Chapter 18
Monday
F rankie could barely open her eyes when her alarm went off. It had been a whirlwind couple of days, and as she promised herself, she took the next two days off from work.
Frankie and her gang managed to make fifteen panettones for Anita’s church bake sale, and they were a big success.
People were willing to pay more to pry the secret out of Rosevita and Lucia, who stayed to help with the sale.
The two women pretended they didn’t understand English.
Every time someone would ask, they would shrug and say “Scusa, non parlo inglese.” It was all they could do to keep from laughing.
By the end of the day, Anita’s table raked in over eight hundred dollars, counting the sale of the pastries that had been donated.
The entire bake sale collected over fifteen hundred dollars to pay for dinners for members of the congregation who couldn’t afford a holiday dinner, or who were alone.
It didn’t take too much coaxing for Frankie to convince Mateo to bring his crew in to do the cooking, and she offered to volunteer to help serve.
Amy and Peter were due to arrive soon, and when Amy heard she missed the bake-off, she offered to help Frankie with the church dinner. Not to be left out, Rachael jumped at the idea, and Nina said it was a “no brainer” and they could count on her, as well.
The Christmas Day church dinner was scheduled for one o’clock, which did not interfere with the Lombardi plans. The Lombardis normally served their Christmas feast at three. It would be tight, but Frankie and her gal pals were used to doing things on the fly.
With two days left before the holiday, Frankie was busy putting the finishing touches on the memory book. She had to admit, it was quite fabulous. When she showed Giovanni the final product, it brought tears to his eyes.
“You are gonna make Mama cry.” He paused. “But a good cry.”
“I bought Lucia a pair of cashmere gloves and a scarf. I know it’s not very personal, so I had one of the photos of your cousins cropped, retouched, and framed.” She showed him the photo. “Do you think Lucia will like it?”
“It looks beautiful. I remember that day, too. I think we were maybe eight or nine, and Dominic dropped a bowl of meatballs on the patio. His shirt was covered in tomato sauce.” Giovanni chuckled. “It looked like a crime scene. Good thing Mama took the picture before he made the mess.”
“Originally I thought of doing one of her and your aunt and uncle’s wedding, but with her and Anthony getting cozy, well, I wasn’t sure he would want to see it every time he went to the house.”
“You are so smart, Francesca Cappella. I think she will love this.”
“And the thousand-dollar gift card to Saks!” Frankie added.
“She is going to have a lot of fun with it, I am sure,” Giovanni replied. “And she will have time between Christmas and New Year’s Eve to shop for the big night.”
“Have you told them yet?” It had occurred to Frankie that no one actually asked them if they had made plans for the weekend.
“Not exactly. I made a little fib. I told them we were going to have a house party.”
“Like the one we didn’t have last year?” Frankie laughed out loud.
“Exactly,” Giovanni said, smiling. “We can give them the reservations and tickets on Christmas Eve.”
“Good idea. Everyone will be there, including Amy, Peter, Nina, Richard, my parents, your family, and Rachael.”
“Do you know who she is dating this week?” he asked with a gleam in his eye.
“I think it’s Robert, actually.”
“Really? Rachael and a lawyer,” he said thoughtfully. “What happened to the nurse from the retirement place?”
“She decided he was a little too young. Cute, but young. He liked to go out on the weekends, which would be fine, but he also liked to stay out until the bars closed. He told her it helped him let off steam from the pressure of work.”
“I understand that. Me? I want to relax.”
“Exactly. Rachael really puts a lot of time into dancing all week. One night of fun is okay, but not until three in the morning.” Frankie stopped. “Does this mean we’re getting old?” She frowned.
“No, cara . It means we are mature. Reasonable,” he said kindly.
“That’s not what you thought the other day when we were watching the news,” Frankie said with a grin.
“True. But that is something you do not do every day,” he said, and gave her a sideways glance. “Is it?”
“Not that I can recall,” Frankie said, and wiggled her eyebrows.
The Game Is Afoot
As the sun was going down on the shortest day of the year, Myra, Charles, Fergus, and Annie arrived at the airport. Everything was in place, including the flight plan to Belarus, with only one passenger.
Charles was wearing a captain’s uniform, and Fergus was in copilot garb.
Myra was dressed in a flight attendant suit.
Once Barflow was neutralized, the scheduled captain would take over with the proper crew, including someone from Pearl’s organization, who would assure Bucky arrived at a designated location.
Annie stood at the top of the short stairs that led to the aircraft.
She was regal and glamorous in a long, white, faux fur coat, with a matching headband.
Even though it was evening, she’d donned a pair of Christian Dior sunglass for a bit of drama.
She looked as “Hollywood” and as enigmatic as Elizabeth Taylor in the early 1960s.
She casually leaned against the frame of the jet’s door.
A black SUV pulled near the door of the hangar.
A bald, bull-looking guy wearing a hoop earring in one ear and a ring in his nose climbed out.
A security guard ran a wand over his body, making sure Barflow wasn’t packing a gun, or any other type of weapon.
After the guard finished with the metal detector, he also patted Bucky down, assuring there wasn’t anything caustic or dangerous in his possession.
Once he was satisfied, he nodded to Annie.
Annie raised her Dior shades, crooked her forefinger, and summoned him to join her. If Bucky could smile any wider, his lips would be around his ears.
“Good evening. You look lovely,” he said, in a surprisingly gentle voice.
“Thank you.” She turned and moved to the lounge area, while Fergus and Charles were listening to the exchange in the cockpit.
Bucky let out a low whistle. “This your rig?”
“Rig?” Annie said with a tinge of irritation.
“Sorry. I meant no offense.” Bucky reverted to acquiescence at that point. He didn’t want to blow this deal.
“Champagne?” Annie offered.
“Wow. You know how to do things right,” he said effusively.
Annie did not respond to his comment, making sure she was in complete control. Even with all the planning, one could never be sure of the outcome until it came.
Without any prompting, Myra entered the cabin with a tray, a bottle of Dom Pérignon, and two champagne glasses, which were half-full. Each crystal flute was etched with a different pattern. The one with the A was for Annie.
“I believe one should always do the transaction before the celebration,” she said calmly, allowing the Rohypnol, also known as “roofies,” to dissolve in his glass.
“Sure thing.” He pulled an envelope from his jacket. “It’s all there.”
“I have no doubt, but if you don’t mind. …” She opened the envelope and proceeded to count the money on the top of a light box, to assure there were no counterfeit bills. “You took your cut, I see,” she said easily.
“Yes, but I have it on me,” he said apologetically.
“Not necessary.” She nodded for Myra to top off their glasses as she opened the pouch with the fake jewels.
“Them is some beauties,” he said, and stared at the bright, shiny gems.
Annie folded them back into their velvet wrapping and slid them across the table between them. “Now we can toast.”
“Down the hatch.” Bucky threw back the champagne as if it were a shot of cheap booze. Crude, but even better. The drug would go to work much faster. Myra gladly refilled his glass.
After a few minutes of small talk, Bucky’s speech began to slur, and his eyes got wider. His head began to wobble. “I don’t feel. …” He never finished his sentence.
Myra quickly placed the evidence in her bag, while Charles and Fergus removed Bucky’s commission from his pocket. Annie had the full one hundred and fifty dollars and her fake jewels.
As they were maneuvering Bucky’s unconscious body, Charles put Bucky’s seat back. “We’re not barbarians, now, are we?” he said, and chuckled. He and Fergus were enjoying their latest slogan.
In a few short minutes, Pearl arrived with her own flight crew. She gave everyone a hug. “We’ll take it from here.”
“Thanks, Pearl. You are the best,” Annie said, as they deplaned and got into the town car that was waiting.
“What is going to happen to his SUV?” Myra asked.
“The authorities will assume he fled the country and left it here,” Charles replied.
As they began to drive past the hangar, Annie said, “I have an idea. Tell me what you think.” She proceeded to describe her intention for the money.
“We know Vinny took a sixty-thousand-dollar loan against his mother’s house, unbeknownst to her.
How do you feel if we use some of the money to repay it.
I know it’s Vinny’s issue, but it shouldn’t be his mother’s problem.
We just don’t tell him.” Annie paused as the others listened.
“The rest of the money will go to rehabilitating the pizzeria and the rest of the block. I owe it to Desie to help get her neighborhood back.”
“Sounds reasonable,” Myra said. “But who will run the pizzeria?”
“Vinny. It will be his penance and get him on the straight and narrow. When we are ready to release him, we give him a list of rules he has to follow; otherwise, he goes back in the dungeon. We’ll tell him we’ve got eyes on him, and one slip-up will cost him big time.”
“I like the way you think, my friend,” Myra said.
“Vinny will also begin to pay his mother rent, and repay the loan to an account we’ll create, that looks like it’s a commercial branch of the bank. We can work out those details after the holidays. Each month he’ll make a deposit, and that money will be transferred to an animal shelter.”
“Sounds brilliant,” Charles said approvingly.
“This is why I keep her around,” Fergus said with a big grin.
“But there’s more,” Annie continued. “He and Desie will work together to form a small business alliance in order to rebuild the neighborhood. There are government grants that are available.”
“I can guide Desie on that front,” Myra offered.
“Now that we have Vinny sorted, what about Jimmy?”
“Jimmy will continue to work for his uncle during the day and deliver pizza for Vinny at night. They’ll both work on the apartments above the pizza shop, where Jimmy will take up residence.”
“This is one of the best rehabilitation plans I’ve heard in a very long time,” Myra said with enthusiasm. “Good on you, girlfriend.”
“There is one more thing, however.”
“What might that be?” Charles asked.
“It’s a surprise.” Annie winked.
“You can’t leave us banging about,” Charles said in pro test.
“It will be worth the wait,” Annie said slyly, and then nodded at Myra, who nodded in return. Once Annie got the green light, she shared her idea with Myra. It was going to be spectacular.