The Millionaires

47

At three in the morning, her car now blocking the fire hydrant in front of Maggie Caruso’s building, Joey promised herself she wouldn’t fall asleep. At three-thirty, she rolled down her window, so the cold would keep her awake. By four, her head sagged. By four-thirty, it flopped back into the headrest. Then, at exactly ten minutes to five, a sharp, shrill beep jolted her awake.

Blinking herself back to the waking world, she chased the sound down to the lit-up screen of her global positioning system. The bright blue triangle was once again moving across the digital map, straight down the West Side Highway. Pulling the screen onto her lap, she watched as Gallo’s car weaved its way toward the tip of the city. It was like a primitive videogame she had no control of. At first, she thought they were headed back to Brooklyn, but when they blew past the entrance to the bridge and instead shot up the FDR Drive, she felt a flame blaze at the back of her neck. There were only a few things open this late. Or this early. Aw, don’t tell me they’re…

The tiny triangle turned onto the 59th Street Bridge, and when Joey saw it make its way toward the Grand Central Parkway, she cranked the ignition and took off. At the top of the digital map, the blue triangle veered straight toward it. The most popular five A.M. destination in Queens: La Guardia Airport.