Chapter 3
Maximo
“We received an emergency call from a service station about a shooting,” Detective Tillman explains over the phone. “When patrol arrived on the scene, they found two fatally injured men along with Ms. Monroe.”
Jesus Christ. Thank God she’s alive.
“Is she hurt?” I ask him.
“No. Just a little banged up,” he says. “According to witness statements and the surveillance footage we reviewed, Miss Monroe was bound in the rear seat of the vehicle she was kidnapped in earlier today. While one of her assailants was pumping gas, Miss Monroe managed to incapacitate the other with a knife, then used his gun to shoot the driver. The witnesses obviously called us and helped Miss Monroe escape her restraints, then stayed with her until we arrived.”
My heart swells with pride for my firefly, even as a crushing weight lifts from my chest. “It sounds like you already know exactly what happened,” I tell the detective.
Even though he’s bringing me blessedly good news, he’s still a cop and I have to speak carefully.
“What questions, exactly, do you have that she can’t answer? ”
“Well, Mr. Luciani, I’ve sent my partner over to Mount Sinai to speak to Miss Monroe’s friend, a woman who was injured in the initial kidnapping.
What we’re trying to piece together is why Miss Monroe was targeted.
If I may be blunt, sir, I suspect it has to do with her association with you.
Could you tell me a bit about your relationship and whether you have any idea why she may have been targeted? ”
“Which precinct are you at, Detective?” I ask, sidestepping his question. “Let me come over and see Constance. Once I know she’s all right, we can discuss any other questions you may have.”
He and I both know that last part is a lie, yet the detective rattles off the address of the 34th precinct, which I commit to memory. “Are you on your way now, Mr. Luciani?” the detective adds.
“Yes. Please tell Constance I’ll be there shortly,” I confirm. “Thank you for your help, Detective. I’ll see you soon.” Then I disconnect the call before he can reply.
Trenton appears in the doorway behind me and jerks a thumb back over his shoulder toward Melissa. “She’s out, Maximo. Lightweight,” he snorts again.
“It doesn’t matter.” I wave him off. “We’re leaving. A detective is on the way here to talk to Melissa, but she doesn’t know anything that could cause us any problems. Let’s go. Constance managed to escape the kidnappers and is waiting for us over at the police station.”
“How the hell did she manage that?” Trenton asks with a raised eyebrow as we walk out of the emergency department.
“According to the police, she killed the two men who grabbed her. I’ll bet you good money they underestimated her and thought they were nabbing some timid little girl.”
“Enzo told me she was fearsome. Said he saw her get right up in your face carrying on, and—”
“Watch your mouth,” I warn him before he says something I’ll make him regret.
“Hey, no offense, boss. I like a woman with a temper, too.”
“Yeah, well, I love this one. Make sure you respect that when you speak about her,” I admonish him one more time. “Come on. Let’s go get her before the police have a chance to aggravate her any further.”
When we step outside the emergency room, we don’t have to look far to spot Tony. He’s so large that I can barely see an ambulance peeking out from behind him. Our driver, Joey, is standing by him in impassive silence as Tony regales him with a story.
“So, there I was.” Tony is waving his hands as we walk towards them. “I’ve got this one little bastard by the scruff of his neck, shaking him like a kitten, while the other—oh, hey boss. How did it go in there?” He turns to greet us as he notices our approach.
Joey blinks at us as though he’s waking up from a nap, then says, “I’ll go get the truck.” I nod to him, and he walks off without another word.
“Melissa was a bust,” Trenton says. “But we got some good news in there.”
“Constance is all right. The police rounded her up, and she’s over at the thirty-fourth precinct.
Joey will drive Trenton and me over there to pick her up.
Tony, go grab some gear and plan to stay at the estate for at least a few days.
I’ll call Spicy and some other boys to join you over there.
I’m going to need you close until we settle this business with Irina Volkov. ”
“Yeah, of course, boss. I’ll head on over. If you don’t mind me asking, how did Constance end up out there? Isn’t that over around Washington Heights?”
“Yes, and from what the detective told me, the men who kidnapped her stopped at a gas station for some reason. I don’t know all the details yet, but Constance managed to kill both of them.”
“She did?” Tony gapes at me, then shakes his prodigious head. “I wouldn’t have thought she had it in her. What a woman!”
His words trail off when I stare at him. “Get going, Tony. I’ll need your help keeping an eye on her, and I expect you to do better than you have so far today. Do you understand me?”
“Yeah, of course, boss!” He ambles off as an embarrassed flush rises in his cheeks.
“Poor dumb bastard.” Trenton sighs. “He’ll never forgive himself for this, even if she’s all right.”
“He shouldn’t,” I fire back. “He had a simple job, and he fucked it up. No one should have gotten near Constance unless Tony was dead on the floor.”
“Hopefully he learned from his mistake, then, and will do better in the future. Here comes Joey now. You want shotgun?” Trenton asks as he walks over to the SUV that pulls up to the curb and opens the passenger door.
“No, I need to make a phone call. You can play navigator up front,” I reply as he opens the rear door for me and I climb into the backseat.
As soon as I’m settled, I text a few associates, including my old rival Bianchi and the former mayor, Arthur Darby. I need the personal cell number for the current mayor, Byron Mathews.
I get a reply within one minute from Darby, while Bianchi texts back only a question mark. I send a simple thank you in reply and then hit the hyperlinked number to initiate the call.
The line gets answered before it reaches the third ring. “This is Mayor Mathews.”
“Hello, Mayor, this is Maximo Luciani calling. I need a few moments of your time.”
“Mr. Luciani! What a pleasant surprise. I’ve been meaning to get in touch with you once I thought of a proper way to thank you for funding the overtime for your recent police surge.
Between the donation, and the very specific tips you provided law enforcement about different criminal enterprises that were ongoing in our great city, a good number of arrests were made. ”
I don’t miss the veiled threat in his outpouring of “gratitude.” I had no doubt that he had been giving a great deal of thought on how to “thank me” after I had helped the police dismantle the Volkovs’ businesses in the city. Those Russian gangsters had heavily funded his election campaign.
“It was my pleasure, Mayor. While I know that you had no dealing with any of those enterprises that were dismantled through my efforts, it occurred to me that, with your reelection campaign only two years away, you might be interested in securing new sources of funding. I’m reaching out to you today to offer my patronage with your future political aspirations. ”
Mayor Mathews says nothing for several long seconds, and I pull the phone from my ear to make sure the call is still connected.
While I’m staring at the screen that confirms the call is still active, he finally speaks after carefully considering his words.
“While I appreciate your most gracious offer, Mr. Luciani, and I’m always willing to work with—ahem—local business leaders, your offer raises a question.
Why, Mr. Luciani? Why are you reaching out and making me this offer now? Just to make amends?”
“No, Mayor, making amends would imply that I have wronged you in some way. I’m certain that the recent crackdown on organized crime in the city didn’t affect you. No, instead I’m calling to make this offer because I need something from you. A small thing, a very simple favor.”
“And what would this favor to earn me your patronage entail, precisely?” Mayor Mathews asks with audible trepidation. The man is no fool and obviously senses the chasm opening at his feet.
Fortunately, neither am I. You never open a new business arrangement by asking for anything the other party would be unwilling to provide. If they balk at your first ask, you’ll never build the kind of relationship that lets you blackmail them later.
“I need you to call the police commissioner and tell him to contact the major who oversees the detectives at the thirty-fourth precinct. The officers there are interviewing an associate of mine named Constance Monroe, who was kidnapped earlier today. Thankfully, she managed to escape, but I don’t want the detectives giving her a hard time after everything she’s already had to endure.
I’m on my way to the precinct right now to pick her up, but while I’m held up in traffic, I’d like to head off any unpleasantness she might be facing. ”
“An associate of yours, you say? And you want me to call the police commissioner on her behalf?” the mayor repeats. It was obvious he had more questions about the situation, so I offered him a bit more to help clarify what I needed.
“Maybe associate isn’t the right word. Ms. Monroe is my fiancée, and I have reason to believe her kidnapping may be related to our recent efforts to combat corruption.
She’s not involved in any of my business ventures, and I want to make sure that the police understand the same. Will you make the call?”
“Why, Mr. Luciani, I hadn’t heard the good news about your upcoming nuptials!
Of course I will make this call for you.
I’ll do it right now. If there’s nothing else, I’ll get to work on this, and then once things have settled down, I’ll have my staff reach out to discuss any donations you may wish to make towards my re-election campaign. ”
“Thank you, Mayor Mathews. I have one more thing I’d like to ask before you go.
Do you know anything about the current whereabouts of Irina Volkov?
” I know it’s a dangerous question to ask over an unsecured phone line, but I need all the leads I can get.
And I know damn well the good mayor has had plenty of dealings with the Volkov family.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Luciani, that name doesn’t ring any bells. Let me think on it and ask some of my associates if they know anyone by that name.”
“Please do. And make that call for me right away. Thank you for your help, Mayor. I look forward to our future cooperation in steering our city into brighter days.”
“As do I, Mr. Luciani. Take care, sir,” he adds before the call drops.
“That was smooth, boss,” Trenton comments after he glances back and sees me put away my phone. “Mayor Mathews has been a pain in the ass. It’ll be good to bring him into the fold and get him under control.”
“After all the water he carried for the Volkovs, he’s going to have to do quite a bit to make amends,” I reply.
“Politicians are the easiest of our associates to deal with, though, when you think about it. The only thing they’re interested in is money.
A lot of the other people we work with have more… eclectic interests.”
“Ain’t that the truth. When Mathews first got sworn in and was helping the Volkovs push into the projects, they rounded up my boy Ross Ferguson and got him on a weapons charge.
Anyhow, whenever I talk to him, he doesn’t want money for his commissary.
Nah, the only thing Ross wants is for me to send him these kinky romance novels. ”
“I know Ross. He was high up in that motorcycle gang from over in the East Village, wasn’t he? He hung around with that real tall woman that everyone called Mouse.”
“Yeah, that’s him. He’s always too embarrassed to ask his biker buddies to get him these books, so he has me mail them into the prison for him.
There’s a whole series he’s really into.
From what I understand, once he reads them, he forwards them to Mouse.
She’s serving a stint over at Bedford Hills, so the two of them have their own little book club going. ”
“Did Mouse get picked up for something at the same time as Ross?” I wasn’t really all that interested, but I was willing to entertain Trenton. Whatever he was smoking seemed to make him chatty.
“Nah, she’s doing a few years for assault.
She got drunk one night, and Ross locked her out of the house because she was carrying on about him messing with some other woman.
She goes out and gets the spare tire out of the back of his truck, throws it through the front window, climbs back inside, and then tries to stab him in the dick. ”
I wasn’t interested before, but this new detail makes me lean forward, laughing. “That’s insane. And they’re still in contact, even in prison?”
“Well, yeah, they love each other. Besides, she missed his dick and just poked him in the thigh. He’s fine.
And it wasn’t like she didn’t have a reason to be mad.
He had been flirting with some hang-around at their clubhouse.
I’ve been over there and drank with those boys a time or two.
They ain’t like us, Maximo. They’re not entirely… civilized.”
“That’s the truth,” I reply as I lean back in my seat.
I remember meeting Ross and Mouse several times when I had previously hosted celebrations for our associates.
They, along with several other prominent members of the local chapter of the Savage Kings motorcycle club, had done excellent work handling problems that were too violent and too exposed for my more strait-laced business partners.
“I’m glad you brought them up and stayed in contact with them. Sometimes an uncivilized brute is just what you need for a particular type of job. After what Constance has been through today, I’m starting to think that their more heavy-handed approach might be exactly what this situation calls for.”