Page 51 of Sam to the Rescue
“Hi sweetie pie.” I put my face to the screen, my son grins and purses his lips. “Mmmmm.”
“He did it! He said momma.”
My Southern gent guffaws. “Yes ma’am, loud and clear.”
“Fudging A.” I grin up at him, then sigh at the long night ahead. “Promise you will not ramble at the police station. I want to go home before Mikey starts grade school.”
“If they ask questions, I’m supposed to answer.” His innocent look doesn’t fool me.
It is high time I teach him a lesson. “Fine. I bet you a year’s worth of laundry I can talk longer than you.” I poke him in the ribs and he tickles me back.
“You’re on.”
About an hour later, Suds and I sit in separate rooms across the hall from one another. They shut our doors around the time our lawyers arrive, virtually. I insist on Andy Quinn and we speak for a while before he allows the Feds to have at me.
Let the games begin.A suited woman enters, shuts the door, and reads me my rights. “Can you state your name and address?”
“Sam Russo. No, sorry. Samantha Russo, I mean Sutcliff.” I smile sweetly and flutter my lashes.
The fiftyish, makeup-less, gray-haired detective frowns. “Which is it?”
“Russo was my maiden name, Sam is my nickname, and when I married Suds, I mean Sebastian, I changed my name to his.” I’m pretty pleased with my warm-up act but my interrogator, not so much.
Pursing her red lips, she leans over the table on her elbows. “What were you doing in Syracuse?”
Incentivized by a whole year without having to visit the laundromat, I take a deep breath. “Well, about a week ago, I went to a shooting range. Not for me, mind you, for my husband. It’s his birthday and I wanted to buy him a nice present. He wanted a place to practice. He was a SEAL but had to quit because he damaged an eye socket and also because he was…”
“Excuse me? Can we circle back to the gun club?” Her arms cross over her white shirt, stretching the fabric of her black blazer.
“Right. Sorry. Let me explain about The Clown Circus Pizza Palace. We used to have birthday parties there and even though the building has been converted to a shooting range, they kept all the creepy clowns on the wall. God, it is so fucking weird, excuse my French. Anyhow, I had to pee and asked for a key but the guy at the front desk said the woman’s room was broken so I opened the door to the mens room and there was someone grunting. The smell? It was melting the paint off the walls and my eyes watered so bad I couldn’t see so I wasn’t going to use that bathroom, no way, not when the ladies room was right across the hall. It didn’t take much skill to credit card the door, which I did, and as I came out of the stall, I noticed three barrels of detergent which didn’t make much sense seeing how filthy the place was.” I pause to replenish my depleted oxygen.
The agent nods, her brows stuck up like she had Botox and it left them permanently raised. I may have broken her. “You with me agent?”
Her eyes refocus. “Yes, yes. Please continue.”
“So, anyhow…” I talk for a few hours and by the time I discuss Nonna’s car and the stuck gas pedal, her lids droop.
“…Did you know they were having an alien landing at the fair grounds and I missed it? Do you suppose it was real? I heard the government was working on… Agent? Agent?”
At her snoring, I check my watch. Not bad, but not a record. Damn. I wonder how Suds did?
Chapter 37
Suds
Well, ain't that somethin’? The head of NYC’s task force on terrorism enters the tiny interrogation room and shoots out his right hand. “Thank you, Mr. Sutcliff. Your country owes you a great deal of gratitude.”
“You owe me a hell of a lot more than thanks. Wait until you see my bill. And, by the way, where the hell were y’all? You were supposed to come when I pressed the damn belt buckle.”
Colin clears his throat. “The Russian’s hacked our communications.”
“How in God’s name did that happen?”
Pacing, he scratches his beard. “My wife is working the problem. She thinks they may have stolen a copy of her AI application.”
“Jason? Surely, she wrote in fail-safes?”
The detective nods. “Jenna built in plenty of security, but it takes time to trigger it. Listen, had I known, I never would’ve put you at risk. You believe me, right?”