“Salvatore, what happened, happened. There was nothing I could do about it.” JD felt a wave of nausea sweep over him. He didn’t like how Giambi looked, almost evil.
“I’m not saying it didn’t happen that way. But I’m trying to imagine how you got away. How they didn’t kill you or her. If she’s kicking her shoes off to run, then somebody is already there, am I right? So how is it you got away?”
“Use your imagination. It’s the middle of the night. We saw them coming. When somebody takes a shot you’d be surprised how fast you can run to get in a car and get the hell out of there. It adds up. I think they were coming after you and were surprised it wasn’t you. That’s what I think happened.”
Giambi seemed to ponder that, no doubt looking for holes, something to pounce on. He asked, “JD, you have enemies that I should know about?”
“None that want to kill me.”
“Maybe they wanted to kidnap you?”
“Who the hell would want to kidnap me? To extort money from you? That’s ridiculous. You have the means to hunt down and kill anybody you want to. Nobody would do that.”
“What about Anne Hurley? Rich widow like that, maybe somebody was coming for her?”
JD shrugged. “I don’t know that much about her so I can’t say if she has enemies or not. You’ll have to ask her.”
“I intend to. But I want you to tell me about last night.”
“She told you what happened.”
“I want details.”
“It’s like we said.” He told Giambi about the bar, the ride to the shop. The attack and how they got away. He left out the part about kissing her while still inside the shop. “That’s all there is. If you’re looking for something else, you won’t find it. She seems to be exactly who she says she is.” He was out-and-out lying now, and somehow he found it real easy to do. Especially after their tryst in the pool. Everything had come easy since then, even his willingness to help her in her crazy scheme.
JD continued, “And the whole thing traumatized the hell out of her. She didn’t particularly want to get involved with the police. Neither did I. She was scared and so was I.”
“She better now?”
“Yeah. She believes they were after you or they wanted to steal the car and got pissed when we took off so they loaded it up with bullets.”
“And she’s fine with either of those scenarios?”
“I think so, but she needs to be convinced you can deal with the aftermath.”
“Convinced how?”
JD thought he had him now. That Giambi actually wanted to help the terrified widow get back her confidence. Anne would be proud of him.
“That’s up to you. All I know is this lady is loaded and she is really in to this whole racing venture. She’s got some great ideas. Really interesting stuff that agrees with your ideas about how Formula One and NASCAR can work together in ways nobody has considered before. All these drivers from Formula One switching over to NASCAR. This idea of getting a race in Vegas on the heels of the NASCAR. Dual advertising. She’s full of terrific ideas. We need to team up with her.”
“You didn’t get back to me when I called you this morning. Why?”
“I didn’t have my phone, and besides we were busy.”
“Busy, how?”
“Hey, you aren’t that old. Boy saves girl’s life. Maybe she thinks he deserves—”
“Those details I don’t need.”
“You asked.”
“I better not find out this is something involving you and somebody you’re into for something. You best be telling me the truth, JD. If I find out later you owed somebody money, or screwed somebody’s wife, or whatever, our deal is off. I can get fifty guys like you. Just remember that. So if it’s one of those deals, you get straight with me right now, dammit.”
When JD said nothing, Giambi stood. “I gotta go check the arrangements for the party I’m throwing, but I’d like to talk to her for a few minutes.”
“Listen.” JD sat forward in his chair. No matter what Anne said, JD didn’t want to lose Giambi’s support, at least not until he was sure that Anne could come through for him. “I don’t want you thinking I’m pulling anything over on you. There’s nothing strange going on.”
“You involved with drugs?”
“C’mon, Salvatore, you know me better than that. I couldn’t drive if I were using.”
“Well, hell. There’s a lot of drugs going on at those parties you attend. I don’t know everything you do.”
“I’m going to risk my future by getting into drugs. Is that what you think?”
“Human behavior is unpredictable. I never think I know anybody well enough to predict what they’re gonna do tomorrow.”
“That’s a sad way to be.” JD shook his head.
“Yeah, well maybe it is and maybe it’s the smart way to be.”
“You live in a dark world.”
Giambi sat back down and leaned forward, eyes intense. “Hey, look out beyond yourself sometime. You think that world out there is full of sunshine and roses? It’s dark and getting darker every day. You just spent the night running from some kind of hit team. You think that’s not dark?”
JD had him worked up again and that meant he could stretch this conversation longer. Give Anne more time. Giambi loved to argue.
“You sent me on a mission to find out who she was,” JD said, sitting back in his chair, then sipping on his coffee. “Well, that’s what I did. And she’s ready to bring some big money into this deal, so you should be happy. Every damn day isn’t five to midnight. You need to put some batteries in your clock and get it running. The sun does shine sometimes.”
“If the target wasn’t you or Anne, then it was me. For that I should be spending time in the sunshine? I don’t think so. I’ll take the cover the night affords me.”
“They didn’t succeed, did they?”
“They killed my car.”
“You’d rather I was dead?”
He held out both hands as if he were weighing the thought, like it was a real hard choice. “You…the Bugatti. You…the Bugatti. About even I’d say.” He emitted a dry, sarcastic chuckle.
“Thanks. At least I know where I stand.”
“Hey, I loved that car.” Giambi reached out and slapped JD on the shoulder.
“I know. Look, there’s nothing to worry about. I got her wrapped around my little finger.” JD wished that were true, but it sure felt good to say it out loud. “She’s looking for the excitement of hooking up with a race car driver that she can help make a winner. You’ve seen the type. Hell, you were once involved—”
“Don’t. I don’t want to hear it,” Giambi warned. “How big of a piece of this does she want?”
“That’s between you and Anne. We didn’t talk about the specifics.”
Giambi was lightening up, and the knot in JD’s stomach had vanished. He took in a deep breath and let it out.
“You got something with this lady that’s different than your usual deal?”
“I had a great time with her. She’s on fire.”
“You watch you don’t get burned.” Giambi patted JD’s arm as if he was really concerned about this issue. “I want her to join me at my table tomorrow night. Both of you.”
“Thanks. We’ll be there.”
“You invited your Hollywood crowd?”
“Yes. It’s going to be fun. Look, I trust you,” JD said. “I want you to trust me a little. Have faith. We’ve got big plans and I think Anne can help make them even bigger.”
“Your story proves out, I’ll apologize and never distrust you again. Until then, let’s just stay business associates because that’s about all I’m in the mood for right now.”
“I’ll take that for now. You aren’t showing a little jealousy, are you?”
“What?”
“I see how you look at her. She’s the whole package.”
“No. I might be jealous of your age, but that’s about it. You’re a hotshot,
but you aren’t that grand.”
JD saw the light of the elevator. He got up to fill his coffee cup and walked over to the bar. He hit number five on his cell and hoped that Anne hurried out of there as soon as her phone rang.
Giambi got up when he heard the elevator open. “Don’t be sending Jason on errands. He’s got his hands full with my party tomorrow night.”
“Never again.”
Jason exited the elevator and headed straight for Giambi’s bedroom. Anne was seated in the living room, as if she’d been there the whole time.
JD let out a long, heavy sigh.
Chapter 19
B eth shut the door behind JD when he walked into their suite. “I looked everywhere that I could without messing things up. No keys.”
“What now?”
“I’m thinking I need to get him in the grotto pool in his swimming trunks. Does he ever go in?”
“Sure. All the time. Nothing the man likes better than being in the grotto pool with a beautiful young female. It’s the Hugh Hefner thing kicking in. And he’s just a touch jealous that you and I are an item. I think he wishes he hadn’t set us up.”
“Good. If we can get him in the pool, you’re going to have to get into his room and get an impression of the key he carries.”
JD nodded. They headed toward the living room.
“How’d your conversation go?”
“He’s all upset—” he flopped down in one of the living room chairs “—about everything. This is just another mess to deal with. I don’t know if he believes the story or not, but I suspect he’s going to really check you out now.”
“We need to move fast.”
“He wants to meet with you. He wants to know your business plans vis-à-vis the racing team. And he wants to hear some of your ideas. I warmed him up on those. You have bruises you want to soak. I’ll tell him you want to meet him in the grotto pool. You can talk there.”
“Good. What do you think about Jason?”
“He’s going to be very busy. Most of the time he’ll be down in the ballroom supervising the set-up for tomorrow’s party.”
“Giambi really didn’t believe you? Most of what we told him was the truth.”
“He’s had things happen to him in the past. He’s about as skeptical of human behavior as you can be outside of a mental hospital. And in his world, there’s a lot of justification.”
“What bothered him the most? I’ll try and ease his mind.”
“You in a bikini will ease his mind.”
“Did he say specifically what’s bothering him?”
“The pattern of the bullet casings. Where the shoes were and where the car was parked. He’s the kind of guy who puts that all together and wonders how the hell we managed to escape. He hasn’t seen you in action. So he’s wondering just how it all went down. Like I said, he’s a very skeptical guy.”
She was sitting close and he reached over, grabbed her hand and pulled her onto his lap.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m just checking things out.”
“You’re supposed to go set this up.”
“I will. We have a little time.”
“For what?”
“To make sure these bruises of yours are okay. That’s one reason the grotto is the best place to meet him.”
“My bruises are fine.” She grabbed one hand and moved it out from under her blouse only to have to deal with another and then it was like he had three or four hands. She was laughing, but she slid over to the other side of the sofa. They had work to do, and no time for anything else. At least not at the moment. “I need you to tell him I want to talk to him in his pool.”
JD made the call, but she could tell he wasn’t happy about it. When he hung up he said, “He’ll meet you there in twenty minutes. I know you’ll handle him with no problem. Just remember that he’s been at this for a long time. He can read a person about as well as anyone I’ve ever met.”
“So can I,” Beth said. “You just get an impression of that desk key. I’ll handle Giambi. Once I have the key, I’m going to need to be able to get away from the party.”
JD nodded. “He’s going to have potential investors at the party. He planned on showing a film compilation of my greatest racing moments in his ballroom theater after dinner and dancing—he’s a big tango man.”
“What about Jason? Will he be there all the time?”
“He’ll be serving drinks.” JD pulled his laptop over from the coffee table along with a controller and began playing a game. “He’s always at Giambi’s beck and call when he’s entertaining. There’s a good chance you can slip out. Get a headache. Have to go back to take some pills or something. Or maybe just sneak out. If he notices, I can tell him you went to get something. It’s the only chance you’ll get. Things are bad right now. At night, if he sleeps more than four hours I’d be surprised. And Jason is all over the place. On top of that, Giambi has been in his office a lot. I think he’s looking at moving all of his assets out of Monaco unless the climate changes real soon. So the party will be about your only chance.”
She nodded. “Okay. The party it is.”
“What happens if you can’t get in the office or you can’t break the codes to get into his programs?”
“That can’t happen.”
“But if it does?”
“If we can’t do it one way, we’ll have to do it another.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning I’ll deal with that if it happens. I came here to get some information and I’m not leaving without it.”
She had to work Giambi, get him to buy into what she was going to tell him. Then she had to work a little on his jealousy—if, in fact, that was the case with the man.
“Of all the groupies and jet-setting playgirls in all the world, I end up having a crush on the girl who’s gonna bring down this house. Is that a bad joke or what?”
“For the grandson of a whiskey runner you’re doing okay. You didn’t expect a normal life, did you?”
She watched him maneuver the action on the game. A lot of shooting and running.
“No. I expected a great life. Full of victory laps.”
She looked at him, smiled and winked. “You’ll get those laps.”
“Like my grandma used to say, a wink is like a nod to a dead horse.”
“That one of your Tennessee sayings?”
“Yep. By the way. You aren’t alone. You have a competitor.”
“Who?”
“A Greek billionaire. His yacht should be pulling in here maybe tomorrow or the next day. Giambi wants you to meet the guy. Help persuade him to come aboard. He’s the big money behind the casino in Kestonia. If he can get the Greek behind him, he’s thinking of becoming the Steve Wynn of Eastern Europe.”
“Giambi’s almost eighty. These are long-range plans. I admire that, but I don’t know if I’d invest in it.”
“Like Giambi says, eighty is the new sixty. He works out, eats power foods. Takes vitamins, most of the time. Thinks he’s going to be good for at least another fifteen years. He and the Greek are about the same age.”
“More power to them.” Then she gave him a little nip on the lips. “You’re definitely trainable.”
“Bond material?”
“Well, that’s yet to be determined. But so far, so good.”
“I think he’s going to put something on the table tomorrow night at dinner. He expects that you’re ready to make a deal.”
“Does playing those games help you as a driver?”
“I think it does. It takes great hand and eye coordination. Games make good practice for drivers and fighter pilots. Want to play with me, little girl? It’s Grand Theft Auto. I’d say you know a little about that.”
She smiled and nodded. “A little, but you know much more. Teach me everything.”
“It would be my pleasure,” he said and handed her a cordless controller.
Not exactly what she had in mind, but under the circu
mstances, it was probably the right move.
When she reached the grotto pool, Giambi was already in the water, sitting on the formed-in pool seats that were along the side. He had drinks prepared on the floating table and he was smoking a cigar.
She walked toward him with a smile. “How’s the water?”
“Great.”
She gave him plenty of time to check out her walk and her body as she kicked off the flip-flops and dropped her silky robe.
She stepped slowly into the water, then cruised over to him and took a seat right next to him. The water felt divine, and the twilight view only added to the sensation. “Very nice,” she muttered. The man knew comfort.
“You do justice to a bikini,” Giambi said as he handed her a pink martini.
“Thank you. A lady never hears too many compliments.”
Giambi checked out the bruise on her shoulder. “You might want to have some X rays. You might have a cracked bone somewhere and don’t know it.”
“I think I’m okay. If something was cracked, I’d feel more pain than I do. But if it flares up, I definitely will. Thanks for the concern.”
Giambi said, “You mind the cigar?”
“Enjoy. I like the smell of a good cigar. I don’t think I have to worry about one night of secondhand smoke as much as bullets coming at me in the dark.”
“I’ll find out who did the shooting. When I do…well let’s just say for every action there’s an appropriate reaction.”
“Sounds a lot like the law of physics.”
“I think that would be an opposite and equal reaction. I don’t think equal is what I have in mind.”
Beth smiled. “I understand.”
He lifted a highball glass and said, “To a partnership.” He studied her through those ice grey portals, a sly grin forming on his face.
“And what does that mean, exactly?” she asked.
“Full partnership in Giambi Racing. Your lawyers can draw up the contract. Mine will go over them. I’m not going to play hardball with you. I want to be involved. I want JD back with a ride as soon as possible.”
“You move fast,” she offered, then took a sip of her martini. It tasted sweet from cranberry juice and the vodka. Perfect, of course.
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