Necessary Decisions, A Gino Cataldi Mystery (35 page)

The phone rang. “
Buenos dias, amorcita
.” He used his most sexy voice, which Rosalee always reminded him wasn’t sexy at all.

“Don’t go talkin’ that Mexicano shit with me, Delgado. If you’re gonna speak a foreign language, speak Texan.”

“There’s only one person who could say something that stupid. What do you want, Tip?”

“Damn, and after last night, I thought we were sleeping buddies.”

Delgado laughed. “What’s up?”

“I couldn’t reach Gino, so I’m calling to get permission to scare the fuck out of these assholes up here.”

“What have you got?”

“Most of them don’t know shit, and I mean that literally, if that makes sense—but one guy…”

“What about the one guy?”

“Sorry, I had somebody passing by. So this Sanjay character I talked to, he seems off.”

“In what way?”

“He’s too nervous. If I take him for a ride, get him outside the comfort of work, I think he’ll spill his guts about something.”

“Don’t hurt him. This isn’t some junkie living in a box on Westheimer.”

“Hey, Delgado, go catch some fuckin’ bad guys and let me do my business.”

Delgado heard him laughing as he hung up. The phone rang again. This time he checked caller ID. It was Sixties Julie. “Delgado.”

“Get out a pen, my man. I’ve got you an address.”

“You’re sure?”

“Motel on FM 1960, not far from you. They rented two adjacent rooms three days ago.”

“And?”

“And there’s been a do-not-disturb sign on both doors since check-in. They even left special instructions to not be disturbed, promising a bonus to the maids.”

“
Hijo de puta!
”

“I don’t know what that means, Detective, but I hope it means that you’re hurrying on over there.”

“We’re on our way.” Delgado hung up and called Gino. “We got ’em.”

“What?”

“Julie found the motel. We’re packing up to go there now.”

“Goddamn. Keep me informed, Ribs.”

“Where are you?” Ribs asked.

“Just pulling into Scott’s drive. And we’ve got a couple of bags full of money.”

“What was that about?” Scott asked.

“That was Delgado. He thinks they found the motel rooms. He’s on his way there now.”

Chapter 51

In the Nick of Time

N
umber Two sat in the back of the van, mask and gloves on, cell phone to her ear.

“Do you ever put that thing down?” Three asked.

She shot him a look to shut him up and went back to her phone. “Shit!”

“What?”

She frantically dialed a number and put the phone to her ear.

“Yes?” a man’s voice said.

“Dispatcher, we need Four and the girl picked up now! Cops are on the way.”

“It will take twenty minutes. Have Four take his own car.”

Number Two thought. “I don’t want the girl seeing his face, but…okay, got no choice. I’m clearing them out.”

Number Three sat up, alert. “Why do you have Dispatcher’s number?”

“Shut-up, Three. We’ve got a problem.”

She punched in another number. “Four, get out. Now! Cops are on the way.”

“What? Where?”

“Take the girl. Get in the car and drive. Go somewhere private. Forget about masks. Just go! Boss will call with more details.”

“What if she gives me trouble?” Four asked.

“Undo the gag and put her on the line.”

A moment later, the girl got on. “Hello.” Her voice was weak and timid.

Number Two said, “You know who I am?”

“I know you.”

“Good. Then you know I’m not trying to hurt you. And you know I’m serious. So listen close. You will do everything Number Four asks of you, and you will do it without any fuss. If you make noise or try to escape, he
will
kill you. After that, we will kill your father and your mother.” Two paused. “Is that clear?”

“Yes.”

Number Two waited. “You don’t seem convinced. Perhaps you’re thinking that your father is with the cops and your mother is in New York. But if you think that will protect them, you don’t understand what is really going on. I know where Lucia lives. And I know about Mars. And I know
all
about your father. Unless you want them to die, do exactly as I say.”

Jada’s tone of voice shifted to fear. “Okay, okay. I’ll do it. I promise.”

Two smiled to herself. She heard the fear come through that time. “Good. Put Number Four back on.”

A moment later, she heard, “Yeah?”

“She’ll cooperate. Hurry up and get out.” Two hung up and dialed another number. Boss answered. “Cops are on the way to the motel. Four is evacuating. Call him with a plan. Bring him back to the house if you have to. If we leave him alone on the streets, they’ll find him. He’s too stupid not to be tailed.”

She hung up, put the phone in her pocket, and leaned against the side of the van.

“Is that the way you talk about me when I’m not here?” Three asked.

“I don’t talk about you,” Two said.

***

Four shut the phone, put it on vibrate then looked around, heart racing, nerves clenching in his throat. He raced to the bed, took off the girl’s blindfold, and moved down to her feet, fumbling with the knots, cursing how tight he’d made them. “Hurry up.”

She sat up in bed. “What’s going on? Am I going home?”

Four smacked her face. “Hurry and dress.”

Despite what Number Two had told him, he had made her sleep with no pants on. She was nice to look at. Now he wished he hadn’t. “Forget the underwear. Hurry!”

While she put on her pants, he thought of things he had to do. He’d worn gloves the whole time, so there were no fingerprints except when he touched her and prints didn’t show up well on skin. Had he touched anything else? He ripped a pillowcase from the bed and started wiping the room down.

Jada stood, zipping up her pants.

“Hurry, goddamnit!”

As she reached for her blouse, Number Four grabbed her arm and yanked her toward the door.

“I’m not finished dressing,” she said, clad only in jeans, no shirt or shoes.

“Bring the top with you. Just before opening the door, he removed his mask. Then he heard a noise outside, one he didn’t like.

Chapter 52

The Drop

W
e weren’t in the door five minutes before the call came in. The tech signaled it was them, and I gave Scott the nod. I whispered to Connors to get Lonny and Lucia into the other room.

“Hello,” Scott said, his voice carrying the right amount of concern.

“I am glad to hear it is you, Mr. Winthrop, and not that cop pretending to be Uncle Eddy.”

“Don’t worry. I plan on delivering this myself.”

“Are you ready?”

“I’m ready.”

“Set your cell phone on the table. Get the money bags ready. I pray for the girl’s sake the money isn’t tainted. Do not take your cell phone, or any cell phone, with you. I want to find no extra cell phones this time. Do you have paper and pen?”

“Yes.”

“Write this down. Make no mistakes. It is imperative that you make no mistakes, as you won’t have a phone. If you make a mistake, we will cut off one of her nipples.”

“I
won’t
make a mistake.”

“Head south on I-45. Exit onto the Hardy Toll Road. Go to the airport, Terminal C parking garage.”

I looked at Connors. He shrugged. Were they taunting us? Did they think they could get away with this again?

“When you enter the parking garage for Terminal C, park in the first space you find. Take the bags and go inside to ground transportation. Take the shuttle bus to the Four Seasons Hotel.” There was a pause. “Am I going too fast, Mr. Winthrop?”

“Hold on,” he said, and wrote the last parts of the instructions. I didn’t know why; Scott knew we had this taped.

“Tell me when you’re ready.”

A short pause, then, “I’m ready.”

“Talk to no one. Say nothing. If someone speaks to you, ignore them. You
will
be tested. When you get to the hotel, go to the front desk. Ask for a package for Mr. Scott Winthrop. They will require ID. If your ID and picture don’t match, we will remove one of Jada’s nipples. If we have already removed one, we will remove the other. If Detective Cataldi and his crew get there before you and examine the package, we will know. We will cut off a nipple. If
anything
goes wrong, we will cut off a nipple. If we run out of nipples, we will begin cutting something else. Clear?”

“Clear.”

“Good. Inside the package will be further instructions. Follow them exactly. Read them carefully. That is all for now. Go to the restroom if you have to. Take care of any business. I will tell you when to leave.”

After hanging up I looked at the tech. “Did we get a location?”

He shook his head. “Not enough time.”

Everyone was talking, running through the events. I held up my hands. “Hold on. Before we get off track, does anyone have any ideas on why they want us going back to the airport?”

The tech came by, explaining how he had to get Scott and the bags ready. “We’ve got a GPS tracker in the car. We’re going to put one in each bag, and we’ve got the special audio GPS for his shoe. It’s the newest technology.”

I looked at Scott. “We’ll have you covered, sir.”

“I’m not worried, Detective. I trust you.”

I wished I had as much faith in myself as he did. As the techs worked with Scott, I got with the rest of the group. We decided to send six cars to the airport: two to the parking garage, one outside the exit, a woman inside the airport complete with luggage—who would board the shuttle bus with him, and two roamers, in case they got him a message and switched plans.

“We need people at the hotel,” Sameena said.

“Sameena, why don’t you run that? Take two of your pick and stake it out.”

“I’m sure we can place one of our men as an employee.”

“Even better,” I said.

“What about surveillance?” Connors asked.

“Same as last time. We’ll have cars on the freeway, both directions, but slanted toward Hardy Toll Road. I’ll post two at Rayford, one on #242, and one on Woodlands Parkway in each direction.”

“It sounds good,” Sameena said. “I think we’ve got it covered this time.”

I stared around the group. They weren’t being creative enough. “Think hard, people! We can’t afford to mess this up. Think about
how
they might fool us.
How
they could trick us—again.”

For ten minutes, we tossed ideas around. We changed a few plans, but when all was said and done, the plan looked as if we had it covered. We were still discussing it when the phone rang again. The tech popped his head inside the room.

“It’s them.”

Scott casually picked up the phone. He was getting into this. “Hello.”

“Mr. Winthrop, good morning.”

“Good morning.”

A pause, then, “Mr. Winthrop, you sound very relaxed this morning. I’m glad to hear that; however, I must caution you. If you are counting on Detective Cataldi to get you out of this mess, well…that would be foolish. Ask him what happened in Philadelphia.”

Scott shot a ‘what the hell is that about’ look to Gino. “What do you mean?”

“Just ask.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Now before I hang up, are all the instructions clear?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Are you prepared to go?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I want you to leave in
exactly
one minute.”

“Okay.”

“One more thing, Mr. Winthrop. Take Detective Cataldi’s car. Not yours.”

The line went dead.

I pounded my fist on the table. “Fuck!”

Connors and Sameena were staring at me; so was everyone else. We hadn’t even started, and they had already pulled one on us.

Scott stood there, his hand extended. “Keys, Detective. I’ve got to go.”

I handed him my keys, said good luck, and assured him again that we’d have him covered. I’m sure that guarantee didn’t mean as much to him now, but it was all I could offer.

When Scott left, I turned to see Lonny staring at me. “What did he mean by asking you about Philadelphia?”