Read Online Hope House by Tracy L Carbone - Free Book Online Page B

visits he had with the woman who maintained the center.  It was torturous going there monthly, seeing her and having to leave her behind, but he had no choice. It was Daddy’s rule, like so many of the other restrictions and practices he had no choice but to accept. No one confronted Daddy Puglisi.
    Mick shook his head to get the thoughts out. He needed to get his agenda down. After Hope House, Mick would take the van back across the ferry to leave it at the regular place. Then Louie would fly him to Miami, where home and Luke awaited him.
    Mick tapped his steering wheel as he waited for Tad. He thought of Judge Stein.  Good ole’ Judge Stein of the Third District at Miami Dade County Court, who was eternally grateful for all the people the Puglisi family had “cleared” to get him the judgeship. He never blinked an eye when it came time to sign the adoption orders. Daddy always said, “Nothing is a sure thing except corrupt judges who fear for their lives.” Mick smiled. Good that there were some things you could count on in life.
    What was taking Tad so long? Mick looked at his Blackberry and scrolled around on the calendar. Once he visited Judge Stein, a day or two later, Mick would go get all the children, make the long drive from Key West to Miami with the babies in the Hope House van. He’d leave them in the nursery set up in his basement until it was time to hand them over to their new parents. Unhappily, Luke was beginning to ask questions about, “the babies in the cellar” and Mick was running out of half-assed explanations. Just a matter of time before he’d have to find a closer storage place for the babies, somewhere in Miami nearer his office.
    Mick had lots of appointments in the next few days and was giddy just thinking about the money.
    Today would be a damn long day, but it was already half over. He had the babies and once Tad arrived he could start the second leg of his journey.
    Tad came out and tried to o pen the passenger door. Locked. Mick hit the button to roll the window down, taking the water from Tad.
    “Open the door, ” Tad said.
    “I thought you could just follow me in your car.”
    “I could just ride with you and bring the van back here.”
    “You know my people use the van when we’re not transporting cargo.”
    “Babies. Not cargo. Baby humans.”
    “Whatever. I know, I know. No more lectures. Just follow me all right? Stay close in case anything happens. I’m going to leave it in the usual spot and you can shuttle me over.”
    Tad rolled his eyes and walked away without responding.
    A few minutes later, he emerged in his own car and waved Mick onward.
    Mick had immediately raised his window the moment Tad had stepped off, concerned about the interior climate control necessary to safeguard his product. Not a popularity contest. Just business. Still, it hurt a little that beside his father, sister, and Luke, Mick didn’t have a friend in the world. People respected and feared him and he was a very rich man, an intimidating man, but no one liked him. He couldn’t let anyone see his soft side because softness showed weakness, so his father said.
    He flipped down his visor. Luke’s smiling face stared down at him. He pressed the button on the silver frame and a voice chip activated. “Wuv yu, Daddy.” Mick smiled. It was enough.
    He signaled Boris then drove out of the gates, Tad close behind.
     
    7.
    Miami International Airport, late evening
     
    Exhausted, Gloria walked through the airport. It had been a long day and she was glad she hadn’t checked her bag. She had no patience tonight to wait around for a boxy suitcase to make its way across the conveyor belt.
    “Gloria,” a man’s voice called out. She turned and saw a dark-haired man in a trench coat a few feet behind her, but he walked toward the gift shop, away from her. Odd.
    She walked the long halls of the Miami airport. With the air conditioning set high it felt colder in here than it had back in