Ghostly Serenade

by Colleen Helme

  My brows drew together. “Chris.”

  He grinned. “I’m just giving you a hard time. So, what really happened in the meeting with Manetto?” He knew I hadn’t gone into all the details because the kids were listening.

  “Well, it was kind of touch and go, since he was ready to take over Milo’s business and kill him for breaking the deal.”

  “Whoa.”

  “Yeah. But I managed to convince him to put it off until after we talked to Tony-the-snitch. That’s where I’m headed. He set up a meeting with him at Vinny’s… I think it’s a restaurant, but I don’t know for sure. Anyway, I hope I can pick up what Tony’s hiding in the boat that might be related to the murders, and what Milo’s motives are for putting a hit on me, so we can stop it.” I closed my eyes and sighed. “I’m so ready for this to be done.”

  “Me too, babe. Me too.” He pulled me into his arms, and I let out a yelp. “Oh sorry. I forgot about your stitches.”

  “That’s okay. Let’s try it again.” I lifted my arm to cover his and rested my cheek against his shoulder, reveling in the solid beat of his heart. My phone chirped, and I knew it was time to go. I stepped away to check the message. “It’s time. Wish me luck?”

  “Do I need to worry about the hit on you? Will you be safe?”

  “I’ll be fine. I’m going with Uncle Joey and Ramos. Plus, I’ve got my stun-flashlight. What more could I want?”

  He smiled. “Good. Be sure and use it if you need to.” I smiled back and gave him a quick kiss, picking up how he hated that I was leaving him behind again. But, right now, he didn’t want to think about it too hard. What I did was part of our lives, and he needed to accept everything about it, the good and the bad… and maybe the ugly, too.

  I chuckled. “Thanks honey. I love you.”

  “I love you too.” He opened the bedroom door and walked me to the outer door. “Oh… don’t forget this.” He handed me a room key. “I wouldn’t want you locked out again.”

  With a smile, I slipped it into my purse for safe-keeping. “Thanks.” After another quick kiss, I told the kids I’d be back and hurried to the elevator.

  Uncle Joey waited at the front desk, speaking quietly with Frank. I caught that he’d brought Frank up to speed with the recent developments, and Frank quietly seethed inside.

  It was hard for him not to blame Uncle Joey for this, and regret that he’d asked Uncle Joey for help with the hotel warred with the idea that the Manettos had to take a stand against those murdering Bilottis. As long as his family didn’t have to pay for it, he could take it, but if another war broke out, he’d never forgive himself.

  Thoughts of his children and grandchildren lying murdered in their own blood filled him with dread. He couldn’t let it happen. “Joe, I’m counting on you to take care of this. I can’t have the blood of my family spilled over this. Not again.”

  “I give you my word, Frank. I’ll take care of this, I promise.”

  Frank held his gaze for a moment and then sent him a nod. He looked my way and tried to smile. “Hey Shelby, I’m glad you’re all right.”

  “Thanks.”

  “We’d better get going,” Uncle Joey said, pointing toward the elevators. “We’re meeting the car in the parking garage, in case anyone’s watching the hotel.”

  “Oh… that makes sense.” I listened to Uncle Joey’s thoughts, but he’d blocked them from me, and I hoped he wasn’t too mad. We took the elevator to the garage in silence.

  As we stepped out, a twinge of fear raced down my spine. I didn’t like parking garages much. With a hit on me, it was worse than normal. Uncle Joey noticed my hesitation and pointed to the waiting car in the pick-up zone.

  Ramos stepped from the passenger seat and opened the back door for us. After sending him a quick nod, I slid inside, moving all the way over, so Uncle Joey could sit beside me. The driver seemed familiar, and I realized it was Flint, the main guy who’d been with us at Milo’s nightclub.

  Ramos closed the door and slid into the passenger seat. Flint put the car in gear, and we exited the parking lot. Along the way, Ramos kept his attention on the cars around us, watching for a tail. I’d been compromised once today already, and he wasn’t going to take any chances.

  “It’ll take us about twenty minutes to get to Vinny’s,” Uncle Joey said.

  “Oh… good to know. Thanks for telling me.”

  Uncle Joey gave me a quick nod, but kept his expression frosty. Ramos glanced between us and raised his brows. What was going on? He settled his gaze on me, and I gave him a tiny shrug. His brows drew together, but he turned his attention back to the street.

  Uncle Joey still blocked his thoughts from me, but I managed to pick up from Flint that Vinny’s was a dry-cleaning business near the Chelsea Pier, which made sense, since Tony worked close by on the boats.

  Knowing Tony probably had all the answers I needed, I put some thought into the questions I should ask him, determined to find out what had happened on that boat.

  We pulled into another parking garage, heading down into the darkness of the lower levels. After finding a parking place, we all got out and walked toward the staircase heading up. Ramos led the way, and Flint brought up the rear, making sure I was safe. Did they really think someone would try to kill me again?

  My palms began to sweat just thinking about it. We finally reached ground level, coming out beside a busy street. Across the street, I spotted a sign with Vinny’s Dry Cleaning in big letters above the door. We had to walk to the corner and cross the street with the light to get there.

  I didn’t like the exposure and scrutinized each person we passed, keeping my mind open for thoughts of someone wanting to kill me. Flint, Ramos, and Uncle Joey were watchful as well. It should have comforted me, but instead, it just made me more anxious.

  By the time we got to Vinny’s, I was a nervous wreck. Ramos opened the door and strode inside before ushering the rest of us in. An older man stood behind the counter. From his weathered face and stooped shoulders, he looked to be about eighty-five. He was thinking that it had been a long time since he’d done the Manettos a favor.

  But he knew better than to turn us down. As he lifted the counter to allow us into the back, his mind went to the last person who hadn’t cooperated with the Manetto family. He’d ended up in the spin cycle of one of his machines, and it had been a bitch to clean it up.

  Eww. I jerked away from those thoughts and followed Ramos through the rows of hanging laundry to the back of the building. A door opened into a small office space, with a glass partition overlooking the floor. Tony waited for us inside. Sweat beaded on his brow, and he stood as we entered.

  He was thinking that maybe working for the Manettos was a bad idea. But how could he get out of it now? There had to be a way, but, so far, nothing had come to him, and he was afraid he was stuck. Too bad the money had been too good to pass up.

  He also didn’t like seeing me there. Dealing with Manetto was bad enough, but, since I was involved with the police, it was much worse. Did Manetto even know about last night? If not, I was taking a big chance coming here, because he wouldn’t hold that information back.

  “Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice,” Uncle Joey said. “Please sit down.”

  Three chairs surrounded a small, round table. He sat on the chair furthest from Ramos, who stood at the door. Flint stayed outside the room for an extra layer of protection. I sat beside Uncle Joey, facing Tony on the other side of the table.

  “What can I do for you?” Tony asked.

  “We’re here about the hit on Shelby,” Uncle Joey answered, watching him closely for a reaction.

  Tony’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

  “Someone tried to kill Shelby earlier today.” Uncle Joey leaned forward. “I want to know who put the contract on her and why.”

  Tony’s heart raced. What the hell? “I don’t know anything about that. Are you sure that’s what it was? I mean�
� maybe it was a mugger or something.”

  “No, it wasn’t.”

  Tony huffed out a breath. This was bad. “I don’t know anything about it. If Milo put the hit on her, he didn’t tell me.”

  “When was the last time you spoke to Milo?” Uncle Joey asked.

  “Last night. I had to tell him that Ramos was on the boat. He didn’t like it much. But what really sent him off the deep end was hearing that Shelby had been there with a police detective.” He didn’t know if I’d told Uncle Joey about that, and he watched with anticipation for Uncle Joey’s anger toward me. It never came.

  I sent him an amused smile that took the sneer right off his face. He stared into my eyes, wishing the hit today had killed me. Things would be a whole lot easier if I wasn’t around. Milo had warned Tony about me. I didn’t miss a thing.

  “Do you think he ordered the hit because of that?” Uncle Joey asked.

  “Maybe. I mean… it upset him, but he never told me he was going to put a hit on her. Given the circumstances, it doesn’t make sense that he’d provoke you like that.” But he thought it made perfect sense if Manetto was using me to take Milo down. If I was out of the picture, Manetto’s plan would fail, and Milo could set a trap for Manetto.

  “What about the detective?” I asked. “Did you tell Milo that the detective tried to go below deck, so you roughed him up?”

  He shrugged. “I may have mentioned it to help calm him down.”

  “So what are you hiding down there? Drugs?”

  “Nothing,” he said, surprised at the turn of my questions. Why did I care? Not about to tell me or Uncle Joey the truth, he lied. “It’s roped off because it’s Milo’s private space. No one goes down there, especially not a cop.”

  “You’re lying,” I said. “You have some kind of a drug operation going on.”

  “No one could ever prove it. What does it matter to you, anyway? You planning on arresting me? I don’t think your boss would like that.” Tony glanced toward Uncle Joey, hoping he’d intervene on his behalf.

  Uncle Joey’s lips twisted, and he kept his steely-eyed gaze locked with Tony’s until he couldn’t take it anymore and looked away. Wow. This was the second time I’d seen Uncle Joey do that. He was really good at intimidating people.

  Tony drew in a worried breath. Maybe things were getting too risky to keep using that boat for transferring the money and drugs, especially with the cops taking an interest. They’d have to figure out something different until things cooled down.

  “The detective wasn’t looking for drugs,” I said. “He thinks your boat had something to do with the three women who were killed a few days ago. Is he right? Did you have something to do with their deaths?”

  Tony’s eyes widened, and a barrage of swearing came from his mind. The unexpected questions sent shock rippling through him. How did I connect them to his boat? Had someone talked? He’d made sure the woman in the hospital died before she could tell the cops anything, so how did anyone know? “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  My heart raced. Holy hell. It was him. He was the killer.

  I shrugged and tried to play it cool. “For some reason, the detective connected one of the women to your boat. We were there to check it out. We never did find anything.”

  Tony shook his head. “This is unbelievable.” Clearly agitated, he absently pushed his hand through his hair. This whole thing was going to hell, and it was all Milo’s fault. After that woman had accidently seen Tony with the drugs, he’d called Milo to tell him what had happened. He’d tried to get Milo to agree to pay her off, but Milo wouldn’t hear of it and told him to kill her.

  Tony had no choice. It was him or her, so he’d followed her home and killed her, along with her roommates. It was a total disaster, all because stupid Lucas had brought her onto the boat in the first place. Now look at the mess he was in. If the detective had linked him to the murders, he was toast.

  A wave of hot anger rushed over me. It was Tony. He’d killed three young women, with their whole lives ahead of them, for nothing. I clamped my mouth shut before I started yelling at him.

  “Maybe Milo put the hit on you because you were snooping into his business with the detective,” Tony said, wanting to steer the conversation back to Milo where it belonged. “Like I said, I don’t know why he’d do it, but that could explain it.”

  He also thought it could be a trap for Uncle Joey, but he wasn’t about to warn him. Still, Milo had been furious enough last night that he wouldn’t put it past him, regardless of the consequences.

  “Yes, it might,” Uncle Joey said, glancing between me and Tony. Had I found out what I needed to know? At my nod, he continued, “But I still want to know more about the hit on Shelby.”

  “I’ll do what I can,” Tony said. “But it will take some discretion. We don’t want anyone to know I’m working for you.”

  “I’ll give you until midnight,” Uncle Joey said. “That should be plenty of time. If you haven’t figured it out by then, you’re a dead man. Understand?”

  Tony huffed out a breath. “Okay. I’ll do it. But you have to do something for me.” Desperate, he caught my gaze. “You have to get the detective to back off. I can’t have the police coming around tonight.”

  He was thinking tonight was a big exchange, and there was still a chance he could salvage things. Once he traded the coke for the money, he could take the money and run. Between Milo, Manetto, and the police, this was his only way out. Milo and Manetto could fight it out, and he’d be long gone by the time the dust settled.

  “That should work,” I agreed, lying my head off. “The detective’s not feeling too well anyway, so that’s not a problem, but I can’t promise you anything after tonight.”

  “That’s fine.” He stood, anxious to leave. “I’ll be in touch.”

  After the door shut behind him, Uncle Joey turned to me. “What’s going on?”

  I unclamped my jaw and let out a breath. “He was telling the truth about the hit. He didn’t know anything about it, but he seemed to believe that Milo could have ordered it. I caught that Milo doesn’t like me much, and it would hurt you.”

  Uncle Joey sat back in his chair. “But, by killing you, he knows that I’d retaliate and kill him. Why would he want me to do that?”

  “Tony was thinking of some kind of trap. That Milo would trap you or something… I don’t know what he meant by that.”

  “I think it’s probably both reasons,” Ramos said. “They need Shelby out of the way because she’s working with the police, and it’s a way to lure you into a trap. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  Uncle Joey shrugged. “Yes. Unless Enzo put the hit on Shelby. If the hitman succeeded and Shelby died, then he’s got to know that I’d kill Milo, and Enzo would take over the business.” He glanced my way. “Did he seem like the type to do that?”

  “Not really,” I replied. “I think Milo doesn’t like me… mostly because I’m working with the police and I’m a threat to him. He has to believe that you’ll come after him, but it must be worth the risk.”

  Uncle Joey nodded, thinking it was probably Milo since he was such a hothead. He narrowed his gaze at me. “What about the murders? I noticed you left that part out.”

  Anger rose in my heart. I couldn’t lie to Uncle Joey, not after our earlier confrontation. With heated disgust, I spit it out. “Tony killed them.” I explained the whole thing, leaving nothing out. My voice shook a little and, by the time I got done, I was breathless.

  “So he’s planning to take the money and run,” Uncle Joey said.

  “Yeah. He’s pretty desperate. But I can’t let that happen.”

  Uncle Joey nodded. He knew I was beyond upset about the murders, and that I’d want justice for the women. “I thought you’d say that.”

  “I have to tell Hawk. But look on the bright side. They can get Tony for murder and shut down Bilotti for his drug running at the same time. Then he’ll be out of your hair. It
looks like a win-win to me.”

  Ramos and Uncle Joey exchanged glances, but their minds were blank. What was that all about? Ramos let out a breath. “It doesn’t solve the hit on you.”

  I shrugged. “But with Bilotti arrested, won’t that cancel it out?”

  Ramos shook his head, thinking I didn’t have a clue about what a hit meant. Hadn’t I ever watched any of those assassin movies? “No, I’m afraid not.”

  “In order for a hit to be cancelled,” Uncle Joey said. “The person who ordered it has to rescind it. If I could find the hitman, I might be able to offer him more to let you live, but I don’t know who took the contract on you.”

  “So you’re saying that you’ll have to get Milo to call it off before he’s arrested?” I asked. “Or at least tell you who he hired. But what if his son ordered the hit?”

  “That would be a problem,” Uncle Joey said. “But I don’t think we have to worry about it. Tony will come through.” He was thinking it was a no-brainer since Tony’s life was forfeit if he didn’t. “You weren’t thinking of helping the police take Tony down were you?” His icy gaze caught mine and he was thinking that hell would freeze over before he’d let me do that.

  My eyes widened. I’d hoped to be there, mostly because I liked taking down the bad guys. There was a nice feeling of exhilaration that made my involvement worth it. “Oh… I guess I don’t have to be there.”

  “Good choice.” Uncle Joey tried not to shake his head at me, but today took the cake. He was this close to sending me home. In fact, the more he thought about it, the better it sounded.

  “You don’t have to do that,” I blurted. “I can still help. We just need to get this sorted out.”

  He took a deep breath and blew it out before he answered me. “All right. You want to tell Hawk about tonight, so why don’t you take Ramos over to his place and do that.”

  “Yeah, okay… that sounds great.” Wow… he was actually okay with telling Hawk about all this. Relief washed over me. Now I just needed to make sure he left Milo alone for the night. “Uh… just don’t do anything rash tonight. I mean… you never know… the police might show up to arrest Milo, right? You wouldn’t want to be there… you know?”