Stealing the Golden Dream

by Sally J. Smith

  It struck him then. Frankie. Diego better be on his toes. Trouble was heading for Frankie and for Diego, too, if he was on the job like he was supposed to be.

  Eddie shivered, but this time it wasn’t from the cold.

  Chapter 27

  By the time Sofia drove Jordan to the country club in her 550 SL on Friday morning, Anthony was already at the nineteenth hole with a Mimosa and a couple of croissants in front of him.

  He looked up in surprise as the two women approached. And why not? His daughter and Jordan Welsh were probably the last two people on earth he ever expected to see together.

  Sofia wasted no time in telling her father what she knew. Jordan kept quiet, allowing the apple of her daddy’s eye to plead her case.

  Vercelli’s face hardened as his daughter’s tale progressed. When she finished, he set his jaw. “Tony hasn’t shown up for work for a couple of days. Haven’t seen or heard from him since Wednesday morning. And after what you told us about him and the cartel, we been looking.” His gaze swept over the expansive greens, but he didn’t appear to be seeing them. He reached for his cellphone. “I’m declaring war against Tony LaSalle. He crossed the line with the cartel, but he’s really screwed up now. Eddie’s like family to me. You don’t mess with family and live.”

  Sofia drove twenty miles an hour over the speed limit. Was it an indication of how worried she was about Eddie, or was it just the way she always drove?

  Jordan dialed Gina, who answered right away with, “Did you find him?”

  Her heart sank. “No. I was calling to see if you had anything. I’m doing everything I know to do, but I’m way open to suggestions.”

  “Coop’s in the process of hacking LaSalle’s email and social media. We thought maybe we’d get lucky with a name or a face there.”

  Jordan shook her head. Reduced to trolling Facebook. What next?

  “Tank and Diego are hitting up every old contact of Eddie’s. They thought maybe Tony told somebody in Vercelli’s organization what he planned.”

  “If so, we’d know already. Vercelli’s got everybody in town looking for LaSalle.”

  Gina continued, “I called every investigator on my contacts list. They’re looking and checking for anything and everything related to Tony LaSalle.”

  Jordan sighed. “How’s Mama Rose?”

  “She’s sleeping. Mark got her quiet and convinced her to take a pill. She’s not handling it well, Jordan, not handling it at all.”

  “I figured as much.”

  “My mom’s on her way here.” Gina didn’t sound like this was a good thing. “I tried to stop her, but it was too late. She doesn’t know anything about all the trouble. She’s just coming for the wedding.”

  “It is what it is,” Jordan said. “Maybe she’ll comfort Mama Rose.”

  Jordan couldn’t think of anything else to say, but didn’t want to hang up. Gina was a connection to Eddie, a close connection, and something about talking to her was comforting. “Let me know if anybody finds out anything. Someone somewhere has a list of who this guy hangs with, does business with. If we can get it, we can find Eddie.”

  She disconnected. It all came crashing down onto her at once. She had gone to Anthony Vercelli, a man with little conscience and a high tolerance for violence. Anthony Vercelli, without whom Eddie wouldn’t even be in this mess. She’d had to ask him for his help. And now she was in a car with Sofia, Eddie’s old girlfriend. They had to find him and fast, before Tony killed him. She’d avoided thinking about it until just that moment.

  Tony intended to kill Eddie. Why else would he have taken him?

  What other explanation was there? Did he want money? He hadn’t asked for it. Did he want revenge? Then why not just kill him on the spot?

  A sob tore from her. Eddie. She could lose Eddie, who loved her and had her back, who made her laugh, and supported her every dream.

  As much as she hated crying in front of Sofia, once the first sob broke loose, another followed. Before she knew it, she was crying and moaning, sobbing like a child.

  Sofia accelerated to eighty-five and passed three cars as she took the exit for Chaparral then drove straight to her condominium.

  Jordan reached for her keys, but Sofia laid her hand on top of hers. “Look, Jordan, you’re in no shape to drive. Come upstairs until you—”

  Jordan snapped, “Until I what? Until I settle down?” She was instantly sorry. Sofia was right. She was a mess.

  Without another word, she fell in step beside Sofia, and the two women took the elevator up to Sofia’s condo.

  Two fingers of Hennessy XO in a brandy snifter went down between hiccups. It did calm her. When Sofia offered a second pour, Jordan didn’t object.

  She sat back on the grass-green sofa and tucked an accent pillow against her chest. “Thanks for the drink. It helped.”

  She looked at the woman swirling the amber liquid in her own glass.

  “Sofia?”

  She turned and Jordan was struck yet again by how much prettier she was without all the glitter, glamour, and bling.

  Jordan chose each word carefully. This could turn out to be some thin ice if word got back to Vercelli she was digging into his business. “What sent LaSalle to prison? What was the thing Eddie refused to do for your father?”

  Sofia looked into the glass and kept swirling. “It was a vendetta. Not just any vendetta. It was important to Poppy.” She sat down on a stool by the granite bar counter. “Did you know about my brother?”

  Jordan shook her head. “Eddie doesn’t like to talk about his previous life.” She consciously avoided the word didn’t.

  “He was killed. Murdered. That’s how I came to know anything at all about the family business. I was always kept away, at arm’s length—the classic little mafia princess. But after Michael died, I thought maybe Poppy would want me to be next in line to take over. He doesn’t know I looked into things, still thinks I’m his innocent little girl. But I know a lot more than he thinks I do.”

  Jordan listened and considered Sofia’s words. “You plan on taking over your father’s business some day?”

  “No,” Sofia said. “After what I learned, I want to stay as far away from those people as possible. My father included.”

  They sat in silence for a few moments, Jordan digesting this interesting bit of insight into Sofia’s personality. Sofia was lost in her own thoughts.

  “Michael was five years older than I am.” Sofia’s voice was quiet. “You should have seen my brother. He was beautiful for a man, like an angel.” She had a faraway look in her eyes. “He worked for the family business, but his heart wasn’t in it. He never was much good at it and the poor guy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He got involved in a business deal with one of Poppy’s enemies. Poppy put a stop to it. He couldn’t take Michael back into the business after that. Couldn’t trust him. The other side, they didn’t want him either. They killed him to get back at my father. The code demands an eye for an eye. The man who murdered my brother, his son was only seventeen years old. He was part of the criminal activities, but still just a kid.”

  Jordan caught her breath.

  Sofia looked at her and nodded. “You heard right. My father asked Eddie, his enforcer, to make a hit on a teenager. No way Eddie would do it. He refused.”

  Jordan filled in the blanks. “But LaSalle didn’t.”

  “Tony went to jail.”

  “And he blamed it on Eddie, so he wants payback and he’s taking it out of Eddie’s hide.”

  Sofia whistled through her teeth. “Big mistake. Tony ought to know better. Any loyalty Poppy might have for him flew out the window when he went after Eddie. Poppy loves Eddie. All hell’s about to rain down on Tony LaSalle.”

  “Good,” Jordan said. “Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”

  She left Sofia’s and drove around town for more than two hours, aimlessly, not sure where she was going or why. She only knew she had to do something.

  Eventual
ly, drained and exhausted, Jordan went to the office and checked in with everyone, one by one. Gina and Coop, Tank and Diego. Nobody had made any progress at all.

  Inside of a half hour, Tank showed up.

  “Eddie would want y’all covered. If nobody else is available, I’m hanging around.”

  She looked up at Tank, who sat down across the room, fiddling with his keys. “You look like something the cat dragged home,” he said.

  “Sweet talk, Tank?”

  “No, I’m serious. Y’all need to go home.”

  “I want to be here if Eddie … if we hear anything.”

  Her phone rang, Bad Boys. Detective Murphy. Ann. As far as Jordan knew, Ann hadn’t been told of Eddie’s abduction. All the same, she fell on the phone like a chocolate addict on a BOGO day at a Godiva store.

  Jordan took a couple of deep breaths and centered herself. “Ann. What’s up?”

  “Just calling to check in. We can’t find a trace of this LaSalle character. You get anything?

  “Nothing. It’s like he’s gone into witness protection or something.”

  “Funny,” Ann said. “Hilarious. Call me if you get anything.”

  “You too.”

  She looked up to see Tank staring at her speculatively. “She doesn’t know about Eddie, does she?” he said. “You haven’t told her.”

  Jordan shook her head. “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Cops, Tank. I know Annie. She’d get right into the middle of things. She’s a cop down to her handcuff keys. She pulls up someplace with a squad of cruisers, lights flashing, sirens blaring, you know what happens to Eddie?”

  Tank nodded.

  “I can’t tell her. She could get him killed trying to help.” Her nose stung and her eyes burned. She raised a trembling hand to wipe away any tears that might spill over in front of her friend and employee.

  Tank got up and crossed the room. He took hold of her by the elbow and pulled her up, picked up her phone and handbag off the desk and led her to the front door.

  “Go home, Miss Jordan. Please. Get some rest.”

  Chapter 28

  It was seven Friday night and Jordan had just drained her second glass of wine. She sat at the kitchen table. The only light in the room came from the refrigerator panel and backyard ground lights, which cast a dim glow through the window over the sink. The dirty dishes stacked there reminded her that Hannah, her housekeeper, would be back at work on Monday after a two week visit to her sister in San Diego. Maybe Jordan would load the dishwasher later. Maybe. It wasn’t high on her priority list just now.

  The sight of the house, so quiet and dark, comforted her tired soul. But Eddie was out there somewhere, and she needed to leave the peace she found here to save him.

  She was contemplating a third glass of wine when the doorbell rang.

  She almost didn’t answer, then reconsidered on the outside chance it could be about Eddie.

  Her face must have fallen dramatically when she opened the door because her mother said, “Really? With that face, I’m guessing I’m not who you were expecting.” She pushed into the house, carrying several Neiman Marcus garment bags over her shoulder.

  “I knew you would be too busy to go try on dresses for the wedding, so I brought the dresses to you. Wait until you get a look at them. Stunning. You’ll knock Eddie’s eyes out when he sees you.” She looked around. “He isn’t here, is he?”

  Jordan burst into racking sobs. Her nose ran, tears streamed down her cheeks, and her throat closed up.

  Mary dropped the bags where she stood and pulled her daughter into her arms. “Oh my God, honey. What’s wrong?”

  “Eddie, Mom. He’s missing. He’s ….”

  Mary gasped and led Jordan to the sofa. “Sit.” It was a command.

  Mary sat beside her. “Tell me. All of it. Every single thing.”

  Jordan did.

  When she was done and the crying had stopped, Mary reached into her handbag, took two pills from a bottle and handed them to Jordan. “You need to sleep. You’re not going to be of use to anyone in the shape you’re in, especially Eddie. Go to bed. Get some sleep. Go at ’em again in the morning.”

  Jordan was suddenly so drained she couldn’t think, couldn’t move, could barely keep her eyes open.

  Mary helped her out of her clothes and into bed, kissed her on the forehead, and turned out the light. “I’m going to Eddie’s place. Rose will need someone there who understands what she’s going through. Another mother.”

  As Mary turned, Jordan caught her hand and brought it to her lips. “I love you, Mom.”

  “And I you, sweet girl.” Mary bent, raised their joined hands up and kissed the back of Jordan’s hand.

  Sweet girl. Her mother hadn’t used the pet name since she was in grade school. Sometimes the woman surprised her.

  She came up out of a sleep so deep it was like crawling out of a hole. What woke her? Sadie, panting. Her hot breath fanned Jordan’s face.

  Her head felt like she was underwater. What day was it? What time?

  “What is it, girl? What’s ….”

  She heard it this time. The doorbell. Someone leaning on it so the Westminster chimes sounded over and over again on top of each other. What? Her bedside clock showed five forty. Saturday morning. Eddie had been gone only a little over twenty-four hours. Good Lord, it seemed like weeks. Months. Could only six months have passed since she’d debated whether or not to give in to her desire for him? A sob caught in her throat. Now she couldn’t begin to imagine life without him.

  Moving as fast as her heavy limbs would carry her, she stumbled to the front door and didn’t even take the precaution of looking through the peephole. She threw it open.

  Coop, looking disheveled and tired but completely adorable in a striped tee, jean jacket, and tight Levi’s, smiled with relief. “Finally. Dude, were you hibernating, or what? I was getting worried. Been laying on the doorbell maybe ten minutes or so.” His eyes swept over her and bugged out. “Wow. Do you always answer the door dressed like that, Miss Welsh?” He stopped. “Oh, I guess I really caught you by surprise this early. Sorry but I got something, and you know—tick, tock.” He stared pointedly at the doormat.

  She was in a general state of confusion. She hadn’t even bothered to throw on a robe over her T-shirt and panties.

  Coop. What’s he doing here? She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him in.

  “Coffee,” she said. “We need coffee.”

  He smiled and shrugged. “Cool. I could use a latte.”

  Fifteen minutes later she was dressed and awake. Her head hurt from the sedatives her mother had given her, but at least she’d finally been able to sleep. For once she was grateful her mother’s handbag was as well stocked as the local pharmacy. This time Mary’s mild hypochondria had come in handy.

  Jordan never doubted her mother’s love, but the evidence of it came so rarely, she was always stunned to see it.

  “So,” Coop dipped his biscotti into his coffee, “this guy I knew on the inside called me up last night. He owed me one large, and when he heard we were asking around about Tony LaSalle, he saw his shot to even the score. I know it’s pretty early, but I figured you’d want to hear about it.”

  He dipped again, and it was all Jordan could do not to snatch the cookie from his hand, grab his shirt, and force him to talk faster. “Yes, Coop. And what did he tell you?”

  “He heard of this drug dealer named Reilly—Danny Reilly. He heard LaSalle’s name mentioned in the same sentence with Reilly’s.” He scratched his head. “You know what I mean?”

  “Not exactly. It would be better if you spelled it out. I’m a little slow this morning.”

  He nodded. “I know what you mean. I’m no good at all until I’ve had a shower and a latte, and have been up and cruising around for an hour or so.”

  “Focus, Coop. What did your friend tell you about Tony LaSalle and Danny Reilly?”

  “They’ve been doing some busine
ss on the side for a while now. He said word on the street is Tony LaSalle and Danny Reilly have gone entrepreneurial.”

  She shook her head and had to admit, “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

  He looked straight at her, and she saw the façade he wore so easily slip away. His eyes shone clear and blue, and that high IQ spoke through them. “LaSalle’s been robbing other drug dealers to supplement Reilly’s goods—you know, on the side. I’m pretty sure LaSalle’s boss Anthony Vercelli doesn’t know about it.”

  “I don’t suppose your friend on the inside has any idea where one might find Mr. Reilly?”

  Coop nodded. “Maybe, but, Miss Welsh, this Reilly guy. Not somebody you want to fool with. He’s got a rep.”

  “For what?”

  “For being a serious guy. Serious enough to think twice before you mess with his business. Some people who did, they disappeared.”

  She looked at him.

  He shrugged. “Just sayin’.”

  Jordan stood. “Drink your latte, Coop.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said.

  “You’re coming with me.”

  He got up from the table, taking the time to stash a couple of extra biscotti in his jacket pocket. “Where are we going?”

  She smiled. It was the first time in over two days she’d felt like it, but now she had something to smile about. A lead. They had a lead. Not much of one, but it was more than they had yesterday.

  “Hunting, Coop. We’re going hunting.”

  She tossed him the keys to her car.

  While Coop drove, Jordan worked the phone, sending anyone with wheels out on the street to determine the whereabouts of one Danny Reilly, drug dealer.

  Tank and Diego were the most likely to find him, but she also called Sofia, who promised to see to it her “Poppy” got wind of what was going on between Reilly and LaSalle.

  Jordan took a few minutes to call Gina and check up on Rose.