by Edwin Dasso
Lida looked down at the table and nodded her head and she wiped her eyes. Her voice was a whisper. “I can’t. I can’t leave yet. But maybe I can in a month or so.”
Melody shook her head. "A month is too long. Get out of here. Now. Before it's too late. You’ve no idea what you’re dealing with. The arm of the Minelli family is very long," Melody’s voice was forceful but hushed. “I know. I’ve lived here a long time, all of my life.” A moment later she walked away and re-entered the restaurant to bring Lida her water.
Lida burst into tears.
Kat and Allison were stunned. They stared at each other. Neither knew what to say.
A moment later a man came up behind them. It was Joseph Minelli. He put his arm around Lida’s shoulders. His voice was soft. "I've come to take you back to work, Lida. Let's go."
Lida dutifully rose from the table, took Joe's hand, waved goodbye to her friends. "I'll text you. We’ll get together later this afternoon.”
Kat shook her head. How in the hell did Joe Minelli know to show up at that very moment? Was he following them? Worst of all, was he stalking Lida? “No. No way. She turned to Joe. “Where are you taking her? She’s upset. Let me take her back to the hotel so she can rest. We’ll repair her make-up and she’ll see you shortly.”
Joe nodded and sighed. “Okay, take her to the Magnolia, and I’ll check with her shortly.” He turned to walk away and then turned back around. “But, be sure she’s in your room, Kat. She needs to come back to work.”
Kat nodded. “She’ll be there.” Lida, Allison and Kat watched Joe return to his sports car and drive off. Kat turned to Lida. “What’s going on, Lida? Are you in danger? Things here seem to be very messed up.”
Lida shook her head. “I have to go now, Kat. I’ll be fine walking back to the hotel. I’m taking the beach road. Please, just leave me alone and let me go. I have to have some time alone so I can think.”
Kat studied her friend. Lida’s eyes were huge, but otherwise she seemed calm. “Do you promise me you’ll wait for me in your room at the Magnolia?”
Lida nodded. “I’ll see you then.” Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as she raced out of the restaurant. The sun was high in the sky and the combination of her anxiety, fear, and the bright light made her dizzy. She quickly walked down the boardwalk until she reached the beach and started to walk back towards the Magnolia. As soon as she came to a gazebo she ducked inside and reached for her phone. She frantically dialed special agent Charles Hollister at the FBI. He answered immediately.
"Lida. What do you have?"
Lida sobbed into the phone. "He's killed another woman, Valerie Taylor. My friends just found her body in a boat tied to the pier behind the Gulf Grill restaurant."
"How do you know? It could be someone else," Hollister said gently.
"No. No. It's her. My friends identified the ring she wears. She said she had blonde hair. Valerie has long blonde hair and she's been missing for three days." Lida paused. “Usually they are found three or four days after they go missing, right?”
Charles Hollister sighed deeply. "Yeah. Agent Williams is at the Magnolia now. We’ll check it out. What about you? How are you doing?”
“Joey won’t let me out of his sight. That tells me Lenny is running out of patience.”
Agent Hollister clutched his phone. “Yeah. What else. Do you have access to the files we need?”
“Not all of them. I don’t have the file on sex trafficking, but I know they’re doing it. I need a few more days.” Lida was so scared she could hardly form her words. "I think they're going to kill me. I think Lenny knows I'm not gonna cook the casino’s books. I’ve put him off as long as I can. I don't think there's anything else I can do," she wailed as her voice faded.
"Okay, Lida. We're pulling you out this evening. I'll have Williams find you and see you safely somewhere. Go back to your parents’ house as soon as you can. We’ll move you and your family to a safe house."
Lida was flabbergasted. "How are you gonna do that, Chuck? Don't you know that my mother is dying from cancer and that my father has a huge church that is getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving? There's no way you can move us now." Lida’s voice shook as she considered her reality. “Besides, I don’t have all of the proof yet and I want a little more time to get into the casino files.”
“Too risky.” Hollister barked into the phone. "I have to pull you. It's the only way I can guarantee your safety. If you're sure Lenny's on to you, then I've got to get you out of there."
Lida’s heart thumped wildly. "Hang on. Let me think. Let me see if I can get some of the files in the accounting system this afternoon. I'll give those to Joey and maybe he can placate Lenny until the first of the week. I don't think he’ll try to kill me now, or anything else, because my friends are here and he knows I'll be with people all the time."
"I don't know, Lida. I don’t agree. That sounds risky to me." Hollister’s voice was dubious.
Lida was silent for moment. "I think it will work. I can alter the financial records that are needed for the gaming board's visit the end of next week. I’ll breach the firewall and search the rest of the casino files. If I give something to Lenny today, he'll leave me alone and that'll buy me some time."
"Okay." Hollister's voice was uncertain. “Take no chances. My best judgement says to pull you. In the meantime I'll send two more agents over there in addition to Thad. Check in with him hourly. But you know there is no way to watch you every second of the day."
“I know that.” Lida’s voice was quiet. "I'll be okay," she insisted. "I'll be with my friends the entire weekend. For heaven sakes, it's Thanksgiving, Chuck. Take some time off.”
“No way I can do that. If one thing goes wrong, or if Williams can’t find you, his orders are to find you at all costs and bring you in."
"Okay. Okay. That's fine. I have found another suspicious file that may prove Minelli is trafficking women. I just can’t access it yet. Plus, there's a waitress I know who told me that there was gossip among the dancers that he’d trafficked several of them that supposedly left the casino’s employ.” She paused, “But, there is no hard evidence.”
"When did you hear this?" Hollister's voice was rough.
"About thirty minutes ago. Melody told me. She got fired about a month ago from human resources. Lenny had her beat up but she's doing okay."
"Did you talk to her directly about the slave trade?"
“Yeah. He never approached her about it. She was head of human resources. Lenny hates her. She’d only heard about the trafficking from the dancers. They would come to her and complain all the time and say he’d trafficked women years ago.”
“So nothing directly to her.” Hollister bent a paper clip back and forth.
"Nah. She says no. Lenny only wants blondes because they're worth more money." Lida's voice was unsteady as the tears burned the back of her eyes. "Valerie Taylor had long blonde hair and I'm sure she fought him tooth and nail so he killed her."
"Well, she'll be the fourth woman that we think Minelli has killed since the spring." He paused. "I mean it, Lida. Check in with me on the burner phone every couple of hours and don't let Thad Williams out of your sight. If you don't check in, we're coming after you."
"Okay. I will. I promise." Lida's voice was steady. She felt better but was still gravely concerned.
"Carry the burner phone everywhere you go. We have a tracker in it, and we can follow you." He paused. "Stay safe and be smart. Watch your six."
"If I was smart, I'd never have applied for a job as an FBI accountant," Lida quipped. “But I will. I’ll keep the phone with me at all times, I promise.” Lida’s stomach settled into a hard knot as her anxiety mounted. She tried to blow it off. Chuck Hollister is frightened for me. I must be in grave danger.
"Okay. That's a joke, check in every hour or we're coming for you."
"Done." Lida cut off her phone walked back to the Magnolia. She paced around the room and fumed for a few minutes an
d called Joey and arranged to meet him at the Crab Shack.
She left Kat a note, packed a quick overnight bag, and left the Magnolia.
6
Allison and Kat waited quietly in the hospital emergency department waiting room. A nurse had reported Barb was stable and responding to treatment. Kat’s anxiety skyrocketed as she thought about the day. She’d had too much caffeine and was jittery. She felt as though her brain could explode in her head. She turned to Allison who sat quietly. “What do you think is going on? We haven’t even been here a full day and we’ve seen two women who been have mistreated, arguably brutalized, and found a dead body in a boat. All of this and it's possible one of our best friends maybe has food poisoning?” Kat stood and walked over to the water cooler and got herself a cup of ice water. She needed to water down her caffeine.
Allison nodded and pushed her long hair out of her face. "Yeah. It’s a lot to take in. At this point, I’m the most worried about Barb. Why won't they let us see her?" Allison idly flipped the pages of a magazine. "Do you think she's even conscious? Could she hear you earlier when you talked with her? Back when you all were on the dock?"
"I’ve no idea. I doubt it." Kat shrugged her shoulders. "I know she was barely conscious when the paramedics came. She didn't even flinch when they stuck that big needle in her arm." Kat shook her head. "What did she eat? It has to be some sort of a food reaction."
Allison nodded. “Didn’t she have shrimp? I thought Lida and Barbara ordered the shrimp."
Kat nodded. “No. They both ordered the grouper, the catch of the day with the crabmeat garnish. But, I’ve seen Barb eat grouper a million times. She’s never had a reaction to it. And Lida doesn’t seem to be sick.” Kat sat back down, sipped her water and looked at Allison. “What do you think?”
Allison shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe it was a seasoning or spice in the sauce or the crabmeat garnish. Maybe garlic or another spice. I guess they’ll be able to tell us something soon.” She reached for another copy of Vogue Magazine on the table. “I think people can develop food allergies over time. Maybe she’s developed a shellfish allergy.”
Kat looked doubtful. “I guess that’s possible. Maybe. Yeah. But Barb is so health conscious. She’d have told us.”
“Agreed. She’d have told us if she knew. Perhaps she had no idea she’d be allergic.” Allison studied a magazine picture of a model in a black evening gown. “I was so busy stuffing my face I didn’t notice much of what they ate, but I’m pretty sure Lida and Barb both ordered the fish. I’m not sure the dishes were prepared the same way, though."
Kat shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know either.” She sat quietly as she reconstructed their lunch in her mind. She was frustrated and confused. She remembered the quick conversation between Melody and Lida just before she’d gone to the restroom. She turned to Allison who continued to flip through her magazine, not looking at the pages. "So, what do you think about Lida’s boyfriend? He seems awfully possessive to me… or controlling."
Allison nodded her head, "No argument here. He has his eye on her every minute. You know his family is a huge part of the Dixie Mafia, right Kat?" She locked eyes with Kat. “Lida said they’d dated a long time ago in high school.”
Kat’s heart rate picked up as a shadow flickered across her face. "The Dixie Mafia? I’ve heard about them for years, but I didn’t know they were real.” Anxiety soared through her body. “ No, I didn't know that about the Dixie Mafia. What I do know is something's not right. Lida was hysterical when she heard about the body in the boat.” Kat hesitated. “It was like she expected it. She and the Melody girl knew her and it seemed to me the they’d both expected a body to turn up."
Allison nodded. "Yeah, I picked that up. I find this upsetting, scary even. First, Lida has a broken arm and a black eye. And I think her story about hitting it on the bathroom tile is crap. I think someone gave her that black eye and broke her arm." Allison locked eyes with Kat.
Kat nodded. “Yeah. And, what about the talk that ‘they’ killed her. Did you hear Lida whisper they killed the woman in the boat?” Kat rubbed her hands together. She was anxious and frightened for her friend.
Allison swung her body around and lowered her head. "Yeah, I did. I heard it. Lida whispered it to Melody when you and Barb first told us.”
“Yeah. That’s what I thought.” Kat looked over her shoulder. She didn’t want to be overheard in the hospital waiting room.
Allison continued, “And, did you see that huge bruise on Melody’s shoulder? It was humongous. Honestly, I would've thought her shoulder was broken,”
Kat’s eyes were enormous as she remembered the bruised area on the young woman’s shoulder. “When she bent over, I could see the discoloration on her chest and shoulder. It was a bad beating, or at least, someone strong hit her.”
Allison nodded. “Yeah. That’s what I thought.” Allison was pensive, an uncertain look on her face. "I wonder if her other shoulder was bruised. Then it would seem like someone had grabbed her and shaken the daylights out of her, maybe to frighten her."
Kat finished her water, stood up and walked across the room to the coffee machine. "Do you want a cup of coffee? I'm gonna have one."
Allison shook her head. "Are you serious? You’ve had about ten cups. But, no thank you. I'm jittery enough as it is.” She watched Kat pour her coffee and return to her seat. “I think something bad is going on over at that casino. I think Lida’s in danger…and, who knows, maybe all of us are in danger." Concern filtered across Allison’s face.
Kat placed her finger to her lips and nodded towards the door when another couple entered the waiting room. "Let's walk down the hall a way and hang out near the entrance of the emergency department," she suggested quietly. “This is a small town, and little pitchers are known to have very big ears.”
Allison nodded and followed her out of the room. “Yeah. And this town is controlled by the Dixie mob too.”
7
Lida and Joe sat in the back booth of Pete's Crab Shack in East Biloxi. Lida’s face was pale and her eyes flashed angrily. She shook her head at Joe, her voice a hiss. “No, no, no more Joey - don’t even ask me. I’ve given you my decision.” She looked up and was grateful when she saw Thad Williams enter the Crab Shack and order a beer and a dozen oysters. Thank goodness Agent Hollister had kept his word. Lida had seen him follow them out of The Magnolia.
Joe Minelli reached for her hand. "Baby, I know you're upset and honestly, I don't know what happened to Valerie." He paused for a second and added, "Besides, we don't even know if it was Valerie."
Lida avoided his glance and reached for her cell phone. She texted Kat to made sure she’d gotten her note. She didn’t want to upset Kat.
“Lida, talk to me. Get off your phone. This is important.” Joey’s voice was almost a whine.
Lida shook her head and locked eyes with him. Her voice was a hiss. "What is wrong with you, Joey. Lenny is what happened to Valerie. Lenny killed her.”
Joe shook his head. “You don’t know that for sure, Lida. You didn’t even see the body.” Joey sounded uncertain.
“It had to be Valerie. Kat described her signet ring perfectly." Tears flooded Lida’s eyes and ran down her face. "Why is your brother so horrible? Why is he so hateful? He kills people and gets away with it,” she said with a strangled sob. “I’m sure he plans to kill me.” Lida looked down at her iced teaspoon, picked it up and added more sugar to her tea.
Joe shook his head. “No. He would never kill you. He knows I love you.”
Lida looked at him and shook her head. “He’ll kill me in a heart beat. Why are you in such denial about your brother? He’s a monster. It's like you have no idea what that man will do. No idea at all. Do you really think you know everything that goes on at the Magnolia?”
"I don't know," Joe said with a heavy sigh. "No. I don’t know all that happens. Lenny’s always been mean. Cruel too." He paused for a second. "There's something I have to ask you
to do. You're not gonna like it but I'm gonna ask you to do it anyway."
Lida felt suspicion crawl up her spine. Her eyebrows shot up as paranoia crept through her body. She glared at Joe. "What?" She knew her voice was short, angry and suspicious.
Joe spread his hands on the table. "It's the same thing we talked about last week… About the accounting records. Lenny insists you change them, decrease the casino profits…"
Lida’s eyes popped open. She was shocked and stared at Joe. “Are you crazy? I told you I wasn't going to do that, Joe. If I get caught for meddling or falsifying the accounting records, I lose my CPA. It’ll ruin my reputation, not to mention, I can be arrested and go to jail." Again her eyes filled with tears. "I'm not gonna do it and I can’t believe you’ve asked me to do it again. You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
Joe reached across the table and took both of her hands in his. He stared into her eyes. "You’ve got to do it. You have no choice. You've gotta fix the financial and accounting files." His face was stern, determined. “I’m sorry. There is no time to find anyone else.”
Lida jerked her hands away. "Damn you, no. No. I'm not gonna put my education and credentials in jeopardy because your crooked family’s casino makes too much money. Screw you," she said as she rose to leave. “I’m outta here.”
Joe reached for her arm and pulled her down into the booth. "You have no choice in the matter. Unfortunately, you lost all choice when you took the job. Besides, it’s not just the casino profits. It’s other businesses the Magnolia runs. I don’t even know what they are."
Lida jerked her arm away and stood. She glared down at him. "Screw you Joseph Minelli. You and your brother don't own me. I refuse to falsify the books and I quit." Lida flounced out of the restaurant and smiled grimly at Agent Williams on the way. He raised his eyebrow to acknowledge her but that was the end of their interaction.
