Evan Arden 05 Irrevocable (31 page)

I lean my elbows on the table, placing myself between Becca and Lucia and directly across from Beni.  My Beretta is still in my hands, and I toss it back and forth as I look him in the face.

“I’m giving you one chance, and one chance only, to save your own miserable life.  You tell me where I can find Joshua Taylor, and I’ll have you shipped back to Italy in a first-class seat instead of a pine box.”

He blinks twice before speaking.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Arden.  I know we’ve had our disagreements, but I’ve always been loyal to—”

Bang!

With a flick of my wrist and a squeeze of the trigger, Beni flies backward, taking the chair with him.  Lucia’s scream is as loud as the gun, and she shoves away from the table and backs herself into the corner of the room.  She covers her face with her hands, screaming again when she realizes there’s blood and bits of brain on her shirt.  Jonathan goes to her, grabbing her arm and silencing her as I look around the table at pale, shocked faces.

“Anyone else unsure about the definition of
one
chance?”

Pushing my palm against the table, I stand up straight and go back to my seat.

“There are going to be some changes.”

*****

Meeting adjourned.

Jonathan is on the phone, calling the cleaning crew.  I’m inclined to have the whole building burned down.  I don’t think I like being in Rinaldo’s old office.  Too many memories.

“Is there anything you need from me for now?” Becca asks quietly.

“Not now,” I say.  “Get the money moved so there’s no more skimming.  Jonathan has all the new account numbers.  I want to focus on the uniform business and car sales.  Most of it’s going there.”

“We’ll have to up the number of imports this quarter to make it balance.”

“Do it.”

“Of course.”  She’s still visibly shaken but in much better shape than Lucia.

She’s still in the corner, crying.

“You want me to take care of her?” Jonathan asks.  He flicks his head, pointing his chin in Lucia’s direction.

“I got her.”

“Whatever ya like, boss.”

I wave him off to finish his phone calls and walk over to Lucia.  Jonathan brought a chair over to her after everyone else left, and she’s currently curled up in it with her arms around her knees.  I crouch down beside her.

“Lucia?”  She doesn’t answer.  She doesn’t even look at me.  I’m not surprised—she isn’t used to this side of the business, and killing in front of a group of people isn’t my usual style.  I needed to send a message, and I’m pretty sure I succeeded.  “I’m sorry you were here to see that.”

I’m not the least bit sorry.  In fact, it’s exactly how I wanted her to react.

“You know this can sometimes get a little…messy.”

“Messy?”  She turns to look at me.  “Is that what that was? 
Messy
?”

I sigh and look down at my hands dangling between my knees.  I’m actually quite pleased with her reaction, but I try not to show it.

“He was family,” she says softly.

“It needed to be done.”

“Right next to
me
?  You could have told me to stay away!”

“I know, and I should have.  I didn’t even think about it.”

“You didn’t think about it?”  She raises her voice.  “Really, Evan?  You didn’t
think
about this?”

“I didn’t think about you being here.  I didn’t think about how…well, you aren’t used to this.”

“No, I’m not.  I don’t know how anyone ever could be!”  She sits up straighter and looks directly at me.  “My God, I’m supposed to marry you?  After that?  How I could ever consider…”

She stops speaking and just shakes her head.  I look at her for a long moment, sigh, and then nod.

“I’m not going to marry you, Lucia.”

She stares at me, mouth open.  She’s still shaken by what she’s seen, but she’s starting to come around.  She closes her mouth, and I see her throat bob.

“It’s what Daddy wanted,” she says quietly.  “He told me he did.”

“I know.”  I reach out and take her hand.  “It’s not going to happen.  You are going to Italy with your mother.  I’ll get the house sold for you and transfer the money.”

“Really?”

“Will that work for you?”

“You don’t think he’d be mad?”

“I think he’d understand,” I say.  “He always knew who I was.  That’s never really changed.  I want to honor his wishes, too, but we both know that isn’t going to work out.”

I stand and reach for her hand.

“Come on,” I say, “let’s get you cleaned up.  I’ll have Jonathan get your flight and everything arranged so you can travel with Lele.  I’ll make sure your accounts are taken care of, and you don’t have to worry about any of this anymore.”

I really can’t believe how well this turned out.

Everything is coming together.

All the travel arrangements have been made for Rinaldo’s family.  By the end of next week, they’ll all be out of the Chicago area.  I may not have done it exactly how Rinaldo envisioned, but I’ve taken care of all of them.  They are out of the business, out of the city, and out of harm’s way.

Eddie-boy will be arriving soon.  It will be good to have someone else around I trust.  Jonathan has been fantastic, but he can’t handle it all.  Becca’s been spending nights working on the books and getting all the accounts changed around to keep them out of Joshua Taylor’s hands.  I need someone else to help me find him, and Eddie-boy is perfect for the job.

My phone beeps.  It’s a text from Alina, who is downstairs with the last few things from her old place.  She’s officially out of her apartment with Loretta and moving in with me.  I hit the access button on the wall to let her in the front door and pick up the key I’ve had made for her so I don’t forget to give it to her this time.

I text back to ask if she needs help, but she says she’s good and arrives at the door a minute later, carrying a backpack and a large purple handbag.  I take the backpack from her shoulder and place it near the door to her room, and she sets the handbag on the floor carefully.

“I thought you were bringing the dog with you on this trip,” I say.

“I am.” Alina beams at me.  “I did bring her.”

I narrow my eyes and check the hallway, but there’s nothing there.  Alina laughs and opens a zipper at the top of the handbag and points.  Confused, I glance down to the bag on the floor.

“What the fuck is that?”

“That’s Maisy.”

I peer into the little bag to see a tiny black and white face staring back at me.

“Are you telling me that’s a dog?”

“Of course she’s a dog!”  Alina opens the bag a little more and lifts out the tiny ball of fluff.  “She’s a Japanese Chin.”

“That’s an Asian body part,” I say, “not a dog.”

“Ha ha.”

I step back from the bag and glare down at the little thing.  She looks up at me, and her tiny tongue hangs out of the side of her mouth as she pants.  She has buggy eyes, a squished up nose, and she can’t weigh more than eight pounds.

This is not at all what I had envisioned.  I probably should have asked her what kind of dog she had just to keep my shock at bay.  I’ve never seen a dog like this before, and with her coloring, she looks more like a fluffy skunk than anything canine.

“Are you sure the breeder didn’t lie to you?  I think you got a de-scented skunk.”

“She is not a skunk!”

“She looks like one!”

“She certainly does not!  Her father was a show dog, and she looks just like him!”  Alina places the thing on the floor, and the fluffball looks around the room for a moment, sniffing the air.

I crouch in front of Maisy and hold my hand out to her.  She comes over immediately, sniffs me, and licks my fingers.  I pet her on her back, and she rubs her head against my leg as she watches me intently.

“I think she likes you,” Alina says.

“You’re sure she’s not a big rat?”

“Stop that!  What were you expecting?  A German Shepherd?”

I don’t reply.  Instead, I go over to the bag with a pet store logo on it, sitting on the kitchen counter.  I pull out the big rawhide bone I’d bought for the dog.  It’s about half Maisy’s size.

“What do you think?”

Alina covers her mouth with her hand, and her eyes sparkle.

“Did you get that for her?”

“I got that for a
dog
.  I’m still trying to figure out what
she
is.”

“What kind of dog did you have before?”

“A Great Pyrenees.  He was about a hundred and thirty pounds.”

“Oh, wow!  That’s more like a small pony!”

I bring the giant bone over to Maisy and put it down beside her.  She sniffs and licks at it a bit but doesn’t seem to know what to do with it.  I suppose it’s like giving a person half a cow and waiting for them to put some steak sauce on it and chow down.  She paws at it a bit, but can’t move it at all.  Giving up, she rolls over on her back and noses my foot.  I rub her belly, and her tail wags furiously.  Pulling back my hand, I stand up, and Maisy stands with me.

“It’s all right, Maisy,” Alina says.  “You can go check things out.”

Maisy looks up at Alina before walking over to the couch to give it a sniff.  She checks out the leg of the coffee table briefly and then comes back to sit by my foot.  She barely comes halfway up my calf.

As Alina puts the contents of her backpack in her room, Maisy follows me everywhere I go—the kitchen, the bedroom, even the bathroom.  When I try to shut the door, she whines until I let her in.  She comes right up to me while I shave and sits her butt down on the toe of my boot.

“You’re a pesky thing, aren’t you?”

She lolls her tongue and stares at me with those bug-eyes.

When I’m done, she follows me back to the living room.  Alina puts a little dog bed over by the window, but Maisy isn’t interested.  She seems to like sitting on my foot.

“Does she always sit on people’s feet?”

“Honestly, I’ve never seen her do that before.”  Alina laughs.  “I let her sit in my lap sometimes, but she knows she’s not allowed on furniture, so she won’t fuzz up the couch or anything like that.  She usually sits in her bed.”

I look down at the pup and shake my head.

“Not what you were expecting,” Alina says.

“No,” I reply, “not at all.”

“Is it still okay?”

I look at Alina and see the worry in her eyes.  I reach over and cup the back of her neck, pulling her close to brush my lips against hers.

“It’s fine.  I’ll get used to it.  Will she at least play fetch?”

“I have no idea,” Alina says.  “I’ve never tried.  She does tricks though.”

She calls to Maisy, and the dog turns around in a little circle.  She speaks on command, shakes hands, begs, and rolls over.

“Not bad.”  I smile and rub Maisy’s head.  If she can do all that, she ought to be able to learn to play fetch. I’ll have to come up with something other than the tennis balls I used with Odin.  I don’t think they’ll fit in her mouth.

“Are you ready for lunch?” Alina asks.

“I need to go pick up a friend from the airport,” I tell her.  “You and…and the little fuzzball get settled in.  I’ll be back in a few hours.”

I fight Chicago weekend traffic over to O’Hare and pull up to the arrivals area where Eddie-boy is waiting for me, bags in hand.

“Good to see you alive, LT,” he says with a smile.

“Haven’t found that bullet with my name on it yet.”  I grab one of his bags and load it into the back of the Camaro.

“Don’t even joke about it.”  He eyes the Camaro’s rear bumper.  “Uh…LT?”

“Don’t even joke about it.”  Eddie-boy laughs at the repetition while he climbs in the passenger side as one of the airport employees yells at me to get out of the taxi lane.

“I’m glad you accepted my invitation.  Things are a little crazy around here, and I need people I can trust.”

“I always got your six, LT.”

I bring Eddie-boy up to speed on everything that’s been going on, and he listens intently.  He asks a lot of questions about Jonathan, and he taps into his phone as I tell him everything I know.

“Seems like a good guy,” Eddie-boy says.

“I’ve known him a long time.  I trust him implicitly.”

“Always good to have one of those around.  You know he’s got a record, right?”

“Yeah, from when he was young.”  I’m constantly amazed by how much Eddie-boy and Jonathan can find out about someone in such a short period of time.  I think they’ll get along great.  I give him the names of the guys Paulie hired, and he checks them out as well.

“These two have to go,” he says, indicating the names with a tap of the phone’s screen.

“Jonathan agrees.”

“Good.”

“I got you a place in my old apartment building,” I say.  “I think you’ll like it.”

“Is this all a part of the new employee plan?”

“Something like that.  It’s only a short walk from my place and will be easy for us to meet there until I find a new office building.  I’ve got a complete list of all the higher-up guys in the organization for you there.  Jonathan’s gone through them all recently.”

“Sounds like the problem people are already out of the picture.”

“They are.”

“Locating this Taylor guy is proving difficult.”

“We’ve searched everywhere.” I say as I pull onto the highway.  “He’s good, that’s for sure.”

“He was special ops.”

“No shit?”

“He was army but worked with Landon Stark when he was with the navy.  Honorable discharge.”

“What did he do there?”

“Classified.”

“Please.”  I don’t hide the sarcasm as I glance over to him with a raised brow.  Eddie-boy had access to everything.

“You really want to know?”

“Yeah.”

“He was part of the team that pulled you out of Afghanistan.”

“No shit?”

“No shit.  Working in the background, but he was part of it.”

“Have you met him?”

“Not as far as I know.  Doesn’t seem familiar, and I couldn’t find any record where we were in the same place at the same time.”

“Small world.”

“It does mean he shouldn’t be underestimated.”

“Hard to make any kind of estimation when I can’t find the guy.”

“No argument there, LT.”

We meet Jonathan in the back room of Quay, a little restaurant-bar I discovered when I was working with the Russians.  It’s very private, and the staff has already figured out not to mess with me.

After the introductions, we get down to business.

“Any word about Taylor?” I ask Jonathan.

“None,” he replies.  He lights a cigarette as the bartender wrinkles her nose but doesn’t say anything.  He leans forward and speaks softly.  “Would’ve thought with Beni’s demise, he might have come out of the woodwork, but there’s nothing.”

“You sure Paulie and Cody were in on it?” Eddie-boy asks.

“Cody, yes,” I say.  “I just didn’t like Paulie.”

“Remind me never to forget your birthday, boss.”  Jonathan laughs.  He turns to Eddie-boy.  “I caught Cody fucking around with the server for the security system.  He said he was just doing some maintenance, but when I checked it, it was clear he was trying to reactivate some of the shit I’d shut down.”

“The stuff Beni was using to divert your movements?” Eddie-boy asks.

“Yeah—that shit.”

“Cody has a second apartment,” Eddie-boy says as he looks up from his phone.  “Not in his name, but the deposit came from a cashier’s check out of his bank account.  Did you know that?”

“No,” I say.  “Where?”

“South Forty-third Street.  I’m not all that familiar with Chicago though.”

“Junko’s and Omarie’s territory.”  Jonathan looks at me, and I nod.

“We need to check it out.”

“Who are they?” Eddie-boy asks.

“South Side gangs,” I tell him.  “Junko took over after his cousin had a little mishap.”

Jonathan snickers.

“He’s supposed to be playing nice, but they took part of one of our gun shipments.  Some of them were never recovered.”

“They killed one of our people, too,” Jonathan says.  “A woman.  Trying to piss off Rinaldo.”

“Sounds like he’s not playing so nice after all.”

“Jonathan—check out that apartment,” I tell him.  “Have one of the new security guys stake it out and watch for anyone associated with Junko and Omarie.”

“On it, boss.”

“Watch for any additional hacks into your security app,” Eddie-boy says.  “If we can catch it live, I can trace the signal.”

“Good idea.”  Jonathan nods, looking impressed.  “I’ll set up a monitor.”

“I have some equipment I need to get set up,” Eddie-boy says.

“Is that the shit you shipped to me?” I ask.  “It’s already in your apartment.”

“Perfect.  Thanks, LT!”

“LT?”  Jonathan looks between us.

“Lieutenant,” I say as I roll my eyes.  “He won’t stop.”

“I think I like him, boss.”

“I’m starting to doubt my decision to bring him here.”  I glance back and forth from one man to the other.  “It’s like having twins.”

“We’re custom.”  Jonathan nods seriously but can’t keep a straight face.

I roll my eyes again, and they both laugh, and we all go our separate ways.

*****

Three days of staking out the apartment in Cody’s name becomes three days of nothing.  It’s beyond frustrating.  Everything is on hold until I can get things in place with the new security guys, hire an additional bookkeeper to help Becca, and find Joshua Taylor.