of the over-stuffed chairs and sighed. It felt good to take the weight off her leg. “I need to call Tiffany,” she said, her words barely a whisper.
“You need to rest. I’ll call her.”
Sin shook her head and pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans. Tiffany picked up after one ring.
“Jesus, it’s about time,” Tiff said. “I’ve been worried sick.”
“Everyone is okay.”
“Everyone?”
Sin envisioned the last time she saw Carmelita, scared, her lip bleeding, as Onyx slapped her across the face. “Almost everyone. I’ll explain when you get here.”
“On my way.”
“Wait. I need you to pick up a few people on your way.”
“Who and where?”
“First things first,” Sin said. “Where the hell are you?”
“I’m still in Key West at the hotel. Sin, I don’t know what’s going on, but this place suddenly looks like a ghost town.”
“What do you mean?”
“All the coeds and tourists are still here, but all the guys on the bikes rode out of town a few hours ago. It just feels empty.”
Sin acknowledged Tiffany with a grunt.
“What about the people you wanted me to pick up?”
“I need you to head to Tumbleboat, pick up President Lancaster and his team, and bring them to the Johnson place.” She glanced at her watch. “Be here at eight a.m.”
“The president is in my house?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I forgot it was your house now.”
“That’s okay. I just hope I didn’t leave any dirty underwear on the floor.”
Sin’s lips lifted into an uneven smile. “See you when you get here.”
There was a knock on the doorframe and Dominic Russo entered. “I don’t want to be away from my daughter for long. What do you need to talk to me about?”
Sin used her arms to pull herself out of the chair. Using the desk for support, she moved to the seat behind it and opened the wall with the monitors and flipped the green leather blotter revealing the keyboard. “Your nephew, Savio. I need everything you can tell me about him.”
“I already told you,” Russo said. “He’s a punk. A spy in my own home.”
Sin waved her hand, dismissing everything Dominic said. “I don’t care about your feelings for or about him, I need to know facts. Demographics.”
“Demographics?”
“Age, birthdate—”
“Sinclair, may I call you Sinclair?”
Hearing her full first name brought back memories of Charlie. He was the only one who routinely called her Sinclair. “I prefer Sin.”
“Sin, I know what demographics are, I’m just confused to why you need them.”
“Amuse me. Date of birth?”
Dominic had to think about it. “Pia was born on July third. Savio’s birthday was just a few days later on . . . July tenth, ninety—”
“That’s all right, I have the year,” Sin said as she pecked on the keyboard.
“His father’s name?”
“Vincent LaBarbara.”
“He was the one killed in the feudal
