“Wait, did you just say four million?” Miles said, standing up.

“Yup, four and six lovely zeros.” Ricky nodded and pointed to the note. “It looks like Lando and Johnny both made sure Letizia and Cris were safe.”

“Don’t forget about Alessandra,” Letizia said, sitting down next to Preslie. “I think she is the final piece to this puzzle.”

“Hey.” Vikki held her hand up. “We can make a black light with our smart phone.”

“Well of course we can.” Ricky rolled his eyes. “The only thing my phone doesn’t do is wipe my ass.”

“And thank goodness for that.” Vikki walked over and set her tablet down on the little table. “Look, we need blue and purple permanent markers and some scotch tape.”

“That may be difficult to find here.” Letizia bent to read the article on the screen.

“I’m going to run down to the front desk and check with them,” Vikki said, putting her flip flops on and grabbing her purse. “Want to get out of the room, Preslie?”

“Yeah, I need something other than these four walls for a bit.”

Ricky reached for Vikki’s arm. “Hey, be careful.”

“Haven’t I been doing that already?” She kissed his nose and patted his chest. “We won’t be long.” Vikki looped her arm into Preslie’s. “Come on, momma.” They touched their heads together and gave a quick squeeze. She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. “I can’t believe you’re pregnant.”

“I wanted another baby just not right now.”

“Well, it all happens for a reason. It’ll be amazing.” She hit the down button by the elevator door. “We may need to run to a little store. If that’s the case, let’s grab Ricky or Miles. They need to go out later anyway.” Vikki looked around to see who was waiting for the elevator. There was a guy standing off to the side, staring at them both. She was about to say something about finding the bank the key belongs to but stopped herself. The bell dinged, and the door slid open. As they entered, the man stepped in too. She pulled Preslie closer to her side and whispered in her ear. “We’re being watched.” She knew Preslie was smart enough to not look in the direction where the man was standing.

Preslie wrapped her arm tighter around Vikki’s waist. “Think the boys would like a few snacks from the convenience store?”

“Do bears shit in the woods?”

They both burst out laughing. The man was staring at the door of the elevator but had his hands in his pockets. Vikki knew he could be easily holding a gun. She squeezed Preslie’s hand and waited for the door to open. When it reached ground level, she expected the guy to grab them. Instead, as the door opened, he exited first.

“I’m not sure what to think about that guy,” Vikki whispered.

“Every guy with a stoic face will seem like someone from the mob.”

“Yeah, true. I have a funny feeling we will never be safe.”

“Unless the guys find a way to take the whole mob ring down.”

“Like that will ever happen.” Vikki rolled her eyes. “They take them down and a new one will emerge.”

“We should find a way to live closer to each other.”

“Then you have to move,” Vikki said, nudging Preslie’s side. “I love my house too much.”

“There was a house on the corner for sale. Did you see it?”

“No, when we get back, let’s go look at it.”

They both were holding onto each other and didn’t notice the guy from the elevator approach. Vikki stopped by the hotel gift shop. “Let’s see if there are permanent markers in here.”

Before they opened the door, the mystery guy stepped forward. “You need to leave soon.”

“Excuse me?” Vikki stepped back.

“You heard me.” The guy said. “You’re not safe here.”

“I’m not sure what you mean. How do you know if we’re safe or not?”

He stepped up into her personal space. “Giano may be dead but the new boss knows everything you all did.”

“So, who is this new boss?” Vikki was stepping over the line. She needed to keep her mouth shut, and she knew it.

“She has no plans to surface, but I know you are all in danger.”

“She?” Vikki looked over at Preslie. “Huh, wonder who she could be?”

He pointed a finger at Vikki’s face and stood only a breath away. “Leave tonight or you may regret it.” Then he walked away.

“Well, I don’t plan to listen to him. I hope the others don’t either.”

“We need to get back upstairs and let them know what happened.”

Vikki ran into the store. “Let’s see if we can grab what we need first.”

The store had a blue permanent marker but not a purple one. The woman behind the counter called the business office and asked if they had one. After what seemed like a scavenger hunt, they quickly made their way upstairs with all the supplies.

Preslie did the special knock, and Ricky opened the door. “Well that was interesting.”

Vikki set the bag on the table. “Yeah, so it sounds like someone took over for Giano already.” The room went silent. She rolled her eyes. “Listen, we’re okay but we were followed all the way to ground level.”

“Who was it? Anyone we may recognize?” Miles asked.

“He had a deep accent.” Vikki sat down in the remaining chair at the table. “I really felt like he was just a messenger boy. He never tried to stop us; instead he just gave a warning.” She proceeded to share what he said. “So there’s a she in command.”

“It has to be Ella,” Ricky said, stepping closer to Vikki. “We can’t leave you alone again.”

“If we take the money, everything changes,” Letizia said, standing up. “Right now it’s a warning, but what about when the money is in our possession?”

“Could we have the money transferred to our bank somehow?” Finley said.

“Four million transferred to a bank?” Miles laughed.

“True. That will look worse.”

Letizia reached for Finley’s hand. “Unless we break it up and put it in several accounts.”

Vikki was creating the make-shift black light on her phone over the flash. All she had to do was put a piece of scotch tape over the flash and then use the blue permanent marker on the tape and repeat for the purple marker. She turned it on and reached for the note. “Um, hey.” They all were still talking about what they should do with the money, so she whistled. “Look.” She pointed to the note.

On the note it read, love always, Lando. In parenthesis it read, This money is divided up into six accounts with six different names. Letizia’s name is also included on all six accounts. You can access the accounts back in Toronto by using this number at this address.

“How, though?” Letizia seemed confused.

“Well, you could take a quick two-day trip from here realistically,” Miles said, reaching for the note.

“That’s true.” Finley agreed. “Five-plus hours on the plane, eight hours on the boat. You could make it a two-day trip and pretend you’re doing a job for Giano still.”

“So now what do we do?” Vikki was confused. “Why put the key in the suitcase? Why not choose a new hiding spot?”

“He was ensuring it stayed safe, I bet.” Finley shrugged his shoulders.

“What about the guy in the elevator?” Vikki asked.

“They have no clue what we know.” Miles handed Vikki’s phone back to her. “They seriously think the money is here somewhere.”

“So how do we ignore their warning?” Preslie said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“Listen,” Ricky said, turning to face them all. “We are going to be the target of the Nesta mob forever. We just have to be two steps ahead every time.”

“And if Ella is in charge, she is taking the mob somewhere else,” Miles said. “She is not anywhere in Toronto. We’ve searched for her everywhere.”

“So, we just live our lives?” Letizia scowled. “It won’t be easy.”

“When is life ever easy?” Vikki laughed. “We need to get back to Toronto tonight.”

“What about your wedding?” Preslie said, walking over to her. “Get married and then we go back.”

Vikki reached for Ricky’s hand. “That’s last on the list right now. We need to get home. Letizia has a mystery to solve.”

“Well, more like money to find.” Zia teased.

Ricky pulled Vikki close. “Kitten, we will get married soon.”

“I know.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Let’s do it someplace safer. Like with the rest of the Emergency Task Force nearby.”

* * *

There was a knock at the door.

“Were you expecting anyone,” Ricky asked the rest of the room. He checked in the peep hole and waved over Vikki. “Is that him?” He whispered in her ear.

She looked through the hole and jumped back. “Yeah.”

All three men pulled out their guns and held them at the ready. Ricky motioned for the women to stand away from the door and out of sight. “Who is it?” he said with a stern voice.

“Housekeeping.” The man said on the other side of the door.

“You do know there is a peep hole?”

“I need to talk to you.” The man looked directly at the peep hole. “I don’t have much time.” Ricky pulled the door back and the guy put his hands up. “I’m not here to harm you.”

Ricky looked both ways down the hallway and then pulled the man into the room. “Then why did you feel it necessary to scare the two women with us?”

Ricky closed the door and secured the dead bolt. The guy kept his hands up. “I’m sorry if I scared them. You all need to leave soon.”

Miles dropped his gun to his side. “Why the warning? Who are you working for?”

The guy paused for a beat. “Lando. Well, I did years ago.”

“You do know he’s dead, right?” Ricky motioned for him to sit down at the table.

“Yeah, I heard.”

“How?” Ricky asked.

“I’m a local cop here in Puerto Vallarta,” he admitted. “I was instructed to watch, and if anyone suspicious went to the island, it could be Lando’s family.”

“You’re not a part of the mob,” Ricky said, sitting down opposite the guy.

“No, but this is a stopping point for them.”

“Which is why it was easy for Lando to use this location to hide something.” Ricky turned to Miles and Finley.

“He knew he was risking everything,” the man said.

“But?” Ricky knew there was more the man wanted to say.

“He cared about his family more.” The man rested his hands on his thighs. “I saw five men last night that I believe are part of the Nesta mob.”

“Here at the hotel?”

“No, they stay at a house on the edge of town.”

“Was she with them?” Ricky didn’t want to say Ella’s name.

“No, but it’s the new topic at the police station. We know there is a new person in command, and we know it’s Giano’s daughter from all the chatter that has come through so far.”

“But she has not made her way down here yet?”

“No. We’re preparing for the visit, though.”

Miles stepped forward. “The men you mentioned, do they know we’re here?”

“It’s possible. I’m not sure yet,” the man, said standing up. “There’s a flight leaving tonight at eight.” He left without saying another word.

Ricky turned to everyone. “Let’s take that flight. We have everything we need, right?”

“Yeah.” Finley nodded.

“I think Preslie should hold the key,” Miles said, walking over to the table.

“Me? Why?” she asked.

“You are the only one who has not been harmed by the mob. If anything happens on the way back, they will not expect you to have the key.”

“Are you sure about that?” Preslie asked.

Miles squeezed her hand. “No, but we need to try.”

Ricky grabbed a small bag from his duffel bag. “Here. Do you have a long chain you can hook it to?”

“The locket.” Letizia stood up from the bed. “Here.” She rifled through her carry-on. “Hang it with this. It will look like they go together.”

Ricky handed the letter to Preslie. “Think you can put this in a safe place, too?”

He watched as Preslie hid the letter in her planner. There were so many loose pieces of paper in the planner, it was sure to get over looked. They slid the key onto the chain with the locket and hid it under her clothes. “Let’s get out of here.” They all spent the next thirty minutes packing and ensuring they had everything.

“Vikki, we will go down together. You all wait and then exit,” Ricky said, grabbing Vikki’s hand. “We won’t talk again until we get to Toronto. I think we should keep separate until we arrive at the precinct.”

“Ladies, wear some flashy sunglasses and a cute hat.” Miles added. “Let’s make sure to get home in one piece.”

“It’s time to end this chapter in our lives,” Ricky said.

“Yeah, we know this is not over.” Letizia scoffed.

“The worst of it is for now.” Ricky headed to the door.

“For now.”

* * *

Preslie handed the key on the chain with the locket to Letizia. “I thought the airport security was going to inspect it more when I placed it in the little bowl.”

“I know,” Vikki said, refilling her wine. “Thank goodness you didn’t give it to me, since I was one of the lucky ones that got the lovely pat down and extra security check.” She sat down on the couch. “How did it go at the bank?”

“The money is all separated and protected just like the note stated from Dad.”

“Can you access it?” Preslie took a drink of her water.

“Not for six months. It’s such a large sum, and I’m the only one accessing it. There are a few extra steps to take, and I need to work with a lawyer.”

“More hoops to jump through.” Vikki teased.

“How did Johnny take the news?” Preslie asked.

“He wasn’t surprised.” Letizia said. “He mentioned how Lando was always trying to do more, which is why he was killed.”

“What does that mean?” Vikki scowled.

“He got sloppy. He didn’t pay attention to the details Giano gave him.” Letizia shrugged her shoulders. “I guess he was more focused on the future and how good it could be.”

“He forgot to focus on the present and what Giano would do if he messed up.”

“Exactly.”

Vikki sighed. “Well, if we have to go into hiding, which I hope we don’t, we’ll do it together.” She looked at Letizia. “With hopefully a cupcake in my hand daily.”

“Yeah, about that.” Letizia sat up. “I think I found a place where I want to open my new bakery.

“Where?” Preslie and Vikki said in unison.

She giggled. “There’s this Italian restaurant that has been empty for several months now.”

Vikki gasped. “Johnny needs to open that place back up.”

“He can’t, but he offered to help with the bakery and maybe we sell to-go ravioli.”

“I may cry. That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.” Vikki held her glass up. “Cheers to new beginnings.