Rick Cantelli, P.I. Deadly Liaisons (Rick Cantelli, P.I. Detectives Book 2)

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

He laughed, filled another, and set it on the bar for Katy to bring over to me. She hurried over to get it, and I poured half the double into the other shot glass before moving it over in front of Temple. “Sip it, kid. It’ll take the edge off.”

  Temple beamed at me. “Thanks, Rick.”

  “Before you get smashed out of your gourd, Cantelli, how about answering a few simple questions?”

  “Sure, Bill. You’d best read me my rights, copper, because if any words in those questions hint at my spending time in the tank while you think about what to do with me, I’ll have to call for my second least liked person: Cleaver.”

  “Did you know the guy on the roof?” Staley wasn’t in a joking mood. “Be careful before you answer, Rick.”

  “I was so light headed from loss of blood, I didn’t think to run over and eyeball my assailant. Trish helped me get down off the roof. I didn’t see any reason to get chummy with the corpse.”

  Staley put his smartphone up with Yuri’s face, complete with new holes in his head. “This is him.”

  I turned Temple’s head away while peering at the small screen. I could already tell he’d gotten confirmation from my table mates about seeing Yuri at Jadie’s place. They were squirming. “He looks like that guy I talked to at Jadie’s gym. He claimed to want to hire Lois and I for a job involving a 24/7 surveillance watch on some guy in Arizona. I introduced him to Lois. She turned him down flat.”

  “What was the guy’s name in Arizona?”

  I knew Staley hadn’t gotten shit out of Lo. She would have waved him off, and waited for me to take lead. “Don’t know. We didn’t even reach the point of him giving me his name. He was pretty secretive, which is why I figured Lo turned him down.”

  Staley turned to Lois. “Want to give me something now, Lo?”

  “Like what? I already told you what I knew about the guy… nothin’. He said his name was Yuri. I didn’t like him, so I told him to take a hike.”

  “Damn it! This is serious. I’ll have every politico and FBI rep around wanting my blood if I don’t give them something.”

  Lo leaned over closer to Staley. “Why don’t you hitch up your big boy pants and grow a pair? You’ve been annoying the hell out of me lately, Bill. Want me to make a few calls and show you how annoying I can get?”

  Bill saw something in Lo’s eyes many people before him had seen. He stood up. “I know where to find you two. Keep your phones on.”

  “That was tight, Lo!” Temple drained her shot. “You are scary good.”

  I poured another for the kid. She’d seen her first real bad shit outside of a Hollywood movie.

  Lo pointed at the refilled shot glass. “Sip that one or I’ll make you do pushups until you puke, Shortcake.”

  “O…okay, Lo.”

  “I guess this isn’t over yet, huh?”

  Lo turned her attention to Karen. “Not by a long shot, Sis. This is official. After tonight, the rest of you will have to steer clear of me and Rick for the time being. I have to stay in Cantelli Land for a while until we get this sorted out. Please don’t make us have to define staying away for you. Am I being clear enough?”

  Karen understood. “Sure, Sis. Be careful. I think Danny and I will be going. Goodnight, gang. Hope to see you at Monday’s workout.”

  Ken and Jadie said their goodnights too. It was obvious Jadie could see the score too. “Ken and I need to stay over at my place for a while until the police finish. We’ll talk to you all later. I’m glad you two old fossils are okay.”

  “Me too,” Ken said, extending his hand. I shook it. “I hope we do see you all Monday.”

  When they walked away, the rest of us got closer in range. “What do you think, Lo?”

  “Should we speak in front of Shortcake?”

  “No one would believe her even if she came out on Entertainment Tonight and spewed it.”

  “Damn right,” Temple said, and then took umbrage at my characterization. “Hey… I think I resent that, Pop.”

  “Back to business,” Bone said. “I’ll be running things for a while?”

  Lo nodded. “At a moment’s notice, Bone. This is shit from our past come back to haunt us, and it’s so weird, even I don’t have a clue what’s going on. Any thoughts, Skipper?”

  “Other than you two being the most entertaining fossils I’ve ever encountered, then no, I got nothin’. I’m in until it’s done though. No way would I hint at sticking my nose in this, because I don’t even know right now if I’d be a help or a hindrance.”

  Lo smiled. “I’m moving you up to number three behind me and Bone for that common sense statement. I may have to leave you with Bone as second in command to make Madigan and Cantelli work in our absence. If I need somebody to get an icepick in the head though, I’ll call.”

  “You do that, Granny.”

  “Good. Now, we’re all friends here at the table. Bone, I want you to go back in the kitchen, get Tim and Sally to doggy bag your steak and lobster, and then I want you to limo Shortcake, Frank, and Trish home. Make sure you get a bag for all of you.”

  Bone didn’t hesitate. He stood up. “On it. Come with me, little one. This ain’t our gig.”

  Temple hugged me again, stuck her tongue out at Lois, and followed a laughing Bone and Trish to the kitchen. Frank leaned over and kissed Lois before joining the entourage into the kitchen. Then it was just us old timers. Lo toasted me. I clinked glasses with her and sipped. “Hell of a night, you old bastard.”

  “That was some damn good shootin’ Lo. You saved my ass twice. You winged him perfectly at the end. It dropped Yuri to his knees. Here’s to Yuri. He was a man to be counted on once.”

  Lo nodded and sipped. “Yeah he was. You caught in his craw, Hooterville. I should have seen it in his eyes at Jadie’s, but he was just that damn good to pull off his cloak and dagger crap without any tell.”

  “Until I saw his face, I didn’t have a clue who it was. I know one damn thing for sure: Yuri wasn’t here on Mossad business. No way, no how do they order a hit on American soil of two former CIA operatives. I think you’re right about Yuri. I pissed him off to the max long ago. When our latest Cantelli Land ornament got hung on the tree with this cartel the Mossad have been tracking in retaliation for the dead Mossad agents, I’ll bet it frosted Yuri’s balls. It’s a damn shame.”

  Lo made her wrong answer game show buzzer noise. “The only thing that narrow minded weasel did was cloud the damn picture up. Now we don’t know what the hell to believe. I-”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Adina

  Her face froze. I figured shit, Bill was leading a contingent of cops over to take my ass down to the station. I looked where she was looking: the entrance. Good God, it was Adina. She wore a black ensemble with high heels and attitude. Her hair was streaked grey like the bride of Frankenstein, but looked natural as hell, like she couldn’t give a damn whether anyone liked it or not. Adina was in shape. She scanned the room with intenseness until settling on her target, me and Lois. Then the hint of a smile spread slowly over her countenance, a flashback from long ago so poignant my toes curled up in my shoes. I wondered briefly what ID she flashed to even get in here.

  “Steady… Hooterville… don’t even let that veil drop for a moment you old goat. That’s Mossad over there, and she ain’t playin’.”

  I turned full on to my partner, and lifted my shot glass. “Hell of a ride tonight, Lo… hell of a ride.”

  Lo touched glasses with me, peering into my eyes. “If that damn blood loss starts workin’ you over, shut the hell up, partner.”

  I sipped and nodded. Then a hand rested on my shoulder. I was Rick from Casablanca again with Ilsa sidling up to me. “Hello, Rick. I see you’re still wearing this old albatross around your neck. I found out you staked us out at the Hotel Belmond, you old crone!”

  The barrel of Lois’s Glock peeked over the table. Lois whispered in her voice no one wants to hear, and few ever survive hearing. “Disrespect me again you cheap piece of ungrat
eful Euro trash, and someone else will be dealing with your disaster. You feel me, bitch!”

  One look at Lo, and Ilsa sat the fuck down, her hands making placating gestures of unrepentant bullshit. “We have a bad situation here. I’m hoping we can smooth this over. I apologize if I offended you.”

  The Glock only moved to my Ilsa’s new position with head in target. “No problem, Adina. Best get to it quick, because Rick and I have had an already eventful night.”

  “Did you have to kill him?”

  My turn. “Are you stupid?”

  Adina looked at the table rather than one of us. “I married Yuri twenty-five years ago. He pretended our affair had no meaning to him, Rick. It is obvious that was not true.”

  I saw our laughing compatriots emerge from the kitchen. They glanced at us curiously, with Trish doing a double take at the woman next to me. Bone reached out to her as she started towards us, but was rebuked with one finger. Trish strode to the table and sat down next to Adina. When Adina looked at her, Trish’s mouth set into a grim line of recognition. Women who kill can spot each other in seconds. Such was the case here.

  Adina smiled. “You are Rick’s. I was once Rick’s, but too stupid to stay with him. I hope you are more intelligent.”

  “That’s nice, girlfriend. Know this too. I have no idea what your game is, but if anything happens to these two old goats, send someone for me too. I’ll be coming for you. Since threats don’t mean shit, this-”

  Bushmills or not, I saw the killer before anyone else. I grabbed Trish’s wrist as it descended with knife blade in hand to Adina’s neck. I picked her up against me, carrying her away. The murderous rage in her eyes subsided, but minutes passed as I held her quietly against me before the rigidness of her body relaxed against mine. Yep… Trish was someone to be counted on.

  I didn’t play around. “I love you, Trish. You can trust that.”

  Her rage softened along with her hand holding the knife. “I…I love you too, you old fart! Damn it! How the hell did you know?”

  “I may be a little drunk, but I’m not stupid. Go on now with Bone, Frank, and Temple. I’ll see you back home, and explain everything I find out to you then, okay?”

  Trish straightened, eyeballing Adina. “Not hardly.” She pointed at Adina with a smile. “Best pray we never meet again, bitch!”

  She turned and walked to where Temple hugged her, with Bone and Frank casting uneasy glances back in our direction. I sat back down in my former place. Lois was smiling.

  “You still got it, partner,” Lo said. “I didn’t see that coming. Good Lord, I like that girl!”

  Adina watched Trish and the others exit. “She is very good. I am getting soft in my old age. How have you been, Lois? I see you two are up to your old tricks again.”

  “We didn’t deal this hand tonight.” Lois sighed, and put away her Glock. “You’re beginning to bore me. If you’re looking for long winded walks down memory lane, best get your skanky ass down another trail. This rabbit hole is closed for the night.”

  “You have an unfortunate way of putting things, Lois… as always. Yuri went rogue. What he told you tonight at the other place was true. I am grateful you did not tell your authorities of Yuri’s identity. How much do they know?”

  “Too much,” I replied. “Many people saw Yuri speaking with us earlier. I have no idea how you can smooth this over. I never figured Yuri was his real name, so I’m assuming that won’t be any problem. I checked him for ID’s. He had none. Lois and I have not even had a chance to talk about what he told us. Truthfully, it feels like a setup to me. I’ll tell you what. Write us a check for a quarter mil, and we’ll bank it to see if it’s real. If it is, we’ll think it over once you provide the intel.”

  Adina fixed me with a stare of disbelief, and then Lo. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Now I’m annoyed as well as bored,” Lo said, giving Adina the wave off. “You used to be able to at least give a good blowjob. Now, you’re not even a convincing conversationalist. Go take a long walk off a short pier, Adina… or whatever the hell your name is.”

  The Mossad killer surfaced for an instant, and Lo’s Glock barrel materialized out of nowhere over the tabletop again. “Like old ‘Dirty Harry’ used to say: ‘go ahead, make my day’.”

  Adina stood up. “I will be in touch. I go to mourn my husband.”

  She turned to make a grand exit, but Lo landed a missile right down her pipes. “Hey… light a candle for me too while you’re grieving, Mata Hari.”

  It stopped Adina dead in her tracks, but her shoulders tightened, and she walked on without looking back. I caught Katy’s eye. She came right over.

  “Ready to eat?”

  “Yes, thanks Katy. You sure turned Adina inside out, Lo.”

  “I don’t trust her even a little. If we agree to do the Arizona job, it will take a while. We’ll want to find the best sites around this Velez’s place for what we want to do, and the spot I’d figure Adina would have a team set up in to take us out.”

  Katy delivered dinner, pouring us coffee with it. “Enjoy.”

  “Thanks, Katy.” I waited until she was out of hearing. “I don’t think Adina would want to take us out on site, Lo. The whole reason for a setup would be her getting Velez to room temperature, and then having the authorities bust us either leaving the scene, or pick us up someplace we’re staying.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. I’m not thinking too clearly after tonight’s surprise party. I have another idea then. If this Velez guy is really out in the boondocks, We can set up a base camp ten miles away from him. Once we get Velez, we can go to ground until the investigation ends.”

  Damn, that’s good. “Just like Nicaragua. Once the federals gave up the hunt, we only needed to inch our way to the coast.”

  Lo made a face while chewing on some steak. “Yuck. You just had to mention that hellhole. I got bit by every insect known to man. That damn torrential downpour lost us our only supplies the first day. I didn’t like the Navy Seal menu of grubs and crap you provided even a little.”

  Well… okay, another surprise. “You never complained at all.”

  Lo sighed, while washing down her food. “Four days in the jungle eating shit not even worth puking up, while making a tantalizing blood feast for every bug in creation, yeah baby, that’s livin’. I was so damn glad to get picked up on the coast I had to bite my own tongue not to get down and kiss the deck of that beat up raft they called a boat. I didn’t complain because you never did. I’m making you pay for it now with my Doc Stuart surprises.”

  The cackle was back, and I nodded in agreement. We ate our meals then in comfortable silence. “I like your idea about staying in country until things cool down. I wonder if he has a small army or a few guards.”

  “That’s the problem with having Adina furnish intel. I’ll make a few calls and see if anyone on our side is interested in Velez. I still have a couple friends in high up positions who don’t give a crap about ‘bringing murderous swine to justice’. I know what you’re thinking. You think it would be better if we could somehow take Velez in a close encounter. It’s easier to cover then, right?”

  “It wouldn’t take a mind reader to put together a long range hit with my background, especially with us being gone. I’m thinking we do the hit, go to ground as planned, then show up in San Francisco to see the girls. Kim will back our stay dating back to whenever we want.”

  “I like it. The only obstacle will be the number of soldiers Velez has. If Yuri was right about the dark haired guy at the motel being the one who did the hit on the Mossad agents with Velez, then he’s lost his right hand man. It may give us a little space to get clear of Staley before we move.”

  “I’ll get Frank up to speed. He’s our wheel and alibi man. We’ll have to pick our spot to go in at. He can drop us off, go to Kim’s place and wait for word. With a little warning, Frank can pick us up after things die down around the Velez hacienda. We head back to Kim’s place, hang out and see
the grandbaby, and then shoot for home. It’s a lot of driving, but Frank will love being in on it. I’m glad we’ll have Trish here, watching out for our crew. She’ll know what to look for if someone shows up that doesn’t belong.”

  Time to broach the age subject once again. “Lo-”

  “Don’t bother, Hooterville. I’m going. I wrote you off on the Teddy Alvarez sanction with beach approach. I should have known better. Then you extend the kick back like you were at Sea World until I’m biting the ends of my fingers off. You need me on this. I need me on this.”

  I grinned. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”

  * * *

  We all hit the beach house on Sunday following the Friday night massacre. Saturday, we let the wheels of justice grind to their usual dead end when there isn’t any rhyme or reason for a violent action. The FBI, and every consultant on earth had been called in. Yuri was a puzzle far too complex for them to unravel. The unfortunate wheel man had been a local hired thug, so that was another dead end. With Staley, I let Cleaver meet with him. Like Lo, Bill was beginning to annoy me. It’s a damn lucky thing I never shared what I did to bring his daughter back from LA.

  When we moved from one place to another, we packed the usual hand weapons, but we also dug out our Heckler Koch MP5’s, fully auto, with forty round magazines. They fit into a quick access bag while we waited for Adina to contact us. We stuck together, checked for car bombs, the whole smear. Temple called and begged for a beach day. I liked the idea. It would be unexpected, and spur of the moment. Lo agreed. Besides, she and I needed a nice day in the sun with salt air, and a few laughs.

  Trish and Frank understood their respective parts in our upcoming venture. The headlines were at a new plateau of Cantelli Land hype. They speculated on everything, trying to approach me for I’m sure hit pieces about anything they could manufacture a story out of. Yuri’s identity held as an unknown. The Mossad had scrubbed him down but good. So, there we all were. Ken and Jadie, Danny and Karen, Bone, Temple, Trish, Frank, and of course the fossils, me and Lo. I had reconnoitered our private beach. We had a locked gate at the front, but seldom use it. We used it today.