Naked Greed

47

Al walked into Vinny’s mom’s house and found Gene and Vinny counting and stacking bills on the living room coffee table. “How’d it go?” he asked.

“It went about a hundred and eighty grand in cash,” Ryan said, “and a lot of checks. You want to try to wholesale those to somebody?”

“Nah, too many people get to know things,” Al replied. “Burn them.”

“I say we give Vinny a third,” Ryan said. “The kid has earned it.”

“Okay,” Al said without hesitation. “Full partners. You cut it, I got to make a call.” He went into the dining room, out of earshot, and called Charlie at the number on the postcard.

“Hey, Al,” Charlie said, “it’s gotta be you — nobody else has the number.”

“I’m on a throwaway, too, Charlie, just so’s you know. How’s life treating you?”

“Sweet,” Charlie said. “I’ve got more work than I can handle. Why don’t you come down here for a few days and do some of the lifting. If you’re in touch with Gene Ryan, I can use him, too.”

“I’ve got Gene and one more very reliable guy, name of Vinny.”

“Okay, the three of you. Buy yourself a ticket to Lauderdale, and I’ll get you a nice place.”

“Better be nice. I’m bringing my girl, Gina.”

“Okay by me. We won’t be working all the time. Tell Ryan and Vinny they can bring one, too, or I can find them some company.”

“When?”

“Sunday?”

“Good for me. You want to give me some details I can pass along?”

“Not on the phone. Let’s just say there’ll be a minimum of fifty large for each of you, maybe more, depending.”

“Hang on a second, Charlie.” Al walked back into the living room. “How about this? We fly down to Lauderdale on Sunday, where a friend of mine, good guy, has a job for us. He puts us up, with girls, if you want, and we do a job that brings us fifty gees each, at least. And we have a few days in the sun. Okay?”

“Okay,” Vinny said without hesitation.

“Who’s the friend?” Ryan asked.

“Remember Charlie and Frank? They did special jobs for the old man.”

“Sure. We dealing with both?”

Al put the phone to his ear. “Is Frank in this, Charlie?”

“Nah, Frank is in Vegas, I hear, or maybe L.A. This is just me.”

“Just Charlie, Frank’s out West.”

“I’m in,” Ryan said.

“Okay, Charlie, we’re in.”

“Great. Get on a plane, pick up a rental at the airport, and drive to the Sea Castle Motel, on the beach.” He gave Al the address. “I’ll take you to dinner Sunday night and brief you. You need me, call on this phone.”

“See you Sunday,” Al said, and hung up. “Okay, guys, here’s what we do: we get flights to Lauderdale or Miami from three airports. Vinny — LaGuardia, Gene — Newark, me — Kennedy.

“We each make our own bookings and pay cash. When you get in, take a cab or a rental to the Sea Castle Motel, on the beach in Lauderdale. There’ll be rooms in each of our names. Take a girl, if you want, or Charlie will find you somebody. We have dinner with Charlie Sunday night, no girls. We’re there for a few days, then we’re out, fifty grand richer.”

“I’ll bet Charlie is making a lot more,” Ryan said.

“Who gives a shit? Is your time worth more than fifty grand? And we don’t have local law enforcement to deal with.”

“Okay by me.”

“Me too,” Vinny said.

“Speaking of local law enforcement,” Ryan said, “are we gonna be hearing from them?”

“Probably not, but we should always be ready. If they ask, you both know me, but you don’t know each other. No need to hide the trip to Florida.”

“Okay,” Vinny said, pointing at the money. “Sixty grand each, now we gotta get outta here before my mom gets home.”

“You already dispose of the costumes?” Al asked.

“On the way here,” Vinny said. “They’re burned.”

Dino was almost his old self, and Stone had postponed his dinner with Pepe Perado, so that evening, Stone hosted a dinner at the Post House, a steak place in Dino’s block and next to Pepe’s hotel. Stone took Pat Frank, and Pepe said he was bringing somebody. Somebody turned out to be the lovely Caroline Woodhouse, from the ad agency, who Stone, as an act of self-preservation, had hooked up with Major Ian Rattle, his former houseguest. He had forgotten that Pepe had met Caroline at the same time he had.

“You’re looking very well, Dino,” Pepe said, shaking his hand. “Considering.”

Dino laughed. “Yeah, considering. I’ve got a hard head, as Stone keeps pointing out to me. How’s the brewery business?”

“Distribution business, for the moment. It’s going very well, and we’re starting to plan for the brewery. We’re going to have a big bash in a couple of weeks to introduce ourselves to the New York market. You’re all invited — invitations to follow.”

“Hello, Stone,” Caroline said, holding on to his hand for a moment. “You’re looking well.”

“And you’re looking better than that, Caroline. This is Pat Frank. Pat, Caroline Woodhouse.”

They dined well, and Stone walked Dino and Viv home, down the block, just to make sure he was okay.

“He’s fine,” Viv whispered to him when they kissed good night. “That’s for helping me keep him in hand.”

That same Friday night, Sean Finn drove Danny, his Vegas card shark, to the airport.

“What’s the matter?” Danny asked. “No more poker?”

“No more poker,” Sean said. “It got too expensive. My liquor stores got hit for a week’s take this afternoon, and I think it’s connected to the poker game.”

“What are you going to do about it? You want some out-of-town help?”

“This one is going to the cops, but they’re not going to crack it. Looks like I’m just going to have to let my insurance company eat the loss.”

“That’s what they’re good at.”

“I’m not going to let it go, though. Danny, do you know competent people who do contract work?”

“What kind of contract?”

“You know what kind.”

“Yeah, I know people can do that.”

“I’ll pay you ten grand to set something up, keeping me out of it.”

“Who’s the mark?”

“Al Parisi, the little guinea we were going to take in the poker game. I underestimated him, but he underestimated me, too.”

“Yeah, I can handle that. It’s going to cost you fifty large, plus my ten.”

“Look in the glove compartment.”

Danny opened it and found a thick envelope. “How much is this?” he asked, hefting it.

“Fifty — ten is yours, use the rest to get the job done, including expenses. His address and license plate number are in there, too. If it all goes smoothly, you get another ten a month later.”

“Okay, I can handle it. When?”

“Sooner the better.”

“I’ll make a call when we get to the airport.”