Part 25 (2/2)

Before he could respond, Terasa reached beneath the serving lid and pulled out a gun. The bullet made a swoos.h.i.+ng sound as it found its mark, hitting Big Tony between the eyes. His body slumped forward across the desk.

Terasa saw Sonny push away from the wall, his hand reaching inside his jacket and then she heard two popping sounds. She turned to see Sonny's body slide down the wall. Vincent had shot him in the middle of his chest.

Edwards jumped straight up. The back of his legs. .h.i.t the front of the chair with so much force; it sent it careening across the room and into the wall before slamming to the floor with a loud clang.

”Holy s.h.i.+t!” he yelled, slinging the headphones down on the desk. Although silencers were used, there was no mistaking the sounds he just heard. Terasa had just killed her husband.

Terasa went over to the desk. She grabbed Big Tony by the hair and jerked his head back. She reached down and grabbed Rheyna's folder along with the newspaper. She let go of Big Tony's hair, and his head dropped back down on the desk with a thud. She turned back to Vincent and nodded toward the wall now stained with streaks of blood. ”Have Joey help you. I want them gone and this mess cleaned up before Caroline wakes up from her nap.” She glanced down at the newspaper in her hand. ”Once the bodies are found, I want you to set up a meeting for me with Carlos. In the meantime, I want you to check on something else...”

Edwards paced back and forth. He still couldn't believe what he just heard. Think, think, he told himself as he lit another cigarette although he had one burning in the ashtray. Without hesitation, he went over to the recorder and took out the tape. He grabbed a blank tape and stuck it in the slot just as the door opened. Stevens looked at him questioningly.

Edwards shook his head. ”I got nothing. Just the same ole same ole,” he said, and grabbed his jacket off the chair and left the room.

Chapter 23.

Edwards parked his car a few feet from the Los Angeles Coroner's wagon on pier 38. He looked out the driver's side window. It was taking quite a few police officers to keep the growing group of onlookers back. Judging by the size of the crowd it was apparent that they knew it was somebody important.

He flashed his badge at the officer and ducked under the police tape. When he received the call to come down to the pier, he had known what he would find, but he wanted to see it firsthand for himself. He walked over to the black body bag, pulled back the zipper, and looked down at Sonny Valachi. He noticed two circular, red stains in the middle of his chest.

He could hear excited mumbling from the crowd. No doubt, they were learning that the bodies were that of Mafia Boss Anthony Castrucci and his right hand man. He glanced up at a news helicopter circling overhead. He could see a reporter sitting in the door with his feet dangling out over the side, a camera mounted on his shoulder. He watched the helicopter swoop in low as the camera operator s.h.i.+fted his camera to his other shoulder.

He turned his attention back to the scene playing out approximately fifty-feet away. Several men were pulling on ropes. After several hard tugs, they heaved the ma.s.sively large body of Anthony Castrucci up over the side and onto the concrete. He walked over to have a look. The body was badly bloated, and there was no mistake about how he died. Directly in the middle of his forehead, almost between his eyes, was a bullet hole.

He had seen enough and headed back to his car. He couldn't help but think how ironic it was that their bodies were found today of all days. Only a short few hours ago, he was sitting in a diner, drinking a cup of coffee and reading the morning paper, when he received the phone call he had been waiting for. Only minutes earlier, the grand jury had handed down the indictment, and the charges had been endless. Overall, he felt that Castrucci had gotten off way too easy, but looking on the bright side, Castrucci wouldn't get another chance to hurt anyone else.

Vincent held the door open for Terasa and followed her inside Barecci's Restaurant. He took a seat at the bar and watched her walk toward the back room.

Carlos and Roberto stood up to greet her. Carlos smiled and bent to kiss the top of her hand.

”Terasa, please join me,” he said, motioning toward the opposite chair. ”Can I get you something to drink?”

”Seven, seven please,” she said, taking the seat he offered.

”Terasa, I must admit that I wasn't surprised to hear from you,” Carlos said.

”And I have to admit that doesn't surprise me, either, Carlos,” she said, smiling warmly at the older man. She had always liked Carlos, in spite of what her husband thought, and without Anthony's knowledge, she and Carlos had developed a warm friends.h.i.+p that now spanned more than twenty years.

”I kinda figured that, too. How have you been, Terasa? Are you doing okay with all of this?” he asked.

”I'm well, Carlos, and thank you for asking.”

Carlos waited for Roberto to set the drinks down before continuing. ”It's really good to see you, even under such dower conditions.”

She took a drink and then set the gla.s.s down on the table. She covered his hands with hers. ”I do appreciate your help more than you could possibly know.”

”It's okay, Terasa, and with that all said, I'd like to offer my condolences in the pa.s.sing of your husband,” he said with sincerity. He looked at her and shook his head. He thought about Castrucci and what an idiot he had been. Castrucci had everything, including a very beautiful wife, and he blew it. ”I a.s.sure you, you and Caroline will be taken care of.”

”Thank you, Carlos, for everything,” she said, and then waited for him to continue.

Never one to mince words, he got right to the point. ”I knew Anthony wanted me dead, Terasa, and I've known it for quite some time now. Believe it or not, you did the family a great service. Not all of us are like the monsters portrayed on TV, but men like Anthony give us all a bad name. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that we're angels, either-a far cry from it-but Anthony and Sal were just plain evil. They enjoyed inflicting pain on others. I, on the other hand, only choose that path after all options have been explored, and that's the way it should be.”

He stopped talking long enough to motion for Roberto to get him another drink. He looked at her and smiled. ”Normally, your actions would be unforgivable, but I think I'll make an exception in this case. Anthony was out of control. He let his position go to his head and in doing so, put the entire family at risk without a second thought. I knew about the girl, and yes, she was a problem, but she was Anthony's problem. A problem that should have never become mine, as it now stands. He did everything for personal reasons and his own morbid satisfaction.”

Taking the drink from Roberto, he drank half the contents before sitting it on the table. He thought about the FBI agent and the despicable act committed against her by Castrucci's hired gun. He could feel the anger boiling in his veins. His thoughts turned to his granddaughter. He shook his head. ”What was done to that girl was unconscionable and pure evil. They violated what was sacred and everything that the family stands for, and for that, we will take care of all loose ends and I do mean all loose ends.”

The anguish in his voice was evident, and Terasa felt compa.s.sion for her friend. She could see the hurt in his eyes. She had known for quite some time about his granddaughter. He had confided in her shortly after he found out. Although Rheyna hadn't been related to her, she still felt the horrific ache of knowing how she had suffered. She was grateful to this man, but there was one more thing bothering her. She had a question that needed an answer.

”I know you've done a lot for me already, Carlos, but I have one more favor to ask of you...”

Chapter 24.

Edwards sat in his car outside the Catholic Church and watched the small crowd of people who came to pay their respects to Anthony Castrucci. It had been three days since they pulled his body from the bay, and they were not wasting any time putting it in the ground.

Visibly missing were his wife and daughter, as well as the high-profile members of his crime family. Not one single member had come to the church, and it served Castrucci right.

His cell phone rang, jarring him from his thoughts. ”Are you sure, Laura ... Okay ... Yeah ... I'll be there as soon as I can.” He shook his head in disbelief as he started the car. Things just kept getting more and more interesting.

It took him less than ten minutes to drive down to The Lexington Club over on 19th street. The usual people were already on scene. Once again, a crime scene was declared as police tape cordoned off part of the street. He glanced across the street where uniformed officers were busy keeping onlookers back, and there was no shortage of reporters, either.

Laura walked over to him shaking her head. ”Single bullet to the side of the head,” she said as she lifted the police tape up for him to duck under.

They walked over to a green Chevy Caprice that was parked in the exact spot where Rheyna's Jeep had been weeks earlier. Edwards followed her around to the back of the car. Laura nodded at the uniformed officer. The hinges squeaked shrilly as he raised the trunk lid to a fully opened position.

Edwards looked down at Jay Farino's dead body, curled up in a fetal position, his hands bound tightly behind his back, his pants pulled down around his knees, exposing blood-covered legs.

”What's in his mouth?” he asked, leaning over to get a better view.

Laura grinned. ”They cut his d.i.c.k off.”

”Couldn't happen to a nicer guy,” Edwards laughed as he slammed the trunk lid shut.

Terasa pressed the remote and turned up the volume on the TV. Several news crews were live on the scene down at the Lexington Club. A picture of Jay Farino flashed on the screen and then the camera cut back to a live, close-up shot. She recognized Agents Forrest and Edwards standing near the rear end of a car. They moved out of the way as two of the coroner's a.s.sistants prepared to remove the body from the trunk.

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