Page 31 of Desert Wind

“If you had any idea of what you’re missing out on, you’d be on that plane with us.” She pushed a photo of Jenna toward the woman. She was laughing, a piece of cake in front of her. Her hair was tucked behind her ear, but her smile was bright and cheerful. “In case you’re interested, that’s your daughter, and she’s a remarkable, resilient, beautiful woman.”

The siblings turned, leaving the restaurant and the old woman at her table.

She picked up the photo and stared at the face smiling back at her. With shaking hands, she touched the corner of the photo to the candle on the table and then set the photo on the plate, watching as it burned to ashes.

Outside, they waited for the car to return to take them to the airport. There was no reason to stay if Claudia was not going to at least ask questions of them.

“What now, Gaspar? I don’t want to go back and tell Jenna that she doesn’t want anything to do with her,” said Marie.

“Gabe? What do you think?” asked Gaspar.

“I’m not sure. I sensed a lot in her. Curiosity, caution, and fear. Not of us but of something else.”

“Fear of what?” whispered Camille.

“I’m not sure, but I think we need to find a way to speak with Lydia Cipriani. She’s the other half of this coin, and I fear we need her side of the story to finish this out. Both widows, both survivors and running their husband’s businesses. It all seems very planned to me. Maybe not planned but too convenient.”

“So we’re off to Italy?” asked Marie.

“No. We go home first, and then we’ll decide how to proceed. Besides, none of us speak Italian.”

“We didn’t need our French with her,” said Baptiste. “I’d venture to say we won’t need our Italian with Cipriani.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

The team agreed that they wouldn’t tell Jenna of their meeting with Claudia. It might very well be too painful for her at this point. Instead, they found ways to occupy her, including visiting the shelters and the schools.

It was evident that this was where Jenna belonged. Teaching. With children surrounding her. Her time may have passed for her to have children of her own, but she could give the love overflowing inside of her to those who needed it most.

“Hey, we’ve got a couple of problems you guys need to know about,” said Code.

“Of course we do,” said Ian. “What now?

“Someone was digging into the court records to find out the attorney of record for Jenna. They got the names of Kari, Kat, and Georgie.”

“Okay. We can manage that,” said Ghost.

“Maybe. The other is the house in Arizona. Neighbors called the police because they saw someone attempting to start a fire. He stopped them because the winds are picking up again, and it would have burned the entire neighborhood.”

“There’s something in that house,” said Nine. “Get two men back to search that damn house.”

“Already done,” said Code. “I sent Max and Titus. They were meeting with a company in Southern California about security work the last two days, so it was on their way home. They should be getting to the house soon.”

“Good. Make sure they take anything they think might be of value to us.”

“What do you want to do about the legal team?” asked Ace. “Should I give them a heads up?”

“Definitely. Let Kari know that Cipriani may reach out for information about the case or about Jenna. We need to speak with Cipriani face-to-face. I just need to figure out what we’re going to say to her and what we’re going to do about this bullshit,” said Nine. Ace smirked at him, shaking his head.

“Always bullshit somewhere. That’s why you have us. Bullshit scoopers. The best in the business.”

“Geez, they weren’t wrong about this place. It’s depressing as shit and quite the dump,” said Max.

“It’s hard to picture Jenna in this house. I mean, she seems so, I don’t know. Neat. Clean. Proper. I’m trying to find the right words,” said Titus.

“I think those are all good words for her,” said Max.

He started opening the kitchen cabinets, and it didn’t surprise him to see bugs crawling around the cabinets. He found the same friendly welcome wagon in the drawers.

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