Chapter 7 #2
“Of course, firefly.” I can’t help the foolish smile plastered on my face. “Some things should remain a mystery, even between the two of us.” I pull the door closed behind me as I leave the bathroom, then walk over to the closet to pick out my outfit for the day.
I’m dressed before Constance comes out of the bathroom, so I leave the bedroom, making sure to completely close that door as well, then head downstairs to the kitchen to cook for her.
Left to my own devices, breakfast would be two aspirin and a gallon of coffee to clear my head.
I’m pleased to see Leonard and Trenton already downstairs pouring mugs from a fresh-brewed pot.
“Let me get in on that,” I tell them, pointing to the coffee. “Everything go well last night?” I ask Trenton as Leonard reaches over to the cupboard to get another mug.
“Yeah, only thing worth noting is that Joey met a cat out in the front garden. He spent an hour trying to make friends with it. Only reason I even bring it up is that he gave it the last of the milk in the fridge.”
“Well, I hope the little bastard appreciated it,” I snort. “I’m going to try to make some omelets. I could’ve used the milk. Ah, it doesn’t matter, I can get by without it.”
“She most definitely did not appreciate it. Joey got a nasty scratch for his trouble. Speaking of, what happened to your neck?” Trenton asks me as he points to it. “Looks like you got into a scrape with a wildcat of your own.”
“I probably just scraped myself shaving.” I shrug as I take the mug Leonard offers me. “Don’t be crass and say anything else about it,” I warn Trenton. His eyes practically light up with glee as he smiles at me over a sip of coffee, but he wisely keeps his mouth shut.
“Have you heard anything else from the police?” Leonard asks me as I open the cabinet under the kitchen island and drag out the pan I need, then turn on the oven.
“Nothing yet, but I’m sure they’ll be in touch soon.
I gave the detectives my cell phone number and told the office to forward any calls directly to me today.
Grab the mixing bowl out of that cabinet for me, please.
” I point to the cabinet behind Leonard’s head as I walk over to the refrigerator and get the ingredients I need.
“I hate having a loose end like this Volkov woman running around,” Leonard gripes as he puts the bowl on the counter. “It puts a cloud over every one of our crews.”
“Hell yes it does,” Trenton agrees. “No one knows where that crazy bitch is going to show up next, or what she’s capable of exactly. That shit yesterday was insane. If she’s willing to try a kidnapping in broad daylight, she’s even wilder than that boy Kirill used to be.”
“And we all remember how much damage he caused. Not just by burning down Monroe’s, and killing Constance’s father, although that was certainly the worst. He held up several other shipments and disrupted a bunch of supply lines to some of our associates,” I remind them.
“I’m still tallying up our losses, but it’s already several million dollars.” Leonard shakes his head wearily.
“He paid for it, and now that we’ve shut down the Russians’ enterprises, we’ll recoup our losses in the next few months.” I shrug. “We’ll be fine on the financial side. I just hate all this for Constance. She’s not used to living like this.”
“This life ain’t all shoot-outs and late-night patrols,” Trenton observes.
“We go years without any action at all, just minding our business and tending our rackets. She already seems really happy with you, Maximo. Once she gets more of a taste of the lifestyle, her nerves will settle and she’ll love this life as much as we do. ”
“I hope it becomes easier for her,” I say with a sigh. I pour the egg mixture I’ve been beating from the mixing bowl into the pan I’m heating on the stove. “Are you doing all right with your new responsibilities?” I ask him.
“He’s been doing fine,” Leonard comments.
“I’m fucking thrilled every moment of every day,” Trenton huffs at me. “Best job I ever fucking had,” he continues with a sardonic twist of his lips which makes it difficult for me to tell if he’s being serious or not.
Shrugging it off, I focus my attention on my cooking and go back to nursing my coffee.
I’m halfway through my first cup and the aching throb behind my eyes is finally starting to ease as my fuzzy thoughts become clearer.
I’ve been drinking too much lately, but I’m no more immune to the stress of this business than any other man.
I’ll do better, I promise myself, once things start to settle.
I’m throwing in the cheese and preparing to fold my second perfect omelet when Constance appears in the kitchen.
I already have her plate prepared, so I take it over to the breakfast nook and set it on the table while she pours herself a glass of orange juice.
She greets Leonard and Trenton, then we sit down together and begin to eat.
“This is delicious, thank you,” she says between bites. “Any updates from anyone?”
I pull my phone out and notice that I do have a text message. “Shit, I had my phone on silent last night. I thought I turned that off,” I complain as I pull up the text. “Detective Tillman wants us to call him when we have a chance.”
“Good, let’s call him back right after we eat.” Constance seems eager to hear what he has to say, which makes me feel a bit better. She seems to be putting yesterday’s trauma behind her and focusing on what comes next.
She practically inhales the rest of her breakfast, then takes her cutlery over to the sink where Leonard is already washing the dishes I used while cooking. “Just drop those in,” he tells her. I hurry to finish my plate and drop it off with Leonard as well.
“Thanks, Leonard. If anything comes up today, just call my cell. Once we talk to the detective, we’ll probably be heading into the city.”
“I’ll take care of everything here, Maximo, don’t worry. I’m going to call the caterer and have them set up a spread here this evening for everyone if that sounds good?”
“That’s perfect, one less thing I have to worry about. Thanks again, Leonard, I’ll see you later. Constance, let’s go to my office and call the detective back.”
“I’ll let you do the talking to him,” she says as we walk into my office and she takes the seat in front of my desk. “I don’t want to accidentally say anything incriminating. I was worried about that when he was asking me all those questions yesterday.”
“You did fine, but I understand your concern. Sit tight, and I’ll put him on speaker so you can hear the conversation. I’m going to act like I’m alone though, unless he asks me directly, then I’ll tell him you’re here with me.”
“You ready to make the call?” she asks once we’re settled. I nod to her, then hit the link on my cell screen to call the detective back and put the phone on speaker.
“This is Detective Tillman,” he answers on only the second ring.
“Detective, this is Maximo Luciani returning your call. I was hoping you had some updates for us.”
“Mr. Luciani, is Ms. Monroe there with you? We’ve gathered the surveillance footage from all around the restaurant yesterday and also identified her assailants. I’d like to run the information past both of you to see if you can help me connect any dots on what motivated this attack.”
I glance over at Constance, then tell the detective, “Yes, Ms. Monroe is here with me. What did you find out? Who were these men who tried to abduct Constance?”
“The two men who abducted Ms. Monroe are a couple of stick-up artists who used to work for the Santini crime family before their dissolution. Their names are…were, Reginald Granger and Justin Harrison. Since Leon Santini went down two years ago, they’ve been doing odd jobs—robbing warehouses and port shipments—for the Volkovs.
Our working theory right now is that this abduction was meant to be some sort of payback for your work helping the NYPD break up the Volkovs’ enterprises.
What we don’t know is who was directly behind it.
The good news is that the surveillance footage we’ve recovered may have a couple of leads.
Ms. Monroe, were you aware that you were being followed yesterday when you went into the pizzeria? ”
“Um, yes,” Constance says as she leans over towards my desk. “One of Maximo’s employees, a man named Tony, had been assigned to watch out for me.”
“That’s right, one of the men we spotted following you was…let’s see here,” Detective Tillman paused, and we could hear some papers being shuffled. “Here it is, Tony Buck, an associate of Enzo Luciani, who I believe is your recently deceased cousin, Mr. Luciani?”
“Enzo was my cousin, yes,” I confirm. “Tony was an old friend of his who I’ve hired as a security guard due to his skill set.”
“And he does have a rather specialized set of skills, doesn’t he, Mr. Luciani? His rap sheet is a list of various assault charges. We suspect he’s been breaking legs for your family for over a decade.”
“I’m not aware of the services Tony may have provided my cousin Enzo, God rest his soul,” I lie smoothly.
The insulation provided to me by my captains was part of their responsibilities to the family as a whole.
Besides, though it broke my heart that he’s dead, Enzo would understand and approve of me deflecting using his name.
“While in my direct employ, he has been an upstanding and valued part of the Luciani Financial Services family.”
“Of course,” Detective Tillman replied dryly. “And was her other tail, a man named…let’s see…Jacob Sizemore. Was he also in your employ?”
“I only knew about Tony,” Constance says before I jump in.
“Who is this Jacob Sizemore, and what do you know about him?” I demand.