Part 16 (2/2)
”I'll call you as soon as I'm done talking to Artie.” Edwards gathered up the photos and went out the door.
Laura turned at the sound of voices and reached over to turn the volume up on the receiver. She was listening in to the conversation going on inside Castrucci's office. A few minutes later, she glanced up as the door opened.
”I just saw Kyle drive away. Where's he going?” Stevens asked as he set the bag on the table.
She held up her hand to silence him. ”Hold on, I'll tell you in a minute.”
Big Tony glared at Sonny and Henry.
Sonny tried to calm him down. ”They haven't got s.h.i.+t, Tony and that's why they're doing this. Trying to shake us up, that's all.”
Big Tony wasn't buying it. He vehemently shook his head at Sonny. ”Carlos is behind this. He has to be.”
”It don't make no sense, Tony.”
”Paulie and Georgie, that's why!” he yelled.
Sonny shook his head. ”Carlos don't know s.h.i.+t, either.”
Henry's cell phone rang, interrupting their conversation. ”Yeah? How long ago ... He down there now ... Yeah ... Okay ... Call me when they're released.” Henry flipped the phone shut.
Big Tony looked at him.
”That was Louie. Marco and Connie just got pinched in front of Pal Joey's.”
”What the h.e.l.l for?” Big Tony asked.
”Some bulls.h.i.+t about consorting with known criminals and Connie was packing.”
Big Tony looked as if his head was going to explode. ”See? What'd I tell you, Sonny? Last week, they got Richie for no reason.”
Sonny sat calmly, taking it all in as he lit a cigarette. ”Has Ramono been called?” he asked Henry.
Henry nodded. ”He was there waitin' when they brought aem in.”
Laura smiled as she and Stevens listened in on the conversation. She could only imagine the look on Castrucci's face. If he's p.i.s.sed now, wait until we go into Baysh.o.r.e, she thought. Better yet, wait until he finds out that we got Artie. She wished she could be there to see the look on his face.
Chapter 18.
Rheyna had no idea of what took place inside the house, but she knew it was bad and she figured it had to be from the pressure Edwards was instigating. Big Tony looked like a volcano about to erupt.
He jerked the chair back away from the table and sat down. Sonny and Henry took a seat at the table next to him. The patio table next to the pool had turned out to be Big Tony's preferred place to discuss business and it had paid off highly for her. She grabbed the towel off the table and wiped her face and arms while glancing over at the table.
Today was a real scorcher. The thermometer outside the pool hut put the temperature at ninety-eight degrees. She looked down at her legs and was grateful for cosmetic makeup-namely, waterproof concealer. It had done a good job of hiding her scratches. Of course, Caroline had noticed, just as she had suspected she would. She felt bad for blaming it on Annie, but the explanation seemed to satisfy Caroline.
She watched Big Tony reach inside his breast pocket, take out a handkerchief, and use it to mop the sweat off his forehead. What he did next shocked her. Henry had been leering at Caroline almost from the instant he saw her. With a movement quicker than Rheyna thought possible, Bog Tony slapped Henry upside the head so hard that he nearly knocked him out of the chair. ”Put your G.o.d d.a.m.n tongue back in your mouth before I cut it off,” he snarled.
She tried not to laugh and actually felt a little bit sorry for the man. She knew how he felt. Her tongue fell out when she looked at Caroline, too.
”I think he likes you,” she said just loud enough for Caroline to hear.
Caroline frowned and playfully slapped her with the magazine she was reading. ”Yuck. He can like all he wants.”
”He's not that bad-looking,” Rheyna teased.
”You think so? Maybe you should take him for yourself.”
Rheyna glanced over at Henry and shook her head. ”Nah. Not my type.”
A look of amus.e.m.e.nt crossed Caroline's face. ”And ... what exactly is your type?” she asked.
Rheyna wanted to say, you are, but held her tongue. ”I prefer blondes.”
”That figures.”
Rheyna turned over on her side to look at her. ”What's that supposed to mean?”
Caroline shrugged. ”Nothing. Just that most people like the opposite of what they look like.”
”Is that true for you, too?”
”Yep,” she answered and then ducked her face back behind the magazine.
Rheyna sighed. She's flirting with me again, she thought. Come to think of it, she did that a lot these days. She heard a phone ring and looked up to see Henry talking into his cell again. She heard him say, ”Yeah and okay” before hanging up. Her ear bud was useless. She hadn't had the opportunity to get the receiver from under the table to replace the batteries, and she was not about to test fate by being careless. A few minutes later, she heard the door slide open and turned to see Terasa walk out onto the patio.
”Where's Rosa?” Big Tony asked.
Terasa placed a tray of sandwiches down on the table. ”She has the afternoon off,” she said.
”Thanks, Mrs. Castrucci,” Henry said, biting into the club sandwich.
”Thanks, Mrs. C,” Sonny said, taking a sandwich for himself.
”You're welcome, boys,” she replied with a smile.
She's always smiling, Rheyna thought as she watched Big Tony half stand to kiss Terasa on the cheek.
”Is she great, or what?” he asked the two men.
Terasa picked up the tray and came over to her and Caroline. Caroline sat up and pulled one of the loungers over.
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