Caught Up (Indigo Vibe) Read Free Page B

his mind off his troubles, but now he was ready to move on and do his own thing. After David’s execution, he planned on turning in his resignation.
    “Anybody home?” Alton knocked the coffee table with the head of his golf club. “Hell, forget this. It’s Sunday. We’re off. Let’s go to the pool hall and worry about this in the morning.”
    “I’m with you.” He stood to leave. Only thirty-four years old, Samson still had a lot of life to live. Thoughts of his large family comforted his aching heart. He hadn’t seen them since his sister’s funeral a year ago. She’d been on his mind a lot lately. “I forgot to ask your status on the Ernesta Wells’ call David received.”
    “I’ve already run her. Of course, her name is totally bogus. We’ll allow the guards to believe they’re getting away with smuggling her in until after we’ve interviewed Ernesta. The warden’s gonna call us as soon as she arrives.” Alton stood and reached in his pocket for the keys to his Mustang.
    “She’s our only lead,” Samson said. “That and flowers. He’s been obsessed with them lately. His cell walls look like he has floral print wall paper.”
    “Maybe he’s dreaming about his funeral. Martín dies in ten days. We need to find out who he’s actually protecting and why, or get his sentence commuted. I don’t give a damn how we do it.”
    * * *
    Chicago
    “Happy birthday, CNN,” said the news correspondent. “The nation’s first all-news station debuted on this day in 1980…”
    Opening the door, Rosa heard CNN, and her spirits lifted. The news playing could only mean one thing. She dropped her keys into her purse, setting it on the entry table.
    “Daddy!” She rounded the corner into the living room where he stood with his arms held out. She hugged her grizzly bear of a father. “You’re early.” Though he lived in Miami, they had keys and the combinations to each other’s residences.
    His hearty chuckle filled the room. “You want me to leave and come back?”
    After the dose of disappointment her mother injected, Ernesto’s loving embrace was just the antidote she needed. “You’d better not.” She fought the urge to cry. She couldn’t save her mother if she refused to recognize that she needed saving.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked.
    “I visited Mom today. That’s always draining.”
    He lifted her chin with his fingertip. “She’s the one losing out, not you.” He wiped the tears from her face. “I have something for you.” He turned her around.
    A glimpse of brown beside her large, white sofa caught her eye. “You didn’t.” She walked around to investigate. “You did! An African stool.” She knelt beside the Asante chief’s stool, running her hand over the fine dark wood of the concave surface. Excited to see Ernesto, she’d missed the stool when she came in. The craftsmen carved each stool out of a single piece of wood. The base of this particular stool was an elephant, a sign of chiefly authority. “Thank you, Daddy.”
    “You have two ends to this couch.”
    “Two! You got me two?” She went to the other side of the couch, and sure enough, there was a second stool. This one’s base was a lion, reserved for royalty. Both stools were only two feet tall, making them perfect end tables. She knew the antiques’ original purpose, but she didn’t want people sitting on them.
    “You need to get dressed. We’ve only begun to celebrate your thirtieth.”
    “Why didn’t I turn thirty years ago? How should I dress?”
    Arms crossed over his chest, he raised a brow. She laughed. He always wore designer suits, handcrafted Italian leather shoes, and Egyptian cotton or some other fine-fabric dress shirt. He did everything in first class style.
    “I guess bowling and Burger King are out.”
    He moved several large throw pillows out of the way, so he could sit comfortably. “Who’s Burger King?” He winked.
    * * *
    Rosa and Ernesto boarded the Odyssey cruise ship, which was