Page 82 of One In Vermillion

“Bartlett and O’Toole have made River Vista off-limits.”

“So you’re going out there,” I said. Of course, he was.

“I want to look at the Vermillion trucks parked there. See if any were used to run Jim Pitts off the road. More importantly, I want to get a copy of the security footage. See what’s really going on.”

“When?”

“Tonight. It’s Saturday. The workers are gone. It’ll just be the Wolves.”

“Okay.” I took a deep breath. If Cash really had paid Mickey to burn down his family’s garage, he had to be stopped. “How can I help?”

“Go to the Pink House. You’ll be safe with George there.”

“And you won’t be safe. I’m not going to hide in my room.”

“Listen,” Vince said. “I’m not supposed to go near River Vista or Cash. Bartlett is toeing the mayor’s line. Which is bullshit. But it means if we’re going to take these people down, the best way to do it is by dividing them and getting them to go after each other.”

“Fine. Let me help.”

“Do you know how to shoot a rifle?”

“No, but I can learn.” It was rifles now. “Probably. I think I need to have lunch with my mother right now, though.”

“So we’ll teach you to shoot after lunch,” Vince said.

CHAPTER 37

Iwent up to the Pink House to tell Anemone I owned the factory, and she practically levitated over the couch to tell me she wanted in on it. She also handed me my mail which had the DNA report in it, which confirmed that Cleve was my father.

I called my mother and asked her to meet me at the Red Box for lunch. She was thrilled, so I skipped the five miles I usually ran before lunch because my heart rate had been in my throat for most of the morning anyway and drove to town for that.

I was trying to remember that I loved my mom even though she’d lied to me my entire life. When I saw her face light up when she saw me, it was easier to remember. Okay, MaryBeth wasn’t good at truth or chastity or restraint, but she by damn loved me and that was a lot.

“Your hair’s too long,” she said, as I sat down.

“Vince likes it long,” I said, not knowing what the hell he thought of it.

“Well, that’s okay then,” Mom said, happily ensconced in the 1950’s and staying there.

We gave our orders to Sun: a special for me and a nice chicken Caesar salad for Mom who said, “You’re going to put on weight if you keep eating like that,” which made Sun make a face at me and say, “Aren’t you, like, too old to be getting this crap from your mom?”

When she was gone, my mom said, “I only said that to warn you. You’re getting older, you know, Lizzie, and you can’t keep eating like that.”

“Mom, I’m not you.”

“Of course not,” she said and then a minute later, she said, “You’re getting older, a little makeup wouldn’t kill you.”

I sighed and got one of the copies of the DNA report out of my laptop bag.

“So let’s talk about the fall of 1988,” I said, putting the report on the table.

She frowned at me, confused.

“That would be roughly the time you were having sex with Jack Danger, Cleveland Blue, and Dayton Blue. Oh, congratulations on marrying Day. Try to keep those vows this time. You’re getting older, a little fidelity might be good for you.”

She blinked at me. I think she just hadn’t seen it coming so she didn’t have any way to regroup.

“I had a DNA test,” I told her to simple things up. “I’m Cleve’s daughter.” Her mouth fell open, and I realized she hadn’t had a clue. “You really thought I was Day’s, didn’t you?”

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