When I didn’t elaborate, he glanced over his shoulder. “What are you talking about?”
“I need… a thing. Dammit. Hang on.”
As I dug my phone out to reference Diem’s text, my cousin chuckled. “A thing? A red thing, a blue thing, or a one, two, three thing? A tall thing, a short thing, or a fiddle-dee-fart thing?”
“Ha, ha, Dr. Seuss. You’re not funny.” I read from the phone screen. “I need a VHS to digital converter thing.”
“Ah, one of those. RCA to USB?”
“Um, yes? That’s what it says.”
“For Diem?”
“Clearly not for me.”
“Give me a second.”
Costa continued tapping on a keyboard. A grid of text filled the monitor. A stack of brown files sat at his elbow, the top one open. He referenced it more than once and kept typing. My cousin was a computer nerd in disguise. His tattoos, muscular build, and attitudefooled most people, but under the façade, he was wicked smart. Scary smart. Even Diem was loathed to admit Costa was a borderline genius.
“No baby yet?” I asked when the typing continued.
“Nope.” Fingers flying, the rapid click of keys filled in the brief pause in his sentence. “They’ll induce her on Monday morning if she doesn’t go before then. Tia will be two weeks overdue on Sunday. Crazy, huh.”
“How’s she feeling?”
“Fucking miserable. She’s been sick most of this pregnancy. She went early for both the girls, and they were tiny. According to the doc, this one’s going to be a chonker, and the longer he cooks, the bigger he gets.”
Costa clucked his tongue. I imagined he felt bad for his wife having to endure the labor of his yet unborn son. If I knew anything about my cousin, it was how much he loved her.
“I suspect my boy knows he’s coming into this world to two older sisters who intend to maul him to death, and he’s staying where it’s safe.”
“Smart kid. Still going with Matias?”
“Matias Alejandro.” A swell of pride entered Costa’s voice as the name rolled off his tongue.
Costa loved his daughters to the end of the earth, but he had wanted a son for years. For a long time, he and Tia couldn’t seem to get pregnant. From what I understood, they were about to give up trying when it finally happened. Discovering the baby was a boy was the icing on the cake.
My cousin finished whatever he was doing and spun, rolling his chair to a filing cabinet in the corner. He yanked the bottom drawer open on squeaky tracks and rooted inside. It was not filled with files, like one might expect, but all kinds of computer gadgets and cords.
In seconds, he withdrew a carefully wound set of black cables, checked the ends, grumbled something, and put them back. When he found what he was looking for, he handed it off.
I examined it like I knew what I was looking at. “Do I need to sign it out or anything?”
“Nah, most of these cables are mine, but I’d appreciate it if you’d return it when you’re done. They used to be a dime a dozen, but the older the equipment gets, the harder it is to replace. They fucking gouge you, even secondhand.”
We chatted for another minute. Costa talked about Tia and his daughters, about a small gathering he wanted to have once the baby was born, and would Diem and I like to attend? I assured him I would be there, but made no promises when it came to my boyfriend.
I explained the bare essence of the case Diem and I had picked up at the nursing home.
“Christ, those grandparent schemes are getting worse every day.”
“The guy who hired us claims the police haven’t been helpful. Is that normal?”
“Sadly. They have a task force working on stuff like that, but there are hundreds reported every month across the country. Some are minor. A couple of thousand bucks. Others make you cringe. It’s disgusting. Either way, our people have a system, but they coordinate with so many other cities since it’s a nationwide issue that they’re swamped. I won’t defend the brass, but I’m not surprised the guy felt they brushed him aside. Theyareworking on it, but it won’t be at a pace he’s happy with.”
“Not sure we’ll find anything, but Diem was willing to look into it.”
“Good luck to him.”
