They both stared at me.
Finally, Nonna hugged me. "She will, Angel. We'll do whatever we can to help her."
I kissed her cheek before releasing her.
"You leave everything to us, luce dei miei occhi." Mamma said, embracing me as well. "Go talk to your father. We've got this."
Thanking them both, Bones and I left Markie in their very capable hands and headed to my old man's office, hoping he'd be in a listening mood, because there was no fucking way I was bringing Markie in for him to interrogate.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Markie
IT HAD BEEN years since my mom died, but I still sometimes heard her voice in my head. I carried around a picture of her in my purse so I wouldn't forget what she looked like. She was kind and beautiful, but not delicate. Being a police officer, she spoke with authority and strength, reassuring me whenever I was hurt or scared. As a child, I'd known that whatever happened, she'd handle it. Everything would be all right.
So, when Angel's mom (Annetta) and grandma (who insisted I call her Nonna) led me to the kitchen table, sat on either side of me, and reassured me that everything would be okay, with that same authority and strength in their voices, I lowered my head to my hands and bawled.
They rubbed my back and let me cry until my tears ran out, handing me tissues, getting me water, being genuinely kind and exactly what I needed. Once I got myself under control, Dr. Monte grilled me for details about my brain tumor, most of which I didn't know. It had been over a year since I'd gotten the diagnosis, and I couldn't remember several of the terms the doctor had used. I'd blocked that crap from my brain long ago.
"The flight from Africa made my migraines worse, so I went in for a checkup at this clinic." I took the business card from my purse and handed it to the doctor. "They had me sign a release so they could get my records and they refilled my prescription pain pills, but that was it. They wanted to do the scans again, but I don't have insurance and didn't see the point."
Dr. Monte nodded, pulling out a consent form almost identical to the one I'd completed for the clinic. "I'm going to need your records, so if you could please fill out and sign this form, I can get a better idea of what we're dealing with. Also, I need you in my office first thing in the morning for scans."
"I still don't have insurance and I can't--"
"You leave that up to us," Annetta said, patting my arm.
Dr. Monte passed me a business card. "We open at eight tomorrow. I'll see you then."
She left, and Nonna made me a cappuccino, while Annetta fed me some delicious homemadeamaretti(almond shortbread cookies), both reassuring me that everything would be fine. Their kindness did me in, and when they started asking questions about my past, I told them everything. As ineverything. I started with the hit-and-run car crash that took my parents and forced me and Ariana to live with an uncle who basically hated us.
"Did they ever find the driver?" Annetta asked.
"No." I took another sip of my cappuccino. The caffeine was helping clear my head. "That's why I went to school for criminal justice. I wanted to become a cop--more specifically, a detective--so I could find the jerk, and other jerks like him."
"So, you're a police officer?" Nonna, asked. The worried look she gave Annetta told me cops weren't her favorite people, which suited me fine, because I now felt the same way.
"No. I was still in school when I discovered the truth about my parents. They were murdered. The hit-and-run was staged by dirty cops."
"What happened?" Annetta asked.
"My dad had uncovered a trafficking ring within his department, and they killed him for it. Killed them both for it. When I found out, I went to my uncle, since he's the Boise DA. You gotta understand that me and Ari were never close to Uncle Jay. He let us stay there because we had nowhere else to go and he cared about his community image, but that was it. But it wasn't like we had family dinners together or anything. Still, I thought he would help me find justice for my parents. He..."
My chest constricted as the betrayal I'd felt that day came flooding back. I'd never in a million years forget the look of pity in Uncle Jay's eyes.
"He knew, didn't he?" Nonna asked.
I nodded. "His own sister and brother-in-law had been murdered. He knew, and did nothing."
"I can't imagine," Nonna said, wrapping her hands around her cup. "There is nothing more important than family."
I felt the same. Especially now that I only had my sister left. I couldn't imagine standing back and letting something bad happen to her. Hell, if I ever saw that jerk in the condom costume again, I'd let him have it.
"I'd gotten my cancer diagnosis a few weeks before I found out about my parents. I knew I was terminal. My parents had set up their will to give Ariana and I monthly payments from their life insurance, which meant I had money in my bank account. Not a ton, but enough Uncle Jay advised me to take my money and go find some remote part of the world to die. Said if the police department ever found out what I knew they'd kill both me and Ari."
And my sweet Uncle Jay wouldn't have done a damn thing about it.
"What did you do?" Annetta asked.
