Race To Revenge by Dan Petrosini

Author:Dan Petrosini [Petrosini, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781960286253
Publisher: Dan Petrosini
Published: 2023-10-26T16:00:00+00:00

33

Coconut Point was jammed with shoppers and tourists with nothing better to do on a sunny day. I walked past a dozen kids surrounding the outdoor mall’s unique Turtle Pond.

It was impossible to miss Barrone as she limped her way toward me. I felt bad making her walk so far, but I’d been blinded by my hunger for a slice of Tony Sacco’s pizza. Now, with a case of the repeats, I wasn’t sure the Margherita pie was worth it.

“I’m sorry to make you come out here.”

“It’s fine. My daughter’s birthday is coming up, and I wanted to see what Michael Kors had.”

“Any luck?”

She shook her head. “I don’t like their new look at all.”

“You’ll find something.”

“I suppose you invited me here to tell me what you’re going to do for me.”

“I’m still conducting research.”

She raised her leg. “Here’s all the proof you need.”

“Please don’t misunderstand me; I’m not doubting your condition.”

“No one could.”

“It must have been difficult for you. I mean, you must have been in a lot of pain to get a new hip.”

“Oh, the pain was terrible. I couldn’t walk, but I avoided getting a replacement. I used to ask the orthopedic doctors when I should get it done, and everyone said the same thing, ‘You’ll know when it’s time.’”

“When you can’t stand the pain any longer?”

“Exactly.”

“It was that bad?”

“Unbearable at times. I ruined my stomach by taking Advil to deal with it and stopped going out. My son came to visit, and he started making calls, insisting I go to Dr. Flagstaff.”

“He found the surgeon?”

“Yep.” She pointed at her foot. “And now I got this.”

“You get around fine.”

“I should’ve gone to somebody else. All Flagstaff cared about was his daughter’s wedding. That’s all he talked about.”

“She was getting married?”

“Yeah, the Saturday before my surgery on Monday.”

“Every parent, if they like the person their kid is marrying, gets excited. I wouldn’t read too much into it.”

“That butcher disfigured me. He didn’t give one damn about me.”

It wasn’t disfigurement, but it was senseless to argue. My strength wasn’t in rationalizing, it was in equalizing things as best as I could.

My silence prompted her to ask, “Are you going to do something about it?”

“As I mentioned, I’m in discovery mode.”

“What’s there to discover? You know what he did to me.”

I stood. “I’ve been doing what I do for some time now. One thing I’ve learned is to take my time. I know people want things done quickly, but that’s not how I operate.”

“Okay, I understand, but don’t let it drag on forever.”

“Enjoy this beautiful day, Anna.”

Walking through the mall, I saw a woman duck into the West Elm store. From the back, she looked like Laura. I hustled over and entered the store. She was opening drawers on a dresser.

Her hair was the same color and length of Laura’s. Walking over, I cleared my throat. She turned around, and I made like I was interested in a club chair. It wasn’t her.

I left the store. Heading to my car, I debated calling Laura.

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