“Killian, Angelo, and I will be getting together and figuring out who we are going to have with each street gang. Each of you will be in charge of making sure that things are transitioned smoothly on their end. Whatever they need, you bring it to Angelo. If he’s not available, then find Killian. Make sure that their requests are within reason, and most of all, make sure they know you are in charge. I don’t need them thinking that I work for them. Understood?” Everyone nods and mumbles yes. “Good. Now some of you might be wondering why we aren’t meeting at one of our usual places. I have it under good authority that we may have a mole in our midst.” Heads starts moving back and forth between everyone and multiple voices start to fill the room. Leaning over to Ava I whisper, “Well this can’t be good.” She shakes her head no.
“Relax.” Sal holds his hand up signaling everyone to be quiet. “It’s been handled. Someone got busted for dealing drugs and luckily for us,” he looks over to me, “he doesn’t know who our new supplier is.” He told the cops who he was dealing for and one of our guys took the fall. He denied having any connection with us and as far as I know, they can’t prove it. At least one of my guys stayed loyal.” I glance at my watch to check the time. Today was not a good day for this to come out of Sal’s mouth. Butterflies fill my stomach and I wait for my watch to hit the next minute. Standing up, he tells us we are done and will be in touch. Chairs start to push out from the table as everyone gets up.
The sound of sirens come from outside and a couple officers enter the warehouse, causing all of us to freeze in our spot. “No one move a muscle.” Sal orders. “This place is clean and we haven’t done anything wrong.” Sitting back down in his chair, everyone else does the same. Not even a minute later a couple officers walk in.
“Alright everyone, hands where I can see them.” The cops say, walking in with their guns drawn.
“Mind telling us what the problem is, officer?” Sal asks, pulling a cigar out and lighting it.
“We got a call reporting of drugs being seen in the facility. Imagine our surprise when we walked up and found these bags on the floor.” He holds up the dime bags I purposely dropped in front of the place.
“I can assure you officer, those are not mine.” Sal takes a puff of his cigar.
“Yours or not, Mr. Onorato, they were still found on your property. We’re going to have to take you in.” Sal has a smug smile on his face and nods his head.
Waving his hand with the cigar in it he says, “You know these charges won’t stick, right? I’ll be out before you can even finish processing me.” Smug son of a bitch.
“That might be so, but you know what? Some of us actually follow the law. Place your hands behind your back.” The officer instructs as he pulls out his cuffs.
Standing up, all heads turn to my direction and the officer’s partner aims his gun my way. “I can’t let you do that.”
“Oh yeah? And why is that.”
“Because their mine. If you want to arrest someone, arrest me.”
“You heard him boys, the man says they're his.” Ava urges the cops to arrest me instead.
The officers look at each other with confusion and realize they have no choice. I confessed they were mine so they have to arrest me. The cop walks over and I place my hands behind my back as my rights are read to me. I get a quick glance at Sal who has a smile of approval on his face and nods his head at me. After the cuffs are in place, they escort me to the cramped back seat of the police car where I’m taken off to the station. How’s that for loyalty, asshole.
I’m sitting in a private cell going over everything that happened earlier in my head. It couldn’t have worked out better. When Ava and I decided to shake things up, we really thought that Angelo would step up and take the fall for the drugs. When he didn’t, I improvised and did what I did. I figured if anything, it would make me look better to Sal.
You can see the confusion all over the officers’ face when I had them arrest me. The plan was, to arrest one of his guys and try and get them to talk or at least be able to place doubt about them in the back of Sal’s head. Either way, I think I got a good thing going sitting in here. I just have to wait it out and see.
A couple of the guys on the force have been walking by, taunting me, knowing who I am and loving every minute of it. I can’t say a damn thing since I don’t know who could be listening in a cell next to me. That’s okay though, paybacks a bitch and I’m really good at delivering. There’s a tapping on the rails and I look up and see Riggs standing in front of me.
“So, you’re the one they arrested with the drugs, huh?” He’s looking at me like he’s unimpressed.
“What’s it to you?” I play along.
“I don’t know. Most people who come in here are…well, more…”
“More what?” Slightly offended by his words, I lean forward and wait for his response.
“Bigger?”
“Are you knocking me because I’m not fat?”
“No, by bigger I mean muscle.” Laughing, he strides off back to his office, leaving me appalled. I work hard and eat right to maintain this body. It is no easy job that fucker.
“I don’t know man, you look like you’re in decent shape to me. If anything, he looks like he should be laying off the donuts.” I turn my head to the guy in the cell next to me. He barely has his eyes open and I can smell the booze oozing from his body.
“And you, my friend, could use some water and a shower.” Standing up, I move to the other side of the cell, since the opposite cell is empty I feel comfortable enough to lean my back against it and perch my leg up on the bars, crossing my arms across my chest, just waiting.
About another forty minutes go by before the door to my cell is being opened. “Congratulations, you made bail, you’re free to go.” The officer leads the way to a desk where my belongings are sitting. “Sign here stating that everything you came in with was returned.” Signing the paper, I look around to see who bailed me out but see no familiar faces. Maybe Riggs is being nice and letting me go. I pass Sylva on the way out and he nods his head at the door before I exit the building. Walking out, I see Killian standing in front of his car.
“There he is! The man of the hour.” He pats my shoulder as I get up to the car. “You’re a good kid, Dante. Come on, Sal wants to see you.” Without hesitation, I hop in his car and off we go. I’m dying to hear what Sal has to say about what I did. During the car ride over, Killian tells me about what happened after I got taken away. Everyone stood there in silence as Sal walked out. Before leaving, he told Angelo to meet him at his house in fifteen minutes and not to be late.
“So, where are we headed?”
“Mr. Onorato’s house. He gave strict instructions to pick you up and bring you straight there. No pit stops.” Killian blabs on about God knows what. He’s the complete opposite of Angelo. This guy could be sitting in horse shit and have a fucking smile on his face. Normally I’d be nervous about going to Sal’s house, but what Killian said about how things went down when I was hauled away, I feel pretty damn safe for the moment. I know not to get comfortable, though. We listen to some God-awful band on the way there and I say a silent prayer that I no longer have to listen to it when we pull up. Killian definitely needs a lesson in good music.
I’ve never seen his house before, so when I look at it, I’m actually taken back by its beauty. It’s a brick Victorian mansion style home, with a gate that wraps around the whole property. The extravagant windows have a mysterious feel to them and really bring character to the home. The house in itself is quite beautiful on the outside; it’s just a shame that a piece of shit lives in it.
Killian rings the bell and we are greeted by a woman whom I’m assuming is the housekeeper. She leads us into through the foyer and off to the right to what looks like doors to a study. “He knows you’re here. Just give him a few minutes and he’ll let you in,” She says before walking off. For some reason, I feel the need to thank her, so I do and she continues on with her work. A
pounding sound brings our attention to the door, where a booming voice breaks through the walls.
“A fucking newbie, Angelo! A fucking new guy, who hasn’t been with us long, stood up and took the fall for me. And what did you do? Sit on your ass. You knew those charges wouldn’t stick!”
“To be fair, no one else stood up. But that’s why I didn’t stand up. I knew...”
“That’s why you didn’t stand up? I don’t give a shit that no one else stood up! You’re my fucking right hand man Angelo, not them. It doesn’t matter if the charges would stick or not. Maybe I need to rethink your position at my side. Now go, there’s nothing you can say to make up for what happened today.” Killian and I look at each other and he has the ‘oh shit’ look on his face. The door swings open as Angelo comes storming out of the room. Being the sarcastic asshole I am, I give him a little wave. He lunges at me, but gets stopped by Killian holding him back.
“Relax, man. You need to go cool off. It sounds like you’re already in deep shit. Don’t make it any worse.” Killian slowly releases his hold on Angelo and he shakes his shirt out, fixing his appearance.
“There’s something wrong about you.” He’s pointing at me and I raise my eyebrow in return. “I’m going to get to the bottom of it, so you better watch your fucking back.”
“Enough.” Sal is standing behind us, catching Angelo off guard. “I told you to go. Why are you still in my house?” Angelo doesn’t respond but glares at me before leaving.
“Dante, my apologies. Angelo can be a little pig headed and stubborn.” Sal motions his hand for me to enter the study. “Please, sit.” Walking around his desk, he picks up the bottle of amber liquid, pouring two glasses. He hands me the glass, “Salud,” and we clink them together. After drinking the bourbon, he sits in the brown leather chair behind it. I follow his lead and sit in silence. With someone like Sal, you never talk first. You always let him feel like he’s the big man in the room.
“Let me start off by thanking you.”
“I was just doing my job.”
“How so?”
“Well,” putting down my drink I start to blow smoke up his ass. “As of now, I’m your supplier, and I must say, business is good. I would be a fucking dumbass if I let you take any kind of hit that could cause any problems. Especially rock related. I don’t know how those drugs got there, but I do know there wasn’t even enough to consider an attempt to distribute. It was a measly possession charge. Big whoop. I just did what anyone else would have done.” I say that last part matter-of-factly. I know he’s pissed at Angelo and I want to keep that anger in his mind for as long as I can.
“Yes, you did. The problem is, my guys didn’t do what you did today.”
“In my opinion, Mr. Onorato, loyalty is a two-way street.”
“You seem like a very wise man, Mr. Serra, one I’m going to start keeping closer by my side. I have an appointment I need to get to. Killian will take you wherever you need to go.”
After leaving the house, there was one thing on my mind that I couldn’t put my finger on. Angelo got his ass chewed out and Killian got nothing. Sal didn’t even give him a second look while we were there. From what Killian told me, and he told me a lot, everyone there got their asses handed to them.
“Let me ask you something?” I look at Killian.
Keeping his eyes on the road, he says, “Shoot.”
“How come everyone but you got shit for not doing what I did?” The corner of his mouth turns up and I know this is going to be a good one.
“Well this might come as a shock to you, but I’m on probation.”
“You, no?” I joke. “So what did you do?”
“Let me start off by saying it wasn’t my fault. I was minding my own business walking down the boardwalk with this gorgeous woman. I figured I’d take her there, play a few games, win her some stuffed animals. You know how chicks love that type of shit. Well anyway, I had just lost a game I was playing; you know the one where the gun shoots the water in the hole, filling up the balloons. Well mine wasn’t working, so I got pissed. I was demanding the guy to let me play again when I felt something on my shoulder. I turned around and saw a fucking clown rubbing his eyes like a crybaby. I hate clowns, I’ve had a real bad phobia of them since I was a little kid. That stupid movie Killer Clowns From Outer Space started it all. Anyway, he completely caught me off guard and I beat the shit out of him. Let’s just say Bozo wasn’t smiling by the time I was pried off him.”
“So let me get this straight. You’re on probation for assaulting a clown?”
“Dude! He snuck up on me! It’s a known fact that people have clown phobias. Why on earth would he think it’s okay to sneak up on someone like that?”
I can’t help but bellow as he goes on the defense about how it wasn’t his fault. I’m thankful we pull up to my place shortly after because all that was running through my head after that was clown jokes. I thank Killian for bailing me out and giving me a lift home and say, “I’ll see ya later, Bozo.” He shakes his head and drives off.
Walking up to my door, I notice there’s something off. Before I try my keys, I turn the handle on the door, only to see it’s unlocked. I reach behind me, only to remember that since I didn’t stop to grab my car, I don’t have my gun on me. Pausing, I look up at the sky and take a deep breath, I just wanted to get home and get in touch with Riggs and Ava. Fuck, I don’t need this right now. Not knowing what is waiting for me inside, I look around the front of my house, the only useful thing I see is a flowerpot. I pick it up and tell myself that this will have to do. I can’t believe how stupid I look carrying this thing. The person waiting for me will fall over laughing instead of being frightened.
Entering the house with caution, I hold the flowerpot at my side, ready to attack. As I turn the corner and look in the kitchen, I feel like I time traveled back to the nineties. There’s music playing and the smell of food is coming from the stove. Placing the flowerpot down quietly, I lean up against the wall and watch Ava move around, oblivious to my presence. She’s singing along with the group of guys blasting through the stereo. She may be beautiful, but good God, her voice sounds awful. She’s singing about how it’s going to be her or some shit like that. Using the spatula as her microphone, she starts breaking out into a dance routine and I can’t contain myself any longer. My boisterous laugh over comes the music, making Ava jump as she swings her body around, holding the spatula out to fight.
“Don’t stop on my account.” I manage to say between laughs. “See, I told you that you would make a great stripper! I especially loved the criss cross move with the legs.” Clapping my hands together, I applaud her little performance that I just witnessed.
I walk up to her and grab the spatula out of her hands. “What were you planning on doing with this, whipping me into a smooth batter?”
“Very funny, aren’t we the comedian today? First of all, you don’t whip with a spatula, that would be a whisk and secondly, this is the thanks I get for making you a hot meal after being locked up? I guess since you can’t appreciate the way it was made, I’ll just have to toss it.” She flips her hair as she picks up the food off the stove and holds it above the garbage can.
“Don’t you dare throw that out, Pop Tart! I’m starving.”
“What did you just call me?” She lowers her hand closer to the garbage can but she has a smile plastered on her face.
Walking over, I grab the plate from her hand and place it on the counter. “Is there something wrong Pop Tart?” I graze my fingers down her neck.
Her eyes close and she leans into my hand, but snaps out of it quickly, “We have plenty of time for that later.” She swats away my hand. “Tell me, what happened after you got picked up?”
She notices the flower pot on the floor when she moves around to the other side of the island. I sheepishly grab it and race it back outside. Coming back in, she cocks an eyebrow, “So you were giving me shit about a spatula when you were going to fight with a flower pot?”
I can’t help but chuckle as I pull her into me, “Give me a damn kiss, woman, and shut up. I’ve been locked up, you know. I need lovin’.” Placing a kiss on her lips, she once again only gives me a second before she wiggles out of my embrace and grabs the plates, placing them on the island so we can eat. We both sit on the stools. I can’t help but sneak looks at her bare legs, so smooth and lean.
We eat in silence for a few minutes until my curiosity gets the best of me. “How did you get in here, anyway?” There were no signs of forced entry so I’m wondering if I forgot to lock up.
“Really, Dante? I’m FBI, I picked your lock, duh.” She grins at me and pops a piece of food in her mouth. I make a mental note to have a good long talk about privacy boundaries. Ava clearly doesn’t believe they exist.
“Killian came and bailed me out.” I tell her before taking a bite of the food she made.
“Killian? I’m surprised it wasn’t Angelo.”
I make a sound of approval when I take my first bite. “This is delicious, thank you. I didn’t realize how hungry I actually was.”
“Jail time will do that to you. No one made you their bitch, did they?” She laughs when I pop another bite into my mouth.
“Hush your mouth, I was surprised too. It turns out Sal was livid at the fact that everyone was going to let him get arrested.” I let the food settle in my stomach before taking yet another bite.
“How do you know that?” Ava gets up, grabs two glasses and fills them with water for us.
“Killian told me. You need to get closer to him, we both do. That boy likes to talk and once he starts going, he doesn’t shut up. I think we can get a lot of intel from him without him even realizing he’s giving it.”
Dante's Redemption Page 7
