Always Watching Read Online Free Page A

said.  “It’s not too late for her. 
She’s in protective custody.  It’s merely a formality now,
getting this information before the judge that the threat appears
to be credible.  We can get a team on it right away. 
We’ll get to the bottom of this and find out who it is exactly
that’s reaching out to Datello and intimidating him.”
    My stomach felt like it was about to turn
inside out.  “Well, if it’s all right with you two, I think
I’m gonna head home.  I’ve been feeling a little under the
weather this week.”
    “ Helen, I promised Johnny
that I’d make sure you were looking after yourself,” Devlin
said.  “We haven’t even had lunch yet.”
    “ And I’m still reeling
over the fact that my hands were covered in someone else’s blood
this morning.  If I promise to eat after I have a little nap,
will that suffice?”
    “ Do you
promise?”
    I made an X over my heart.  “Maybe it’s
the end of the flu.  Maybe it’s the notion that the Marcos
family is still lurking around watching everything that happens in
Darkwater Bay.  I just feel sick.”
    “ You can’t possibly think
he cares what you’re doing, Helen,” Crevan said.  “You
basically did Marcos a favor when Datello was arrested.  He
learned who the leak in his organization was after all these
years.”
    “ Yeah, but I’m pretty sure
that my hands are far from clean in Marcos’ eyes.  There is
the matter of the embezzled money that he blames my ex-husband for
taking that they never recovered.  God only knows where he
thinks it’s hidden.  Maybe even in my bank
account.”
    Devlin began to fidget.  “Does Johnny
remember all of this stuff, Helen?”
    I nodded.  Johnny’s memory was fully
intact as far as I could tell.  It took a few more weeks of
spontaneous recollections, but he knew the worst that I shared
before Datello’s hit man Mitch Southerby tortured him with a
homemade variety of electroconvulsive therapy.  “He agrees
with the FBI.  That money is in the wind, and Marcos knows
it.  This is the problem when your best money launderer
decides to get greedy.”
    “ And they’re sure he
doesn’t think Rick funneled the money to you?”
    I knew where Devlin’s thoughts were
going.  I was a 38 year old woman, retired without the need of
a pension.  “Dev, my father was wealthy, which I suppose is
why nobody believed he should’ve been robbing armored cars. 
He didn’t need the money.  People don’t understand that
sometimes it’s the thrill that people seek.”
    His hand covered mine.  “I’m sorry,
Helen.  I didn’t mean to be insensitive.”
    I forced a bright smile.  “You’re not
the first person to ask the question.  However, the FBI knew
about Dad and my inheritance when they hired me.  Don’t worry
about it, Devlin.  I’d have the same questions if our
positions were reversed.”  I slid back from the chair and
slipped my purse strap over one shoulder.
    “ Can I check on you
later?” Dev asked.
    “ You’ve got the remote to
the gate and garage,” I grinned.  “I doubt I could stop you
even if I said it’s not necessary.  We do want to keep the
chief happy, after all.”
    Truth be told, I was grateful that Johnny
and Devlin had forged a friendship, in spite of Johnny’s irrational
jealousy at times.  Whatever Devlin expressed as interest in
me seemed to pass without much ado.  Despite my frustration
earlier this morning, my life had settled into something far more
comfortable than I ever imagined it could be.
    I had friends, people who regularly
congregated in my home to discuss life, not just the grisly and
macabre events that initially brought us together.  On my way
home from OSI, one such friend called.
    “ Hola,
Señorita.”
    “ How was Mexico?”  I
grinned at the sound of my oldest friend’s voice.  Maya and
Ken just returned from a romantic getaway to Puerto Vallarta. 
“Did you bring me a piñata?”
    “ Stuffed with the most
decadent and