Chapter 13
New York City
Giovanni left the restaurant and drove to his brother’s house to greet his mother and aunt while Frankie cleared off her desk at work. Her last task was to finish the memory book, but that would have to wait until Giovanni returned with the extra items.
In the meantime, she checked in with her gal pals to confirm New Year’s Eve dinner.
Amy and Peter were going to stay with her father and Marilyn in New Jersey, then take a car service to meet up with the rest of the gang for dinner.
Nina and Richard were committed to the evening.
They agreed to share a car service with Amy and Peter, since where they were staying was only a few miles away from one another.
Rachael still had an unnamed plus-one. She’d had one date with Richard’s brother Robert, and it seemed to go well.
Both said they would like to do it again next time he was in town.
When that would happen was still in question, and Rachael, following Frankie’s advice, didn’t want to be too forward.
Then there was another possibility with Nicholas, the young nurse practitioner she’d had coffee with.
That, too, went well, but Rachael was treading lightly.
She also had to consider her current paramour, Salvatore, who was trying to appease Rachael’s annoyance with his holiday plans.
But he was not going to be available for the turn of the calendar.
Too many men, too little time . She hadn’t juggled this many men—all of whom were suitable relationship material—in a long time.
Rachael was all atwitter at the attention she was getting, and Frankie had to gently remind her to “Think, girl, think! Big picture here. Be mindful, not reactionary.”
In her heart, Rachael knew Frankie was right.
Every sticky situation Rachael had gotten herself into was from jumping the gun.
Immediate gratification was her modus operandi, but she began to realize that wasn’t necessarily the best course of action.
She was looking forward to a New Year with a new attitude, but for now, she could use Frankie’s reminders.
In the end, Frankie and Giovanni decided to make plans with the three other couples, including whomever Rachael showed up with, and send Rosevita, Lucia, and their beaus to Atlantic City for a New Year’s extravaganza.
Frankie had worried that dinner at a restaurant wasn’t special enough for their special guests, and it was Rosevita who mentioned it might be nice to go to a casino while she was visiting.
Frankie made dinner reservations at Del Frisco’s for her group and began the arrangements for Giovanni’s mother, aunt, and the two Parisi brothers, starting with a car service to the Ocean Resort and Casino, where they would have ocean view rooms. Dinner reservations for Latin cuisine and music at Amada were also included.
Fireworks on the boardwalk, barring any inclement weather, would wrap up the evening for them.
The package was pricey, but Nina, Rachael, and Amy agreed to chip in to pay for the treat.
It was the least they could do as a token of appreciation for rescuing them from the police station the year before.
Frankie was also able to procure tickets for Andrea Bocelli in concert between Christmas and New Year’s.
She wanted to give them a wonderful, exciting holiday experience.
She checked off her list: Radio City, Bocelli, New Year’s Eve.
She provided the entertainment; the enjoyment part was up to them.
Frankie looked out her office window. It was already dark, but the lights from the giant Christmas tree lit up the promenade.
She checked in with Nina, who was going to pick her up at the apartment around eight o’clock so they would begin their sleuthing.
Frankie had plenty of work to keep her busy before she headed home, but her mind was on the adventure that was about to unfold.
Kathryn hadn’t anticipated staying on in the metro area, so she had to rent a car. Her rig wasn’t quite right for local traffic. Plus, it would be much easier to spot. After she picked up the innocuous mid-sized car, she drove to Teterboro Airport to pick up Maggie.
As far as Charles and Fergus could surmise, the trailer was still in the same place it had been in earlier that day, which became Maggie and Kathryn’s target address.
Given the options of having the tar beaten out of him or taking Jimmy up on his offer, Vinny succumbed to the latter.
As much as he hated the idea of using money that had been donated, he had to take a chance on a big win at the track.
Obviously, they couldn’t take the truck through the streets of Brooklyn without being conspicuous and subject to police intervention.
That was the last thing they needed. Instead, Vinny called Patsy and insisted he pick them up and bring them to an off-track betting facility.
It was the least Patsy could do, since he was part of the major mix-up.
Vinny vowed to himself, and to anyone on high who would still listen, that he would return the money to the Salvation Army—of course, after he paid off Bucky Barflow.
Patsy arrived forty minutes later and was grumbling about missing one of his “programs” on TV.
“Yeah, well, I’m gonna be missing a limb if I don’t fix this mess,” Vinny responded.
When they arrived at the betting window, Vinny made the sign of the cross three times and prayed to Saint Cajetan, the patron saint of gamblers and the unemployed.
At that moment, Vinny was both. He placed his first bet of one hundred dollars on a long shot with twenty-to-one odds, running at a track in California.
Vinny’s forehead was damp with sweat as he watched the horses cross the finish line from 3,000 miles away.
His hands were shaking. His legs were shaking.
And when he realized he had won 2,000 dollars, he almost dropped to his knees.
Jimmy was elated and started slapping Vinny on the back.
“Easy. Easy. We only got another forty-eight thousand to go. And that ain’t gonna be easy.”
Patsy finally had something positive to say: “Maybe if you give Bucky some of the money, he’ll give you another extension.”
“From your lips to God’s ears,” Vinny said.
Patsy looked around. “Between you and me, I don’t think he’s listening to either of us.”
“Shut your piehole!” Vinny snapped.
Jimmy started to snicker.
“That’s goes for you, too!” Vinny yapped at him.
Vinny kept his winnings in one pocket and placed another one-hundred-dollar bet on the next race. This time he gained an additional five hundred dollars. He did the same thing with his winnings and placed a third bet on the following race. Another long shot, and Vinny was another 3,000 ahead.
“Okay. That’s it for tonight.”
“But you’re on a streak!” Jimmy protested.
“Exactly. I don’t wanna jinx it. Let’s go back to the warehouse, and I’ll give Bucky the five grand. That should buy us another day or two to figure out this fine mess.”
The three men climbed back into Patsy’s Cadillac and headed back to the warehouse where Bucky spent his nights “entertaining.” Vinny did not want to know what that entailed, because Bucky didn’t appear to be a fun kind of guy.
Nina pulled up to Frankie’s building and double-parked. She pinged Frankie to let her know she was outside. Frankie exited her apartment wearing black leggings, a black long-sleeve shirt, black vest, black gloves, and black boots. Her long black hair was stuffed into a black knitted cap.
When she opened the passenger door, Nina let out a hoot. “You look like a ninja!”
“And you look like Nina Hunter,” Frankie said, and grinned. “I wanted to look the part.”
“ I’m the one who’s supposed to dress the part,” Nina joked.
Frankie eyed her up and down. “Dark denim is fine.”
“You said we were going to surveil the situation, not get all James Bond-like,” Nina said, rolling her eyes.
“Don’t be a party pooper. We are simply doing some reconnaissance work. If we discover anything, we turn it over to the police.”
“Right, because there is no way we are going to try a citizen’s arrest.”
Frankie blinked several times. “I may be kooky, but I’m not crazy.”
“Good. Glad we got that clarified.” Nina checked the street before she pulled away from the cars parked along the curb.
“Do you think we should put the address in the GPS?” Frankie asked.
“I’m going to want to say no . I don’t want any evidence on record should something go awry.”
“Fine. I’ll use the GPS on my phone.”
“Good—this way, you’ll be under surveillance when the authorities realize we are interfering with police business,” Nina said.
“Ah, I see your creativity is at its peak tonight.”
“I can’t help myself,” Nina said, and grinned as they turned east to cross the Williamsburg Bridge.
On the other side of town, Kathryn and Maggie entered the Holland Tunnel and proceeded down the West Side Highway, around the Battery to the FDR Drive.
They drove north and then drove east via the Brooklyn Bridge.
Maggie kept an eye on the GPS on her phone and called out directions to Kathryn.
As they continued, they drove past several dilapidated buildings and found themselves in an area filled with warehouses, most of which appeared to be abandoned.
Kathryn turned off the headlights and moved the car slowly down a pothole-infested road, rusty chain-link fences lining the street.
“This is kinda creepy,” Maggie said as her eyes darted in all directions. Then she tapped Kathryn’s arm. “Look.” About a hundred yards away, a glow emitted from the lower level of one of the decrepit buildings.
Kathryn gasped. “There it is,” she choked out, and pointed to the trailer.
“Are you sure that’s the one?”
“Yep. See? It has a Mario Brothers sticker on the side.”
“Well, that can’t be a coincidence, now, can it?” Maggie said, as she plunged her hand into a bag of Cheetos.