fingers to his temple and
pulled the imaginary gun.
“ Did they find any evidence
of smuggling?” Lo asked.
“ Not that I know of,” Manny
said. “They went through the business from top to bottom, really
trashed the place and found nothing. Don didn’t tell
you?”
“ No,” Lo said. “He kept
problems away from me when I was close to competition. A month or
so after I was done, he’d catch me up with the
highlights.”
“ Everything was settled in
late October or November,” Manny said. “Don decided not to reopen
the business.”
“ That sounds familiar,” Lo
said. “I guess I remember him saying the business was shut down and
he wasn’t going to reopen it. I never thought about the air
conditioning business. It was just something we owned, like the
house in Lake Worth. It didn’t really have anything to do with
us.”
“ Sorry, Lo,” Manny said.
“It’s another dead end.”
“ Maybe,” Lo said. “If I was
feeling better, I’d just take on more training clients. But I’m
not.”
“ Lo’s devastated by all of
this,” Lisa said.
“ We’ll go by the air
conditioning place and see what’s there. Maybe we can sell off
stuff,” Lo said. “I have an appointment with the lawyer on Monday
to see what I have to do to get our bank accounts back. Maybe that
will work.”
“ I hope so,” Manny said. “I
think that’s all my questions for now.”
Manny clicked off the recorder.
“ Do you still think Lo
killed him?” Lisa asked.
“ First, I never thought Lo
killed Don. That’s just dumb,” Manny said. “And second, I’ve done a
lot of interviews like this. I’ve never seen anyone as hurt by a
death as Lo is, especially two weeks later. But everyone I talk to
in this case is wrecked by Don’s death. It’s unusual.”
He held out his arm and Lo let him hug
her.
“ I’ll find who did this,
Lo,” Manny said. “I promise you that. No matter who or what it is,
I’ll find ‘em.”
“ Thanks Manny,” Lo said.
“Say ‘hi’ to Mindy Sue.”
“ She sends her love,” he
said.
He kissed her cheek and made a hasty retreat
from the backyard. Lo sat down on the bench and stared off into
space.
“ That fireman is gay?” Lisa
asked. “He was so hunky.”
Shaking her head at Lisa, Lo smiled.
“ Come on, sis,” Lisa said.
“Let’s get the kids and finish getting the garden
ready.”
Q
CHAPTER FIVE
Monday morning—9:25 a.m.
Downtown Fort Worth
Days: 16
Drifting, Lo found herself standing on the
sidewalk in front of Don’s lawyer’s office. She’d just spent a
frustrating hour with a man who didn’t like her. Even though he
thought she was beneath Don, she knew he had to be a very good
lawyer. And he loved Don too. That had to be enough for Lo.
Waiting for Lisa to come to get her, Lo’s
fragile mind skipped back over the meeting. The lawyer had shown
her the notice the Feds had used when they seized all of Don’s
assets. He had filed a legal response to release the funds but
there was little he could do until the Feds finished their
investigation.
And then everything went to shit.
“ Investigation into what,
Jaden?” Lo had asked.
“ How the hell would I
know?” Jaden Sadler asked. “What did you get Don into?”
“ Me?” Lo asked. “I got Don
into happiness, and if you were any kind of friend of Don’s, you’d
know that.”
Jaden was so surprised by her sassy
response, he just blinked at her.
“ I was at your wedding,”
Jaden said.
“ And? What did you see? Was
Don happy?”
The lawyer nodded.
“ And the last almost
fifteen years? Was Don happy – happier than he’d ever been
before?”
“ Yes,” Jaden said. “But
what man wouldn’t be with such a hot wife?”
“ Oh grow up,” Lo said. “Don
had a stable of hot women when he met me. He was happy with me. He
loved me. And if you were any kind of a friend of Don’s, you’d try
to help me.”
“ I’ve filed…”
“ You’re telling me that if
Donald Downs
pulled the imaginary gun.
“ Did they find any evidence
of smuggling?” Lo asked.
“ Not that I know of,” Manny
said. “They went through the business from top to bottom, really
trashed the place and found nothing. Don didn’t tell
you?”
“ No,” Lo said. “He kept
problems away from me when I was close to competition. A month or
so after I was done, he’d catch me up with the
highlights.”
“ Everything was settled in
late October or November,” Manny said. “Don decided not to reopen
the business.”
“ That sounds familiar,” Lo
said. “I guess I remember him saying the business was shut down and
he wasn’t going to reopen it. I never thought about the air
conditioning business. It was just something we owned, like the
house in Lake Worth. It didn’t really have anything to do with
us.”
“ Sorry, Lo,” Manny said.
“It’s another dead end.”
“ Maybe,” Lo said. “If I was
feeling better, I’d just take on more training clients. But I’m
not.”
“ Lo’s devastated by all of
this,” Lisa said.
“ We’ll go by the air
conditioning place and see what’s there. Maybe we can sell off
stuff,” Lo said. “I have an appointment with the lawyer on Monday
to see what I have to do to get our bank accounts back. Maybe that
will work.”
“ I hope so,” Manny said. “I
think that’s all my questions for now.”
Manny clicked off the recorder.
“ Do you still think Lo
killed him?” Lisa asked.
“ First, I never thought Lo
killed Don. That’s just dumb,” Manny said. “And second, I’ve done a
lot of interviews like this. I’ve never seen anyone as hurt by a
death as Lo is, especially two weeks later. But everyone I talk to
in this case is wrecked by Don’s death. It’s unusual.”
He held out his arm and Lo let him hug
her.
“ I’ll find who did this,
Lo,” Manny said. “I promise you that. No matter who or what it is,
I’ll find ‘em.”
“ Thanks Manny,” Lo said.
“Say ‘hi’ to Mindy Sue.”
“ She sends her love,” he
said.
He kissed her cheek and made a hasty retreat
from the backyard. Lo sat down on the bench and stared off into
space.
“ That fireman is gay?” Lisa
asked. “He was so hunky.”
Shaking her head at Lisa, Lo smiled.
“ Come on, sis,” Lisa said.
“Let’s get the kids and finish getting the garden
ready.”
Q
CHAPTER FIVE
Monday morning—9:25 a.m.
Downtown Fort Worth
Days: 16
Drifting, Lo found herself standing on the
sidewalk in front of Don’s lawyer’s office. She’d just spent a
frustrating hour with a man who didn’t like her. Even though he
thought she was beneath Don, she knew he had to be a very good
lawyer. And he loved Don too. That had to be enough for Lo.
Waiting for Lisa to come to get her, Lo’s
fragile mind skipped back over the meeting. The lawyer had shown
her the notice the Feds had used when they seized all of Don’s
assets. He had filed a legal response to release the funds but
there was little he could do until the Feds finished their
investigation.
And then everything went to shit.
“ Investigation into what,
Jaden?” Lo had asked.
“ How the hell would I
know?” Jaden Sadler asked. “What did you get Don into?”
“ Me?” Lo asked. “I got Don
into happiness, and if you were any kind of friend of Don’s, you’d
know that.”
Jaden was so surprised by her sassy
response, he just blinked at her.
“ I was at your wedding,”
Jaden said.
“ And? What did you see? Was
Don happy?”
The lawyer nodded.
“ And the last almost
fifteen years? Was Don happy – happier than he’d ever been
before?”
“ Yes,” Jaden said. “But
what man wouldn’t be with such a hot wife?”
“ Oh grow up,” Lo said. “Don
had a stable of hot women when he met me. He was happy with me. He
loved me. And if you were any kind of a friend of Don’s, you’d try
to help me.”
“ I’ve filed…”
“ You’re telling me that if
Donald Downs
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