Page 36 of Sam to the Rescue

“He had to-”

“The putz is no good. I told you that right from the first…” My uncle and two thugs I never saw before help themselves to a meal and sit down at the tiny table for four.

The baby cries, Mia prays, and Rose motions me into her hall and pulls on the rope. “Go.”

Clutching my son, I trudge up to my place while she holds the rest at bay with a long, plastic vacuum attachment. “Yo! Give the girl some air? Whatz a matta wid youz guyz?”

Upstairs, I collapse onto the couch and feed the baby. Once he’s asleep, I close my eyes, oblivious to the noisy mob below.

When I wake, it’s the middle of the night and snoring sounds through my open windows. Unlike my old place, I can’t see the street from my apartment and not knowing is too much to ignore. I climb out the fire escape, slide down the stairs, and sneak around the corner.

In front of my house, a man sits in a Patten Securities SUV. Vinny’s two employees wait in a Ford Bronco. And, while I’m watching, a police cruiser circles the block. This is all in addition to my relatives camped out in my house.

I sneak back the way I came, climb the fences, and end up in the first-floor courtyard.

“Yo, Sammy. Goin’ someplace?” Joey turns and the whites of his eyes catch the yellow light shining behind his curtains.

Holy shit, for a second, I swore he was sketch-man. “Jeez, you trying to scare me to death or what?”

“Where’d you go?”

“Honestly? I miss having a front window. I needed to see the street.”

“Understood but go on upstairs, k? We got this.”

Since when, did Joey become a grownup?Shaking my head, I ascend the outside stairs but sleep never comes. I keep seeing Uber guy fly out of the car, the crunch of metal, and the pain of hitting the steering wheel. The inability to recall what happened next drives me nuts and the more I try, the more it eludes me.

Dammit. As long as I’m awake, I might as well work. Whispering, so as not to wake my son, I phone my favorite AI unit. “Jason, feed me the video of Congresswoman Desmond’s assassination attempt.”

Maybe, the asshole who tried to run me off the road will be there and I can identify him.

“Stop.”Oh my God. That’s Marta’s missing father.Perhaps, if I can locate his buddy, I can close the other case. “Jason, identify the man chatting with David Kessler?”

“Seymore Silliman.”

“Yes, I do. But that’s not what I was asking.”

The meme’s chuckle is almost as creepy as the gun range clowns. “Are you joking with me, Samantha?”

“It’s late and I’ve had a concussion, so no. Why would I joke with artificial intelligence? You have no sense of humor.”

“There is no need to insult me.” His face is so real, I have to remind myself he’s made of ones and zeros.

“Jason, who is the man standing next to Kessler.”

“Seymore Silliman. Would you like me to spell it out for you?”

“No, no. Wait…” Finally, it dawns on me what he said. “Who the hell would name their kid that?”

“Julia and Stanley Silliman.”

“Right.” I don’t bother to explain the question was rhetorical. “Can you send me Seymore’s address and perhaps what the two men have in common?”

A few minutes later I learn the two were deployed together in Vietnam and have remained in touch ever since. When I arrive at the Long Island address, I send it to Joey via email and ask him to check it out. After, I search for the guy who tried to run me off the road but come up empty.

I sure hope Suds is having better luck than me.

Chapter 23