Then they looked at Von, as if he was next to be thanked. “I’ll take a Maserati instead,” he said. And they both laughed.
But after breakfast, Hawk decided to get down to business. He had to figure out what was going on and he had to figure it out in a hurry. Because in the meantime, he was not going to let Janita nor Von out of his sight.
He cleared the table in front of him, grabbed his iPad he kept on the cupboard behind him, and began writing out scenarios: “Kemberly and her brothers attacked me when I got back to L.A.,” he wrote. “Somebody tried to kill you and Von after you dropped me off at the airport. Shelly was shot several times several months ago.”
That was news to Janita and Von. “He was?”
“It was a drive-by shooting and he got caught in the crossfire. At least according to the cops. But was it really random?”
“Right,” agreed Von. He and his sister were leaned forward and hanging onto Hawk’s every word.
Hawk continued writing: “My mother was kidnapped and then returned just before the attack on you guys, and just before the attack on me. Why was she released unharmed?” Hawk asked rhetorically. “Why was she even taken just to be returned so soon? Was that related to what happened to us?”
“And don’t forget that attempt on your life before Kemberly and her brothers got to you,” Janita said. “I know you didn’t think it was a big deal at the time, but it concerned your mother so much that she hopped on a plane to come and see about you.”
Hawk nodded and wrote that on his iPad too. “Right,” he said.
Then Janita had another thought. “When Kemberly called you and told you she was in the hospital because she hadattempted suicide, why would she be so certain that you’d drop everything and go see about her?”
“I probably wouldn’t have dropped everything had she phoned me,” Hawk said.
Which surprised Janita. “If she didn’t call you, who did?”
“Greta Jacobs phoned me.”
Von frowned. “Who’s that?”
“My secretary. She said somebody from the hospital had phoned her and said Kem was in critical condition after a suicide attempt. And that she was asking for me.”
“So your secretary was just going by what the hospital told her?” Von asked.
Hawk nodded.“Right.”
“Ifit was the hospital,” said Janita, and Hawk agreed with that too.
“But I still don’t understand why Kemberly would want you dead if she knows you’re the person that could take her career to the next level,” said Janita. “And it can’t be about her being jealous of me.”
“Stop dismissing that,” Hawk admonished her. “She saw you at my house a month ago when you came with my mother. She very much assumed you were the one I had chosen.”
“But that wasn’t true,” Janita said.
“Back then, no, it wasn’t.” Hawk agreed.
Von heard thatback thencaveat. “What about now?” he asked.
Hawk hesitated. He was not a man who exposed his vulnerabilities. But for Janita and Von, who stood by him and never left his side at the lowest point of his life, he’d do anything. “Now, yes,” he said.
Von exhaled and smiled. Janita was inwardly smiling too.
“We have no idea who ambushed us,” Von went on to say. “But what about Mr. Shelly? Do they know who attacked him? Do they know who shot at you that morning? Could it be the same person?”
Hawk was impressed with Von. “Now that’s a good question,” he said.
Janita was impressed too. “Sure is, DeVontay. Real good question.”
Hawk phoned his CEO. He put the call on Speaker just as Shelly was answering the call. “Yo?”
“Good morning.”
