Alex woke up to a beautiful morning and felt the other side of the bed. Empty. His spirits plummeted. She left already? A knock sounded on the door and he opened it to find Arianna with a tray in her hand.

“Hey, good morning, sleepyhead. I let you sleep in. Now I’m not as good a cook as Sophie is, but I scrambled some eggs and made toast. Let’s have breakfast together. You freshen up and then tell me if you prefer the balcony or the bed.”

Alex had the goofiest smile on his face seeing her. She raised her eyebrows and entered. Alex quickly freshened up.

“The balcony or the bed?” Arianna called out.

“You’re not making this any easier,” Alex replied. I can’t control my thoughts around the bed, Arianna. “The balcony,” he called out. Then, realizing she’d brought the tray here for him, he peeped out and said, “Sorry about that. We’ll have it here. You brought the tray all this way to serve me breakfast in bed.” Arianna smiled at him, her eyes shining. Alex’s heart melted.  

He joined her on the bed and dug into the eggs. Arianna had scrambled eggs with bell peppers, bacon, and mushrooms, and they smelled amazing.

“You’re kidding, right? This is not good per you? It’s delicious. Is there some more bacon?”

Arianna nodded, her mouth full.

“It’s in a pan. Get some more eggs for me, please.” Alex nodded. There were a few strips of bacon still sizzling in the pan, which he slid onto his plate, and served a spoonful of eggs on to Arianna’s plate. He turned around and almost bumped into Arianna.

“Your phone was vibrating so I brought it here. I checked the name, sorry. It’s someone called Buzz?” Arianna handed him his phone. Alex kept the plates on the table and answered the call.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Alex, I’m in St. Helena. We have to set up base as soon as possible to ensure we catch this Moretti connection before it disappears. Where are you? Let’s talk over breakfast.”

“Can I invite him here for breakfast? Where’s Antonio?” Alex mouthed.

“Papa is not at home. I searched for him when I woke up. So we’re all alone. Invite him over.” Arianna’s lips stretched into a thin line as she thought about her father.

Alex nodded and shared the Belmonte Estate location with Buzz. Arianna started cooking eggs and bacon so Buzz would have it fresh and hot when he arrived.

“So, tell me one thing,” Arianna said, turning bacon strips over. “Why is his name Buzz? Who names their child Buzz?”

“Buzz’s name is Malcolm Hughson. He’s one of the sharpest minds I know. There’s very little that he misses. I’d heard of him before I got assigned to the Moretti’s case, and now we’ve become good friends. Or so I like to think.”

“You like to think? Now that’s a lie if I ever heard one.” A booming voice came from the door, followed by a series of yaps. Inspector Malcolm Hughson walked in with Oreo following him everywhere he went. ‘Buzz’ indulged Oreo for a while and walked to the table. He held out his hand.

“Malcolm Hughson, ma’am. At your service. You can call me Buzz. Nobody calls me Malcolm.” Arianna grinned and shook his hand. “Arianna Belmonte. Have a seat. Coffee, black or with cream?”

“Those eggs look good. I’ll have black coffee.”  Buzz served himself a generous portion of the eggs and a side of bacon. Alex caught his eye and a look passed between the two men.

Buzz is tall and handsome for a police officer. And he seems very jovial, not intimidating at all.

“Right, so I was telling her why you were called Buzz, but you jumped in right when I was getting to the good part. Why don’t you explain?” Alex stared at Buzz, who was stuffing food in his mouth.

“Garner, let me eat. This is real good stuff. I’ll tell you the story of how I got the nickname Buzz,” he said. Buzz took his time savoring the meal and sighed contentedly. Arianna smiled and cleared his plate.

“This was a good meal. Now, back to my name. It all happened when I was a junior, working the streets. One of my first jobs as a cop was to save some children stuck in a dilapidated building. One of them was very upset when I left him, because he had misplaced his Buzz Lightyear toy. I managed to locate the toy in a corner and get him out in time. When we came out, all the kids crowded around this one and his toy and they went crazy. That’s when the kid whose toy I rescued called me his personal Buzz Lightyear. That news spread around the station, and soon they all called me Buzz. Somehow, that name stuck.”

Alex and Arianna were completely caught up in the story. There was admiration and respect on their faces when he finished.

“Wow, that’s a great story. You’re very brave,” Arianna commented.

“Not at all, ma’am, I just did my job.”

“Don’t call me ma’am; I’m just Arianna.” She laughed. Buzz nodded. Alex cleared his throat to get their attention. Time was in short supply and he wanted to get this case solved as soon as possible.

“Buzz, what do we know about second generation Morettis? Any sons?”

Buzz frowned. “Franco has two sons. Marco, I believe, has a daughter. Franco’s sons are ‘businessmen’, he says. But we know they operate everything behind the scenes. I don’t think we know anything about Marco’s daughter. What happened?”

Alex stared at Arianna. “Is it okay if I share what Antonio shared? It could be an important breakthrough.” Arianna thought it over and nodded.

“Antonio, he’s Arianna’s dad.” He pointed at Arianna. “He mentioned how he got involved in ‘bad activities’ and his son was kidnapped. His daughter, Arianna’s sister, was left behind. So that got me thinking. Is Antonio’s son one of Franco’s sons? What do we know about his sons?”

“Hmmm, that's an unusual twist to the case. All the intel we have on his sons are that they operate in two corners of the country; Mario operates on the East Coast and Luigi on the West. But as far as I remember, Franco has always been seen with Mario and Luigi, and they’re carbon copies of their dad. I’ve never heard about a third son. I’m going to call this in.”

Buzz excused himself and got on call to report this new finding.

“All this time, we’ve been working on nabbing Marco because of his ties to Wall Street. But now, because we’re looking deeper into Franco, perhaps there will be something we missed,” Alex said.

“How long have you been working on this case?” Arianna asked.

“Around three years?” He smiled at Arianna’s shocked expression. “What, you thought investigation cases were solved quickly? There’s a lot of needles in different haystacks, and as lawyers, our firm helped decode every document with the PD. It’s a lot of work but I love it.”

“Is this all you do? Work with the investigation team?” Arianna was curious. She was so far removed from this world, and Alex’s work sounded very interesting.

“Oh, no, no.” Alex shook his head. “I also work on tax and bankruptcy cases from time to time. In fact, I’d been working on a few very stressful cases before...” He paused.

“Before you met me?” Arianna completed. A rush of gratitude flooded Alex. She knew the circumstances of his suspension, yet she didn’t rub it in. He placed his hand on hers and smiled. A look passed between them and his chest tightened. Before he could lean over and kiss her, Buzz returned with someone else. His face was grim.

“Arianna, what is this? Who is this and why is he here?” Antonio was gruff as usual. Arianna stood up, determined to not let Antonio dictate terms.

“Papa, meet Inspector Malcolm Hughson. He is looking into Sophie’s assault, as a part of another case they are investigating.”

“I’m not talking to the police without my lawyer present. How dare you allow officers to enter our house,” he thundered. “Where is your warrant?” He spat at Buzz. Arianna admired how calm and collected Buzz was.

“Mr. Belmonte, I would just like to ask you a few questions. And then I shall leave. There is no search being conducted here. All I want is for you to answer a few of my questions. I would prefer not to do this in the Sheriff’s office.” His grave tone quieted Antonio’s belligerence and he nodded.

“We can sit here,” he said, pointing at the sofa.

Arianna marvelled at Buzz’s ability to keep her father in check. Papa is not the one to be intimidated by people. Well done, Buzz.

“Mr. Belmonte, have you heard of Marco Moretti? Do you know anyone of that name?”  Immediately, Antonio stiffened and his face became blank.

“I have not heard of anyone by that name.” His look was deadpan, his voice even.

“Perhaps a Franco Moretti?” Buzz questioned. There was a fleeting expression of fear on Antonio’s face, which was replaced by his deadpan stare.

“That name is not familiar to me, Inspector. I don’t know these men. Now.” He stood up. “If I have answered your questions, I would very much like to be left alone,” he said.

“Sit down, Mr. Belmonte. You will not be advised twice. I am not finished. If you say you do not know Franco or Marco, why do you have a threatening note saying ‘Franco doesn’t pardon debts’?”

Antonio shot a dirty look at Arianna. She involuntarily took a step back.

“That has nothing to do with these Moretti people you’re talking about. Franco is an old friend and his son played a prank on me, it is nothing else.”

“Is it? Perhaps I am mistaken. I’ve been told the winery is being sold off. May I ask the name of the buyer?” Buzz was calm. Antonio’s face was reddening.

“This has nothing to do with you. How dare you enter my house and ask me questions? Can’t a man sell his property in this country anymore?” Antonio was fuming.

“By all means, Mr. Belmonte, sell your property. The police have no problem with that. The problem comes if…” He stared at Antonio. “If you’re hiding something from us. We certainly have a problem with that. You see, if we find you’re in possession of information that may be relevant and vital to us and you do not help, we will be, how do I say, forced to take you in for obstruction of justice.”

Antonio spluttered. “Jail? You will throw me in jail because my daughter was imagining things? How dare you.” Buzz took a step towards Antonio and he shrank back. But Buzz did nothing. He put his hand in his pocket and took out his card and handed it to Antonio. “If you think of anything, let me know.”

Giving Alex and Arianna a look, he turned and left. Antonio sat down on the sofa, his eyes wide. The experience of being interrogated had shaken him up.  He sighed and looked at Arianna.

“You’re not going to let this go? Even if your Papa tells you to?”

“You forced me to make that decision Papa, when you put everything above us, and above our safety. I’m sorry, those skeletons you’re hiding will have to come out.”

Antonio’s face turned from somber to determined. “We’ll see how much you find out.”