Nathan grabbed his coat. “Why don’t I go and give you guys some privacy? Catch up with you later.”
“No, stay,” Christine said. “Please.”
Mimi went into the kitchen, poured a glass of water and brought it out to the dining room table. “What in the world happened?” Mimi said. “Where were you?”
“At work.”
“At ten thirty on Sunday night?”
She nodded, sniffled and took a drink. “Two nights ago, Nicky asked me to work late again. I told him that Preston and I had plans, but he kept pressuring me. He said he had a lot of business this weekend and that he and my dad were counting on me. I told him I would have to talk to Preston. Nicky put his hands on my shoulders and begged me. ‘You have to help me. You can’t believe the truckloads of materials we have to deal with. I’ll pay you triple time if you work Friday night, Saturday and Sunday afternoon.’ I told him I’d have to run it by Preston.”
“What did Preston say?”
“What do you think? He was furious. Pres and I already had plans for Saturday night, and we were going to shop for a Christmas tree on Sunday. Pres said we didn’t need Nicky’s money, that this was just Nicky’s ploy to get me to spend the weekend with him. I told him that Nicky was going to pay me triple time, and that’s almost eight hundred dollars, Mimi. But Preston put his foot down. I called Nicky and told him I couldn’t work.”
“That was the smart thing.”
“Well, it didn’t exactly work. Nicky called the house this morning. He begged me to come in. He said he was really, really busy, that he was overwhelmed, that there were twenty-two contracts going out today and he couldn’t do it alone. He sounded desperate. I told Pres I would have to go in for a little while. Just for a little while. Pres wasn’t happy, but my dad’s in town and Pres had to go into the office anyway. So I went in.”
“But, Chrissie, your face. What happened?”
“By the time I got to the office, Nicky had been drinking hard. He was loaded. It had been a bad few days for him. He had to give a deposition in his divorce case, and his wife’s lawyer gave him a lot of shit. And he wasn’t allowed to see his kids over the weekend. His wife accused him of being violent and drunk.”
“She’s not wrong.”
“I know, but today was worse than ever. He was blasted. He kept coming into my office and hanging around. Leaning on the door with a sickly smile on his slobbery face. Then he started coming on to me. How sexy I look and all that. Then he started trying to kiss me. I pushed him away, stood up and walked into the other room. I said, ‘You’re out of line, Nicky!’ It didn’t matter. He followed me around and told me how much he cared for me and that he’s been planning a life for us.”
“Oh my God, Christine, what a creep.”
“He grabbed my hand and pulled me into his office, where he opened his safe to show me stacks of cash—hundred-dollar bills all bound up. I don’t know how many thousands of dollars he has in there, but, believe me, it’s a lot. ‘This is what I put away for us,’ he said.
“I backed off. ‘Let’s stop the foolish talk,’ I said, ‘and get to work on the contracts. I have to get home.’ He said, ‘I can make you very happy, a lot happier than that bozo you’re married to. As soon as my divorce is over, I’m a free man. A free man with plenty of money. Every woman’s dream.’ He was totally smashed, Mimi, and he scared me.”
“Jesus,” Mimi said.
“‘I don’t want to hear any more of this,’ I said, ‘and I don’t want to see your money. Close that safe. Don’t you understand you’re going through a divorce? What if your wife’s lawyer subpoenas me and asks me about all your business dealings, your books and records, receipts and disbursements, about what I see here in the office? I would have to testify that you’re holding thousands of dollars in cash in a safe.’”
“True,” Mimi said.
“Well, that made him crazy. He took it as a threat. ‘You bitch,’ he yelled, and he grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. ‘If I ever find out that you squealed on me, I’ll rip your heart out.’”
“Holy shit!” Mimi said. “Did you call the cops?”
“I yelled, ‘Screw you, Nicky. I quit,’ and I ran toward the door, but he got in front of me and blocked me. ‘You can’t quit on me,’ he screamed. ‘You can’t walk out on me. I confide in you, I tell you my secrets, I pay you triple time and this is how you treat me? You’re gonna walk out on me and tell the lawyers that I’m hiding cash in the safe?’
“I shook my head and pushed him back. ‘I didn’t say I’d do that, Nicky. I said they could subpoena me. But I can’t work here anymore. I’m done. This isn’t good for either one of us.’ I turned around to walk out the door, and the next thing I know he takes a swing at me, clips me on the side of my face and knocks me to the floor. Then he stands over me and starts bawling. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he says. ‘I didn’t mean it. You know I love you. Please don’t leave me.’ I got up, ran out of the office and came straight here. I can’t go home, Mimi. I don’t know how to handle this. If Preston finds out, he’ll go over there and kill him.”
“Where is Preston?”
“I think he’s home now. They were working today. Nicky wasn’t lying about the twenty-two contracts. They’re big transports to naval bases. My dad and Stanley came in to work on the details and then they’re flying back to D.C.”
“Are you going to tell Preston what happened?”
“Look at my face. All the makeup in the world isn’t going to hide this bruise. I thought about making up a story, that I slipped at the bus stop, but Pres won’t believe it. I’m not a good liar. He’ll see right through me.”
“Well, you did the right thing today, Chris. I’ve been telling you for months to quit that job and get away from that creep.”
Christine nodded. “I know, but what am I going to do now? How can I go home to Preston? He’ll know. He’ll go straight to Nicky’s and beat the hell out of him.”
Nathan shrugged. “Nicky’s got it coming. Besides, you quit. What do you care?”
“Nate, my dad’s not going to let me quit. He wants me to keep working there.”
“You have to stand up to him,” Mimi said.
“Easier said than done. But I got a bigger problem: what am I going to do tonight?’
The phone rang and Ruth called out, “Christine, the phone’s for you. I think it’s Preston.”
“Meems,” Christine whispered, “tell him I’m not here.”
“How can I do that? My mother just yelled out your name. He knows you’re here.”
“Oh God, what am I going to say?”
Nathan said, “Tell him you’re coming right home. I’ll go with you.”
Christine nodded and took the handset. “Hi, honey, I’m here with Nate and Mimi and…” She paused and listened. “No, I don’t know why Nicky’s been calling the house nonstop.” Pause. “He’s been saying he’s sorry? No, I don’t know what that means.” Pause. “No, Preston, do not let him come over to the house. I don’t want to see him. I don’t ever want to see him again.” Christine started to cry. “Pres … Pres, just listen. I quit my job today. I’m fed up with Nicky and his bullshit and I quit.” Pause. “No, don’t come over to Mimi’s. Really, Pres…” She hung up. “He’s coming over.”
* * *
Nathan was standing outside on the stoop when Preston’s Bonneville screeched to a stop in front of the building. Preston jumped out and headed for the door, but Nathan stopped him.
“Hang on, Pres. Let me talk to you for a minute.”
“What’s going on, Nate? Something’s wrong. Chrissie’s crying. It’s that asshole Nicky, isn’t it? He’s been calling the house all night saying he’s sorry. What the fuck did he do? I’ll kill that son of a bitch. What did he do, Nate? What happened to Chrissie?”
“Slow down. I want you to take it easy. Chrissie’s upstairs and she’s upset, but she’s okay. Nicky was an asshole today, he went off on Chrissie, but she quit her job and now
it’s over. It’s finished. She’s not going back, and she never has to see him again. The last thing we need is for you to get upset and get out of control. She needs our support. Most of all, she needs you to be compassionate and understanding.”
“I’m not going to get mad at Chrissie. I love her. I’ve been begging her to quit that bullshit job for weeks.” Preston appeared to calm down, but then he looked in Nathan’s eyes. “It’s more than that, isn’t it, Nate? There’s something else, isn’t there? It’s not just about her quitting her job, or she would have come home. She wouldn’t need to stop at Mimi’s.” He pushed Nathan aside and bounded up the stairs.
Mimi met him at the door and quietly said, “Please be kind to her. She’s been through a lot today.”
The minute Preston saw the bruise, he flew into a rage. “He did this to you? He hit you?” He spun around and headed for the door. “I’m going to teach that punk a lesson.”
Christine ran for him, wrapped her arms around him and held tightly. “Please, please don’t go over there. He’ll call the police and you’ll get arrested. It’ll just make it worse. I quit my job today. I’m not going back. Can’t we just leave it at that?”
Preston was incensed. His face turned beet-red, his muscles tightened and his breathing rate doubled. He was ready to explode. “The bastard hit a defenseless woman. He hit my wife, for God’s sake! I’m going over there and teach that prick a lesson he’ll never forget.”
“Whoa, hold on, Pres,” Nathan said as calmly as he could. “Chrissie’s right. He’s probably at home and drunk, and if you go there and cause a scene, you’ll end up in jail.”
“Please don’t go there,” Christine said. “Pres, there’s something more important. You have to help me talk to my father. He doesn’t want me to quit my job. I called him a few minutes ago and told him what happened, and he said he’d straighten it out; he didn’t want me to quit. He insisted I return to work on Monday.”
“Not happening.”
“Pres, it’s my job to keep my eye on Nicky and report to my dad every day. Dad promised me it would never happen again, and he wants me to keep working. Pres, I don’t want to go back. I’m afraid of Nicky. I think he’s crazy. I’m afraid of what he’ll do to me. Please help me talk to my dad.”
“You’re not going back,” Preston said, hugging his wife. “I’ll talk to Vittie. I’m not going to let you go anywhere near Nicky ever again. If the mighty Vittie Zielinski doesn’t like it, he can kiss my ass. I don’t give a damn about his crooked business or any of his shady deals, and I’ll tell him that to his face. Shit, if he doesn’t watch out, I’ll blow the whistle on his whole goddamn operation, and he knows it.”
“Please, Pres, don’t get into a fight with my father. Just help me talk to him.”
“I will; we’ll call him together. But first I’m calling Nicky. He’s been ringing the house every fifteen minutes, and somebody needs to set him straight. I won’t go over there, but I’m going to have my say. Someday this guy will pay for what he did, but not tonight. What’s his number?”
It was a compromise solution, and Christine accepted it. She gave him the number and grimaced as Preston dialed. What followed was a string of the most vile and threatening language Christine had ever heard from Preston. The message was loud and clear. If Nicky was ever stupid enough to call or contact Christine again, if he even looked at her, Preston would break every bone in his body.
Preston slammed the phone so hard it almost broke. “Okay,” he said, “now let’s deal with Vittie. Where was he when you talked to him?”
“He was still at the office. If you call, Mike Stanley will pick up. He’ll get my father on the phone.”
“Stanley knows what happened?”
“He not only knows, he urged me not to quit. He said Nicky’s going through an emotional time and he needs me in the office. That we should be understanding.”
“Stanley is such an asshole. To hell with both of them.”
Christine sighed and watched Preston dial the office. She knew this was not going to go well, and she was right. Vittie was steadfast in his insistence that Christine stay on the job. He would not countenance a resignation. No matter how much Preston kept insisting and trying to reason with him, he flatly refused to consider it.
“She will be at her desk Monday morning, perform her duties as required, report directly to me each afternoon and that’s final,” Zielinski said. “I will speak to Nicholas. I can assure you that the abuse will stop. You have my word.”
Christine sadly shook her head and wept. “I told you. He’ll never let me leave,” she said. Mimi put an arm around her.
“She’s not going back, Vittie,” Preston said loudly into the phone. “I’m not going to let her.”
“It’s not your decision, young man. It’s hers. There are too many important people involved. They are all relying on Christine to do her job. Let me speak to her.”
Tears were flowing from Christine’s eyes, and she mouthed I can’t.
Preston looked at his wife, he looked at the phone and he exploded. “You’re not going to intimidate her, and you’re not going to put the pressure on her. You’re talking to me, Congressman. Me, Preston Roberts. You’re not going to shame or browbeat my wife into going back to that punk. She’s finished, and if you cared at all about your daughter, you’d know that. Some father you turned out to be. You care more about your stinkin’ defense contractors than your own daughter.”
“How dare you!” he bellowed. “I put Christine in that position because I decided it was an excellent opportunity for her. It’s vitally important to the defense of our country.”
“Who are you kidding, Vittie? You’re talking to me. I see what you’re doing every day. I know each and every one of the millionaires who parade through the office. It’s not for the defense of our country, it’s for the pockets of the millionaires.”
“You better watch yourself, sonny. You have no idea how powerful these people are. They depend on Christine, and she will not disappoint them. Or me. It’s a matter of national security, and Christine has been privy to highly classified information. She will not quit her job. I said I would speak to Nicholas, and that should be sufficient.”
Preston was enraged. “Well, it’s not, Mr. Bigshot. I’m not letting her go back to some guy who punched her in the face, and if you or any of your so-called powerful people bother us anymore, I’m going straight to the Tribune. I don’t want your damn money; I don’t want your fancy cars or your tickets. You can take it all back! Chrissie’s not going back to that asshole, and if you give me any more trouble, I’m going to the newspaper and I’ll tell them everything I know—and I know plenty.”
Preston hung up the phone and put his arms around his sobbing wife. “It’ll be okay,” he said.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHICAGO
ALBANY PARK NEIGHBORHOOD
DECEMBER 1965
The Tribune’s front page displayed a six-column photo beneath the headline 1ST INFANTRY BOLSTERS FIGHTING FORCE IN VIETNAM. The photo depicted hundreds of green-clad soldiers disembarking a landing craft in Cam Ranh Bay. Mimi shuddered as she edited a story about Viet Cong guerrillas setting fire to an Esso oil storage tank in Da Nang. Her desk phone rang. It was Christine, and she was frantic.
“Meems, you’ve got to help me. I can’t handle it. I can’t deal with it. I’m losing my mind.”
“Calm down, Chrissie. What’s wrong?”
“Everything. It’s Preston. It’s my father. I need to talk. Can you meet me?”
“I get off work in half an hour. I’ll meet you at home.”
Christine was already at the kitchen table when Mimi walked in the house. Her face was red; her jaw was quivering.
“What happened?” Mimi said.
“You know I haven’t been back to work in a week, not since Nicky slugged me. Since then, my father’s been all over me. He calls the house every night. He tells me that he talked to Nicky and nothing like that
will ever happen again. But Preston put his foot down, and he won’t let me go back.”
“I don’t understand your father. Why wouldn’t he protect his own daughter?”
“It’s all about the contractors, his business associates, the rich men he hangs around with. They want me in the office watching over Nicky and reporting back to them. They say they don’t trust Nicky, and who could blame them?”
“Why don’t they just stop doing business with Nicky and use some other shipping company?”
Christine hung her head. “Meems, it’s not that simple. Nicky knows too much about the operation. They can’t afford to cut him out. He’s an asshole to me and probably to his wife, but to my father’s associates he’s essential. Mimi, the large amounts of cash—it all funnels through Nicky.”
“What happened today?”
“My father came into town two days ago. He left Washington and a committee meeting just to come in and pressure me. He said he wants to set up a meeting between Nicky and me and he’ll be there to make sure everything works out. He wants to meet tomorrow night. I can’t do it. Even if I could, Preston won’t let me.”
“Where is Preston?”
“At the office. He’s taking a lot of crap, too, but he loves me so much, he’s not letting my father bully me.”
“Preston still has a job?”
“He won’t lose his job. He knows too much. Everybody knows too much. My father is trying to put a lid on a boiling pot. He’s trying to put everything back the way it was a month ago, but too much has happened. Anyway, Preston will not let me meet with Nicky, and he refuses to let me go back to work.”
“Chrissie, I feel so bad for you. What can I do?”
“Just be my friend. Everything is so tense at my father’s office. There are several men over there right now. Preston says he overheard a lot of shouting.”
“Do you want to stay here tonight?”
“Thanks, Meems, but Preston is taking me out to dinner. It’s one year from the date he proposed to me. He’s such a sweetie. With all this going on, he wants me to know how much he cares about me. I should get home; I’ll call you tomorrow.”
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