by P Mulholland
“Did Jake go and get you?” she asked.
I nodded.
She smiled weakly. “He’s a good boy. Madly in love.”
“Mom’s sick again!” Abbie blurted out. She was leaning against the doorframe, wiping her eyes. I felt the blood drain from my face.
“No! This can’t be true.”
“They beat her up,” Abbie started.
I clenched my fists. “Who?”
“They didn’t beat me up,” Farrah said. “Just calm down, Abbie. Here.” She patted the bed on the other side of her and Abbie raced over and lay down next to her mother.
“Start from the beginning,” I said slowly. “What happened?”
“I got mugged-”
“-By someone from the Luciano faction,” Abbie added.
“You don’t know that,” Farrah snapped.
“They’re watching us mom, of course it was them. It’s like a full on war is coming.”
“It’s not their style to mug ladies, Abbie.”
“How do you know, mom? Have you become an expert on fuckwits.”
“Yes. I’m married to one.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. This was Farrah at her worst, yet at her best.
“Anyway baby girl, where the mugger shoved me I felt a lump and…”
“No!” I got up off the bed. I couldn’t take it. Why did this happen to all the good people in the world?
“I’ll be starting treatment next week…but-”
“No! No, no, no, no. This can’t be happening.”
“The prognosis doesn’t look good this time around.”
Soft sobs from Abbie, but I was too angry to be sad.
“But hey! What would they know?” Farrah added, patting the bed next to her where I was lying.
I lay back down and she grasped both mine and Abbie’s hand tightly. Farrah had such small hands, but they were always warm and her grip stronger than a python’s.
“Before I go…” she started. I yanked my hand away to cover my ears and squealed to block out her words. She laughed. “Before I go I want my three children to be happy.”
Farrah always saw me as her child even though she was only 27 years old when she took me in. And it was she who put her foot down, refusing to budge on that decision. Isaac didn’t want another kid around the house, especially one that might prove to be difficult. But I quickly became a good girl to verify my worth so they wouldn’t send me away. I became very good at cleaning, always offered to do the dishes, entertained Leon and Abbie, learnt how to cook and made sure I didn’t cause any problems.
In my spare time I swam and dived to ease my anxieties, and practiced holding my breath under water for long periods. It was under the water that I found peace. I relished in the silence and the sensation of being submerged in that element. Most of all I imagined myself turning into a sea creature and swimming away. Swimming back to my mother.
It all came to a head when I was 16 years old and couldn’t hold back my restlessness anymore. That’s when I planned my escape. I wasn’t good at schoolwork but I longed to travel, believing that the best education was from seeing the world. So that’s what I did. I signed up for deep sea dive classes in San Diego, bought a passport and plane ticket with my inheritance and left not long after my 17th birthday.
I hoped San Diego would hold all the memories of my previous life, the life that my mother and I savored. Sadly, the hopes of a dreamy teenager were quickly destroyed. It wasn’t at all as I remembered, but the sea was still there and that’s all that mattered.
“It would be nice to see all three of you in loving relationships.” She squeezed my hand. “That’s come true for you baby girl, so now I have to work on the other two.” She let out a soft groan and I knew she was thinking about Leon.
“He’ll find his way,” I said, hoping that was true.
“I want him to find his way to love, though.”
“Has it ever occurred to you that some people may not ever find their true love?” I said.
“Phooey!” she waved her hand, dismissing my comment. “There’s someone for everyone.”
“You’re just a romantic. You have no data to back that up.”
“I don’t need data. Anyway, you shouldn’t argue with a dying woman.”
“Are you seriously going to pull that card every time someone has a differing opinion?”
“Yes.”
“Even Isaac?”
“Especially Isaac.” She giggled. “I gotta have fun before I die, baby girl.”
She meant it in jest, but her words scratched like rough bricks when they landed.
“How long are you staying in Chicago?” she asked me.
“I want to be here for you,” I said. “Like last time.”
“Until I die, then.”
“Jeez, Farrah! You could be a little less blunt.”
“I have no time for niceties.”
She fell silent, and when I looked at her face she’d fallen asleep. I rolled off the bed to find Jake, while Abbie held her mom in her arms.
My entire body had gone numb, everything was hazy and surreal. I had to stop halfway down the stairs to pull myself together because my legs were like rubber and my head was spinning.
I noticed the light was on in Isaac’s den, so I poked my head in to find him sitting at his desk staring at his Bear’s pencil. I’d never seen a face so forlorn in my life, but the sadness quickly disappeared when he noticed me standing there. He straightened his shoulders and held his chin up in pride.
“Stray Cat. I didn’t see you there. You should learn to knock.”
“How are you, Isaac?”
He shrugged. “Fine.”
I didn’t believe it. Farrah was his world, his reason for getting out of bed in the morning. “I’ll be staying a while in Chicago, so I’ll be coming over to help with Farrah.”
He didn’t respond.
“Was it a Luciano?”
His nostrils flared and his eyes grew raven-like. “I doubt it. A simple case of wrong place, wrong time mugging.”
“So, what exactly is going on between you and the Lucianos?”
He let out an exasperated sigh, as if grasping for the energy to answer my question. Isaac was like that. Small talk, and having to explain himself to people irritated the living crap out of him. It was no surprise to see that Leon had inherited that trait. “Old history that goes back a long way. Nothing for you to worry about. You’ve got the best security money can buy twenty four seven, so you can sleep at night.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about.”
He held up his hands and said sternly, “Everything is covered.”
“Do you think it was an empty threat, the photographs and warning painted across Leon’s wall?”
He screwed up his face. “Like I said, it’s not your concern, Stray Cat.”
That was it. That was all I got out of him. Of course there was more to it, I didn’t need him to spell it out for me. I was looking for reassurance that everything was going to be fine around Farrah and the Lucianos. I didn’t get it.
I stepped away from his den but stalled when a cold shiver snaked down my spine.
This was not the end.
Chapter Forty Eight
Jake
I held my girl in my arms and gently rocked her trembling body until she fell asleep.
Farrah, the Malone matriarch, the woman who held that family together was sick and dying and there was nothing anyone could do to fix it. Money put into medical procedures could lengthen her life, but ultimately wouldn’t save her. Neither would knocking off the Luciano opposition. That’s all the Malones had up their sleeves to fight this. Money and revenge.
Brydes had been with me and Newman for a week and I loved every moment of it. We’d come home from work to a warm, lit-up apartment, the smells of cooking, and her standing there in her skinny jeans and sweat shirt, and swinging golden ponytail. Perfection.
Newman took a few days to get used to someone
else in the house, but Brydie fussed over him so much he soon surrendered and became putty in her hands, just like me.
This was us. Our little family. It never crossed my mind that this was what I’d always been longing for. My own family. For the first time ever, I felt contented. Weird.
Our travel plans were put on hold but I continued to study in the evenings, while Brydie made herself scarce so she wouldn’t distract me. The usual routine of studying with Newman on my lap and a tumbler of Old Rip in my hand went out the window. My tastes changed. When we arrived home from the Caymans, I took a sip of Old Rip and it tasted like shit. I wondered if Chucky got loose and contaminated it with something. I even checked the box the horrible doll was in but it was fiercely secured inside and not going anywhere in a hurry. Brydie laughed at me, but I seriously needed to get that doll out of my house.
There were four security guys taking turns guarding our apartment, and escorting Brydie wherever she wanted to go. She hated it, but it was necessary. I also hired a full-time driver to take her places with the security guard. She hated that too. I said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m never going to let anyone hurt her ever again. Done. Get over it Brydes, they’re here to stay thanks to AGI who was paying for all of this at a discounted rate.
Brydie visited Farrah every day that week. It was early days and Farrah was still reasonably well, although Brydes said she got tired easily. So whenever Brydie visited expecting the worst, she was greeted with a smiling face, coffee on the brew and freshly baked pancakes. Then she was swiftly kicked out of the house again, when Farrah wanted to work. She was still taking orders in her clothing design business, as it was a great distraction. In fact, she was living life as normal. It was everyone else who was acting differently. So to a point, Brydie was getting in the way more than anything.
“Time to get a job,” she announced at our Friday night dinner of homemade macaroni and cheese. Bryde’s version contained copious amounts of broccoli, carrot and mushroom, organic of course. Not the traditional fatty, cheesy, artery clogging delight. Shame.
“Back to Underwater Safaris?”
“Maybe. You know, I was thinking about setting up my own eco-tourism business, specifically for divers. Just because I’ve traveled so much and know some of the best places to dive. Maybe even go into schools and teach them about the plight of the ocean.”
Her emerald eyes gazed off into the distance as she spoke, sparkling in excitement. I swore I’d never cage her, but my heart sank thinking about her never being around. There were many traits I’d discovered about myself while dating Brydie, and one of them was that I hated long-distance relationships. But if that was her dream, then I’d help her achieve it. Whatever it took to make her happy.
“But for now, while Farrah…” she couldn’t say it, “and all this stuff going on with the Lucianos, I’m best to keep things simple.”
I agreed, then fist pumped myself under the table.
“So, I’ll contact Daz on Monday to see if he still needs someone to do the accounts.”
“You don’t actually need to work,” I said. “The money I make covers everything. Plus once I get my degree, Red will promote me.”
“He might give you an office with an outside view,” she said.
“Sadly, all the offices with an outside view are taken.” Newman licked my foot and I dropped a chunk of mac cheese on the floor for him to gobble up. “I see you’ve cleaned.” I’d hadn’t noticed until I walked into the bathroom and slid on the shiny, spotless floor. When I inspected the apartment more closely, it was clear that she had also scrubbed the kitchen floor, cleaned the showers and Jacuzzi, and vacuumed the entire apartment.
“I’m bored, Jake. Farrah doesn’t want me hanging around, Abbie’s busy at college, you’re working and I have no job.”
“What about volunteering at Assisi,” I suggested.
“Oh yeah! Great idea.” She jumped up, headed into the kitchen to find a notepad and pen and jotted down a list of tasks for Monday. The weekend was mine. Just me, Brydes and Newman. Then she piled some mac and cheese onto a plate and took it out to Pete who was sitting on a chair outside our door. She asked him to come in and eat it, but he declined. She did this every evening.
The weekend was spent lying on the couch watching movies while drinking hot chocolate, eating fancy cheese and crackers and with a bit of sex thrown in. She said she managed to beg for an appointment with the gynecologist she used to have when she lived with the Bear. She wanted the contraceptive reinserted. Yeh! No more condoms! But that appointment wasn’t for another week.
I savored every moment of the time I spent with her, then Monday came around and off to work Newman and I would go, while she thought about how to fill in her days.
Brydie O’Neal was a restless, adventurous soul. Doing nothing drove her mad. Living in an inland city drove her mad. Being cold drove her mad. The thought that I could come home to find her bags packed and with a plane ticket in her hand, haunted me.
Ten minutes after I arrived at work, Mac turned up. After the conversation with Abbie Malone, I messaged him to do some digging on the conflict between the Malones and Lucianos. Abbie said that the men who attacked Brydie were from New York, but had connections to the Lucianos here in Chicago. Since I was living with someone who was directly involved I was eager to seek the truth, no matter how ugly.
“Where have you been?” he asked, dumping his backpack down on the floor and giving Newman a pat on the head.
“Caymans.”
“Where’s that?”
“Caribbean.”
“Nice.”
“What have you got for me?”
“The rift between the two families goes back thirty years. Malone and Frank Luciano set up Elite together as business partners. Then something went down between them, and Ice bought him out.”
“Can’t be that bad if Frank is still alive,” I said.
“Yeah well,…a year or so after Frank went his own way, he set up Luciano Security Services in opposition and tried to steal Malone’s clients.”
“Frank Luciano was shot in nineteen ninety eight.”
“Jeez!”
Mac held up his hand. “He wasn’t killed. Police said it was a random attack while he was getting out of his car. He was parked outside a steak house, downtown.”
“Fuck!”
“No one was arrested for the shooting. But there was another hit on one of Luciano’s men in nineteen ninety nine which was fatal. Another Frank, surname Sabella and no arrests were made. Then we’ve got Little Franky Luciano, Big Frank’s cousin. He was arrested in two thousand and one for hitting on an underground poker joint, killing four people inside including Liam Doyle. Does the name Doyle mean anything to you?”
“No. Should it?”
“Liam Doyle and his older brother Sean work for Malone. It was believed to be a targeted hit.”
“To get at Liam?”
“Yeah. As you can understand it’s hard to get any clear and definitive evidence on folk who are as shady as fuck. So, some things I tell you might be hearsay.”
“Does Sean Doyle still work for Malone?”
“Yes. That’s no secret. Brydie probably knows him. Maybe you should ask her.”
“No way. It will open up a can of worms that I don’t want slithering all over me.”
“So I’ve got a friend who reckons he knows quite a bit about the two families. In fact he wrote a thesis on them.”
“He isn’t the same guy who went to the massage parlor to get his cherry tweaked and stumbled into that Sledge character?”
He frowned. “No. Anyway, a shooting took place a month after Liam’s death in two thousand and one. They killed Big Frank’s right hand man, Carlo Casso. Noah believed that it was Sean Doyle who ordered that hit.”
“Holy fuck! What is this, the fucking Sopranos?”
“After Carlo was killed, Malone called a truce. A meeting took place between the bosses Big Frank and Isaac, with police
presence, apparently. The mayor at the time wanted the violence to stop and was active in trying to bring peace between the two families. That lasted three years although there was quite a bit of friction between them, then another hit target was taken out.”
“I don’t know if I want to hear any more.”
“The tit for tat goes on for years then falls quiet for a few years, until recently.”
“I wonder what happened to stir all the shit up again?”
“I’m not sure.”
Soph walked briskly past my glass wall in her black skirt and white blouse. I immediately thought of Leon.
“Got much on Malone’s son?”
“The Shadow?”
“What?”
“That’s what Noah calls him, ’cos he’s so elusive and rarely seen.”
“Rarely seen? He’s not that mysterious. I saw him on Friday. Does your friend Noah know if Leon does the hits himself?”
He shrugged. “He doesn’t have much on Leon, more on Doyle and Isaac.”
I leaned back into my chair to digest the information. “What business are the Malones actually involved in?”
“Security is the part of the iceberg that’s above the water. With racketeering and money laundering beneath.”
“You know that for a fact?”
“Isaac and Doyle have both been arrested for racketeering-”
“Why didn’t you say that?”
“I hadn’t got that far. I was working my way up the timeline. Besides, the allegations didn’t stick. Evidence disappeared and/or was tampered with...blah, blah, blah. They were only in prison for a few days.”
“When was that?”
“Two thousand and twelve.”
“Fuck!”
“Nothing ever sticks with these two families. Nothing. Which can only mean that they’ve got both police and judges under their thumbs.”
“Do you know the thing that I can’t grasp?”
“What?”
“The fact my father is good friends with Isaac and has been for years.”
“It could be a genuine friendship. Do they go fishing together?”
“No.”
