Hard Freeze

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

They rode out to the marina in silence. Marco and Leo had shaken his hand in the parking garage and then searched him well.

"Why does a dentist need a gun?" asked Leo, slipping the S&W into his cashmere coat.

"I'm paranoid," said Kurtz.

"Aren't we all?" said Angelina.

Marina Towers rose twelve stories above an expanse of snowy lawn that overlooked the Buffalo Marina and the frozen Niagara River. From the parking garage beneath the complex, the four of them rode a private elevator to the eleventh floor, where the Boys lived—Kurtz caught a glimpse of desks, computers, teletypes, a few accountant types, and knew that this was where the Farino offices had been moved—and then Angelina took him up the final flight on a separate elevator. They stepped out into a marble-lined foyer, where she produced a key and let them into her penthouse.

The series of open rooms ran the full length of the building and filled the entire floor so that Kurtz could look northeast to downtown Buffalo and southwest toward the marina and the river. Even with low clouds on a gray day, the view was impressive.

"Very nice—" began Kurtz and stopped as he turned. Angelina was aiming the Compact Witness.45 at him and had pulled a second, larger automatic from a drawer.

"Can you think of any reason I shouldn't gut-shoot you right now, Joe Kurtz?"

Kurtz did not move his hands. "It might ruin your plan to surprise Mr. Gonzaga."

The woman's lips looked very thin and bloodless. "I can make other plans."

Kurtz had no argument for that.

"You humiliated me twice," said Angelina. "Threatened to kill me."

Kurtz could have mentioned the four men she had hired to kill him, but he didn't think that would be the best argument to make in these circumstances. If she shot him now, she'd earn points with her brother.

"Tell me why I shouldn't get rid of you and get someone else to go after Gonzaga," said Angelina Farino Ferrara. "Give me one good reason."

"I'm thinking… I'm thinking," said Kurtz in his best Jack Benny voice.

Maybe Angelina was too young to get the joke. Her finger curled on the trigger. "Time's up."

"Can I reach slowly into my suit pocket?"

Angelina nodded. She was holding the larger.45 aimed steadily at his midsection and had set the Compact Witness on the maple table under a painting.

Kurtz took the cassette tape out of his pocket and tossed it to her.

"What is it?"

"Play it."

"I hate games," said Angelina, but she walked five paces to a stack of stereo components built into a bookcase, slipped the cassette in, and punched "Play."

Her voice came from the speakers. "Oh, but I did. I did. A boy. A beautiful baby boy with Emilio's fat, rubbery lips, lovely brown eyes, and the Gonzaga chin and forehead. I drowned him in the Belice River in Sicily." Her voice went on for a minute, explaining how hard it would be to get to Emilio Gonzaga in his compound, and men came Kurtz's voice: "How did you plan to kill him?"

"Well, I sort of hoped you'd take care of that detail for me now that you know what you know," came Angelina's voice.

Angelina shut off the player and pocketed the cassette. She was actually smiling. "You miserable son of a bitch. You were wired that night out in Williamsville."

Kurtz said nothing.

"So," said Angelina, "in the event of your disappearance here, who gets copies of me tape? Emilio, of course."

"And your brother," said Kurtz.

"Not the cops?"

Kurtz shrugged.

"I should shoot you just on general principles," said Angelina. But she put the.45 back in its drawer. Then she hefted the smaller Compact Witness. "You gave it back to me loaded?"

"Yeah."

"You take chances, Joe Kurtz. Stay here. There's fruit juice in the refrigerator over there, liquor at the bar. I'm going to shower again and get dressed. Emilio's car will be here to pick me up in thirty minutes. I hope to God you have a plan."

Kurtz looked at his watch.

Fifteen minutes later, Angelina phoned down for the Boys to come up. She met them in the foyer and led them into the penthouse, where Kurtz was waiting with his S&W, now sporting a silencer she had loaned him. Angelina closed the door behind the Boys.

"What the fuck…" began Leo. Marco, the bigger man, simply raised his hands and watched both Kurtz and Angelina.

"Quiet," said Kurtz. "Unload the hardware. Carefully. Tips of fingers only. Good. Now kick the guns this way. Gently. Good." He sat on the edge of a couch, the pistol covering both of them.

"Ms. Farino?" said Leo. "You part of this bullshit?"

Kurtz shook his head and tapped one finger against his lips. "Gentlemen, we have a proposition for you. Do the smart thing and you live and make quite a bit of money. Do the stupid thing and… well, you don't want to do the stupid thing."

Marco and Leo stood with their hands half-raised, Marco vigilant, Leo twitchy, his eyes flicking back and forth as if gauging his chances for leaping at his revolver on the floor before Kurtz could fire.

"Are you listening, fellows?" said Kurtz.

"We're listening," said Marco. The big man sounded calm.

"I want to visit the Gonzagas today with Miss Ferrara," said Kurtz. "Since they only allow two bodyguards with her, one of you will have to stay behind. We thought the big bathroom up here would be a good place for the volunteer to stay until we get back. Miss Ferrara had a pair of handcuffs in her bedroom, I didn't ask why, and one of you will wear those, probably connected to the washbasin pedestal in there with your arms behind you, until we return. Then we'll find a more comfortable arrangement for the next couple of days."

"Next couple of days!" shouted Leo. "Are you fucking out of your fucking mind? You know what Little Skag Farino is going to do with your sorry ass, cock-sucker?"

Kurtz said nothing.

Marco said, "Where does the money come in?"

Angelina answered. "When our negotiations with Emilio Gonzaga are completed, there's going to be more money coming in than the Farino Family has seen for decades. Anyone who helps me with this will get a lion's share."

"Helps you?" sneered Leo. "Who the fuck do you think you are, cunt? When Little Skag gets out, you're going to be—"

"My brother Stephen is not a part of this," said Angelina. Kurtz thought that she had spoken very politely for someone who had just been called the C word.

Marco nodded. Leo looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. He glanced at the weapons on the floor again.

"So which one of you volunteers is going to stay behind?" said Kurtz.

Neither man spoke for a minute. Kurtz could see Marco mulling it over. Leo's fingers were twitching.

"No volunteers?" said Kurtz. "I guess I'll just have to pick." He shot Leo through his left eye.

Marco did not move as Leo's body fell back onto the parquet floor, blood streaming from the back of his skull. Leo's legs twitched once and were still. Angelina gave Kurtz a startled look.

"You understand the drill?" Kurtz asked Marco.

"Yeah."

"My name's Howard Conway and I'm filling in for Leo, who has the flu."

"Yeah."

"You'll have your gun back, minus the bullets. Of course, when we're at the Gonzagas', you can blow the whistle on us any time."

"What would that get me?"

Kurtz shrugged. "Probably the eternal appreciation of Emilio Gonzaga."

"I'd rather have the clap," said Marco. Angelina had picked up the bodyguards' guns and was thumbing the slugs out of the magazine in Marco's semiauto. "Can I ask a question of Ms. Farino?" said the bodyguard.

It was Angelina who nodded.

"Ma'am, is this your show or this… dentist's?"

"It's my show."

Marco nodded, accepted the now-empty pistol, and slid it back in his shoulder holster. "Can I move?"

Kurtz nodded.

Marco glanced at his watch. "The Gonzaga limo's going to be here in about three minutes. You want me to do something with this?" He inclined his head toward Leo.

"There are a couple of blankets in that first closet," said Angelina. "Store him in the back of the big walk-in freezer for now. I'll get the mop."