“Wait. Before you tell me, is it the kind of news I have to sit down for?” Von asked. “Did you lose all your money shooting dice or something?”
“When have you known me to shoot dice?”
Von shrugged. “I never pegged you as the type to put a sweater on a dog either.”
“My grandmother made me put that sweater on him,” Thad groused.
He considered his options. He could try to continue evading Von, or he could broker world peace. Both would require the same amount of effort.
“I got an email from this woman in Alabama saying she’s a long-lost family member,” Thad said. World peace would have to wait.
“Hmm, according to my emails, all my long-lost family members are broke princes from Nigeria who need me to send them some cash.”
“Yeah, that’s usually the case with these schemes, but this woman is just a few states away.Ifshe’s really in Alabama.”
“Who cares, man. Don’t waste your time on some rando claiming to be family.”
“Icare. It pisses me off when grifters like this try to take advantage of vulnerable people. It scares me too. What if I wasn’t here and this woman approached my grandmother?”
Von nodded. “Yeah, when you put it that way, it is scary. So, what are you going to do about it?”
“I was going to ignore her message, but now I think I’m going to answer. I’ll string her along, wait for her to ask for money, and then turn it over to whatever agency handles this kind of stuff.”
“You do know that most people just delete the email, right?” Von asked.
“And that’s why these scammers continue to do it. I’m here to protect Grams, but the next target may not have someone to help.”
“You should tell her the Sutherlands have a family reunion coming up and invite her to join in. See how she reacts to that,” Von said. “I’m gonna grab a water from the fridge, then jet.”
Thad toed his shoes off and put them in the small closet next to the door, then he checked Puddin’s water bowl to make sure it was full.
“I’m meeting Delonte Johnson and Micah Samuels at the Bywater house in the morning,” Von called from the kitchen. A couple of seconds later he came back into the living roomwith two bottles of water and a bag of Doritos. “Delonte and Micah were both working for a contractor in Gretna, but the job just ended. They said they have a few other guys they can bring in on the demo. All vets.”
“That sounds good.” Thad nodded at his hands. “You know there are several convenience stores between this house and your apartment, right?”
“Yeah, but then I’d have to pay for this stuff. Nothing convenient about that.”
Asshole.
“See you tomorrow,” Von said.
Thad locked up and headed straight for his bedroom. He hadn’t even considered moving into his grandparents’ room, even though it was bigger.
For one, there was always the possibility of his grandmother spending the occasional night in her house, especially when Nadia and her girls came to visit. But Thad was more comfortable in the room he’d grown up in. The familiarity of it had helped him to adjust during the first few nights he’d been back.
He undressed, tossing the dirty shirt, jeans, and socks in the rattan hamper in the corner. Then, wearing only his boxer briefs, fell back onto the mattress. He stared up at the ceiling, pushing thoughts of that email out of his mind. He’d figure out the best way to catch that scammer in her lie later.
He closed his eyes and Ashanti Wright’s face immediately appeared. Thad groaned. His night out with Von had been tortuous enough, he didn’t need reminders of what he wanted but would never have adding to it.
Thad heard the pitter-patter of paws a few seconds beforehis bed shook with the weight of a fifty-pound poodle jumping into it.
“Out of the bed, dog.” He opened his eyes to find Puddin’s elongated nose two inches from his. “Move!”
The dog walked in a circle three times, then plopped onto the pillow on the right side of the bed.
“This ain’t cool, Puddin’. That’s my side.”
The pom-pom at the end of Puddin’s tail began to swish back and forth.
