Jay Giles (26 page)
At nine the next day, Tory came to the tin can and worked the phone from desk three. Posing again as Oliva Lopez—mother of a child who had benefited from D’Onifrio’s help—she re-contacted the Foundation for Latina Speech and Hearing Services in
Miami
and spoke with Executive Director, Bill Perez.
While they talked, I wrote a document that detailed Joe’s theft, how long it had gone undetected, that it hadn’t been repaid. I made the document as sensational as possible. What I didn’t know or wasn’t quite sure about, I made up.
After a lengthy conversation with Perez, Tory hung up, looked over at me. “Good news and bad news. The bad news is they can’t do it next Thursday. They can’t quite put it together that fast, and even if they could, several of their key people have other commitments for that particular night.”
That was bad news. I was working on the assumption that D’Onifrio was going to grab me at the wedding, serve me up to Enrico. I wanted the awards ceremony before the wedding to preempt D’Onifrio and serve him to Enrico.
“Bill said Friday night would be the best for them. I know that’s the same day as the wedding, but here’s the good news. If it’s Friday, he can hold this at Asolo.”
I was impressed. The Asolo Theatre was a 500-seat turn-of-the-century opera house built in
Dunfermline
,
Scotland
, and reconstructed in the
Ringling
Museum
. In season, it was home for a repertory company whose performances ranged from classics to new plays. “The Asolo’s a lot more upscale than a meeting room at the Holiday Inn.”
She smiled. “You know when I first mentioned the idea that D’Onifrio might accept the award if it was presented here in
Sarasota
, Bill jumped on it. He doesn’t think small. He has a Miami Spanish-speaking television station broadcasting the event and wants to do public service announcements in
Tampa
,
Orlando
,
Miami
, and
Sarasota
. Said he’d have something ready to air by tomorrow.”
“What time on Friday? Did he say?”
“Seven. The wedding should be over by then.”
Seven would work. I wasn’t concerned about the time of the wedding. No matter when it was, I wouldn’t be anywhere near it. “What did he say about contacting the guest of honor?”
She grinned. “You’ll love this. I told him D’Onifrio refused the award before because he didn’t want to seem immodest. I said he might tell them again he didn’t want it, but he really did. Bill said he could bring enough peer pressure on D’Onifrio that he wouldn’t refuse. He’s going to call him today, call me back when he has a confirmation.”
“Think Bill can get him there?”
“He sounded pretty confident. They’re planning on putting on the presentation whether D’Onifrio is there to accept his award in person or not. I gather when they broadcast something like this, donations go through the roof.” She looked over at my computer. “How’s the write-up coming?”
I printed it out for her. Let her read it over. We were making revisions when Rosemary said, “Bill Perez on line three for Oliva.”
Tory’s gaze met mine as she picked up the receiver, put it to her ear. “This is Oliva.” She listened for a moment, smiled. “I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon, Bill.” More listening. “He did.” She nodded her head. “Fantastic.” More listening. “Definitely. We’ll stay in touch.” More listening. “You know I’m more than willing to help. Thanks, Bill. ‘Bye.” She hung up. “He accepted. Didn’t protest a bit. Bill says he’s looking forward to it.”
What did that mean? This was contrary to the ruthless image he was trying to establish. He shouldn’t have agreed, much less so easily.
Tory’s cell rang. She reached in her black handbag, pulled it out, looked at the caller number. “Frankie,” she said to me. She put the phone to her ear. “This is Tory.”
Even across the trailer, I heard her phone emitting low foghorn rumblings.
“Tell her it’s coming.” More rumbling. “She’s messing with your mind, Frankie. You can’t demonstrate your love every minute of every day. We’ve got eight long days to go before the wedding.” More rumbling. “We’ll work on it. I’ll call you back.” She hung up, shook her head, smiled. “This woman is good. She’s got Frankie thinking she’s going to call off the marriage because he hasn’t given her a ring yet.”
“As soon as she gets the ring, she’ll want to know about the honeymoon. As soon as she knows about the honeymoon, she’ll want to know about the house. Every day until the wedding, it’ll be something, some demand,” I said.
“Disgusting.”
“I agree. But what else can we do?”
“What if we don’t do anything? Pitting Enrico and the nephews against D’Onifrio is the important thing. The wedding has become incidental.”
She tilted her head, frowned. “I don’t think it’s quite that simple. The wedding is the way D’Onifrio thinks he’s going to get his money back. If the wedding gets called off, or if Frankie feels like we’re not supporting him, D’Onifrio’s going to hear about it, and he’s going to come after you.” She shook her head. “The wedding has to happen.”
From the front of the trailer, Rosemary said, “I agree with Tory, Matt. If you change direction now, it’s going to look like you’re up to something. Better to lull them along.”
What they said made sense. Maybe instead of viewing Fish as a liability, I should be looking at him as an asset. He obviously talked to D’Onifrio from time to time. Maybe we could use him to gain and plant information. I looked at Tory. “I guess we need to come up with a ring.”
She smiled. “Yes, we do. And not just any ring. Remember, you set it up as Frankie’s sainted Mother’s ring.”
I nodded, remembering, “An antique ring.” I thumbed through my rolodex, found the number for Luis Santoro, dialed. One of the sales staff answered and I asked for Luis.
He came on the line. “Hello, my friend. How have you been?” His voice was soft, musical, with just a touch of an accent.
“I’m good, Luis. Thanks for asking. I’m calling with an unusual request.”
“Ah, I was hoping you were calling about playing golf.”
“Actually, I’m looking for an antique wedding ring.”
I heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line. “Congratulations, my friend. I had no idea. Of course, you were right to call me. I have the best, you know. Unfortunately, I must be away for an appraisal this afternoon. Will this keep until tomorrow? Or do you wish to meet me at the store this evening?”
“Tomorrow’s fine, Luis.”
“It would be my great pleasure. Your lady friend, she will be with you, yes?”
I looked over at Tory. “Yes, I believe she’ll be with me. What’s a good time to meet you, Luis?”
“Would two o’clock be acceptable?”
“Perfect.”
“What did you tell him?” Tory wanted to know as soon as I hung up.
“It’s what I didn’t tell him. He thinks the ring is for me.” I smiled. “I didn’t correct him because, well, it’s too complicated for one thing. For another, I’ll probably get a better deal this way.”
She eyed me skeptically. “What else?”
“He asked if my fiancé would be accompanying me.”
She got a smug look on her face. “And let me guess what lucky girl might get to play that part.”
“You win,” I said, smiling broadly.
“It’s the part of a lifetime, right?”
“Actually, it is. And just think, you don’t have to sleep with the director. There’s no gratuitous nudity required. All you have to do is try on diamond rings and say things, like, ‘Oh, sugarbunny, I’m afraid this three-carat diamond isn’t big enough.’“
“Sugarbunny? You want me to call you sugarbunny?”
“Stud muffin?”
Her eyes rolled back in her head.
“I’m sure that between now and when we meet Luis, you can come up with an acceptable term of endearment.” I picked up my Blackberry, noted the appointment and time, looked back at Tory. “The other person we need to talk to is Raines. We ought to fill him in on what we’re doing, see if he can help us get the information to Enrico and the nephews.”
Tory’s face turned serious. “He might not want anything to do with this.”
Easy way to find out. I called him. Used a pay phone two blocks north on Palm. Like my last call to him, the person I talked to had him call me back almost immediately.
“You still haven’t left town?” he asked in greeting.
“Soon. I’ve got an idea I want to run by you first. Can you meet with me one more time?”
He hesitated. “Is this necessary? I don’t—”
“You need to hear this.”
“I’ll call you back at this number in twenty minutes.” He hung up.
Exactly twenty minutes later, the pay phone rang. I picked it up. “It’s Matt.”
“Here’s what you do. This afternoon at four, go to the Cortez Boat Brokerage on the right side of
Cortez Road
after you cross the bridge from Anna Maria to
Bradenton
. Tell them in the office you want to see The Rarely Used.”
“That’s the name of a boat? The Rarely Used?”
“I’ll be on board.” He rang off.
At four, Tory and I followed one of the Cortez sales staff down the wooden dock to a forty-six foot older yacht. “This is the Rarely Used,” the salesman said, indicating the boat with his hand. “Look her over for as long as you like, let me know what you think. I’ll be in the office.”
We boarded, found Raines seated in the galley drinking a Mountain Dew. He looked tired, wary. With a nod, he indicated seats across from him. “What’s this about?”
We took turns filling him in. When he’d heard it all, he looked directly at me. Our gazes met. “I had a feeling you’d try something stupid. Although frankly, this isn’t as dumb as I expected. Did you bring the write-up?”
I handed it to him.
He read it carefully. “This all true?” He asked when he finished.
“Not entirely. I embellished a detail or two.”
He snorted, drained the last of his Mountain Dew, threw the plastic bottle in the wastebasket. “Here’s what I want you do. Keep talking to your guy at the Foundation. Keep me posted on what’s happening. Any changes, I want to know fast. Same drill, call from a pay phone. Got that?” He looked at each of us.