Chapter 15 #3
Myra addressed Frankie. “Well, your sleuthing and quick thinking with your camera app may prove to be quite useful,” she said with respect, and glanced at Annie, wondering how much information they should share with the two newbies.
Frankie had a confused expression on her face. “How so?”
“We have a group who, shall we say, work behind the scenes,” Annie said.
Frankie tilted her head, waiting for more information.
“Myra and I, along with Maggie and Kathryn and a few other remarkable women, have righted some wrongs along the way.”
As obtuse as it sounded, neither Nina nor Frankie wanted to press the issue. They could tell these women were serious. Serious, but not scary.
Annie’s wrist got a tingle from her watch.
“Would you excuse me?” She got up and walked to the ladies’ bathroom just in case Fergus or Charles was sharing sensitive information.
She peeked under the stalls to make sure there was no one else in the room, then whispered into the face of the watch. “What’s up?”
Fergus’s voice was in her ear. “According to the tracking device, the two goons have been driving across Brooklyn. It appears they are on their way to Manhattan.”
“What should we do?” Annie asked.
“Sit tight. We’re bringing the limo around to where you are. If they are heading to where I suspect they are, things may get a little dicey.”
“Ok. We’re about to have dessert.”
“Enjoy. I’ll check back in a few once we can figure out which direction they’re headed.”
“Great. Can you buzz the info over to Myra? I don’t want to say anything in front of our guests.”
“Right. We’ll get these bounders!” Fergus said with authority.
“Super,” Annie said into her wrist. She washed her hands and went back to the table.
“Everything alright?” Myra asked casually.
“Yes. At this age, sometimes nature calls too often,” she said, and chuckled.
Everyone at the table giggled. Bladder issues often arose at the worst possible moment. “Wherever I go, I always look for the exit signs first, and then the loo,” Annie said, and continued to chuckle.
Meanwhile, Myra heard a voice in her earpiece whispering information to her. She tapped Annie’s foot to let her know she knew.
When the meal was finished, Annie and Myra stood first. Nina and Frankie noticed the check had not arrived.
Surely they weren’t going to dine and dash , Frankie thought, chuckling to herself.
Then she spotted Annie nod toward the server, who nodded in return.
Must have a house account , Frankie surmised.
Several of Giovanni’s clientele were sent monthly bills instead of paying for each meal at a time.
It was convenient for the power-lunch people.
They didn’t have to bother filling out an expense form.
The bill went directly to their company’s accounting offices.
The six women decided to take a stroll around the perimeter of the ice-skating rink.
In spite of the throng of people, everyone was in a festive and cheerful mood.
It was delightful sharing this upbeat group energy, until Frankie spotted two men dressed in Santa suits approaching the orange kettle managed by Carol.
“Oh no! Not again!” Frankie cried out. She was stunned when one of the men turned his face in her direction. “It’s him!” she yelled to her lunchmates.
Frankie instantly began to scramble through the crowd, saying, “Excuse me … pardon me,” over and over again.
Following close behind was Kathryn. She was yelling toward Frankie, “What are you doing?”
Frankie didn’t take the time to stop and turn. Instead, she made wild follow me gestures. The other women followed, everyone excusing themselves as they made their way toward the red-flocked phonies.
One of the two Santas shoved a bag he was holding toward Carol and took off in the direction of 51st Street.
The second Santa was right behind him. They made a quick turn toward Sixth Avenue, with the six women hot on their heels.
Tourists, office workers, and delivery people watched the chase and jumped out of their way.
The skinny Santa pulled open the stage door of Radio City, and the two men quickly slid inside.
Frankie, Kathryn, Nina, Annie, Myra, and Maggie followed.
It was pandemonium backstage, with the stage elevators being dismantled and reset by the crew.
Singers and dancers were standing by for their cues, including Randy, who got shoved by the bigger Santa.
“Hey, watch it!” he yelled before spotting Frankie.
“What on earth … ?” He didn’t have time to finish his sentence when Frankie grabbed a Santa cap from a box with several dozen of them.
The other women did the same and dashed behind Frankie as she jumped on one of the moving stages.
With quick reflexes and agility, the other women hopped onboard.
Vinny and Jimmy kept barreling forward, but the ladies were not far behind.
Suddenly, the curtains opened, and the audience got a special addition to the show: a Santa chase across the massive stage.
Some people laughed, others gasped, and some of the dancers shrieked.
It was something never seen before at the Holiday Spectacular.
Vinny and Jimmy jumped off the platform and knocked their way through the crew, with six wild women keeping pace.
They found their way to the exit and were about to dash toward the subway when a man stood in front of them, blocking their escape.
Vinny and Jimmy turned to run in the opposite direction, but there was another human obstacle standing in their way.
They couldn’t turn back. The women were within a hairbreadth away.
Charles opened the door of the stretch limo. “Get in,” he demanded of the two men, who were beginning to panic.
Vinny thought Bucky was finally going to exact his revenge for having to wait so long for his money. He knew they had no choice and followed the instructions of the man with a British accent.
“We’ll take it from here,” Fergus said to the ladies as they arrived on the scene.
“Marvelous, darling,” Myra said, and blew them kiss. Annie did the same.
The six women huddled together and began to laugh hysterically. Their cheeks were bright red, and they were out of breath.
Everyone began talking at once.
“What in the heck just happened?” Maggie asked incredulously.
“A game of tag?” Myra said, half-winded.
“That was fun!” Kathryn roared.
“Sure wasn’t what I expected,” Nina added.
“Now that’s what I call an excellent ending to a fabulous lunch,” Frankie said, and began to hug everyone.
The group began to walk back to the promenade. They wanted to get out of there before the police arrived. They really did not want to answer any questions, but if they had to, Myra suggested, “We thought it was a purse snatcher.”
Annie added, “They’ll tell you it’s never a good idea to chase someone in case they have a weapon.”
“And we’ll all agree with them and promise never to do it again,” Maggie said. She raised her hand in a fist bump, to which everyone joined in.
As they were rounding the corner of the great music hall, a voice yelled out to them. “Hey, missy. What in the heck was that all about?” The recognizable voice was Randy’s.
“I’ll explain later.” Frankie placed her index finger on her lips. “Big secret.”
Randy stood on the sidewalk with a befuddled expression on his face. Then he remembered whom he was dealing with. You just never knew what was going to happen if Frankie Cappella was around.
The six women approached Carol, who was holding onto the pouch when the pursuit began.
“You okay?” Frankie asked the confused woman.
She was visibly shaken. “The man shoved this at me.”
“Did you open it?” Nina asked.
“No. I was too afraid,” Carol answered.
Frankie took the bag from her and untied the cord. “Well, looky here.” She held it open. Inside was a wad of cash wrapped in a note. Frankie unwrapped the note and handed the cash to Annie, who began to count it.
“Ha!” Frankie yelped. “Check it out!” She turned the paper around so everyone could read what it said: Sorry .
“There’s five hundred dollars here,” Annie said, and handed the money to Carol.
“But that doesn’t belong to me,” Carol protested.
“It does now,” Myra insisted.
Frankie furrowed her brow, then said thoughtfully, “So they were returning the money.”
“That’s way more than he took,” Carol tried to explain. “It was maybe two hundred, tops.”
“Payment made plus interest is what I say,” Kathryn added to the conversation.
“Merry Christmas, Carol,” Frankie said, and gave the woman a big hug.
Annie reached into her purse and pulled out another five hundred dollars. Myra matched it, and they placed it in the bundle of money. “Now you can feed a lot of families this week,” Myra declared.
Carol’s eyes began to tear. She pointed to Frankie. “I don’t know who sent her to me, but I am surely grateful.”
“There are always angels among us,” Frankie said. “We just have to pay attention.”
As the group began to disperse, Annie extended an invitation to the block party for New Year’s Eve. “My friend Camille lives on Sniffen Court, and she arranged for a block party. My townhouse is just around the corner. We’d love for you to join us.”
Frankie was the first to respond. “That sounds lovely, but we have plans to meet two of our other friends and their dates.” She hesitated to say significant others , because she had no idea who was going to be significant to Rachael over the next ten days. “It’s become a tradition.”
“Well, then, you can continue that tradition by bringing them along. Party starts at ten. Then we go to the roof of my townhouse to get a glimpse of the glow from the fireworks in Central Park.”
“Sounds spectacular! Thank you very much,” Nina said.
“Excellent. I shall text you the address. Oh, and we have outdoor heaters for the courtyard, so you don’t need to bundle up too much.”
Frankie gently grabbed her hand. “Wonderful. It shall be an evening to remember.”