CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
After what seemed a lifetime but was in truth under an hour, two men dressed in black entered the hotel room with Vinnie, a tall man with brown hair. When he took off his jacket, I noticed his broad shoulders and well-exercised body.
“Everything all right, here?” Vinnie asked our guard. Concern showed in his brown eyes.
“They’re safe, and we haven’t drawn attention,” said the man.
Rhonda stood with her hands on her hips. “Vinnie Carozza, tell me what’s going on. What kind of trouble are we in?”
“We’ve saved you from a lot of it. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you.
You and your brother always stood up for me in the neighborhood.
Your mom’s cooking helped me too.” Smiling, he walked over to her and gave her a hug.
“It’s nice to see you. I’ve read all about you and your partner owning and running the hotel.
Someday I might even have the chance to stay there. ”
Rhonda gazed at him. “Have you gone over to the dark side?”
He shook his head. “No, my men and I are here for the government. We heard about a meeting between Jonny and a man we’ve been looking for. I’m afraid it didn’t go well for either of them. Jonny was shot dead, and the other man was wounded and taken into our custody.”
I suddenly realized what a favor he’d done for us by getting us away from the restaurant. “Thank you, Vinnie. That could’ve been awful for us to witness.”
“And a chance for you to ruin things and maybe get killed,” he answered.
“I’m very glad we intercepted you in time to get you away from the scene.
You can have your phones back to call whoever you need to.
But you can’t leave until we get statements from you regarding your ongoing difficulties with Jonny. ”
We were given our phones, and I immediately called Vaughn.
“No details,” said Vinnie, warning us both.
When Vaughn answered, I couldn’t help the tears that spilled down my cheeks. I’d been more frightened than I’d thought. Simply hearing his voice reminded me of how much I loved him, how safe he made me feel.
“Hi, Ann. What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I’m just calling to tell you that I’m away from the office. Rhonda and I are together being interviewed about damage that was done to the hotel. I’ll call you again before we leave the meeting to come home, but it may be a while.”
“You sound stressed. Are you sure you’re alright?” he said.
I drew a deep breath and calmed myself. “I’m fine. I’ll tell you all about it later.”
I ended the call and sat as Rhonda continued speaking to Will.
I decided to phone Bernie so he wouldn’t spread news about Rhonda and me missing scheduled meetings. I had to leave a message for him. I told him Rhonda and I were away from the hotel but would return as soon as we could.
Vinnie shot me a look of his approval. “Okay, ladies, what can we get you for lunch? We’ll do our best to get you through all this, but we have to be sure we have as many details prior to the ‘take down’ as possible.”
One of the men who’d changed into less conspicuous clothing was now wearing shorts and a golf shirt. “I’ll get whatever you want.”
“I’d like iced tea and a Caesar salad with shrimp,” I said realizing that after the stress had eased, I was hungry.
“I’ll have the same,” said Rhonda. “But I’m tellin’ ya that after the day we’ve had, I’m going to have a cocktail tonight.”
We all laughed, relieved the situation with Jonny had been taken out of our hands.
###
Later, Rhonda and I were grilled as we ate our lunches on the couch, answering questions about any interactions we’d had with Jonny.
“Who else was on his team?” Vinnie asked leaning forward in a chair in front of us.
Rhonda and I studied each other, then Rhonda said, “Brock Goodwin.”
“Yes, he was quoted in the local newspaper as saying something to the effect that The Beach House Hotel wouldn’t be able to compete with Osteria Arno. We’ll be talking to him a bit later.”
I pressed my lips together, loving the idea.
Rhonda winked at me, and I saw that she was having the same reaction as me. After all he’d done, Brock deserved any harassment Vinnie intended to give him.
“Guess he’s a pain in the ass to the two of you, huh?” Vinnie said.
“You could say that,” Rhonda said. “Have you been planning this raid on Jonny for a while?”
“More on the man he met with,” said Vinnie. “But no one liked what Jonny was doing. He was squandering money, causing problems where none should exist, and drawing unwanted attention. The people he’d promised to produce for were fed up.”
“What will happen to the restaurant?” I asked.
Vinnie shrugged. “They’ll probably sell it. One of the private investors is interested. Maybe change the name and bring in a new chef.”
My mind spun. A new, young chef?
We answered a few more questions, then Vinnie stood. “Thank you for your help. You can go now. But I warn you that nothing can be said about this. If anything gets out about our conversations and the raid itself, our investigation could be ruined. We wouldn’t take kindly to such a thing happening.”
“What about our husbands? I know they’re worried about us,” I said.
“Does the local media know?” asked Rhonda.
“They know that Jonny has been killed. That’s all. We’ve said it was a shooting. Say as little as possible and don’t give away anything that can be used against us. We won’t divulge your names to any lawyers other than our own and only if necessary.”
Rhonda and Vinnie hugged. “It was great to see you,” she said. “If you want some decent Italian food with recipes from my mother and my nonna, you know where to reach me. I’d love for you to meet my husband and children.”
“Sounds like something a single man like me would really appreciate,” he said. “Thanks. I’ll let you know. I see your brother from time to time at the butcher shop.”
“He’s doing well,” said Rhonda.
I faced him. “Thanks for your help in keeping Rhonda and me safe.”
He tipped his head. “Always ready to do that.”
He walked us to the door and showed us out. “Safe travels.”
Rhonda and I trotted to my car, opened it, and climbed in.
“Wow! What a shitty day,” said Rhonda, clasping her hands to her cheeks. “I thought we were goners until I saw Vinnie. Then I calmed down a little.”
I held out my hands in front of me and saw they were still shaking. “I didn’t calm down one bit. They had guns. I kept wondering what we’d gotten ourselves into.”
“I think it’s more about what we got ourselves out of,” said Rhonda.
“I knew Jonny Arno was trouble from the beginning. I’m sorry he was killed, but I’m not that surprised.
He was a foolish man to think he could disrespect his backers that way.
He let his ego get in the way of making decent choices. ”
“Amen,” I said. “Now, let’s go home.”