Page 26 of Inherting the Mafia

My Aunt Maggie, the foster mother who had taken me in when I was fourteen, had been a widow. That is why she took in foster kids, so she wouldn't be lonely. She had told me countless stories about her husband, her soul mate, and the love of her life.

That's what I wanted.

Sure, I'd gone out and done my fair share of partying when I was younger, but that had been years ago. I'd come a long way since then and I knew what I wanted out of life.

This wasn't what I imagined.

When Vito and Fred walked in, Vito gestured to the black box in Fred's hand. "Fred was able to disarm the bomb. He said an amateur made it."

"Is that a good thing or not?" I asked.

"Kind of both, actually," Vito said. "If it was a professional, there would be some sort of signature to the bomb that could lead us to whoever made it. Since it was made by a novice, there's no signature so that makes it harder to find the bomb maker."

"So, how is that good?"

"Because the bomb didn't go off."

Yeah, that was good.

"I can have Mr. D'Amato's lab guys take this apart and see if they can find anything that might lead to the maker if you want," Fred suggested.

"Mr. D'Amato?" I asked.

I hadn't heard that name.

"Jake D'Amato," Vinnie said. "He's the one that loaned me Fred."

Okay, now I had a name, but I still didn't know who this guy was.

"If anyone can find something on that bomb, Dr. Teller can."

I squinted at Vinnie. "Dr. Teller?"

Another name I didn't recognize.

"Jake owns a company that invents things like computer components and package trackers," Vinnie explained. "Dr. Teller works in his lab."

"And you think he can pull apart this bomb and tell us who made it?"

"When it comes to Dr. Teller," Fred stated, "anything is possible."

I certainly hoped so.

Vito handed over a business card. "Please have your Dr. Teller call me if he finds anything."

"I will," Fred said as he took the card and tucked it into his pocket. He held up the bomb. "And I'll make sure that this is properly disposed of after Dr. Teller goes over it."

"Thank you."

"And please thank Mr. D'Amato for his assistance and loaning you to us," I added. "I know for a fact I have no idea what to do with that thing and I doubt that anyone else here does, too."

"It's not a problem, sir," Fred replied. "I'm pretty experienced with this type of thing."

My eyebrows lifted. "Handle a lot of bombs, do you?"

Fred smirked. "More than you'd think."

I didn't want to know.

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