An Unfinished Life

by Wasowski, Mary

  “I’m sorry, Jack. I’m just worried, and I’m not doing a great job at hiding it. I’ve seen a black sedan pass the bar every day this week. The plates are unmarked, and I think it’s the feds. They have to be watching the building and keeping tabs on you.”

  “Let them. I have nothing to hide. I run a legal establishment here, and I am very well known in the community. I am living my life out in the open, so let the chips fall where they may. Keep yourself in check Tommy, and don’t get overzealous. Capisce?”

  “I hear what you’re saying, boss, but I don’t want no cops up in here.”

  “Yeah, that makes two of us.”

  I left Tommy to take care of the rest of the lunch rush. I needed to clear my head and took a walk down to the park. Walking by the waterfront always did me good. Sara was at the Farmer’s Market with Ramone, picking up all she needed for her weekend game menu.

  On my walk home, I stopped at Geno’s place to get a trim and shave. He was old school and still used the blade to get the most precise shave. It felt like home here, just old friends drinking their espresso and telling stories. He welcomed me in with his robust laugh and took care of me.

  “You see, Jack, not a spill of blood,” he said as he waved the shiny blade in front of my eyes.

  “Not today my friend, and hopefully never again.”

  He patted me on my back and understood the meaning behind my words.

  Max met me at the bakery and joined me the rest of the way back to the bar.

  “What do we know?” I asked as we walked and braved the cold temps of Chicago.

  “Paulson is here, Jack. His flight landed, and I would bet he’s making his way to you.”

  “Very well. I look forward to speaking to Agent Paulson. Any word on Marino?”

  “Not yet. He can’t hide forever, but we will find him.”

  “Yes, he can, but Max, if I have taught you anything, it’s to know everything about your enemy. Maybe even know them better than they know themselves. He’s out there somewhere, quite possibly watching us right now. He’s waited a very long time to settle the score. He’s smart but dangerous at the same time. He’s led by a haunting past that he didn’t have control over. He blames me for his brother’s death but hates himself more because he couldn’t prevent it. I will meet Marino again, I have no doubt about that, but first let’s see what the dutiful Agent Paulson has to say.”

  I arrived back at the bar with Max beside me. I took the back entrance in and then quickly entered my office so I could view the cameras. Sure enough, Jacob was present upstairs in my bar. It appeared he had ruffled Tommy’s feathers and needed to be pulled back.

  “How do you want to play this, Jack?” Max asked me as he looked at the monitor.

  “Let’s go back out and enter through the main entrance. Vito is up in the dining room today. You walk in first and pull him aside. I’m not sure what to expect when I get in there, but stay close and out of the way until I signal you otherwise, okay?”

  “You got it. Be careful Jack, he’s not your family today, he’s your enemy.”

  “I’ll be fine, Max. Go on now. I’m right behind you.”

  I took a deep breath and a shot of my favorite whiskey before making my way up through my restaurant. No sins stayed buried forever, I knew that to be true beyond a shadow of a doubt.

  Jacob Paulson was now leading the brigade to take me down. He was a good man, that Jacob. He’d seen enough pain firsthand to last him a lifetime. He was honest like his father and Simon. Honorable to the very core of their existence. He was Nicolette’s family. I couldn’t hurt him, nor did I want to. I took another shot of liquid courage and left my office to come face-to-face with Jacob.

  Just as I expected, Tommy had lost his cool and was now crying out in pain in the middle of my bar. Jacob was helping himself to my beer. That’s balls, I’ll give him that.

  I hung my coat and greeted some of my patrons who were watching the scene go down. I gestured to Max. He knew what I needed him to do. I called for a free round of drinks for all to enjoy and then made my way over to the hunched-over Tommy and Jacob. I signaled to Max and Vito.

  “Take Tommy to the ER, and get him fixed up.”

  Max nodded at me, and left with Tommy. I took a seat at the bar and looked back to Jacob, who was breathing fire. Let’s hope the beer he helped himself to would calm him down.

  “Help yourself, Jacob. We’re family, after all. What’s mine is yours.”

  “Really, Jack? Does your guy, Tommy, know that? Judging how I received such a warm welcome, I wasn’t sure he received the memo.”

  “You never can be too careful nowadays…So Jacob, welcome to Chicago! It’s been a long time. What can I do for you?” I asked him while lighting up a cigar, never taking my eyes off of him.

  “I think you know, Jack. You seem to have eyes and ears everywhere.”

  “Nothing wrong with that, son. I protect what’s mine. That’s no crime.”

  “Answer me this, Jack: what lengths would you go to protect what you say is yours?”

  “Seriously, Jacob? That’s your big question? Come on, boy! You can do better than that,” I said as I blew out a few puffs of my cigar and tapped the ashes into the ashtray before answering him.

  I wasn’t a man to be fucked with, and when it came to my family, I’d already proven I would do anything for them. It was very easy to flip the switch on my personality and go dark when I needed to. I could not back down to him, show any weakness, or be over-confident with my tone.

  I simply said, “What wouldn’t I do? Ask any family man that same question, and I would bet everything I own that the answer would be the same. There’s no greater thing on this earth than family. I love mine more than anything else in this world, and from what I know of yours, we are cut from the same cloth.”

  I watched him shift in his seat and grip the edge of the bar. He was clearly strong and easily had a couple of inches on me. I had no doubt that he would have shattered the glass he was holding if he hadn’t placed it back down to the bar.

  He finally answered, “I don’t think so, Jack. We are miles apart.”

  Short answers. Exactly what I expected from him. He was feeling me out, like what you would do with your opponent in a chess match. I could play this game quite well, in fact. I placed my cigar into the ashtray and looked directly into his eyes.

  “Do you have something to say to me, Jacob, or are we going to continue this dance?”

  I watched him finish off his mug of beer before slamming it onto my bar. It appeared Agent Paulson had a temper. That’s good. Better to have one when taking me on. He got off his bar stool and looked me directly in the eye.

  He said the words I expected him to say: “Michael St. Clair.”

  I watched for a reaction from him when I said Michael’s name. He was emotionless and not giving anything away. Nicolette wore the same expression when I told her about Michael’s murder. He inhaled another puff of his cigar and then placed it down in the ashtray. Jack remained stoic and walked behind his bar. I watched him carefully as he opened up a bottom cabinet and pulled out a bottle of bourbon. Taking two shot glasses from the rack, he filled the glasses and handed me one to take.

  “To Michael St. Clair, may he have a long reign in hell,” he said as he downed his shot, whereas mine remained untouched. “This is my favorite drink, and it doesn’t come cheap, my friend. Don’t waste a gift that’s been given to you.”

  “I hardly consider a shot of bourbon a gift, Jack. Thank you, but I will pass.”

  “Suit yourself, Jacob,” he said as he downed my shot and then went back to his cigar. “How long has it been? I would say a few years at least. We missed you over Thanksgiving.”

  “I was working.”

  “Are you working now?”

  “I believe you know the answer to that question, Jack. Do you wish to continue this conversation here or somewhere more private?”

  “Jacob, I have nothing to hide, and anythi
ng I say doesn’t have to be said behind a closed door. You obviously have come a long way to speak with me, so get on with it. Why should I give a fuck about Michael St. Clair being dead?”

  “Don’t you, Jack? After all, he is the one who raped your daughter, and a short prison sentence didn’t seem long enough at all for him to pay for it. An eye for an eye…isn’t that how it goes? But yet, he had been able to do his time without so much as breaking a nail. Did you know that his original sentence was overturned, and he was scheduled to be released next month?”

  I waited for another reaction, but Jack was too cool to react to my questions. I needed to draw him out and push him to where he was dying to go.

  “Tell me something, Jacob. Is it so easy for you to sit here in my bar and question me about past events that nearly destroyed my daughter? There’s no need to deny that fact of her parentage. I’m not sure how you knew this piece of information, but it’s irrelevant to me. My brother may have claimed her as his own, but she is just as much mine as she is his. You speak of what happened to her so flippantly that it makes me sick. Where’s your loyalty, Jacob? And your compassion for the person you claim to love and have welcomed into your family? Because from where I am sitting right now, you have no regard at all for her feelings and what she endured at the hands of that animal.”

  “Jack, we seem to be going off course. My feelings for Nicolette are genuine. I love her like a sister and would never willingly hurt her, but personal feelings aside, I have a murder to investigate. One that many of my superiors believe you had some involvement in. This is why I am here. I am not her brother-in-law today. I’m a cop, and I have a job to do. Now if you please, answer my question.”

  “Since you have made it perfectly clear that this is not a social visit, I will kindly ask you to leave my bar. I will not answer any questions without my lawyers present, and Jacob, if you ever lay your hands on one of my staff again, I will see it as a threat and use whatever is necessary to take you down.”

  “You do realize you just threatened a federal agent with violence? And here I thought we would be able to have a civil conversation.”

  “I don’t know what gave you that impression. I came in to my place of business. You were trespassing by going behind my bar, and you attacked a member of my staff who was doing his job. You didn’t flash a badge or state your business. You’re just a guy in a suit that asked me a question. I will say what I fucking please in my bar, and I don’t care how you perceive it. Nice talking to you, but I have a business to run, and you’ve taken up enough of my time for one afternoon.”

  “This is not over, Jack. I will be back.”

  “Yeah, it is, Jacob. You want to come at me with that shiny badge of yours, be my guest. But know this: the next time you come through my door, you better have a warrant. Until then, get the fuck out of my bar, because you are not welcomed here.”

  I had eyes on me from all directions of the bar. Jack was still cool with his demeanor, but the look in his eyes shifted to ice.

  I grabbed my coat and made my leave but not before turning back to him and saying, “You have a day to work-out whatever is going through your mind right now. I will see you tomorrow, Jack, and we can try again at the conversation I intended to have with you.”

  He was pissed. I knew I had touched a nerve when I mentioned Nicolette. It didn’t sit well with me that I had to go there, but I also needed to test the waters with him. It is clear to me that he knows something about Michael’s death. I had to re-think how I would have this go the next time we talk.

  I didn’t want to come in with guns blazing, but his guy Tommy had set me off, and it just went to shit from there. Just a few months ago, my family broke bread with him, and now here I was, questioning if he was a murderer or not.

  After I left Jack to brood about what we discussed, I checked into my room at the Drake Hotel. I also had to status with Wade and put a call in to my father and Duffy. It was nearing dinnertime, and the sky was dark. I hardly accomplished anything today with talking to Jack, only to further anger him with my questions. It was still early back in California, and no time like the present to listen to Wade chew my ass out for insubordination due to my recent actions. It would not sit well with him knowing I was spending my time in a grandiose hotel, but I didn’t care. It was my dime that was paying for it.

  Wade wasn’t as reprimanding as I thought he would be. He actually sounded more frustrated with Marino than me. Wade told me that he hadn’t been in touch with Marino since we were both in his office. He said Marino was totally off the grid, which is not like him to do, and it violated about ten codes of misconduct on his part. He instructed me to take the lead on the investigation, and when Marino decided to resurface, he would handle him as such. I scoffed with the change of command, because I had already made it perfectly clear that I was working this case without Marino’s help.

  Wade had a choice to make. He could remove me and assign the case to another agent or let me do what I do best. No matter what his decision would have been, I still would have worked it and would not care what the FBI had to say about it.

  Contrary to what Jack believed, I cared deeply for Nicolette and only want to protect her from harm. It was a risk playing that hand so early in the game, but I needed a reaction from him, and his silence was it. He was knee deep in it, and I could give him my hand to pull him out or let him go down in flames. I was hoping for choice one. I needed Jack Vanelle in more ways than I had time to explain to him. I had to try to get what I needed for my case but also for what I was seeking personally.

  Marino opened up the door to my past, and no matter what it cost me, I had to find the truth behind Minela’s murder and bring down the person who was responsible for it. My next call was to Duffy.

  “How’s Chicago? Have you made contact with Jack yet?” he asked.

  “I have, and it didn’t go well.”

  “Jacob, you have to be smart when talking to a guy like that. You can’t lose your shit, and always remember he will be prepared for anything you confront him with. He’s been in the game for a long time, and he understands how it’s played. If you lose sight of that, then he will always be a few steps ahead of you and that will not be good for you in the end.”

  “Duff, that’s one of my issues with this entire investigation. Jack Vanelle doesn’t strike me as fitting the usual MO we profile. You all portray him as this mob enforcer who has a pile of bodies buried somewhere and that the business, wife, and family are all just a front to who he truly is.”

  “Jake, there was a time he actively ran with the Carlucci family. There is no hiding that fact. We have years of documented proof that can attest to that. He’s never been charged with any serious crimes, but that doesn’t mean he’s not guilty for some either. He was very young when he ran with the crews. We do know from sources that he did maintain a close bond to the patriarch of the Carlucci family, long after he left that life. It was documented up to Johnny’s death back in 2009. He died a very old man in his bed with only one person by his side…not his first born, Dominick, nor his other sons, and no advisors. Just one man, and that was Jack Vanelle.”

  We also can place Johnny at his bar shortly after he returned home to Chicago following your sister-in-law’s attack. Now Jacob, care to figure out what they were talking about? I would bet my shield and everything I own that it was how to even the score with Michael St. Clair.”

  “That may be true, but there is so much more to Jack Vanelle than what your file says. He’s like no one I have ever met before, and I’ve investigated and locked up many made guys. Jack is different.”

  “How so?”

  “I’ve spent some time with him and witnessed firsthand how he is around Nicolette and our family. He doesn’t come off as this ice cold killer. He’s devoted to his family, that’s obvious, but it goes deeper than that. I can’t really explain it all right now. I just know there’s more to him than what you believe to be true.”

  “Well, it�
�s a good thing you’re in charge, my friend, because any other agent would have him burned at the stake by now.”

  “You mean like Marino?”

  “That would be exactly who I mean. And before you ask, we’ve got nothing on him yet.”

  “What about his wife? Kids? He’s got to be talking to someone. He just can’t disappear without informing someone he’s close to.”

  “We did reach out to his wife, and all she said was he was on an out of town assignment. His kids are up at school, so I doubt he would make contact with them. He’s made no use of his credit cards, and the last place we can place him was at the pier with you.”

  “Yeah, that was a good time. The bastard pulled a gun on me.”

  “Yeah, we know. It’s all documented in the file. We have your back on this, Jacob. Marino is a loose wire right now, and he’s in a whole lot of trouble. You do what you have to do, and I will cover it from my end. I do believe Wade has seen the light when it comes to Marino. He won’t hang you out to dry, and neither will I.”

  “I guess that’s good to know, not just about you, Duff, but Wade. I have to go. I’ll be in touch.”

  “Jacob, I know that sound to your voice, and I don’t like it.”

  “I’m fine, Duff. Leave it alone.”

  “I can’t, Jake. You mean too much to me not to be concerned for you. I know what she meant to you and how her death nearly destroyed you. Get out of your head space now and concentrate on why you are in Chicago. Jake, are you still there?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I have to go. Talk to you soon.”

  I heard him shout my name again before I disconnected the call. I didn’t need Duffy of all people taking me down memory lane right now. I never allowed myself to forget Minela or what we went through the night she was gunned down in the street.

  That bastard Marino knew the truth—all of it—and I needed to find him. He couldn’t hide forever from me. Sooner or later, he would resurface with his demands of me. Then I would be ready.