Rick Cantelli, P.I. (Rick Cantelli, P.I. Detectives Book 1)

by Bernard DeLeo

  The big one I lit coming in was paying attention. “Cheech Garibaldi? You’re working for him?”

  Yep, I name dropped my new buddy. What the hell. It was the truth, and if Teddy got confused when he heard about it, then so much the better. “He came to see me about my having to kill his brother. Cheech wanted me to know he understood, and that there would be no retaliation. Cheech knows crime doesn’t pay, and wants to be an honest businessman. I would suggest your boss consider the same kind of smart move.”

  “You killed Cheech Garibaldi’s brother?” Pock-face doesn’t like that info. “You’re that Cantelli?”

  I put on my solemn face. “The one and only. I did try to talk his brother Neil out of coming after me, but he did it anyway. It didn’t end well for him.”

  The third guy had been taking in the conversation with growing interest. “Rick Cantelli! I read about you in the entertainment sheet. You’ve killed a bunch of guys lately and got away with it.”

  “Yeah, but they were all bad,” I explained, entertaining T-bone. “Just apprise Mr. Alvarez of the situation, okay?”

  Three heads nodded in agreement. “See that, Bone. We have an understanding.”

  Nick had enjoyed the whole show. “You are something else, Rick.”

  By then, Bill Staley, and four uniformed PD entered the shop.

  “I didn’t frisk them or relieve them of their ID’s or anything, Bill. Nick wants to testify, and both he and my new employee, Mr. Griffin, will be available.”

  “I like all of this so far, Rick.” Bill signaled the uniforms to gather my suspects. “I’m also glad you didn’t kill anyone else. Mr. Griffin, it’s nice to see you on this side of the bars, hopefully to keep the killer here from any hasty decisions involving gunfire.”

  “That’s just mean, Bill,” I said as T-bone laughed.

  Bill shook hands with T-bone and then Nick. “Will you be able to accompany us, Mr. Pitini?”

  “You bet. I’ll lock the shop.” Nick went around the counter.

  “Write it, Rick, and include the flash drive Lois told me about.”

  “I’m going over to the office right now. We have access from there to live video from Nick’s shop here because he’s one of our clients. I’ll find the shots and clips you’ll want, and drop them off with my updated file later.”

  “Maybe we can stop all this nonsense before it gets started,” Bill replied.

  “I’ll be by later, Bill.” I walked out with T-bone following me. Yeah, I could have fired off one of my patented smartass remarks on the way out. I didn’t. I planned on going back to the office and tear into Nick’s case with every intention of avoiding complications and violence. I didn’t need to jinx my efforts with some lamo small talk.

  * * *

  Lois met us at the door with a file. “Here’s a hard copy on the three perps you just turned over. The digital’s in your inbox, Rick. I’ll run Teddy Alvarez down through my contacts while you get moving on threads connecting those three with this revolving thug ring he’s invented.”

  I took the file. “Thanks, Lo.”

  Lois patted T-bones left hand where he was flexing it at his side. “I heard you did very well today, Mr. Griffin. Make sure you use this with a weapon from now on.”

  T-bone answered in proper fashion. “Yes, Ma’am.”

  Lois nodded and headed for her office.

  “That woman’s scary, Rick.”

  I heard Shelly chuckle at her desk. “It’s worse than you think, Bone. She reads minds too. It’s best to practice blanking your thoughts before getting within range of her mind munching capabilities.”

  “Don’t be screwin’ around with Mr. Griffin’s attitude, Cantelli!” Lois yelled out from her office, jolting my new comrade.

  “Damn!” T-bone was impressed. He stared at her office for a moment and then looked away, probably practicing my suggestion.

  “C’mon in my office. I have it rigged with disruptor beams to ward off my partner’s ghoulish interest in everything that’s none of her business.”

  T-bone followed me. “You’re kiddin’, right brother?”

  I turned slightly to make a shushing motion as Shelly broke out into open laughter.

  * * *

  T-bone was engaged to the max. He followed every step I took turning over digital rocks between our three perps and Teddy Alvarez. The financials I kept simple. They’re hard to find with street pugs, but not impossible. It took nearly half an hour, but using Lois’s worms into places we shouldn’t be, I found the aliases and accounts the three were using to bank their ill gotten gains. Their real names, Jake Lasko, Harold Mendez, and Darrin Alvarro were infamous in LA gang circles. They used prison like a halfway house between their crimes and the next scam. Although most everything is cash and carry with these guys, I took a few extra moments to outline similar amount deposits and outlays in Teddy Alvarez’s account, which I also hacked into. We’d need some threads connecting the amounts to people. That would not be easy. T-bone gestured at the screen in disgust.

  “Is it really this easy to bust in on a brother’s personal files, Rick?”

  “I can’t really get into that with you, Bone. You need deniability on some of our info gathering. Let’s just keep it on a need to know basis, brother. Here’s the neat part. We have names accounts, and amounts. I’m betting our buddy Teddy has some set amounts we may be able to tie in with people in his organization, although he probably pays off his revolving minions in cash.”

  T-bone grabbed my arm excitedly. I’ll probably have a bruise there that won’t go away for three weeks. “You can back trace the whole nest, Rick. That is just creepy good!”

  “If you don’t loosen your grip, Bone, I won’t be able to type ever again.”

  He shed his grip as if he had hold of a snake. “Sorry, Rick. This stuff is jammin’. I wish to God I had met you after the army.”

  I laughed. “You did. I had to zap you.”

  “Shit! That’s right. I’m on the straight and narrow from now on, brother.”

  “I can’t use you then, Bone. A whole lot of what Lois and I do behind the scenes is not on the straight and narrow. Pick what you want to be involved in, and I’ll make it happen. You fit in here like a puzzle piece we’ve been missing for some time. You call your own shots as far as involvement.”

  “That’s fine with me, Rick. I’m good on computers. That’s what frustrated me when I left the army. They taught me programming and database skills, but I couldn’t get on anywhere when I got out. If you keep showing me the ropes, I bet I can get skilled enough to help you.”

  Now that I didn’t know. “Sounds good to me. A lot of what we do is tedious repetition. When we do a complete workup on a client, literally hundreds of items have to be cataloged. New installs require a 3D template to be created for the client fitting their budget, but still making their place as safe as possible. Nick knew when he looked over our most comprehensive package that it would be the perfect fit for him. Thanks to our already installed premium package we’ll be able to find out when his trouble started. A guy like Alvarez sends a scout he trusts into a target’s business first. That scout is usually the one who controls the muscle they send in later, keeping Teddy away from the process.”

  I showed T-bone how our cameras and motion detectors were shielded and installed on the 3D model of Nick’s pawn shop. Even if someone only stepped inside the door, took a look around, and then backed out, they got made. Going three weeks back, we found Harold Mendez walking in and looking around, acting as if he were interested in the merchandise. He drew Nick’s attention the entire time Harold was there, handling items and putting them down. What I pointed out to my new employee was the slicked back hair guy in a leather jacket who snapped pictures of the inside with his phone. Slick finished his inspection and left. Harold followed shortly after.

  “The methods haven’t changed much since the old days, but the revolving thugs ploy is a new wrinkle. If Teddy tapped into the LA gang circuit,
he’d have different faces on every job. It was kind of ingenious. Word would get out about earning a fast buck collecting for Teddy with no risk, and Alvarez would quickly have an expanding collection force. We need to find out who Slick is and trace down threads connecting him to our collectors we unearth.”

  T-bone watched while I sent out Slick’s image into a wide dragnet of sites listing banditos of note, including Interpol. That’s a stretch, but you never know. Since I wasn’t supposed to be allowed access to any of them, there was no point in going halfway. Lois’s worm granted us access and masked us from the systems. I’ve never asked her what blackmail device she used to do it. I knew one thing, if she didn’t have ongoing permission, we would already have been busted. We were masked from casual observation, but someone knew we were in and who we were. I wondered over the years if we would ever have to pay the piper, or if Lois had the piper in bondage.

  As it turned out, we didn’t need anything exotic to uncover Slick’s ID. Mano Conneaut worked as an enforcer for Alvarez in his beginning years. He’d been caught and convicted on two assault with a deadly weapon charges, and one added kidnapping count. If we nailed him, he’d be going away forever. We already had him at the pawn shop with Harold Mendez.

  “Time to call our PD contact. Bill will work this from his end as much as he can. I’ll get clips of Mano and Harold together outside. I’m going to have you go over all the street footage we have from Nick’s outside cameras.”

  “I’m on it, Rick, but getting those three arrested today will tip Alvarez off. I mean… hell… you gave them your business cards.”

  “Yep. We’re in the evidence gathering mode right now. We have to protect Nick. Our top flight system does a lot more than trigger an alarm. Watch this.”

  I loaded our security system demo of what happens when someone approaches the pawn shop or Nick’s home. The resulting din and lights are enough to disorient all but the deaf and blind. “The motion sensors are equipped with calibrated heat signatures, programmed to only go off if a perp is within their operating radius. They give a quick blast to scare away the curious, but then they go the full monty. We are also called. We have a roving security force on call all night. That is another position open to you if this doesn’t work out. Everyone but Lo and I take a turn on it. If Lo gets mad enough at me I can get installs and roving patrol.”

  T-bone enjoyed Lois’s punishment for me a little too much. “If you don’t want installs and roving patrol for the next month, Bone, I would suggest you keep in mind whose side you’re on.”

  “Sorry, Rick, but you and Lois take a little getting used to. I like it here. Will we be the ones protecting Nick and his business tonight?”

  T-bone had good instincts. “Yep, we’ll make sure nothing happens before we get our contingency plan in place, and possibly nab a crew looking for trouble. That’s another reason we have to alert the PD. I’ll meet you back here tonight at nine after we finish with our research. You can have my desk to go over the outside camera feeds on the days in question. I’ll type my confidential informant report for Captain Staley out at one of the desks. I’ll take care of tying in the names and happenings today, but it would help if you can find some nice shots of our Mr. Conneaut and his minions together for me to include in my report.”

  “I’ll get you something, Rick.”

  “Put anything you find in the network file at the center of my screen.”

  “Got it.” T-bone sat down and went to work.

  I journeyed out to an unused computer station we have for our install guys and security people. Due to our hours, we run mostly a mobile force with Lois and Shelly directing traffic. Our people knew how fast we’d be on them if any glitches started appearing in the work loads. They have their assignments ready on our site for them to download every morning or evening, depending on the shift they had. We rotate our people, including having them do some light duty investigative work when we need a lead checked out. Steve is our lead investigator with four other guys under him. They’re competent for field work where observation or tracking needs to be done. Lo and I handle the heavy duty shit, including bond enforcement. Unfortunately, Steve’s about the best we have for an intermediary, and he makes mistakes. I’m thinking T-bone may be our key ingredient for helping Steve take over more of what Lo and I do.

  Shelly was busy, and the office empty – just the way I like it. It means we’re busy. It took me about forty-five minutes to write and edit my CI report for Bill. T-bone added the pictures I needed into the network file as he worked, allowing me to simply add them into my report where I had names to go with them. I needed Staley to get excited about this. He would have to coordinate San Diego’s gang task force with LA’s. This Alvarez deal wasn’t a tiny blip on the small crimes radar. This was a coordinated attack. Once Alvarez gained control of businesses in a given area of the city, he could use them as distribution points for anything he wanted to move, including drugs and even weapons. I spotted Lois peering around her office door at me like one of those turkey vultures you spot hovering over fresh carcasses.

  “What the hell, Cantelli? Are you writing the damn thing out long hand?”

  “I’ll be there in a moment with your copy, you old bat.” I began printing out two hard copies while Lois cackled her way back inside the Gorgon lair. I brought the hard copy in of my report a few minutes later, which she grabbed out of my hand. I sat down, hearing grunts of satisfaction, and seeing head nods of agreement.

  “I’m glad you worked in the supposition this is the spearhead of an Alvarez attack with a lot more in mind than scamming protection money. I’ve checked with my contacts, and Alvarez is getting squeezed in LA. He’s decided to spread down here. If this report doesn’t light a fire under Staley, we’re going to be in for some hard times.”

  “That’s why they make sniper rifles, Lo.”

  Lois cackled appreciatively. It took a few moments before she could speak. “I’ll give you this much, Rick. At least you didn’t start this latest crime intrusion, and wonder of wonders, your old floozy didn’t either. She’s still in jail awaiting trial. I’ve checked. Has she called you to mortgage your house for bail yet?”

  “Oh yeah. The day after Bill took her into custody, and she found out there weren’t any more deals left on the table. The only thing she has left is if they need her to testify against Bonnie and Clyde, the assassins. Even that will only get her better accommodations in prison.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t sign the house over to spring the chippie. I don’t know why, but I kind of liked that hit-woman, Trish.”

  “Yeah, she reminds you of you, only without a conscience, and she would have sliced Stacy in a micro second. She was one icy cold individual. I hope you added her into our rogue’s gallery of people we don’t want appearing out of nowhere.”

  Lo snorted. “Are you stupid? Hell, if they let me I’d inject a GPS tracer in her. I don’t trust the idiots to put her away for good where she belongs, like on death row. I’m glad we didn’t piss her off too much. I ever hear she gets loose, and we’re goin’ huntin’. It’s women like her that give us members of the fairer sex a bad name.”

  Oh God… the two of us chortled over that glib remark for a few minutes. “Time to go do my CI duty with Bill. I will get his head on straight about this Alvarez incursion. I’m telling Bone to go home and get some sleep after he finishes with the pawn shop footage. I’ll be at the workout tonight with what Bill and I agree on. Between now and then, I’m going to get some sleep too.”

  “Best slip into your vest too, Rick,” Lois added.

  “The new one’s stiff as a board… okay… okay…” I waved off the Gorgon stare. “See you at Jadie’s place.”

  After letting T-bone know to knock off after he finished with the video feeds, I waved at Shelly. “See you later, Shell.”

  “You’re coming to Jadie’s?”

  “I’ll be there. The way things are going, I need to stay in the best shape of my life for the
rest of my life.”

  Shelly nodded. “Yeah, plus it does feel good. Is Donavan our new client now?”

  I stopped. “Yes… why?”

  “I was just curious. I wondered how the meeting and everything went with her.”

  “Very well. She’s a good kid – not the kind you see with their mug shots and a new rehab assignment every other week.”

  “Okay, see you at Jadie’s.” Shelly turned back to her computer screen.

  I continued on, wondering if my friends and co-workers were still fitting me for the cradle robber title. They all conveniently forget Lois gets this crap going, cashing in on my unfortunate notoriety.

  Chapter 19: Teddy Alvarez

  When I reached the street, a big black limo screeched to a stop in front of our office building with the doors popping open. Before anyone could emerge, I was in a shooter’s crouch, with my newly returned Ruger 9mm in hand. I’ve been practicing my reaction time since the Garibaldi shooting. I had no intention of dying as I looked with surprise at guns getting ready to blast me into eternity. I planned on sending a few ahead of me. If I shocked or scared a few innocents… too damn bad.

  The limo doors slammed shut for a moment. I stayed where I was. They had the windows way past the legal dark tinting allowed. The few people trying to pass our building decided on a different route, and yeah, I considered popping a couple right through the windows. The front passenger door opened. Hands held straight up and empty appeared over the door, before a stocky pug in a suit with slicked back hair popped his head over the door frame under them.

  “My boss would like to speak with you, Cantelli,” the pug informed me.

  I waited a moment before speaking. “Well… are you going to tell me who the hell your boss is or is this some kind of tryout for a new take on an old TV game show?”