Chapter 23
Ralph sat at the table in Gibsons after Rebecca laughed in his face and Angie stormed out.
As he sipped his grappa—which he really needed now because he was having heartburn from all the drama—he kept calling Angie, but every attempt went straight to voicemail.
He left one message after another, hoping that she would listen to them and give him another chance.
Had he had sex with Rebecca at her husband’s funeral?
Yes. The only way she would have known is if she was in the bathroom.
She must have been in one of the stalls when they were going at it.
Embarrassing to say the least. Rebecca was a great lay, but not the kind of woman he wanted to be in a real relationship with.
He was more attracted to Angie as a person; she was as solid as they came.
She wasn’t the looker that Rebecca was, but her beauty came from within, just like his late wife’s.
“Would you like another grappa?” The waiter had been standing at his table for who knew how long.
“I’m sorry, I was in another world. I’ll take the bill. I have fires to put out on the home front,” Ralph said.
The waiter put the leather-bound folder on his table, bill inserted inside. “Whenever you’re ready.” Ralph immediately handed him his credit card without looking at the bill. As he left, Peaches came back around and gave him a hug. “You take care of that handsome face, sweetie.”
Ralph walked home, changed, and kept calling Angie.
No luck. Leave her alone for a while; she’ll cool down.
I can’t blame her for being mad. I’m as much to blame for the bathroom sex as Rebecca.
Not my proudest moment. He poured himself a bourbon.
So far, the alcohol had kept his pain at bay, so he decided to continue holding off on taking the pain pills Dr. Hoffman had prescribed.
He started to look at his emails on his laptop and stopped when he saw one from Eunice marked “URGENT.” She rarely sent urgent messages, so he called her.
“Hey, Eunice, just saw your email. Sorry it’s a bit late.”
“No worries, boss. I didn’t want to put anything in writing—best we don’t leave any trace of discoverable evidence if we have to go to court.”
Ralph’s stomach clenched. “Court, for what?”
“Our friend Mario is stirring things up at City Hall. Even though he’s on leave, he’s not.
He said to tell you the hotel didn’t file a police report; manager thought better of it after Mario let him know about his connections.
He threatened that if he doesn’t get his job back by end of week, he’s going to sue us, the city, and several of the contractors we work with. ”
“For what? We haven’t done anything wrong.”
“That’s not his story. He said Vinnie told him everything about the deals you made with the city and the contractors. Said he’s taking it to the press end of business Friday, unless he’s back at work.”
Ralph shuffled back and forth in his chair. “He has no hard evidence, only hearsay. I’ll call him first thing in the morning to see what he thinks he’s got and get back to you.”
“Good idea. He is such a hothead. He’s laid off, and I have a feeling he’s going to make our lives miserable. How are you feeling?” Eunice asked.
“Not too much pain, I’ll survive. The sooner I can get this bandage off my face, the better. I’ll be in bright and early tomorrow. Hopefully we can get a few of those jobs back on track.”
“Looks hopeful. I’ve been going back and forth with the city, and it does look like the projects for low-income housing will restart soon.
Alderman O’Brien is pushing hard on this, in time for his reelection.
Oh, and don’t watch the news tonight. They’re bad-mouthing us right now and the city is on top.
I don’t think it will last another news cycle. ”
“Sounds good, thanks for the heads-up. See you in the morning. Thanks for everything you do, Eunice. Would you please send a dozen roses to Angie Sortino with an apology note from me?”
“Will do. Got yourself in a little trouble, eh?”
Ralph sighed. “You could say that.”
Ralph sipped his bourbon and went through his email. His head started to hurt so he decided to go to bed early.
Early the next morning, Ralph awoke with a pain on the side of his face and grimaced.
“Oh shit,” he said as he studied his reflection in his bathroom mirror: black eye, swollen cheek, the white bandage thankfully still intact.
While he was making his morning coffee, he grabbed a bag of frozen peas and placed it gingerly on his face.
Ahh, relief. The local morning news reported the usual traffic jams on all the major expressways leading into the city, and if he believed the weather report it was going to be a beautiful fall day.
No mention of his company or the City Hall issue, at least in the first hour.
He checked his phone for any messages. None. Not even from Mario, so he called him.
“What the fuck you want?” Mario asked.
“Good morning, Mario, right back at you. You need to stop threatening me and my staff. You have no idea what kind of information I have on you. You weren’t the only one Vinnie confided in, so watch your back. I’m sure you’ll get your job back, but there’s nothing I can do about that.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about. I better have my job back by end of the week, or else.”
“Best of luck with that.” Ralph ended the call and tried Angie again. It went straight to voicemail. He got ready for work and arrived early. Eunice greeted him at the elevator and let him know Alderman O’Brien was waiting for him in his office.
Ralph paused before he walked in. “Alderman O’Brien, what brings you here so early?”
Ralph watched O’Brien’s reaction to his face. “Who did you piss off, Conti?”
“Not worth the time to talk about. What can I do for you?”
“It’s come to my attention that you are the one responsible for stopping my projects, and I need them restarted today.
Whatever you need to do, I don’t want to know about, just get it done.
Do you understand me?” O’Brien pointed his index finger close to Ralph’s face.
“You’ve been through a lot, Mr. Conti. You certainly wouldn’t want anything more to happen to you.
This can be a dangerous city, after all. Do we understand each other?”
“Loud and clear. To clarify things, City Hall shut down the jobs, not me. I plan to spend the day there, so hopefully you’ll hear good news end of day.”
“I’d better. It would be so sad to see your successful company be destroyed, a tragedy after all you’ve done to build it over the last twenty years.
” Just as he was walking out, he stopped and looked at Ralph.
“I hear rumors you and my wife were having some fun. I don’t give a fuck about her, never did.
She’s just arm candy and looks good in my campaign flyers.
But since I’m running for reelection, you need to keep your dick in your pants and stay away from her. ”
“Not sure where you heard that from, but you have nothing to worry about from me. Have a good day, Alderman.” What was I thinking screwing his wife? Not a good idea on any level.
Eunice entered the office and looked at Ralph. “Your poor face, boss. You have a meeting with the building department in an hour; it sounds promising. I’ve blocked out your day to deal with that. Our attorneys are available immediately should we need them.”
“Just be sure the rest of our projects are going as planned, and work with our public relations rep to get something in the media about all the successes we’ve had, or something like that.”
“Already done. It will be in the Tribune tomorrow morning. Good luck today; let me know if you need anything.”
Ralph quickly reviewed the paperwork on his desk, signed the checks for the contractors, and headed downtown.
After the meeting at City Hall, three of the jobs were back on track and the other ones would likely restart by the end of the week.
When Ralph asked the guy in the building department if Mario was going to be supervising them, the man asked him to kindly mind his own business.
He made his way to Cookie’s office, where Bud informed him that she was out most of the day and offered to make an appointment, which Ralph declined.
“Would you please ask her to call me at her earliest convenience? It’s important. ”
“Will do.” Ralph watched as Bud jotted down his information and placed it on a tall pile of messages.
“I ran into someone on my way over here who was looking for a cleaning lady. Any idea where they can find one?” Ralph asked. He was going to find Angie one way or another.
“I’m not sure when the next shift starts, sometime after five I think, but their carts are down in the basement if you want to go down and check.”
Ralph checked his watch; it was just about two.
He decided he needed a leisurely walk down Michigan Avenue to clear his mind.
Then he’d come back and try to find Angie.
He glanced over his shoulder and noticed he was being followed by two guys, one short and thick, one tall and thin, both wearing black leather jackets.
He picked up his pace, quickly went down the stairs near the Wrigley Building, bought a ticket on the Wendella, a tourist boat attraction, and was able to board before the black leather jacket guys could catch up to him.
He waved at them as he positioned himself at the back of the boat. A man’s voice drew his attention.
“Hi, my name is Charlie, and I’ll be your tour guide today. I work with our local architecture institute and have been trained to share all the details of the beautiful buildings that adorn each side of the Chicago River.”
Ralph kept watching the pier as the men stood with their hands on their hips. These thugs must be friends of Mario’s—am I going to have to hire a bodyguard? But as the boat kept moving down the river and he lost sight of them, he finally sat down.