“Oh, don’t worry Mrs. Tesano, I’ve had lots of time to think about it,” Rosella beamed despite her predicament. “I can’t and won’t be a burden on you or my parents forever, though I’m sure they’ll be overjoyed when they-”
Athena gripped Rosella’s arm so tightly, the girl gasped.
“Don’t you dare think that way!” Athena’s face had darkened a few shades as blood rushed to her face. “This is my grandchild. I won’t be separated from it and I’ll see that it has a good life.”
“Mrs. Tesano I know that,” Rosella soothed while gently prying Athena’s fingers from her forearm. “But this can’t be your sole responsibility.”
“Have you told your parents about the baby?”
“Not yet...the Marsalas don’t think I need all the excitement before the birth,” she let out a quiet sigh. “They hardly let me look at the news.”
Athena sighed her relief inwardly and silently thanked her old friends for their input.
“They’re right, Child. You don’t need any of that on your mind now. Especially with the news being full of that horrible mess in California. What those hippies did to that girl and her baby was abominable,” she pointed to Rosella’s protruding belly. “You and this baby are most important.”
“I know that, but you need to understand that I need Stone here,” Rosella’s pleading stare shone with unshed tears. “I need him to know he has a child on the way and I need him to know today.”
Athena blinked. “Today?”
“I’ve waited long enough.”
“Did you hear what I said about him coming to you?”
“And he’s done that. I think once is enough,” Rosella’s pretty face sharpened with suspicion. “Unless there’s some other reason you’re stalling with this, Mrs. Tesano.”
Athena’s features sharpened then as well. “I don’t think I like what you’re implying.”
Rosella’s resulting smile proved she wouldn’t be cowed. “Remember what you said about what happened in California? Life is fragile, Mrs. Tesano. Tomorrow isn’t promised. I need Stone to know now. If you won’t tell him like you promised to, then I will.”
That just wouldn’t do. Athena bristled, resenting that her back was being held against the wall by the imbecilic girl before her. The last thing she needed was for Rosella and Stone to sit around comparing notes on their evening and coming to conclusions best left unconfirmed. Her son had an eerie intuition. It had already led him to piece together many details of the night her grandchild was conceived. Armed with that knowledge, Rosella was sure to be incensed enough to run to her parents and tell them everything.
Then, there was Liam. She could not lose her grandchild. She would not have her every move with it overseen and managed the way Liam had done with their sons.
“I’ll tell him as soon as I return home,” she lied and drew Rosella into a hug. “I’ll call you when it’s done.” Surely, she’d have a believable embellishment in place by the time she’d driven back the next day. As an added layer of protection, she made a mental note to speak with the Marsalas. It was time to more closely monitor Rosella Campagnone’s contact with the outside world. Before leaving, she would also see that the phone was disconnected in the girl’s room. The decision brought a smile to her face. “Let’s get you back inside,” she offered, nudging the young woman onward with a reassuring arm squeeze.
Athena and Rosella never saw the car parked at the far end of the property and shielded amid tree trunks, hanging branches and the dim afternoon light.
They never saw the man inside the car.
They never saw Stone.
~24~
“Stone? You with us, kid?” Aaron called down the table to his brother.
Aaron, Stone and Pitch met at the long conference table in Aaron’s office. Stone’s inventory team joined them.
Stone didn’t answer Aaron’s call. Pitch leaned over and brought his palm down hard before Stone’s place at the table. “What the fuck, man?”
Pitch’s crude, hissed query was enough to have Stone snap to. Somewhat. “Yeah, yeah, sorry,” he still appeared highly dazed for the most part.
Zachary Billups was next to check in. “Sure you’re alright, man?”
Stone answered the gentler query with an appreciative smile. He managed to add a slow nod and inclined his head while massaging his eyes. Unable to dismiss the feeling he was being watched, he risked a glance down the table and found he was right. His brothers were sending him wary, side glances.
Summoning calm and focus then, he made a pretense of appearing engaged with the material being shared. Xavier Auten had worked as assistant to the chief quality control specialist in Tesano’s Boston factory. His skill and tenacity soon got him the nod from headquarters and eventually the tap for Stone’s new inventory crew. He had already done a superb job. What Auten was reporting to his employers then, put his job performance leagues beyond superb.
“Our reading of the captain’s logs uncovered notations of memos. They’re only referenced to in the logs.” Auten said. “I’ve asked that all memos be turned over to us, but so far, we don’t have anything that looks shady.”
“But we would have sent memos, right?” Aaron asked. “The inventory crew would’ve needed to contact the captains at some time, yes?”
“That’s right, but there would be no memos detailing visiting dates like the ones the captains refer to in their logs.”
“Defeats the purpose if they know we’re comin’, right?” Pitch mused.
“Exactly,” Auten pressed his index finger to the tabletop. “But according to the captain’s logs those dates are exactly what these phantom memos specified.”
“So if the memos didn’t come from you?” Zachary prompted.
“Then who?” Aaron finished.
Auten nodded, taking an extended moment to consider his reply. “This could all be nothing guys, but I thought you should know.”
“You did right to come to us with it, Xav.” Pitch gestured to the notes the man had come bearing. “This is stellar work, man.”
Aaron, Pitch and Zach were still commending Auten and his team, when Stone’s assistant Devonny Case rushed in. She caught Zach’s eye and waved him over. Following a few moments of angry whispering, she pushed a sheet of paper into his hand.
Zach only studied the page a few seconds before a shaky hand went through his hair. “Son of a bitch,” he groaned.
