“Me neither,” Al said. “And I know it’s a crazy plan, but we gotta’ have us some fun, right? Okay by ya’, Cassie?”
“Yes, I think so,” she said. “This feels a little better, getting ourselves out in the open. But don’t you think we should tell the police about the bullet you were sent?”
“Unfortunately, the police won’t be interested,” Benny said. “They might even arrest Al for having an unlicensed bullet in his possession. More likely they’d just do nothing at all. When it comes to the mob, they don’t want to know. They let us carry out our own justice, behind the scenes.”
Cassie bit her lip. “Yes, I know. That’s what worries me.”
CHAPTER 12
Once they were in Saks Fifth Avenue, everyone cheered up. How could they not? Their mission was to find the craziest, most eye-catching clothes they could and then buy them. And they had a great time doing it.
DeeDee and Cassie had quite a time in the hats section, trying on the most bizarre hats in all kinds of weird and wonderful shapes and colors.
“Perhaps this is a little too eye-catching,” Cassie said, taking off a fluorescent yellow hat with feathers sticking out of it.
“You think?” DeeDee asked with a chuckle.
As they wandered through the store, Cassie began to loosen up. The frown lines on her forehead disappeared, and she started to smile a bit more often. By the time they were in the women’s clothing section, she was positively giddy.
They loaded up with all kinds of garish outfits – bright African print trouser suits, dazzling sequined dresses, and wide-leg jumpsuits in polka dots. The woman manning the dressing room raised an eyebrow when she checked in their selections.
Then it was time for the fashion show!
“Oh my goodness,” DeeDee called out to Cassie in the next cubicle with a laugh, as she slipped into a hot pink minidress. “I’m not sure I can get away with this.” She came out of the cubicle and posed in front of the mirror, laughing at herself. “Definitely can’t.”
Then Cassie opened the door to her dressing room wearing towering gold high heels and a glittering gold bodysuit to match. Her shoulders were hunched in on herself, like she was trying to hide her body.
“Oh, Cassie, you look fantastic,” DeeDee said. “Just like a movie star!”
Cassie looked herself up and down in the mirror. “I do not,” she said. “I look like someone’s mother trying to join their daughter at a nightclub. I look downright embarrassing.”
DeeDee grinned. “I’ll grant you that the outfit is a little young, but that still doesn’t stop you from looking fantastic. I think you should buy it. You’ll certainly cheer Al up.”
“Unfortunately, you’re probably right. I bet he’d love it,” Cassie said with an eye roll.
“I’m sure half the men in Chicago will love it, too,” DeeDee said, laughing.
“But look at you! You look absolutely gorgeous.”
“Negative,” DeeDee said with a grin. “With this dress, I’m just a slash of red lipstick and some high boots away from looking like a streetwalker.”
Just then, a very elegant looking older woman came in with some mature and ladylike clothing draped over her arm. She widened her eyes in shock at the pair of them standing there in their skimpy clothes, then gave them a disapproving frown as she went into her own cubicle.
“Well, I guess she told us,” Cassie whispered.
“Yup. Isn’t it fun?” DeeDee whispered back, trying not to laugh. She knew they were being childish, but it felt wonderful to be silly and carefree, even if was just for a little while. Anything to stop thinking about how much danger Al was in.
“Let’s try on some other things,” said Cassie. “Some longer things.”
The next round was entirely different. Cassie came out of her room wearing a red sequinned strapless dress that skimmed the floor, while DeeDee wore a floating dress in peacock colors – blue, purple, green, and a touch of muted light grass green – that she’d have never normally picked out, but which made her look gorgeously elegant.
“Now that’s a lot better,” Cassie said. “We both look much better.”
“I agree,” DeeDee said. She turned around in front of the mirror to look at herself from all angles, and the dress floated out a little in the most pleasing way. “I wasn’t at all sure about this when it was on the rack.”
“It looks fantastic on you,” Cassie said. “The colors really make your eyes pop.”
DeeDee and Cassie walked out of the dressing room wearing their new dazzling dresses. The dressing room assistant snipped off the tags for them, and the cashier rang them up. Then they shopped for accessories. The flats Cassie was wearing didn’t match the dress at all and DeeDee’s sneakers looked ridiculous with her glamorous new attire.
They went to the shoe section so they could get something more suitable to match their purchases. DeeDee picked out some patent high heeled sandals in navy, while Cassie went for golden wedge sandals. They finished their outfits off with a sparkly gold clutch for Cassie and a navy blue one for DeeDee.
“Let’s find Jake and Al,” said DeeDee. “We can show off our new looks.”
“I think we should call them,” Cassie said. “If we traipse around the store looking for them, I’ll only get nervous.”
“Good idea. Besides, we’re not exactly wearing comfortable traipsing shoes, are we?”
“Definitely not.” Cassie got out her cell phone and called Al.
He didn’t pick up. DeeDee watched as Cassie’s confident face creased into worry again. She didn’t look at DeeDee, just tapped on the phone to hang up, then tapped again to make the call for the second time. Then she started pacing. By the time she made the third call, she was beginning to look around the store every which way, panic written all over her face.
“I’m sure everything’s fine,” DeeDee said, though she was beginning to feel a little nervous in spite of herself. It seemed the worry was catching.
“Call Jake,” Cassie said.
DeeDee’s voice was soothing. “Seriously, Cassie, I wouldn’t worry.” She took her phone out of her new navy clutch and called Jake. There was no answer.
It was as if someone had flicked a switch in Cassie. She threw her arms up in the air. “Someone’s got them, I just know it. I knew it was a terrible idea to come to Chicago. Now he’s been spotted, and I’ll bet you money that both of them have been kidnapped. Maybe they’ll let Jake go, but they sure won’t let Al go anywhere. I think it’s because he knows too much, that’s why they want to kill him.” She began to choke back tears with a thick voice.
“Why aren’t they answering their phones?” She called again and continued her fearful stream of consciousness. “I love that man so much, and I hate myself for loving him and thinking that all the mob stuff wouldn’t matter. I thought it was romantic, you know? A reformed man who wanted to live the rest of his life in peace.
“I felt sorry for him. He got pulled into it when he was little more than a child. And now he regrets everything that went on and wants to live a good life, but someone doesn’t want that to happen. I’m sure they’re watching us and tracking down our every move. The bullet! They probably followed us from the hotel all the way down here, and now they’ve got Al, and…”
Just then someone tapped her on her shoulder causing Cassie to pretty much jump out of her skin. There was Al, grinning from ear to ear, dressed in an emerald green tuxedo. “We clash horribly, huh, babe? Red and green. We look like a Christmas decoration.”
Cassie was so relieved she burst into a half-laugh, half-cry. She punched him on the arm. “You! I was worrying myself crazy.”
DeeDee agreed, “She was even getting me concerned. I’m glad you’re both all right.” She looked Jake up and down. He was wearing a black shirt emblazoned with huge red roses, tight black jeans, and shiny black leather shoes. “Wow. Well, you look… interesting.”
“Interesting?” Jake asked, looking back at Al. “Dashing, handsome,
incredibly sexy… those were the words I thought would come to mind.”
It was so strange to see Jake wearing clothes like that. DeeDee looked at him and nodded. He did look good, after all. “I think I could learn to like it. Watch out, or I might want you to make that your new style!”
“I used to dress like that in my younger days,” Al said. “Now, come.” He led all of them over to a mirror, and gestured at the reflection in the mirror. “Don’t we look like a glamorous crew?”
“Indeed we do!” Cassie said.
They noticed that as people were passing them by, they turned their heads to look again and almost stare in disbelief.
“Looks like we’re attracting some attention,” Jake said.
“That’s exactly what we want,” Al said. “Right, come on. Let’s go and experience the best Chicago has to offer.”
They strutted out of the department store like superstars, and hailed a cab outside. “To the Mango Tree,” Al said to the driver, as they all slipped into the back. He called Benny and invited him to join them.
Soon they were all sitting in the exclusive Thai restaurant at a table by the window – at Al’s request, to make them more visible. Rather than ordering individual dishes, they went for the Royal Feast for five. Along with plenty of beer and wine, their table was quickly graced with Pad Thai, chicken curry, Tom Yum prawn soup, pork and peanut curry, beef stir-fry, steamed fish, rice noodles, fried rice, and a number of other dishes.
“Wowza,” Benny said. “You’re really spoiling us, Al. I hope you don’t think I’m paying for any of this, by the way.”
Al tutted and shook his head. “Despite you sounding cheaper than a bag of potato chips, you’d be right about that, buddy. We’ve left that apartment open, uh? What will you do with it?”
Benny shrugged, not seeming to be bothered by what Al said. He started to load up his plate from the dishes in the center of the table. “I’ll probably AirBnb it. I don’t know. As long as you don’t have a bullet hole in your head, I don’t really care.” That brought down the tone a little, but Benny didn’t seem to notice. Cassie was already biting her nails again, and the table became silent except for the sounds of cutlery clinking against the plates.
Al sighed. “I was gonna’ save the gory talk fer later, but since ya’ brought it up, got any more leads? This is gettin’ serious now. I’m gonna’ get proactive and visit as many people as I can. Don’t make sense to hide my face anymore.”
“Finally,” Benny said. “I’ve been waiting to hear that since you got here. Well, you already know about that crazy Rock guy, Rocco Rosetti. Dunno’ if I’d wanna’ visit him personally, though. He might blow your head off for just looking at him the wrong way. Next thing you know, your body’s chopped up into tiny pieces and found in a garbage can somewhere.”
“That’s a comforting thought,” DeeDee said, suppressing a shiver and avoiding looking over at Cassie.
“Just real life, sweetheart,” said Benny. “When you’re in the mob, you hear this kind of thing every day of your life.”
“Please don’t go and see him,” Cassie said to Al.
He put his large hand on hers in a comforting way, and gave her a deep, regretful look, but he couldn’t make any promises. “Who else?” he asked Benny.
“I’d go see Betty Traxel,” Benny said. “The Cook. She runs the Bella Rosa restaurant, pretty upscale place.”
“Yeah, I remember her,” Al said.
“She lets people use her back room for all sorts of shady activities, but she has no real alliances except for…” He rubbed his fingers together, indicating cash. “If you take enough up there and she knows anything, you’ll get to know it pretty fast, too.”
Al frowned. “From what I heard, she don’t like strangers.”
Benny nodded, his mouth stuffed full of Pad Thai. “There is that,” he said thickly. “Maybe the women could go instead. Soften her up a little.”
“I’m certainly willing,” DeeDee said. “Anything to see this killer caught.”
Cassie nodded, but she was obviously still nervous. Her darting eyes betrayed the fact she wanted to be on an exotic island sipping a cocktail and reading a trashy novel, not in the middle of a Chicago Mafia ring trying to catch a dangerous murderer before he caught Al. DeeDee saw her look, and made up her mind to be strong for Cassie. After all, she couldn’t begin to imagine how scary it must be to have your husband wanted by Mafia hitmen.
“Why would she want to kill Al?” DeeDee asked. “And Shirley?”
Benny’s eyes brightened. He loved to tell a story. “Well, she was once in love with a guy called Tommaso. Then Shirley turned his head, married him, and later killed him. Even though it happened years ago, some people hold grudges for a long time. Revenge is a dish best served cold, as they say.”
“Hmm,” Al said, “but whatta’ ‘bout me?”
“You never know with her,” Benny said. “Like I said, she’s motivated by money. There could be any number of reasons. Or maybe someone paid her to organize the hit on you. Who knows?”
“Who else?” Al asked Benny.
“Porky’s due in town.”
“Porky?” Al asked. “I thought he got outta’ the game ages ago.”
“Yeah, he did,” said Benny. “Doing crazy real estate in Florida. But he still has a gym here. Comes back from time to time to check over things, and flirt with the female fitness trainers. Despite that big belly of his, he could beat pretty much anyone in a weightlifting contest. Some of the girls go wild over that. And his money, of course.”
“He was married to Shirley at one time,” Al explained to the others. “He’s the only husband that got out of the marriage alive. Maybe he still holds a grudge from when she tried to kill him, and so he sent someone to put her lights out. Being in Florida is a great cover.”
“Sure is,” said Benny. “Go check out Surly Sab as well. He’s the one that got his face disfigured by…”
“One of Shirley’s husbands,” Al finished. “I know. Shirley’s daughter said he made a big cryin’ scene at the funeral, too, so he’s definitely on my radar. So we got The Rock, The Cook, Porky, and Surly Sab. Anybody else?”
“This one’s a long shot,” Benny said, “but Little Fingers mentioned Hank Mitchell’s wife. Remember Hank?”
Al paused. “Don’t ring a bell.”
“I’m not surprised. Boring as sin, that guy is. He does some accounting for the Ferrari family…”
“The Ferrari family?” Jake asked.
“He wishes,” Benny said with a snort. “Ferrari is a pretty common surname in Italian circles. And whispers are he’s been involved in a couple of hits. He makes a great cover because he’s so, so numbingly boring and regular, no one looks at him twice.”
“Quite the opposite of you then,” DeeDee joked.
“Quite the opposite of all of you,” Benny countered, gesturing at their clothes. “I was too hungry to notice, but now I see you all look like something out of a rap video.”
Al laughed. “I gotta’ get myself a huge gold chain to complete the look. We’re jes’ bein’ visible, Benny, that’s all. Now, you said it’s Hank Mitchell’s wife I should go see. Why’s that? Why’d she wanna’ kill Shirley?”
“Search me,” said Benny. “She was overheard at the Langham, where you’re staying, making some bad comments about Shirley, Little Fingers told me. That ain’t much to go on, but something tells me she might be worth checking up on.”
Al nodded. “More the better. So we got’s five people we gotta’ check out.” He smiled and said, “Sounds like a plan.”
CHAPTER 13
That evening, Al gave DeeDee and Cassie the task of going to Betty Traxel’s restaurant and getting whatever information they could. They wore their brand new clothes, fixed up their hair and makeup, and ended up looking like two exceptionally rich women going out to dinner to discuss their plans for taking over the world.
“Be careful,” Jake whispered to DeeDee, squeezing her h
and. He gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“I will,” she said, her head held high. She felt more invigorated than afraid, and was determined to be strong for Cassie.
“Jes’ whatever you do, don’t go into her office,” Al said. “That woman sells plenty of cocaine. Might be some rough characters in there, along with her.”
In the cab on the way to the restaurant, Cassie was surprisingly cheerful. “I finally feel like I’m doing something to help,” she said. “All that waiting around and worrying about Al was getting to me. I’m so glad he and Jake are having a guy’s night in, and I’m the one out.”
“Now he can worry about you,” DeeDee chuckled. “But we’ll be totally fine.”
“Yes, we will,” Cassie said. “I spoke to Benny about this Betty Traxel woman, and he said she’s not particularly loyal to anybody. She stays to herself, and wants to avoid as much drama as possible. It doesn’t look like she’s going to turn around and shoot us.”
“I certainly hope not!” DeeDee laughed. “Welcome to Chicago. Bang, you’re dead.”
It was surreal to be laughing and joking about something so serious, but they needed the light relief.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to eat much, though,” Cassie said. “I had so much at lunch.”
“Me too,” DeeDee said. “I still feel full. We can just nibble, and look like ladies who only eat salads.”
Cassie grinned. “That might be a good thing.”
When they arrived at the Bella Rosa restaurant the cab stopped directly in front of it. A doorman came over to the cab and opened their doors. Deedee looked over at Cassie and wiggled her eyebrows. “Fancy,” she whispered. She half expected the doorman to take her hand and pull her out of the cab, like she was some sort of a queen, but he didn’t.
“Welcome, ladies,” he said. “This way.” He opened the door and ushered them into the restaurant.
It was quite dark inside, which was a little intimidating. Every surface was black and shiny, and the lights were dimmed low. It looked very luxurious indeed. They were welcomed by a man in a tuxedo.
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