Naked Greed

48

At the airport, Danny didn’t make any calls, and he didn’t get on his flight, either. Instead, he checked into an airport hotel and rebooked his flight for early the following morning. Then he got Al Parisi’s address out of the package containing the money and spread out the local map Sean had given him when he arrived. He located the address, then looked at his watch: just past seven PM.

Danny got the snub-nosed .38 from his bag and into its holster. He had planned to dump it at the airport, but now he needed it. He went downstairs and took a cab to Al’s neighborhood and got dropped a block from the house, taking a card with the cab company’s number. He was walking up the darkened street when he saw a couple come out of a house and start to get into a car in the driveway. He heard a woman laughing. “Broadway, here we come!” she shouted. Sounded like she’d had a couple of drinks already. They backed out of the drive and drove away.

Danny checked the house they had left; it was the right one. There was a porch that wrapped around the house with one end next to the driveway. Danny walked up the driveway to the garage and cased the backyard: he found a low fence that separated the property from the one behind it, giving easy access to the next street. He went back to the porch, sat down in a rocking chair, and made a few calls on his cell phone, then he played some games for a while. Finally, he checked his map again with a penlight and made note of a street corner a couple of blocks away. It was well after midnight when a car appeared from down the street and turned into the driveway.

Danny flattened himself against the side of the house, pulled out the snub-nosed .38, and waited. The car stopped at the top of the driveway, and Al and a woman got out. They were weaving slightly as they passed the nook where Danny was waiting in the shadows. He waited until they were a couple of steps past him, then he stepped behind them and fired a shot into the back of Al’s head. Then, as the girl turned toward him, he took a step forward and put one right through her forehead, leaving her no time to react or scream.

He took a moment to be sure they were both dead, then got Al’s wallet from his pocket, emptied it of a thick stack of bills, and dropped it on the walkway. He walked to the backyard, hopped the fence, and got out his cell phone.

“Capitol Cab.”

“Can you send a cab to the corner of Hollaway and Oak, please?”

“Destination?”

“Fairlawn Hotel.” That was where he had been staying, and there were always cabs there. Five minutes later, the cab showed up and drove him to the hotel. He got out of the cab and into another, asking to be taken to his hotel at the airport. The following morning he put the .38 into a brown bag, tossed it into the back of a garbage truck, took the first flight to Las Vegas, and had a good breakfast in first class.

On Sunday afternoon, Gene Ryan took a cab to Newark Airport and made his plane to Fort Lauderdale. At the airport he rented a car and drove to the Sea Castle Motel on the beach. He checked in, got into his bathing suit, and walked down to the beach, where a beachboy made a chaise ready for him.

Two hours later he was joined by Vinny, who relaxed on the next chaise. “Seen anything of Al?” he asked.

“Not yet,” Ryan replied. “He must have taken a later flight.”

Late in the afternoon Ryan showered and shaved and got into a sports jacket. He met Vinny in the bar.

“Did you hear from Al?” he asked.

Vinny shook his head. “I checked the front desk — he’s not here yet.”

Then Ryan saw Charlie walk into the bar and head for them. They shook hands. “How you doin’, Charlie?”

“I’m good, Gene.”

“This is Vinny, Al’s cousin.”

“Where’s Al?”

“He hasn’t shown. We all took different flights down. Want a drink while we wait?”

An hour later, Charlie called Al’s throwaway cell number.

“Yeah?”

“Al?”

“Yeah.”

“Where the hell are you?”

“Where are you? Let me call you back.”

Charlie hung up. “That wasn’t Al that answered.”

“Who was it?”

“He didn’t know me. Maybe a cop. Let’s get out of here.”

Charlie drove them to a restaurant down the beach, where a table was waiting for them. They ordered drinks and some food. “When did you two guys last see Al?” Charlie asked.

“Friday afternoon,” Ryan replied.

“Where?”

“At my mom’s house,” Vinny said. “We did a job, and we met there for the split. He talked to you on the phone while we were together, then he told us to get separate flights today and meet him at the motel.”

“But he never showed, and there’s a strange guy answering his phone. Either of you know somebody who knows Al?”

“Sure,” Vinny said.

“Call up there and get somebody to go over to Al’s house.”

“Okay.” Vinny called a cousin and had a brief conversation, then he hung up, looking strange.

“What’s the matter?” Gene asked.

“Al’s dead — his girl, too. Somebody offed them both on Friday night. He told me he was taking her to a show in the city. Apparently, somebody was waiting for him when they came home. A neighbor found them outside their house on Saturday morning.”

“Anybody know anybody who might want Al dead?”

“Yeah,” Vinny and Gene said simultaneously.

“And who might that be?”

“The guy whose liquor store we did on Friday afternoon. His name is Sean Finn. Al was having lunch with him when we knocked over the store,” Ryan said.

“Was there bad blood there?”

“You bet your ass there was bad blood. Last week we knocked over a poker game they were both playing in.”

“Is this guy Finn the kind who would shoot Al over this?”

“Nah,” Ryan said. “He’s the kind of guy who would pay somebody else to do it.”

“Any idea who he might have paid?”

“Maybe a dealer from Vegas who was in the game. Al said he was a mechanic, thought he was dealing off the bottom of the deck. Al said all the players were businessmen, not the sorts to resist when we robbed them. The dealer was another thing, though. We found a gun on him.”

“Well, whatever the story, looks like we’re going to be doing this job without Al,” Charlie said. “Are you guys still in?”

“Yep,” Vinny said.

“Sure,” Ryan said. “Sean Finn can wait.”