Insatiable Appetites - читать бесплатно онлайн полную версию книги автора Stuart Woods (52) #52

52

Stone sat at his desk and looked at his wristwatch. It was mid-morning, and Mary Ann Bianchi had not phoned. She was the first step in setting up everything, and he itched to call her to find out what was going on. Before he could do that, his attention was drawn to a bound document on his desk, titled Journal, Volume I, which lay on the first of Eduardo’s red leather-bound, handwritten volumes. That was fast, he thought. Anna Fontana had been working for only two days in the office next door.

Stone flipped open the binder. The first entry was dated January 1939.

I met, at his request, with M.L. in an apartment on Broome Street, downtown. The place was nicely furnished, but it did not appear to be lived in, just used for meetings. I had just arrived when C.L. joined us, in the company of two men who appeared to be bodyguards.

M.L. immediately asked me my age; when I told him I was nineteen, he at first seemed shocked, then intrigued. He began asking me questions about myself, to which I gave only terse answers. C.L. looked at me in disbelief and seemed ready to dismiss me, until I pointed out that I had been invited there. I had had no previous business relationship with either of these men, nor anyone who knew them, to my knowledge. I did not know who had introduced us.

M.L. took a new tack, asking my advice about the price of genuine scotch whiskey. I told him I could supply him with twenty cases immediately and named a price. C.L. laughed and said that was less than the wholesale price. I told him I would be happy to sell it to him at the wholesale price. M.L. thought this amusing and pointed out to C.L. that Prohibition was long gone, and scotch was plentiful at the wholesale price. He asked me if I could supply more than twenty cases, and I replied that I could, but not immediately; it might take another week or two. M.L. accepted my price and asked where he could collect the shipment. I told him that I would require payment of the entire sum in advance and that I would deliver it to any local address he wished within twenty-four hours.

C.L. objected to this arrangement and asked me why they should trust me. I told him that whoever had recommended me to them must have thought me trustworthy, and since I was clearly the weaker hand in the transaction, I would need advance payment to protect my position and to be of further use to them. I said that if this was not satisfactory to all concerned, we could forget the whole business and that I would sell my scotch elsewhere. I thanked them for their time and made to leave.

M.L. stopped me. He opened a briefcase and counted out the sum in large notes. I asked him if he would like a receipt, but he said that my beating heart was his receipt and that if I did not deliver on time it would be removed and delivered to him. I agreed to this arrangement, and he instructed me to deliver the whiskey to the basement of the building we were in. Suffice it to say, I was motivated to make the delivery on time, and M.L. and I agreed to do further business on the same terms.

Stone thought that M.L. and C.L. might well be Meyer Lansky and Charlie Luciano, and that Eduardo must have been selling them stolen scotch whiskey.

Then Joan buzzed him and said Mary Ann was on the line. Stone pressed the button. “Good morning, Mary Ann,” he said. “Where are we in all this?”

“I told Dolce that you needed to meet with the two of us about some business with the estate.”

“And...?”

“She agreed to have us for lunch at Papa’s house Monday at one PM.”

“I should think that’s enough time to make the necessary arrangements.”

“She wanted to meet today, but I thought Dino would need more time than that. I mean, this is all very complicated.”

“Yes, it is certainly that. I’d better get to work on my end right now.”

“Can I ride out there with you on Monday?”

“Of course. I’ll have Fred pick you up at eleven forty-five.”

“At my office, please.”

“As you wish.”

“Stone, I’m frightened.”

“I understand your concern,” Stone replied, “but I think this will be our only opportunity to bring this off without public notice.”

“I suppose this will be expensive.”

“Breathtakingly so. I can’t tell you how much now, but brace yourself.”

“All right, I’m braced,” Mary Ann said. “I’ll see you on Monday.”

Stone hung up and called Dino. “Mary Ann and I are going to lunch at Eduardo’s house on Monday at one. Is that going to work for you?”

“I can make it work,” Dino said.

“I’m concerned about Pietro.”

“And well you should be.” Someone interrupted Dino. “I’ll call you when everything is set and run you through it.”

Stone called Mike Freeman and told him what he needed.

“I can do that,” Mike said.

“And no freebies, Mike. Bill this to me, and I’ll see that it’s paid in full immediately. No discounts, either.”

“As you wish, Stone.”

Stone hung up, satisfied that all the bases would be covered, but still, he was filled with dread. He did not wish to be in the same room with Dolce, not even with Mary Ann there, but now he was committed, and he would have to go through with it. And he would have all weekend to worry about it.