Page 77 of Marcellus: House of Drakos

That gave the room hope. “Who are they?” Olivier asked.

“A Jennifer Newman.” Then Freddy smiled. “And a Marvin Newman.”

They all sighed relief. “Jennifer is Marvin’s mother,” said Olivier. “I remember him mentioning a Jennifer.”

“So what does it all mean?” Niko asked.

“It depends,” said Marcellus. “What is their listed status in the NTSB disaster report, Fredrick?”

Freddy had to go to different screen on the laptop. And that was when he saw it. “Jennifer Newman listed as deceased. Marvin Newman listed as deceased.” He looked at his father. “They both died in that first plane crash.”

“And after that,” said Marcellus, “Zorbo undoubtedly blamed me and did something about it.”

“So you’re saying that first crash wasn’t sabotage?” asked Savannah.

“Right,” said Marcellus. “But Zorbo did something to make sure I got the blame for all the other crashes.”

“Wow, “said Oz. “Zorbo Lay has a major-ass gripe against you. You killed his child.”

“And his baby mama,” said Natalia, “that he probably still loved.”

Everybody looked at her as if she was speaking about herself.

But Marcellus was anxious. “Now that we know his motivation,” he said, “we’ve got to find him before another plane crashes. We’ve got to find him!”

“What if,” said Savannah, and everybody looked at her.

“What if what?” Marcellus asked her.

“What if they did it again.”

“Did what again?” Olivier asked her.

“They took Niko to his own bar to hold him captive. What if they took Kalayna to her own home to hold her captive?”

Everybody saw the brilliance of that argument. “It would be the last place we looked,” Marcellus said.

“Especially since we knew she had been snatched before she made it home.”

“But I sent a team to her house,” said Scottie. “They turned that place inside out. Nobody was there.”

“Not right away,” said Oz. “But after they took care of her security detail, they then probably brought her to her home later that day. They wouldn’t have taken her there right away.”

“She’s home,” said Marcellus. “As soon as Savannah said it, I felt it. That feels right.”

They all jumped up.

“We can’t all go,” said Scottie. “No way. Explosives are involved.”

They’d heard about Bobcat Grishom’s role.

“So who gets to go?” asked Niko.

“We’ll pick up Grishom on the way in case we need him to diffuse his bomb.”

They all looked at each other. The idea of explosives terrified them.

“But who’s going, Daddy?” asked Freddy.