A trolley appeared in the hallway and a second man squeezed past it.
I tried to back away but Jim gripped my hand. For a man seemingly on the verge of death he had a grip like a gorilla. ‘I’m staying,’ I said. ‘But you need to let go so that the paramedics can help you.’ His grip lessened and I pulled my arm free, sliding backwards till I sat against the sofa.
Rosella rushed into the room. She took one look at Jim and let out a scream, rushing to his side and throwing herself over his chest. She babbled in Italian while patting his cheek.
‘Madame.’ The first paramedic tried to remove her from Jim.
‘Rosella.’ I pulled on her arm, gesturing her towards me with my spare hand.
She nodded and wiped her eyes with the back of her arm. Then she crawled backwards till she was sitting next to me. I took her hand in mine and squeezed it while I wondered if cooking and cleaning were her only jobs.
‘Is he on any medication?’ The paramedic looked at me.
‘I have no idea.’ Yep, daughter-in-law of the year right here. ‘Rosella?’ I wasn’t sure how much English she understood but she climbed to her feet and raced off. She came back holding a bottle of tablets. The second paramedic took them and said, ‘Probably his heart.’ He held them up so his friend could see.
They opened up Jim’s shirt and attached some monitors to his chest and then they lifted him onto the trolley.
‘Where are you taking him?’ What if they were Giuseppe’s men?
‘Centennial Hills.’
I nodded my head. It was the hospital I’d gone to when I’d had my tonsils removed. That was something I’d never forget.
I found the telephone on Jim’s desk and rang Liss. ‘I’m on my way to the hospital.’
‘What happened?’
‘Jim’s had some sort of turn. They think it’s his heart.’
There was silence for a couple of seconds, both of us thinking the same thing. If something happened to Jim, Harry would be free.
‘I’ll keep ringing your house till Harry gets home.’
‘We’ll be at Centennial Hills.’
By the time I hung up, the paramedics were at the elevator. Rosella stood by the front door with her handbag and cardigan in her hands and a stubborn look on her face. I wasn’t going anywhere without her.
Tom flagged us a cab and we followed the ambulance. Two strangers holding hands in the back of a cab.
Harry found us like that in the emergency waiting room a few hours later. We had no news of Jim.
Rosella hugged him and spoke frantically, the wildness of her gestures in proportion to the shrillness of her voice.
He responded in Italian so I couldn’t understand what he said, but his tone was calm, and eventually she nodded and sat back down, pulling her cardigan tight around her.
‘What happened?’ He sat, but his eyes roamed the room.
‘I’m not sure. He must have known he was having an attack. I heard him collapse on the other end of the phone. I got there as fast as I could.’
‘Shhhhh.’ He pulled me to him and for the first time I realised I was crying. Weird.
‘What if I was too slow?’
He kissed me on the forehead. ‘I’m sure you did everything you could.’
I leaned in close and whispered in his ear. ‘I thought it was Giuseppe.’
‘But you went anyway.’
‘He’s your Dad.’
‘Not many women would have done that.’
I shrugged and looked away, suddenly embarrassed. He wouldn’t have been sounding so impressed if he had seen me in action. I bet Tom was going to be talking about that for a while.
A man in a white clinic coat walked towards us. He had a clipboard in one hand and a stethoscope around his neck. It just screamed Doctor. ‘Tess Milano?’
‘Yes.’ I stood up.
‘I saw you singing a couple of months back at Vegas Ladies.’
I wasn’t sure if he was trying to see through my skeleton to my lungs or if he was checking out my boobs.
Harry cleared his voice and stood up. ‘I’m Harry. Tess’s husband.’ The way he said the word ‘husband’ spoke of broken bones and blood noses.
The doctor’s gaze immediately made its way to my face. Apparently my boobs weren’t worth the risk.
‘Have you news of my father?’
‘Ah yes.’ The doctor adjusted his stethoscope as if to draw attention to it. ‘Your father is in a stable condition. I’ve come to take you to him.’
We followed him through several sets of swinging doors, down halls, through more doors and up a set of stairs.
‘I hope the food here is good,’ I muttered to Harry.
‘Why?’ He had a firm grip on my hand and was glaring at the doctor’s back.
‘Because I’m never going to find my way out of here.’
He smiled but didn’t let up on the glaring.
Finally the doctor pushed open a door and we could see Jim lying on a bed. His eyes were closed but his colour looked improved on what it had when I’d found him. I felt tension I didn’t realise I had been holding, flow out of my body.
Another man in a white coat stood by Jim’s bed making notes in a chart. He had a name badge on – Doctor Blair.
‘Ahh there you are.’ Doctor Blair cocked his head on the side as he stared at the man who had brought us. ‘I was wondering where that was.’ He held his hand out and snapped his fingers.
The first man’s cheeks reddened as he pulled the stethoscope from around his neck and handed it over.
‘Thank you Nurse Simpson,’ Doctor Blair said.
Harry let out a laugh and Nurse Simpson’s cheeks went even redder. ‘She likes her men tough,’ he said, ‘not smart.’
‘That’s not true.’ I stared up at Harry. ‘You’re tough and smart.’
He leaned down to press a kiss to my lips as Nurse Simpson scampered out of the room.
‘Sorry about that,’ Doctor Blair said. ‘He’s a great nurse but sometimes his ego writes checks his career can’t cash.’
Jim’s eyelids fluttered open and he said, ‘Well are you going to say hello or not?’
Rosella rushed to his side, pressing kisses to his cheeks and forehead.
‘Stop it woman.’ He flapped his hands at her but she was not to be deterred.
Harry waited for her to finish before striding to his father’s side. ‘You don’t look so good.’
‘You say the sweetest things.’ It was the closest thing to a joke I’d ever heard out of Jolly Jim.
‘You gave us all a fright.’ He leant down and hugged his Dad.
Jim held his hand out to me and said, ‘I knew you were there.’
I resisted an urge to pull a face. I mean I had sung nursery rhymes to him. Instead, I took his hand and kissed him on the cheek.
Doctor Blair waited patiently for us to finish before saying, ‘Your father has had a minor heart attack. He’ll need to stay in for a few days while we run tests. It is imperative that he stays calm and quiet.’
Two million dollars missing and the Sicilian Death Squad in town? Yeah they were the right ingredients for a man to remain calm and quiet.
Doctor Blair said he would be back later to check on Jim and then left.
‘What happened?’ Harry said once the door was shut.
‘Got a phone call from Sam the Suit. One of his boys went missing a cupla days ago. Said pieces of him started showin’ up in the mail today.’
I pressed my hands to my stomach. It didn’t take much to make me feel nauseous these days.
‘The last one had a message with it.’
‘What did it say?’ Harry’s face was intent as he stared at his father.
‘Tell JJ he’s next.’
‘Dad, this is serious.’
Now he thought it was serious? What the hell was it when we got our specially delivered body part?
‘Ya gotta look after business for me ‘till I get back home.’
I sat do
wn in the chair and Rosella picked up my hand and started to pat it.
‘Dad, that’s not my thing.’
‘We can’t be seen to be weak at a time like this.’
We? Since when had it become we?
‘I….’
‘The men will listen to ya. They respect ya. Goin’ ya own way and everythin’.’
I put my head between my knees and took some deep breaths. I didn’t want Harry to do it, I really didn’t. But I had to concede that Jim was right. The only thing stopping the whole deck of cards from crashing down around us was the fact that everyone was scared shitless of Jim. If the head was cut off the snake, all hell would break loose as every faction fought to gain control.
A gang war was the last thing we needed with Giuseppe on the loose.
And of course my realisation that I had thought the word we did little to help control my near hysteria.
I hadn’t wanted to be a part of this. I didn’t want to be a part of this.
I looked up at Harry and met his eyes. I wanted him to say no, but I could tell straight away that he wouldn’t. His eyes held a shadow of sorrow behind the grim determination.
He must have found what he wanted to see on my face because he turned back to Jim and said, ‘Just until you’re home.’
Jim leant back onto his pillows and closed his eyes. ‘Thank you.’ The words came out in a rasp.
‘He needs to rest.’ I squeezed Rosella’s hand before I let go and climbed to my feet. ‘He’s just had a heart attack.’
Harry nodded and leant down and kissed his father on both cheeks. I followed suit, a chill of apprehension filling me as I kissed him. His face managed to be red and blotchy, and pale at the same time. He didn’t look well at all.
‘You concentrate on getting well,’ I said. He had to get better. He just had to.
Rosella settled herself back into the chair by Jim’s bed. She pulled a ball of knitting, still attached to two sticks, out of her bag and started work on it. I guessed she wasn’t going anywhere in a hurry.
We were quiet during the ride home, each of us lost in our own thoughts.
It wasn’t until we were both in bed that Harry spoke.
‘It won’t be forever.’ He pulled me backwards till his chest rested against my back, and wrapped his arms around me. ‘Once this is all over we’ll be free.’
I wanted to believe him, I really did, but events seemed to be conspiring against us. Every step we took was one further down the road of no return.
Tears leaked out of my eyes as I rolled towards him and took his face in my hands. ‘Of course we will,’ I lied as I planted a kiss on his lips. ‘Now go to sleep.’
And for the second time that day I started to sing, ‘Hush little baby don’t you cry….’
Only this time, I wasn’t sure which of us I was trying to console.
6
Two Pink Lines
We woke the next morning to the sound of the front doorbell. Harry was still asleep as I climbed from bed and pulled on a robe.
Mickey and Riley were standing on our front door step. They held a tray of take-away coffees and a paper bag.
‘That better contain something delicious,’ I said, plucking a coffee out of the tray and the bag from Riley’s hands. Then I shut the door in their faces.
They were still there five minutes later when Harry opened the door. By then I was halfway through my chocolate croissant as I sipped my coffee.
‘Thanks.’ I lifted my coffee in a salute as they entered the lounge area.
‘No problems boss lady,’ Riley said.
Hmmm. Boss lady. That had a nice ring to it.
‘Harry, Jim said you’re runnin’ the show now.’ Mickey pulled a croissant out of the bag and took a seat at the long table.
I pulled a face and took another bite of my breakfast. In that context I’d rather not be the boss lady.
‘Yeah.’ Harry scratched his cheeks with both hands. He was always itchy till he’d had his morning shave. ‘Just till Dad’s home. A couple of days, that’s all.’
I finished my coffee and headed up to the shower. By the time I’d washed and dressed, the boys were clustered around a notepad on the table. I paused and stared over their shoulders. A list of names was written down the left with writing next to each one.
Lou the Brain – too obvious.
Sam the Suit – no access during the time of the theft.
Ralphy – too dumb.
They were constructing a list of suspects.
‘What about Jim?’ I said.
They all turned to stare at me.
‘You have to examine everyone.’ I shrugged my shoulders. I mean really, I thought that was obvious.
‘She’s right.’ Harry quickly wrote down all their names plus Jolly Jim’s. He immediately wrote – had nothing to gain – next to Jim’s name.
The front door bell rang again before I could see what they wrote next to their own names. This time it was Hillary.
I stared down at her super-short skirt. ‘You forgot to get dressed this morning.’
She smiled and started to push past me.
I stuck my leg out to stop her. ‘I don’t think so,’ I said.
‘Hill,’ Mickey’s voice echoed down the hallway, ‘is that you?’
Her smile grew even broader. ‘I was Jim’s personal assistant. So I guess now that makes me Harry’s. I promise to treat him real good and give him whatever he needs.’ Her glance swept up and down my shirt and pants.
I resisted the urge to slap her. Hell, I resisted the urge to stick her head against the doorframe and slam the door. Instead, I took a deep breath and gave her a smile of my own.
‘Oh, well, seeing as how you’re my husband’s personal assistant, I guess that makes you mine as well.’
Her smile slipped from her smug, smug face.
‘And I really need some milk. So be a dear and toddle down to the shops to get some.’ I picked my handbag off the hallway table and pulled out my wallet. ‘Oh and Hill,’ I handed her a couple of dollars, ‘I’ll need a receipt with that.’
The look on her face as I closed the door was going to keep me smiling for the rest of my life.
***
The next few days continued the same. Mickey and Riley and a few other of Jim’s men came and went from the house. Hillary turned up in the morning and I sent her off on some errand designed to make her as shitty as possible. Dry-cleaning, sugar, laundry detergent, she bought it all.
Jolly Jim improved slowly and I counted the seconds till I could clear these intruders out of our life and get back to being a married couple.
Harry split his time between the house and the hotel, going over the accounts, making decisions, and issuing orders as if he had been born to do it. Watching it made me uneasy. He might deny it, but I could tell he was enjoying himself.
I spent more and more time with Liss and Thor. I hadn’t felt at home in the house before, and I certainly didn’t now that it was ‘Mob Central’.
One afternoon I was walking to Vegas Ladies when I noticed a man wearing a trench coat leaning against the wall of a building ahead of me. As I neared, he stood up and started walking in the same direction I was. He stopped to look at something in a window and when he straightened he was walking right beside me. I recognised him. It was the FBI agent from the wedding reception.
‘Morning Tristan,’ I said as if it were the most normal thing in the world. However, my stomach fluttered uneasily. Last time we had spoken I could claim innocence.
‘How’s Jolly Jim?’
I glanced sideways at him. As if he didn’t know.
‘Getting better,’ I said. ‘Should be home any day now.’
‘And then what?’
‘Things will return to normal.’
It was his turn to look at me. ‘Can they? Can they ever be normal again?’ He stopped walking and I paused beside him.
‘I don’t see why not.’ I crossed my fingers behind my back.
&n
bsp; ‘Tess, you and I both know you’re in deep. Too deep. You need help.’
‘Exactly what would helping me entail?’
‘Getting you out. Protective custody.’
‘And what do you want from me in return?’ As Liss always said, there was no such thing as a free lunch.
‘You testify.’
I burst out laughing. ‘I don’t know anything.’
‘You could. He’s your husband. You could get the information you needed.’
The enormity of what he was asking struck me. ‘You want me to betray my husband?’
‘Look we know Harry is clean at the moment. Your father-in-law is a different matter.’
They wanted me to finger Jim. I wasn’t surprised. What I was surprised about was the fact that I didn’t even have to think about it.
‘Well it’s been nice chatting.’ I continued on my way to the club.
‘We know about Giuseppe,’ he called after me.
I stopped, frozen by his words.
‘We know body parts keep turning up. It could be yours next. Or Harry’s. Then where will you be?’
‘Dead.’ My voice sounded quite pleasant even to my ears. ‘But at least I’ll have died knowing I didn’t betray my husband.’
I managed the walk to Liss’s without showing any weakness, but as soon as I was in the door, my knees gave way. I squatted in the hall with my head between my knees trying not to throw up.
‘Tess?’ Liss called down the stairs.
‘Yes.’ I clambered back to my feet and headed towards her voice.
‘Good Lord. You look awful. Come in here and I’ll make you a cup of tea.’
‘I’ll be there in a minute.’ I let my stomach do the talking as I bolted for the toilet. It seemed to be getting easier and easier to throw up. I guess it was all the practice.
‘Have you changed your skin care regime?’ Liss stared intently at my face.
‘Do I look that bad?’
‘No. Quite the opposite. Your skin looks amazing.’
‘I got a new exfoliator.’ It had cost me a bomb. ‘The saleswoman said it would totally transform my face.’
‘She was right. I’ll have to get some.’
I stayed at Liss’s for the rest of the afternoon unwilling to go home. I told myself it was because ‘they’ would be at the house, but the reality of the fact was that I didn’t want to hear anything.
Tess's Tale (The Chanel Series Book 3) Page 9
