We followed him into the building. Just inside the door we encountered two more men. Their suits cost a little more, fit a little better, but underneath they were cut from the same cloth.
‘What’s the nigger doin’ here?’ one of them asked.
‘Hey, baby,’ Sammy said, good-naturedly, ‘now that ain’t kosher, ya know?’
‘He’s friends with Mr Giancana,’ our goon said.
‘Hands up,’ one of the others said.
I raised my hands and he patted me down, checked the pockets of my sports jacket. I could smell something in the air, something cooking. It smelled really good.
‘What is that?’ I asked, sniffing the air.
‘Mr Giancana’s sauce,’ one of them said. ‘He makes a batch in the kitchen every day.’
‘OK,’ the other one said. ‘Hands down. He’s clean.’
They did the same search on Sammy with the same results.
The one who met me at the airport said, ‘OK, come on.’
We followed him towards the back of a large room with lots of folding chairs in it, to a kitchen. Inside I saw Momo standing at a stove with an apron on over his suit. He was still wearing his Fedora, and dark glasses.
‘He’s here, Mr Giancana,’ the man said. ‘And he’s clean.’
‘Of course he’s clean,’ Momo said. ‘Eddie’s my guest. You frisked him?’
‘The boys thought-’
‘Stupido! Get out.’
‘Yessir.’
As the hood hurried out of the kitchen Momo looked at me, saw Sammy and smiled.
‘Hey, Sam,’ he said.
‘Momo.’
‘You the bodyguard?’ Momo looked at me. ‘Did you think I was gonna snuff ya?’
I shrugged, not sure what I could say that wouldn’t offend him.
‘I’m sorry about the boys, Eddie,’ he said. ‘They’re idiots, but they keep me safe.’
‘I understand.’
He put a wooden spoon into the pot on the stove, took it out and extended it to me, keeping his other hand beneath it.
‘Taste.’
‘That’s OK-’
‘Come on, one taste. You don’t want to insult me.’
‘No,’ I said, ‘no, I wouldn’t wanna do that.’
I let him put the tip of the spoon into my mouth. It was the best sauce I ever tasted. I wondered if he was going to ask Sammy to taste, but he didn’t.
‘You got anything like that in Vegas?’
‘Nope.’
‘Taste that garlic?’ he asked. ‘All my ingredients are natural.’
‘It’s great.’
That made Momo happy.
‘I’ll give ya a couple of jars to take back home with ya.’
‘Jars?’
‘Yeah, I give it to family and friends. It’s too good to keep it all for myself. Whataya like? Meat sauce? Marinara?’
‘Uh, marinara’s fine.’
‘OK,’ Momo said, ‘you got it.’
He went back to the stove and put the wooden spoon down, then picked up another one and stirred another pot.
‘The pasta’s ready. Now we eat.’
Because of the time difference it was afternoon. A little early for pasta, but not unheard of.
He got some plates down, filled them all with spaghetti, then covered it with the sauce. He stuck a spoon, fork and cloth napkin in his jacket pocket.
‘Take one each,’ he said.
We picked up a plate, while he carried two.
‘Come on.’
‘Um Momo, where’s Danny Bardini?’
‘Don’t worry about your buddy,’ he said, over his shoulder. ‘Like I said, he’s my guest.’
We followed him down a hallway into a back room where some tables were set up. At one of the tables sat Danny, with a fork and spoon. There were two more settings on the table. Momo set his plate down, then the fourth setting. He set one plate in front of Danny, who smiled up at me.
‘Best food I ever ate,’ Danny said, with a smile. He picked up a fork and dug in with gusto.
‘Have a seat, Eddie, Sammy,’ Momo said. ‘Manga!’
SIXTY-FIVE
‘Ah, stupido!’ Momo said, suddenly. ‘I forgot the vino. I’ll be right back.’
He jumped up and hurried back to the kitchen, leaving me and Danny alone.
‘Nice to see you, Mr Davis,’ Danny said.
‘It’s Sammy,’ Sam said. ‘Damn, but this is good. Ya gotta give it to Momo, he can cook.’
‘What the hell is goin’ on?’ I asked.
‘I’m not sure,’ he said. ‘I came to town, found the hotel Ava said she woke up in, started askin’ some questions. When I came outside three of Giancana’s men were waiting for me and brought me here. Momo wanted to know what was goin’ on and I didn’t see any reason not to tell him the truth.’
‘Good.’
‘They put me in a hotel. Momo says I’m his “guest”.’
‘Could you get up and walk out of here if you wanted to?’ I asked. ‘For that matter, could we?’
‘To tell you the truth, Eddie, I don’t know if I’d wanna try. But the food is great!’
I put some spaghetti in my mouth and I had to agree with him.
‘I don’t know what’s goin’ on,’ Sammy said. ‘Frank only asked me to meet you at the airport, told me what to say. Do I want to know more?’
‘I’ll tell you later,’ I promised.
Momo reappeared, carrying one of those bottles of Chianti with wicker on the bottom, and four glasses.
‘Here we go,’ he said, pouring the glasses full with a flourish. ‘Now, enjoy, and we’ll talk.’
He sat down and took a huge forkful of pasta in his mouth. I decided to let him chew and swallow and start the conversation himself.
‘So, I hear Frank’s wife, Ava, has been havin’ some problems,’ he said.
‘Um, ex-wife,’ I said.
‘Basta!’ Momo said. ‘When you marry, you marry for life. Frank and Ava, they are — how do you say it? — caldo. Hot? They are hot.’
‘Yes, hot,’ I said. ‘Hot for each other.’
‘Esattamente! Like you say. Anyway, your detective friend, Danny, tells me she has lost forty hours.’
‘That’s right.’
‘And woke up in a hotel here in Chicago with blood on her?’
‘Yes.’
‘Terribile,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘And I got a call from Jack Entratter about two Chicago guys who came after you and Jerry in Vegas.’
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘They ended up dead which, I hope, is not a problem for you.’
He shook his head with his mouth full, chewed, washed it down with some wine, and then said, ‘No problem for me, Eddie. A problem for whoever sent those stronzo after you.’
‘And do we know who that was?’ I asked.
‘Not yet,’ Momo said, ‘but we will, and soon. I will find out. Meanwhile, you finish eating. Later, we go to the Chez Paree and listen to Sammy sing, eh?’
‘Suits me,’ Sam said. ‘I’ll get you the best table in the place.’
‘Then I put you in the same hotel with Danny and in the morning you go home. Leave this to me. Frank should’ve called me right away.’
‘I don’t think he wanted to bother you with this, Momo,’ I said.
‘E una sciocchezza!’ he said. ‘Nonsense. It was not him, it was her. That one never liked me.’
I knew that was a fact, but I didn’t say anything.
‘Mangiare!’ he said. ‘Eat up! Then I will have Vicenzo take you to the hotel to change. Tonight we go out, tomorrow you go home.’
I liked the sound of that because it meant if we were going home, we’d be alive.
Unless, of course, we left in a box.
SIXTY-SIX
Sammy had left us when Momo’s man drove us to the hotel. We saw him later at the Chez Paree. He was in rare form, singing, dancing, playing the drums, doing impressions. He took me away from everything for over two hours. After
wards, Momo took us back stage, where we congratulated Sam. But there were a lot of other people there, and I had no time to fill Sammy in.
‘That’s OK,’ he said. ‘I’ll call Frank — that is, if I want to know more.’
‘Thanks a lot, Sammy,’ I said. ‘You took a chance.’
‘Momo wouldn’t hurt me. He knows Frank wouldn’t like it.’
‘I thought you were friends-’
‘Friends?’ he said, laughing. ‘You notice he didn’t ask me to taste any sauce off the wooden spoon?’
‘Sam-’
‘Ah, it doesn’t matter. I’m glad you enjoyed tonight, Eddie. Go back home tomorrow and finish what you have to finish.’
We shook hands.
On the plane the next day Danny and I had seats together so he could tell me what he’d been doing.
‘I spent a day in Madrid just to see where the trail started,’ Danny said. ‘Ava had really been burnin’ the candle at both ends over there. Lots of men: bull fighters, actors, race car drivers. I found out what flight she took to the US, and I took the same one.’
‘To Chicago?’
He shook his head.
‘New York first,’ he said. ‘Same thing. Hittin’ the clubs, lots of men. . I talked with the hotel staff at the Waldorf. They were happy to have her, but she appeared to be drunk most of the time, people on her floor complained about the noise. . and then she flew to Chicago.’
‘Anybody go with her?’ I asked. ‘From Spain to New York, or New York to Chicago?’
‘No,’ he said, ‘she flew alone, but that doesn’t mean somebody didn’t follow her.’
‘Any fights, anything that made the police necessary. .’ I said.
‘No,’ he said, then, ‘not yet.’
‘But. .?’
‘Apparently, things got messy in Chicago.’
‘How so?’
‘Somebody got killed.’
‘Who?’
‘A man named Vito Napolitano.’
‘Great,’ I said. ‘A made guy?’
‘Actually, the son of a made guy,’ he said. ‘Tony Napolitano.’
‘How was he killed?’
‘Shot with a small caliber gun.’
‘Where did it happen?’
‘That’s the part you’re not gonna like.’
‘The Drake Hotel?’
‘Yes,’ Danny said. ‘The body wasn’t discovered in his room until after Ava got on a plane to Vegas.’
‘Are the police lookin’ for her?’
‘No, but Napolitano’s father is.’
‘Did you see Napolitano?’
‘I was on my way when Momo made me his guest.’
‘So Momo knows Napolitano?’
‘Apparently.’
‘Fellow businessmen?’
Danny shrugged.
‘I didn’t have time to get the goods,’ he said. ‘You should ask Entratter.’
‘Yes,’ I agreed, ‘I should.’
At the airport we took separate cabs.
‘Want me to keep lookin’?’ he asked. ‘I could get the next flight back to Chicago. I didn’t get to have one of those famous Chicago hot dogs while I was there.’
‘They don’t compare to a Nathan’s hot dog’ I said.
‘I was sort of hopin’ to make the comparison myself,’ Danny said.
‘No,’ I said. ‘You go back and Momo’s liable to make you his guest again. A more permanent one. If Napolitano is made, then he’s off limits to anybody but another made guy.’
‘That’s their code, not ours.’
‘Well, they kill to uphold their code, we don’t,’ I reminded him. ‘Go home, see Penny, work some normal cases.’
‘If you need me for anythin’,’ he said, slapping me on the back, ‘don’t hesitate.’
‘When have I ever?’
He got in the first cab in line, I walked to the second.
I had left the Caddy at the Sands, stranding Jerry and Ava until I came back. I was going to drive out there, but I stopped at Jack’s office first.
‘Napolitano,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I heard the kid got hit.’
‘Well, apparently his father thinks Ava did it.’
‘If that’s the case,’ Entratter said, ‘he won’t stop comin’.’
‘Napolitano’s a boss?’
‘Let’s say he aspires,’ Entratter said. ‘He’s got a crew made up of misfits. He’s tryin’ to establish his own “family”.’
The Five Families were based in New York, and were ruled over by the Commission. While the Chicago Outfit was separate from the Five Families, it was still ruled by the Commission. Giancana was ‘the man’ there, but he was in a constant struggle to keep his territory. Entratter said that Napolitano was one of those who were trying to muscle in.
‘You can forget all about this now, Eddie,’ he said. ‘Momo will take care of Napolitano. He won’t let him kill Frank’s Ava.’
‘I hope not,’ I said. ‘And I hope his protection will also extend to Ava’s friends.’
I picked up my suitcase, hefted it, then put it down and opened it. I took out one of Momo’s jars.
‘Here,’ I said, putting it on Jack’s desk. ‘A gift.’
I left Entratter’s office to make the drive to Tony LaBella’s cabin on Lake Mead. He was examining the jar as I walked out.
SIXTY-SEVEN
When I walked up on to the deck I noticed the broken window in front, now covered by some cardboard. Then I saw the bullet holes in the side of the building, some chunks taken from the wooden railing.
‘Jerry?’ I shouted. ‘Ava?’
I rushed into the house, found Jerry and Ava sitting in the living room. They both looked unharmed.
‘Hey, Mr G.’
‘What the hell happened?’ I asked. ‘Are you two all right? Ava?’
‘I’m fine,’ she said, ‘thanks to Jerry. Where’ve you been?’
‘Danny and I were guests of Momo Gianacana’s.’
‘Guests?’ Jerry asked.
‘That’s what he called it,’ I said. ‘We never tried to walk off on our own, so I don’t know what would have happened if we had. But what happened here? And when?’
‘Last night,’ Jerry said. ‘After dinner. I made a nice roast-’
‘I’ll get something for us to drink,’ Ava said, standing up from the sofa, ‘while Jerry fills you in.’
She went into the kitchen.
‘She’s a real trooper, Mr G.,’ he said. ‘Didn’t go into shock like the other day.’
‘What happened, Jerry?’ I said.
‘Come outside,’ he said, ‘and I’ll tell ya. .’
The previous night, Ava and Jerry had just finished their dinner, the pot roast Jerry had prepared with potatoes and carrots.
‘I’ll make the coffee,’ Ava told Jerry. ‘It’s the least I can do.’
‘OK, Miss Ava,’ Jerry said. ‘I’m just gonna go out on the front deck and get some air. I’ll wash all the dishes after we finish.’
‘I’ll bring it out there,’ she promised.
‘Sounds good.’
Jerry went and stood on the deck, looking out at the dying light and breathing in the fresh air. This was a lot different from trying to breathe in Brooklyn — but Brooklyn had a lot of other things to recommend it. He wasn’t about to trade in Brooklyn for Vegas or Lake Mead. Not permanently, anyway.
He was still standing at the rail, leaning on it, when Ava came out of the house with two mugs of coffee.
‘Here you go, Jerry-’
Before she could get another word out there was a shot, and the front window shattered just behind Ava.
‘Wha-’ she said, dropping the mugs.
‘Get down!’ Jerry shouted. He grabbed Ava and dragged her to the ground with his left hand, while pulling his.45 from his belt with his right.
‘What was that?’ she asked.
‘That was a shot, Miss Ava,’ Jerry said.
‘B-but I didn’t hear a shot, on
ly the glass breaking.’
‘Trust me, it was a shot. You better get back inside.’
‘Where inside?’
‘Away from any windows,’ Jerry said. ‘In fact, get in that closet outside the bathroom and stay there until I come for you.’
‘But Jerry, you can’t — I can get my gun-’
‘No,’ Jerry said. ‘Get in the closet. Now!’
‘All right.’
‘And keep low.’
Ava crab-walked back inside while Jerry went to the rail, keeping low and looking out for the shooter. What he saw was two men coming toward the house, guns in their hands. One of them had obviously gotten anxious and fired too soon.
Jerry decided staying out in the open was a bad idea so he went back into the house, figuring he’d have an advantage because they would have to come in after him.
He closed the front door, locked it, and then peered through the shattered window.
The two shooters thought better of coming up the front steps. Jerry was just able to see them as they split up, each going around the other side of the house.
There was a back door in the kitchen. The deck wrapped around, but the only other access was in the back. They’d have to climb up on to it from the side, which wouldn’t be easy with guns in their hands.
Jerry left the front of the house and went into the kitchen. It would have been helpful to use Ava as a look-out, but he decided to leave her in the closet, where she’d be safe from flying lead.
He peered out the back window, saw one man appear at the base of the steps. He stopped there. That meant the other man was probably climbing up on to the deck.
This man had come from Jerry’s left, so he assumed the other man was climbing up on the right. He hurried to that window, saw the man sweep one leg over the rail, then the other. Then he drew his gun from his belt. Jerry did not break out the window pane the way they did in movie westerns. Rather than warn the man with breaking glass he simply fired through it. Oddly, the hole appeared in the window, but the pane didn’t shatter. The bullet struck the man in the chest. His eyes went wide, his mouth opened, and then he toppled backward over the rail. Jerry heard the body hit the ground, but didn’t waste any time in running back to the kitchen. As he reached the doorway the back door slammed open from a kick, and the second gunman rushed in with his gun out. They saw each other and fired at the same time. .
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