Worst Fears Realized

30

DINO SLAMMED THE CAR DOOR. “ALL right, what went on in that room? You came back arm in arm with him; I’ve seen that before, and it means he wants something from you. What did he want? What did you give him?”

“Dino,” Stone said, starting the car and driving away, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“What did Eduardo talk about? That’s what I want to know.”

Stone shrugged. “He seemed to want to get to know me a little. Maybe that’s why he invited me to dinner.”

“Eduardo never has reasons as simple as that for doing anything. In all the time I’ve known him, you’re the first person I’ve ever seen sit at that table who wasn’t family.”

“Speaking of family, why did you never tell me that Mary Ann had such a beautiful sister?”

“You knew she had a sister.”

“But I never had an inkling that she was so…”

“Yeah, she is, isn’t she? Stay away from her; she’s dangerous.”

“Why?”

“Well, for a start, she has a real snake for an ex-husband.”

“Who is he?”

“His name is Johnny Donato.”

“That has a familiar ring.”

“It should; he was a capo under Big Paul Castellano, before Gotti had him capped. Word is, he was supposed to be driving the Paul that night, which means he would have got it, too, but Paul sent him on some errand or other, so he survived. He disappeared after that and didn’t turn up again until Gotti and Sammy Gravano were in jail. Now he’s running a supposedly legit concrete business, taking up where Sammy left off.”

“And how did a girl as elegant as Dolce end up with a guy like that?”

“Pretty much the same way Mary Ann ended up with me. He was a guy from the neighborhood, working for a bookie and running his own little protection racket on the side. He tried to get a weekly paycheck out of my old man for not burning down his candy store, but when I heard about it I took him aside and discussed it with him.”

“You mean, you beat the shit out of him?”

“Something like that.”

“So why didn’t he and his friends retaliate?”

“I made sure I got him alone, made it personal; nobody saw it, so he didn’t have to salvage his pride. Besides, by that time I was a cop, so he didn’t want to mess with me.”

“Dolce looks too smart to get mixed up with somebody like that, let alone marry him.”

“She is smart, but she was eighteen, nineteen, and for a while, she was stupid. He was a very slick item, drove a convertible, dressed well, flashed money around. Eduardo had her on a tight leash, and she didn’t like it. By the time he got a handle on the situation, they were in Miami on their honeymoon.”

“So Eduardo brought her back?”

Dino shook his head. “That’s not his style. He gave her some rope, and Donato hung himself. They hadn’t been married a month before he was fucking around. She got smart and went home.”

“What’s she doing now?”

“She’s Eduardo’s right-hand man, and I use the gender advisedly. She’s got more balls than any four guys I know.”

“An Italian of Eduardo’s generation makes a business associate out of a daughter?”

“What’s he gonna do? He’s got no sons, and it’s fifteen years before Ben could step up to the plate.”

“You think he wants to bring Ben into his business?”

Dino shrugged. “He’ll try like hell, but the kid has an independent streak. Anyway, it might not be a bad thing, if he wanted it. Eduardo will have the whole thing scrubbed clean before then. It’s a generational thing: Eduardo’s grandfather was an out-and-out, leg-breaking extortionist and pimp; his father was up-to-his-ears Mob, but he had a legitimate fruit business, and he was a good family man. Now Eduardo is a trustee of Columbia, he’s on the board of the Metropolitan Museum, he’s a papal knight, and he’s got a portfolio of businesses that would turn Warren Buffet’s head. You think anybody cares where the money came from?”

“Except you.”

“Except me, but I’m a cop.”

“The police commissioner doesn’t care, but you do.”

“Call me crazy, but yeah. I just can’t cozy up to Eduardo.”

“I think he likes you, Dino.”

“Huh?”

“He told me he has the greatest respect for your intelligence and integrity as a police officer. Those were his very words.”

“You’re kidding.”

“He also told me that he approved of Mary Ann’s marrying you.”

Dino snorted. “He gave you some of that Quinto de somethingorother port, didn’t he? It makes you hear crazy things.”

“I think you’ve underestimated Eduardo, Dino.”

“That, I would never do.”

“I mean as a man, as a father. He’s growing old; he wants to see his family happy… and safe.”

“And he thinks I can’t protect them? The son of a bitch!”

“Has he interfered in your investigation in any way?”

“Not yet, but just watch him!”

“Maybe he can help you.”

“I don’t want his help. He’s not gonna make me dirty.”

Stone sighed.

“That’s what your little talk was about, wasn’t it?”

“He made it clear he wants to help, but he doesn’t want to get in your way. He just said to call him if we need help.”

“I told you, I don’t want his help.”

“He might have sources that aren’t available to us.”

“If he knows something, he can call the precinct and report it.”

“Somehow, I don’t think he’s accustomed to doing things that way, do you?”

“He wants to be the hidden hand, the way he’s always been, but this time, he wants to manipulate me; he wants to pull the strings with the law. I hate that.”

“Dino, you would use any pusher or pimp on the street as a snitch, but you won’t accept out-of-channel information from your own father-in-law?”

“Stone, I know what you’re saying is perfectly logical, but I can’t go against my own best instincts on this. If I accept his help, then I’m no better than he is. That’s the way I feel about it, and that’s an end to it, all right?”

“All right.” Stone drove along in silence for a few minutes. “You know,” he said, finally, “Dolce was playing footsie with me under the table.”

Dino’s mouth dropped open. “Right there, in front of Eduardo? No kidding?”

“No kidding.”

Dino burst out laughing. “Did I tell you she has balls? She’s some piece of work, isn’t she?”

“She certainly seems to be.”

“Stone, don’t call her; don’t get involved.”

“Well, I…”

“I’m not kidding you. Eduardo is Satan, and Dolce is his handmaiden.”

“Dino, you’re getting very Italian on me.”

“You want Johnny Donato on your back? He tells everybody they’re still married.”

“So why hasn’t Eduardo dealt with him? Why isn’t Donato – to put it in your own graceful and expressive manner – ‘at the bottom of Sheepshead Bay with a concrete block up his ass’?”

“It’ll happen, don’t worry. But when it does, it’ll be done in such a way that nobody will even think of connecting it with Eduardo or Dolce. That’s how Eduardo works.”

“It’ll be interesting to wait and watch.”

“And in the meantime, you stay away from Dolce; she’s poison.”

“Dino, I’ve got Sarah, remember?”

“I remember. Just don’t you forget.”