Worst Fears Realized

27

DINO WALKED AROUND THE MERCEDES, considering it carefully. “Jesus, it’s a sinister-looking thing, isn’t it?”

“The only exterior differences from the standard E Class are the side moldings and the front air dam,” Stone replied, opening the car door. “And the black, rear-seat glass. Of course, under the hood it’s a whole new ball game.”

“Let me drive,” Dino said.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Stone said. “You always drive as if you’ve just stolen the car; the only way you’ll ever get your hands on this car is on a track, if you want to go to that much trouble.”

“You’re a real pain in the ass, Stone,” Dino said, sliding into the passenger seat. “You know that?”

“I know,” Stone said. “I’ll get us to the Brooklyn Bridge, and you’ll have to direct me after that. I’ve never been farther into Brooklyn than the River Café.”

“And that’s not very far,” Dino said. “Drive. I’ll watch our ass; I don’t want anybody tailing us to the Bianchi place.”

Stone pulled away from Dino’s apartment house. “This is going to be an interesting dinner,” he said. “I’ve never met your father-in-law.”

“You’re a lucky man,” Dino said. “He’s a poisonous old son of a bitch. Don’t let him offer you any work; he’ll own you before you know it. He’s never let me forget how we got the apartment.”

“How old a man is he?”

“He won’t tell anybody, but he’s got to be seventy. You’d think a lifetime of crime would show up in his face, but there’s no justice. By the way, assume that anything you say is going to be overheard by representatives of one or more branches of the federal government.”

“He’s wired?”

“Probably not, but he never really knows. That little anxiety is probably the only punishment he’s ever going to receive in this lifetime.”

“Surely the feds are going to get him one of these days; they get them all, eventually.”

“Don’t count on it, pal. An FBI man told me a few weeks ago that they’re still not even sure that he’s Mob. I mean, he’s got a miniconglomerate of legitimate businesses that never break a law or fail to pay taxes, so he can explain his lifestyle. He does business with the city and the state, and he never tries to bribe anybody. Every conceivable law-enforcement agency has been through every company with a fine-toothed comb, and they’ve never found a thing. Last time the IRS audited one of his businesses, he got a half-million-dollar refund.”

Stone laughed aloud. “He sounds like a real piece of work.”

“Listen, he’s made enough legit bucks to live like a goddamned Florentine prince. He’s got a palazzo in Venice, which ain’t exactly Mafia country; he’s got an oceanfront house in Vero Beach, Florida, where no mobster has ever shown his face. I don’t think he’s ever even been to Sicily, where his people come from.”

“If he’s done so well legitimately, then why does he stay mobbed up?”

“I’ve got my theories about that: to begin with, his first money came from his father, who was one of the originals, right out of Prohibition. Eduardo, though, went to Columbia and got both a law and an accounting degree. What he was learning, I figure, was how to hide the sources of the money, and this was during the Hoover years, when there wasn’t even supposed to be a Mafia, according to that jerk, J. Edgar. Eduardo, when he got out of college, never went near anything that could be identified with the Mob, except his father, who died at sixty, when Eduardo was in his late twenties. By the time the FBI started paying attention, he was so far removed from anything crooked and the past was buried so deep that they were never able to get anything on him.”

“Then how does he run the family?”

“When he wants something done, he whispers into somebody’s ear, and that guy whispers into another ear, and so on, until the source of the order is obscured.”

“Why hasn’t anybody ever given him up?”

“The young goombahs are so stupid that they can’t connect him with the family any better than the FBI. When one of them gets turned and testifies, he knows nothing to tell. I mean, they know, but they don’t know.”

“And why haven’t some of the guys closer to him had him capped?”

“He’s too smart; he makes them so much money they’ve got nothing to complain about. And my guess is he’s already got the succession worked out, so that there won’t be any big-time squabble when he finally dies, if he ever does.”

“Why do you think he invited me to dinner?”

“Who knows? I guess he’s heard about you from Mary Ann since she’s been staying out there. Anyway, he knows your name from when we were partners, and all that. I mean, he reads the papers, and you’re in them often enough.”

They crossed the bridge, and Dino started giving directions.

“Anything new on Mitteldorfer?” Stone asked.

“Yeah, he’s vanished off the face of the goddamned earth,” Dino said. “That’s what’s new.”

“Why would he do that?” Stone asked. “He’s got his unconditional release; he’s clean; and, apparently, he’s got some money. Why would he need to disappear?”

“Well, I guess he might have thought we might like a chat with him after Eloise Enzberg was murdered.”

“If he did her, surely he’s smart enough to see that her body wouldn’t be found in the East River, wearing a Chanel suit.”

“Maybe, but also, maybe whoever’s helping him isn’t as smart as he is, and we know he’s getting help, don’t we?”

“He has to be,” Stone agreed. “Maybe somebody he knew in Sing Sing?”

“We’ve run down the names of everybody who served with him who’s been released in the past two years, and we can’t connect any of them. Where’s Sarah tonight, at home?”

“She’s at the gallery, hanging her work. Anderson and Kelly are with her. The opening is tomorrow night, remember?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“You and Mary Ann are coming, aren’t you?”

“I am; I’m not letting Mary Ann out of her father’s house until this is over, if it ever is. Listen, Stone, after tomorrow night, I’m not going to be able to justify keeping a team on you and Sarah.”

“It’s too soon to stop, Dino.”

“Look, I report to people, you know? Nobody in the department is really convinced that these murders are connected to you and me. They think I’m crazy.”

“What about the attack on Mary Ann?”

“They’re saying that it was just a mugging attempt.”

“Even when she described the same guy that we saw do the woman behind my house?”

“They think I somehow influenced the description. Anyway, it’s been a while since anything happened, and they’re bored with the investigation. It’s been all I could do to keep them interested this long. After tomorrow night, pal, you and I are on our own. You’d better give some thought to how you’re going to protect Sarah.”

“I’ve hardly thought about anything else.”

“I know it’s tough. I mean, Mary Ann and Ben are okay at the old man’s place, and I can watch my own back, but I don’t envy you, trying to keep a lid on Sarah. She’s not the type to like it.”

“You’ve got a very good point there, Dino. I’ve talked with her about visiting her folks in England for a while, but she’s been out of New York for so long that I think she missed it, and she doesn’t want to leave.”

“I think England is a great idea,” Dino said. “You want me to talk to her about it? Will that help?”

“I doubt it; she’ll just think we’re ganging up on her, and she’ll resist all the more.”

“Women,” Dino sighed.

“Yeah,”

“Here we are.” Dino pointed to a set of wrought-iron gates on the left. The ocean was on their right.

Stone pulled into the drive and stopped at a security box.

“Ring the bell, and tell them who you are,” Dino said.

Stone did as he was told, and the gates swung silently open.