“You don’t have to listen to all his damned griping and moaning and groaning the way some of us do,” Max grumbles. Jake is in good if not sentimental hands. The first time we’d gotten together after Jake was released from the hospital, it was clear that Mrs. Plummer was going to need help. Max had immediately volunteered, but had laid out the ground rules for Max Care. “There ain’t gonna be an any schmaltzy bullshit, pal. Don’t get used to being waited on hand and foot, you old bastard. I ain’t your babysitter or a fuckin’ nurse.” From what I’ve seen over the last few weeks, Max is doing a surprisingly good imitation of both.
My cop buddies add considerable spice and humor to the proceedings for the next little while as I bask in the camaraderie and, yes, the love that permeates these relationships. In one way or another, everyone here has been through his or her own version of hell over the past few months and understands that we’ve all played a part in seeing one another through. We share a bond that I hope doesn’t diminish as events recede into the rearview mirrors of our lives. Somehow, I just can’t see that happening.
Penelope and Becky are the first ones to call it a night.
“I need to get a good night’s sleep for a big meeting in the morning,” Penelope says before she deposits her glass in the dishwasher and circles the room to dole out kisses and hugs.
“What about you?” Jake asks me. “Are you going to this meeting, too, or are you still making her do all the work?”
I shrug and say, “She’s the brains of the organization.”
Max snorts. “I suppose you think you’re the brawn after our little escapade in Wisconsin?”
“Hardly,” I reply, and mean it. I hope to never again find myself in a situation that even vaguely resembles that night. Joe was an asshole and I hated the son of a bitch, yet I still have nightmares about killing him and inexplicably wonder if I couldn’t have played those chaotic few seconds differently. I guess that makes me different from guys like him. I can live with that.
“What’s this big meeting tomorrow about?” Trish asks Penelope.
“Hopefully, the final settlement negotiation between R & B and the principals of Windy City. I’ll be happy to get back to our mom-and-pop cases when this is finally over.”
“Amen,” I say as I kiss her and Becky goodnight.
“Good luck with that,” Jake tells Penelope as he casts a skeptical eye on me. “Trouble seems to follow your partner around.”
THE END
The Tony Valenti Thrillers
All Tony Valenti wanted was a chance to rebuild his shattered life in the refuge of his beloved childhood home. Instead, his father is arrested for murdering a cop, an unseen hand is maneuvering to condemn that very home… and now his ex-wife is threatening to take his teenage daughter away.
Determined to defend his father with whatever snippets of the criminal code and courtroom tactics he remembers from law school, Tony recruits a public defender and a local newspaper reporter to help unravel the truth. But nobody witnessed the shooting and Papa isn’t talking. As Tony digs deeper and becomes a target himself, his initial bewilderment grows into a towering rage that fuels his drive to get to the bottom of what really happened… regardless of the risks and ultimate cost to himself.
Unemployed, short of funds, and desperate to maintain custody of his daughter, Tony is forced to confront his insecurities and limitations as he struggles to surmount one crisis after another. Can he save his father? The family home? Himself?
“Compelling… fast-paced… a suspenseful and heartfelt thriller” SPR Reviews
BUY IT HERE!
A Case of Betrayal
Coming in September 2021!
When a woman is brutally slain in a crime with no witnesses, suspicion immediately falls upon her ex-husband. But should it?
As the evidence against him mounts, the suspect’s brother—a friend who recently helped save Tony’s father’s life—turns to Tony Valenti for help. The case is a bewildering maze with multiple suspects and a mountain of contradictory evidence that points both to and away from his client. What is the truth? Even Tony isn’t sure of his client’s innocence.
Tony is already overwhelmed by a case in which nothing is as it seems when a lethal terror from his past surfaces to shake his faith in himself… and to threaten those dearest to him. Suddenly in a desperate race to find the truth of the crime and to protect himself and his family from a mortal threat, Tony fears that he’s in danger of being pulled in too many directions to save anyone.
Afterword
Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking the time to read Plane in the Lake, the second book in the Tony Valenti Thriller series. Look for A Case of Betrayal in September, followed by The Fox and the Heir in December. We’re on a roll!
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My sincerest thanks
