The Dysfunctional Affair

Amanda Reed

The handyman showed up to temporarily fix the house. He'd come back during normal business hours and do a better job of it. Telisa and Melina were cooking in my kitchen, chatting like old friends. Liam motioned for us to move upstairs.

Sebastian and Alex were sitting on the floor in the spare room playing cards. They looked up at us with guilty looks when we walked in. Alex put her cards down.

"So?" She asked.

"Oh, it's just dandy, they love each other," I sighed and flopped onto the bed.

"I told you she was just like your mother, you didn't believe me, but she is," Zeke answered.

"Oh, yeah, I'm understanding it now." I snarked at him.

"Hey, I warned you, and I didn't invite her here, your mother did that."

"Ah, your first couple's fight, how cute," Sebastian cooed.

"I'll kill you," I told him.

"I believe that." Sebastian put his own cards down. "Anthony hasn't arrived in Spain yet."

"So, you've just been hiding up here, playing cards?" Zeke asked.

"Yes," Alex answered. "Telisa is like Melina. How many of your siblings are married?"

"All of them," Zeke answered. "And before you ask, my mom had a hand in all of them. She's part witch doctor, part crazy person, part mother."

"What are we going to do if they don't find Amanda Reed soon?" I decided I couldn't talk about our mothers any longer. It was creeping me out.

"You're going to owe one of your brothers, big time," Liam answered. "That's why I'm here. Devlin has a lead for them to follow. A woman named Lydia Barnes arrived in Spain about two months ago, but she didn't exist until her passport was checked in Spain. She matches the description of your girl, but there's a huge problem."

"Sounds about right," I commented.

"Devlin's agency is tracking her because they think she's involved in organized crime outside the country. They think she has been for a while, far longer than she's been missing. Amanda Reed has a college friend that got married and moved to Spain. They know the college friend's husband is involved in some shady stuff. The theory is that Amanda got involved and then Fred got involved." Liam told me.

"None of this showed up when we ran her," Alex said.

"It's all been confidential. Devlin says that his bosses are of the opinion that her criminal connections got her the new identity. If they find out otherwise, you two are going to be in a lot of trouble."

"Good grief," Alex sighed. "This is a disaster."

"There's a plan," Liam said. "Vladik, Anthony and Vasilii are working on it now. I'm here to make sure you stay alive until then."

"That can't be good," I looked at Liam. "If Vasilii is involved, someone's dying."

"That is not in the plan," Liam answered.

"Are you going to tell us the plan?" I asked.

"No," Liam answered. "Vlad is going to tell Zeke though."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I'm secret service and, therefore, I can't know it. I can only know a small portion of it, the portion that isn't illegal. Which means I know that Vlad, Anthony, and Vasilii are meeting in Spain and then Vlad is coming here while Anthony and Vasilii go to Russia. Vlad came up with it. He has more wiggle room than the rest of us in the law and order department. He's going to fill in those that need to know. It's all about plausible deniability. If everything goes well, Amanda Reed comes back to the US to stand trial under RICO statutes, as does her college friend and Fred. The mob loses a connection in Spain."