She wants to keep me? Great news! I’m keeping score. Tammy batted and scored her own home run.
“I don’t know her name,” she continues.
“There are no women in my life who would have called you.” Except our contractor. The one who goes after targets the way I do, with precision and relentlessness. Tammy is right. Blake is here with news about the house, and I bet Ivana called Tammy to confirm what I told Ivana yesterday. I need the house because I have a family, and I think she should back off.
Tammy smiles, unease clear on her face. I kiss her, and my phone rings again. I’m sure it’s Blake outside. “I love you, Kitten. I do, and I promise I’m gonna fix whatever needs fixing, and I’ll worry about things for you.”
She smiles and doesn’t say anything back. That’s fine with me, because we have a mission and I need to mobilize her pronto.
“Tammy, listen, that woman who called is trying to steal our house. She wants it, and she outbid me, and I won’t give it up. I don’t know what the Suit is doing here, but whatever it is, the mission is to get the house back.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Whatever it takes to get the house back that doesn’t involve burying people over at the Peak.”
Tammy slides between me and the wall and gets dressed. Jeans, sweater, boots, the usual. We walk outside and meet Blake who’s swinging on the metal swing.
“Hi, come on in,” Tammy says.
Blake glances at me before standing and walking over. He hands Tammy a bottle of red wine. “I apologize for intruding, and I wouldn’t if I didn’t have a situation that involves everyone.”
Tammy smiles. “That’s fine. We were just relaxing. Come.”
We were not relaxing. We were fucking, and I’m annoyed I’m out of bed this early on a Sunday.
“I’m here to close on the house and never think of it again,” Blake says.
“Let’s close on it, then.”
“The other buyer should be here in a minute.”
“What?”
Blake nods. “Apparently, there’s a situation.”
“What kind of situation?”
Tammy moves to make coffee when the front doorbell rings. I spin, pull out a piece, and aim for the door. “Tammy, get your gun,” I say.
Blake shows me his hands. “Keep calm.”
“You come in here and say a Mafia queen is coming to town bringing me a situation. You can keep your calm. I don’t want it.”
Tammy bends under the counter, and I hear locks before she gets out the shotgun, then takes position over the kitchen counter.
Good girl. Seeing as I have backup, I walk to the window and see Ivana standing outside, staring right at me. She lifts her arms to show me she’s not holding anything. Not that I thought shewould come here to shoot me, but she knows I’m paranoid. Her brother is the same way.
I let her inside, and she walks straight past me over to Tammy, who lifts her head from the stock.
“Hi,” Ivana says and introduces herself. “We spoke on the phone yesterday.”
Tammy shakes her hand and puts away the shotgun. While she’s under there locking up the weapon, Ivana looks around, then proceeds to the bedrooms, the bathroom, then back out into the living room.
She’s looking like a…well a badass bitch Barbie. Long platinum-blonde hair pulled tightly into a bun, black leather boots with heels, and a black coat under which I’m sure she’s armed.
A criminal at Tammy’s house makes me edgy, but I’m gonna deal with it because this criminal could possibly have a proposition for me, a trade for the house that I want and need because I have a wife and two kids to provide for now, and a man does what a man’s gotta do. Protect family. Don’t end up in jail. Get wife pregnant.
“Look, Reed,” Ivana says, “let’s cut to the chase. I wanted to buy the house from a trusted seller to lie low, and now…” She throws up her hands. “I come here to check out the story you fed me only to find out there really is a nice lady here with little girls who you wanna move into a nicer place.”
