22. Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Two
Clay
“Where to first?” I asked as I took the exit for North Kingshighway.
I’d been to St. Louis several times, sometimes to visit Hunter’s grandmother and sometimes on my way to somewhere else.
I hoped we could wrap up this shit with Ramon Blanco and get on with the rest of our lives.
Having Justin at the farm for a few days lit a fire inside me to make the arrangement permanent when he was ready.
There were logistics to be discussed, so getting Blanco’s shit off Justin’s radar was my priority.
“Uh, let’s start at DeLuca’s on the Hill.”
Justin looked up the address on his phone and gave me directions to the restaurant. The place was open with a few cars in the parking lot. I checked my watch to see it was just after two on a Thursday afternoon. What could go wrong with us just asking a few questions?
As I parked us at the curb across the street, the door burst open and five guys hurried outside, two of them were busy scanning the area as though they were watching a tennis match, while two more guys dragged another guy between them who was fighting like a rabid dog.
“Shit. Hunker down,” I hissed at Justin.
He slid down in his seat, and I grabbed my phone from the cupholder, turning on the camera app and holding it up to film what was happening. When the cars screeched by my truck that was still idling at the curb, we both sat up.
“What the fuck do you think that was?”
Justin shook his head. “Nothing good. Let’s see if I can recognize anyone. I did a lot of research on this group before I drove Ramon down here.”
We both watched the video.
“Wait. Go back and let me make this bigger.”
I handed him my phone and he adjusted the screen and pointed.
“That’s Marco Esposito. He’s the brother of one of the women Ramon had three children with.
Uh, Marcy. Marcy was her name. Ramon’s son, Nico, and one of his daughters, Gina, work at the restaurant.
It belonged to Johnny DeLuca, the head of the family, as it said on a St. Louis Mobster site I found.
He’s dead now. Died not long after Ramon.
“The other guys I’m not sure about.” Justin restarted the video.
“Great. I thought this shit went out in the seventies. So, now what?”
“Let’s go inside. Maybe Nico is working and I can ask him some questions. Uh, I’ll tell him I’m writing a book on the history of organized crime in St. Louis. Maybe he’ll help me out.” Justin turned to look at me. “He might flirt with me. He wanted to take me out for a drink when I met him.”
I wanted to say, “Over his dead body,” but that wouldn’t look desperate at all. We were building trust, and I had to remember that.
“Well, I trust you. I think I can handle some guy flirting with my boyfriend.” I probably couldn’t, but I’d try my best.
Justin smirked. “I’ll be pissed if Nico flirts with you, but I trust you, too. Now, let’s go inside.”
We hopped out of the truck and crossed the street.
When we got to the curb on the other side, I took Justin’s hand and stopped him.
“I’ll let you talk to him and I’ll pretend to flip through my phone like I’m not paying attention.
Just say I’m a friend who came with you on your research mission, okay? ”
Justin nodded and opened the door. “Ramon told me their meatball subs are very good. It smells fantastic in here, but I didn’t eat here the last time I came by.”
We walked up to the host stand to see a lovely woman with dark brown hair tucked up in a bun. Justin smiled at her. “Good afternoon. Is Nico working today?”
The young woman sized us up for a moment. “What’s your name?”
“Teddy Banks. You must be Gina.”
The girl smiled. “Oh, you worked with Ana at Sephora, right? She didn’t remember you when Uncle Marco and Nico mentioned you. Aren’t you the guy who stood up Nico too? I can see why he was so pissed.
Justin gave a slow nod.
“You wanna eat? I’ll get you a table before I go get Nico. The soup of the day is Minestrone. The special appetizer is our house-made toasted ravioli, and today’s lunch special is chicken spiedini with your choice of a pasta side and a small house salad.”
Justin turned to me. “You wanna have lunch?”
“I could eat,” I said. I reached for my phone and followed Justin and the young lady to a table in the dining room.
“Your server is Ricardo. He’ll be with you in a moment.” Gina handed us menus and returned to the host stand.
A young man arrived at our table with a basket of warm bread and butter, while another guy filled our water glasses. “I’m Ricardo, your server. Can I get your something besides water to drink?”
“Uh, I’ll have an iced tea,” I said.
“I’m good with water, thank you.” Justin opened his menu as the young man walked away.
“So, you recognized Gina?” I asked as I held my menu up to block anyone from seeing me interact with Justin.
“Yes, but only because Ana has a large social media presence, and there were no pictures of Gina anywhere. Deductive reasoning. I’d like to talk to her to find out what she’s heard about her father over the years, but I’m afraid that’ll give them the impression I’m someone I’m not.”
I chuckled as I closed my menu and turned toward the swinging stainless door that led to the kitchen. A large good-looking guy walked out of the kitchen wearing a black and white striped apron. He glanced around and when he saw Justin, he grinned.
“Incoming, darlin’,” I whispered.
Justin glanced around and when he saw the guy, he stood. “Nico.”
“Hey, Teddy. You stood me up.” The guy didn’t seem too upset about it. When he walked over to the table, he bumped fists with Justin and gave me the up and down.
“I’m sorry, Nico. I had to leave town suddenly. Family bullshit. I wondered if I could get a raincheck for this evening?”
Nico turned his gaze on me. “Who’s this?”
Justin glanced at me and smiled. “He’s my friend. He came along to keep me company while I’m here to do some research. What time do you get off?”
Nico gave the two of us a filthy smile. “My shift ends at four-thirty. What time I get off depends on the two of you.”
I could see what the guy thought might happen, so I decided to play into it. “That’s cute. I’m Cl—Danny.” I stood and extended my fist to bump his. If Justin was using a fake name, I could too.
“Nice to meet you, Danny. Where are you guys staying?” Nico turned from me to Justin, waiting for an answer.
It was then I remembered Betsy, Hunter’s grandmother, had passed, and I was pretty sure her house was still empty. Knowing Steve, he’d let me stay there if I called him. Hell, I knew where the key was hidden.
“At my grandmother’s house. She’s recently deceased and my folks asked me to check on the property while we’re here. Gimme your phone, and I’ll give you the address. They cleaned all the booze out of the house, so I’ll go to the store. What do you like to drink?”
Nico handed over his phone, and I put in Betsy’s address in the Central West End, a very fancy area in St. Louis City that was also gay friendly. It was only a few miles from where we stood at the moment.
I returned Nico’s phone and he checked it. “Wow, that’s a cool neighborhood. Sure. How about eight? We can pregame at Grandma’s and go to the Lazy Lion on Newstead. It’s a mostly straight bar, but they’re friendly to those of us in the rainbow community. Oh, and tequila. I like expensive tequila.”
Without another word, Nico walked back into the restaurant kitchen. Justin and I ordered the toasted ravioli for an appetizer and split the chicken parm. The food was indeed very good.
Ricardo, our server, came over to the table as we were finishing up. “Your food is on Nico. Thank you for dropping by, and I hope you’ll come back.” I reached into my pocket and left a tip on the table before Justin and I left the restaurant.
As we crossed the street, Justin turned to me. “Danny, what’s the plan?”
I let him into the truck and as I glanced at the restaurant, I saw Nico step out of the restaurant and wave. I waved in return. I got into the truck and turned to Justin. “Find us a place to buy liquor. I happen to know Betsy didn’t drink, ever.”
Justin giggled and began pecking into his phone. “Uh, there’s a grocery store with a liquor department about half a mile up the road.”
Let the fun begin.
“Why are you dumping the innocent vodka out of the bottle and refilling it with water?” Justin was standing next to me beside the kitchen sink in Betsy’s home as I dumped a fifth of Tito’s down the drain.
I’d called Steve before we went to the grocery store.
“Hi, Steve. It’s Clay. I’m in St. Louis and my truck broke down.
I was wondering if I could possibly stay a couple of nights at Betsy’s house while I’m waiting for the truck to be repaired?
I need to park a flatbed of hay I’m hauling to Arkansas in her driveway, and my delivery date is Sunday. I won’t make a mess, I swear.”
Steve had hesitated for a few minutes before he finally agreed.
“Yes, of course, Clay. Do you need anything else? We cleaned out the fridge when we were there, but there’s a market that used to deliver for Mom not far down the road.
The, uh, the key is under the chrysanthemum in the green pot on the back patio. ”
“Clay, sweetheart, why are you dumping the lovely vodka down the drain?” Justin reminded me that I was in the here and now.
I turned on the cold water and began refilling the bottle before I capped it and put it into the freezer to cool.
I turned to where Justin sat at the center island and walked over to him, placing my hands on his cheeks.
“The best way to handle this situation is to get Nico to drink while we stay sober. We’ll drink shots.
You and me from the Tito’s bottle, and Nico from the Patrons. ”
I grabbed the bag of tortilla chips and rummaged through the cabinets until I found a baking sheet. “Can you turn on the oven? Let’s heat the chips and I’ll put some salsa in a bowl. Does Nico seem smart to you?”