Chapter 40
CHAPTER FORTY
A t the Sun-a-do entrance foyer, I learn that Jerry has already arrived with his party. I didn’t clear him to bring a party. Still, what’s done is done. Anyway, I made a few invitations of my own.
Up on the roof garden, Jerry stands holding an Old Fashioned, at the very back of the formal planting boxes in a pin-striped, double-breasted suit. He has two goons with him.
Since he arrived early, I guess it’s just as well as he’d have had nobody else to talk to. At my instruction — my word still means something here — access to the roof garden is restricted to a list of people who I named.
Tai and Waya escort and accompany me in, one either side. Bruno and Carlo follow on about two minutes after. Behind them are three distinguished representatives of the Twelve Tribes Council of Elders.
Jerry watches as all of us walk the length of the gardens between through the shady avenue of trees and shrubs and between the beautiful ferns. He nods to Waya and to Tai, and to each of the elders. They’ve obviously met. I’m guessing he came early to schmooze before we got here.
When I’m about ten feet from him, with no other greeting and without extending a hand to me, or to anyone else, Jerry simply says, “Alessio isn’t with you?”
I might have expected him to be with Jerry but no matter. Since Jerry clearly left his manners behind, I see no reason to embarrass him by displaying mine and I don’t answer.
After an odd, wooden moment of awkward quiet, Jerry says, “Well, it doesn’t matter. We can do what there is to be done without him. There’s no need to delay for him.”
I cock my head, “Isn’t he the man you plan to crown as emperor of the whole of the newly franchised Pacific Northwest region?”
Jerry turns a palm up as he shrugs…
“Well…” and his mouth wrinkles.
I take a step forward. “How does that work, by the way, all the franchising? All the people who are about to become made guys, to they get a ribbon or a scroll or something? Is there going to be a ceremony? A mass ‘made’-in?
He can’t keep a chuckle from ratting in his chest.
“In time…” he says. “Look, what matters what we’re here for.” He’s looking at Waya and Tai as he says, “This is progress. Today marks a transition of power. A giant leap, from the old to the new.”
His chest swells as he looks around with his chin high. “Here, today, in this beautiful garden, this is where we will step from the past, into the future.”
“Jerry does love the sound of his own voice.”
Alessio speaks into my ear.
“Glad you made it,” I tell him, dryly. “Although Jerry didn’t seem too concerned about whether you were here or not.”
Alessio’s eyes narrow.
“I caught what he said. Not sure that’s the spin I would put on it.”
I shrug and turn back.
He says, “I love you, Lucia. I don’t want it to be this way. But I do love you.”
“You love me, but you just have to give me up. You just need to kick me to the curb.”
Jerry has a head of steam up. “Future projects will be ambitious, towering examples of the power of partnership. Not bridges across cultural divides so much as hotbeds of innovation and enterprise. Joint ventures with dazzling visions for the bright days to come. Together we will show that the drive to the west still has many more trails to blaze.”
Carlo leans toward me. “He does know who the future partners he talking to are, right?”
I step forward. “There’s been a development.”
Jerry scowls.
“Just — if you’ll excuse me Jerry, before we get too much farther, I want everyone to know that we’ve made some discoveries about the raid on Sun-a-do.”
Jerry’s face colors up. “We can get to that later,” he says, stepping forward.
Waya says, “I would like to hear what Lucia has to tell us.”
Jerry scowls and his eyes narrow.
“We still haven’t been able to identify the attackers.”
“Well, that’s terrible,” Jerry says, “But I’m sure everybody is doing all they can. And thank you so much for the update.”
“ We haven’t, Jerry, but some associates of yours did recognize the three who didn’t make it out, from photographs.”
His eyes narrow.
“Associates of your in Chicago, Jerry.”
His face drains pale.
“They said the four — well, the three who didn’t escape, were part of a crew from there. A crew you knew well. A crew you have worked with on what were described as ‘dirty tricks.’ You knew them. Didn’t you?”
He shrugs. Looking around he says, “I haven’t seen these pictures so, obviously,” his shoulders and his eyebrows rise as his hands go out. “What do I know, right?”
He takes a bite off his Old Fashioned. “Maybe they were people I worked with. What would that prove?”
“In fact, you were here, Jerry. The night before the raid. Weren’t you.”
“No. I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
“The visitors’ log does. And the CCTV here remembers you, too.”
“I don’t see…”
“Alessio brought you that night.” I turn to him, “Didn’t you?” He nods. “In fact, I may have spoken to you while you were here with him.”
Alessio looks down.
Jerry blusters. “This is all bullshit. It’s not true and at best it’s circumstantial and–”
“You were in Cards Room Number 4. Weren’t you.”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember. And it doesn’t matter. Who gives a fuck. Now, can we please get on?”
“You set up the raid on Sun-a-do. Didn’t you?”
“No… look. No.” He looks around at Waya and Tai and the elders. “This is all bullshit. And it’s got nothing to do with anything.”
His mouth opens but I don’t wait for him to go on. “I see that you’ve already started building relationships with the Council of Elders of the Twelve Tribes. I want to make certain they know who you are.”
There’s a hush. Jerry glowers.
I tell him, “What you want, what you came here for has nothing to do with ‘franchising’ or any of that smoke you’ve been blowing up Alessio’s ass. That’s all just lone big distraction. A smokescreen. It’s a Trojan Horse to trick Alessio into bringing you in, just so that you can steal our partnership in the Cascades Resort.”
I laugh. “That’s the whole deal, isn’t it. All that cacari about ‘made guys.’ Honestly. That’s no more in your gift than it is in mine. You can’t do any of that, and you probably wouldn’t if you could. Your talk about the future slayed me. That’s comedy gold. You’re here for a plain old fashioned heist.”
He makes a face like this is nothing. Maybe it is. Maybe he really has got everything stitched up tight.
I look into his face, “You put a hit on me.”
He sways back and says, “Come ON ,” looking about him, blustering a laugh and shrugging.
My voice is level. “I told only told one person where I was going, Jerry. Outside of the people I was there to meet.”
He says, “So?—”
“I told you,” I turn. “Didn’t I, Alessio?”
He looks baffled. “You texted me. Yes.”
“And did you get confirmation from Roberta for the property rental in Chicago?”
Now he looks even more puzzled.
“I don’t know.” Frowning, he takes out his phone and scrolls for a moment. “Yes. I did. But I never even looked at it.”
I smile. “You never did show me your nice new phone. The one your uncle got for you. Is that it?”
Alessio’s face drains and his jaw hardens.
Red dots appear on the foreheads of his two henchmen.