Page 46 of Splintered Security
“Good to know. Definitely need to know the legal one. I may need the other for some personal business.”
“That sounds more like it. Anything I can do?”
“Unless you can aim from DC and hit someone in the Rockies, then not today.”
“I’m good, but maybe notthatgood.”
“What you lack in ability, you make up for in self-confidence.”
“I can’t help it, Gallo. When you’ve got it, you’ve got it. And I’ve got it in spades.”
“What’s that old line about writing checks your ego can’t cash?”
“I’m CashApp. Only old farts keep checks.”
I turn onto my street. “I’m home and have a situation. Get back to me on the background check, and I’ll get back to you on the hacker.”
“Later.”
My phone vibrates just as I’m throwing the SUV in park.
Matt: {Marissa Torres’s contact}
I give it a thumbs up and slam the door behind me as I walk into whatever chaos awaits me.
20
only one mrs. gallo
Anni
When the car door slams, I exhale for the first time in an hour. Mrs. Gallo was never my biggest fan. And nothing seems to have changed with the passage of time.
Ren’s family and mine weren’t all that different. Working folks who were solidly lower middle class. Our moms had average cars and lived in average homes. But where we acknowledged our lives, Mrs. Gallo didn’t. She lived with the air that Ren’s father’s money was her due and she was just dealing with a temporary hardship, albeit for a very long time.
So while we were from the same ‘hood, we Garvers were from the wrong side of the tracks in her estimation. And she made no bones about showing it.
Needless to say, answering Ren’s door would’ve been enough. Answering Ren’s door braless in a tee and sleep shorts after noon on a Monday was more than Diana Gallo could handle without her face showing her immense displeasure.
Ren enters the house and strides blatantly past his mom to me and drops a kiss on my lips before pulling back to hold my gaze. “Hey, Sunshine.”
He smiles and slides away to wrap his mom up in a hug. “Hey, Ma. It’s been a while. Good to see you. Where’s Hugh?”
She waves a hand dismissively at his question. “Work. It’s Monday, Lorenzo. Where else would one be on a Monday?”
Is she insulting me or her son, or both?
“Well, tell him we missed him.” He extends a hand to a chair for her to take a seat, but he slides in next to me. “What brings you over?”
She glances from him to me, her lips pursing, and back to him. “Is there somewhere private we could talk?”
“This is private. There’s nothing you can’t say in front of Anni,” he replies plainly.
“Well.” She seems to hedge before continuing in what she must think is cryptic language. “Some old friends called to share—” she pauses as if trying to decide what to say. “Rumors. I’m sure they’re unfounded, but thought I’d check for myself.”
Ren says nothing but doesn’t allay her concerns either.
Tension is my nemesis, so when the silence stretches to uncomfortable, I pipe in. “What is it, Mrs. Gallo?”
