The Piranhas (25 page)

“It was a surprise for me,” I said. “She showed up after we came home from dinner.”

“Did she say anything about where her mother had gone?” he asked.

“No, she only said that her mother told her to stay with me for a few days,” I answered.

Da Vinci was annoyed. “I have two valises of Alma’s that I was supposed to give her. Now I don’t know what to do with them.”

“What’s in them?” I questioned.

“I don’t know, they belong to Alma. She never mentioned what was in them.” He hesitated a moment. “Is it okay if I drop them off with you, and you can give them to her when she returns?”

“I don’t know why not,” I answered. “After all, I have to return her kid to her also.”

“I’ll drop them at your hotel,” Da Vinci said. “I have to return to Liechtenstein today.”

“Okay.” I put down the telephone and said to Kim, “Da Vinci has two valises for Alma. I told him he could leave them here.”

She picked up the phone, called her sister, and spoke to her for a few minutes. “My sister knows a girl who can take care of Angela. She’s sending her right over.”

“Thank God,” I said.

Angela came into the breakfast room. “Good morning,” she said.

“Did you sleep okay?” I asked her.

Angela nodded. “Really well.”

Kim said, “What would you like for breakfast?”

“
Petit pain du chocolat
and coffee.”

Kim laughed. “Number one, we don’t have
petit pain du chocolat;
number two, you’re too young to drink coffee.”

Angela frowned. “My mother always lets me have coffee.”

“Look,” Kim said, “this is America. In America kids drink milk, not coffee. I can’t get a
petit pain du chocolat,
but I can get chocolate doughnuts. I think you should eat something more substantial, however,” Kim said, sounding motherly. “How about ham and eggs, or pancakes and sausage?”

“Pancakes and sausage sound good,” Angela said brightly. “But if I don’t have a cup of coffee, I won’t be able to stay awake for the whole day.”

Kim laughed. “Okay, but very weak coffee.”

“Okay,” Angela said. “I’ll have
café au lait
.”

“Okay, that’s fine,” Kim said, and called room service.

Angela looked at me. “What are we going to do today?” she asked.

“I’ve got someone coming over here to stay with you. Kim and I have to go to work,” I answered.

“You both sound exactly like my mother,” she sighed.

*   *   *

JIM HANDLEY WAS
waiting for me when I came into my office.

“I’ve got some word from Aerospatiale,” he said.

“What’s the word?” I asked. He didn’t look happy.

“It doesn’t look good. The Dutchmen have offered them more money.”

“That’s crazy. Aerospatiale offered us the deal,” I said.

“What can I say? This is just what they told me.”

“I think that the only thing we can do is send them the down payment,” I said after pondering the situation for a moment.

Handley looked at me. “You haven’t even spoken to the other airlines yet. How do you know how much you can take a shot at? Twenty percent down on that many planes will cost a minimum of a quarter of a billion dollars,” he said. “And we haven’t got it right now.”

“We’re fucked,” I said. “Someone has gotten a line on our cash. That’s why the Dutch company made the offer.”

“What are we going to do?” Handley asked.

“We’ll fuck the Dutch company,” I said. “We’ll buy them.”

“But they want to buy you,” Handley said.

“They want to buy us, we want to buy them,” I said. “So they’ll give us three billion dollars. I’ll offer them five billion for their company.”

“Where are you going to get the money?” Handley asked.

I didn’t tell him that Uncle Rocco wanted me to head up a tremendous company, probably one of the biggest investment companies in the world. And if I did what Uncle Rocco wanted, I would have the money. Instead, I told him that if it didn’t work, we could always merge, or we could get Milken to sell junk bonds for us and get the money.

“And what are you going to do about Millennium Films?” he asked. “EuroSky has already advanced you five hundred ninety-five million. How do we get any money out of that?” he asked.

I leaned back in my chair. “They advanced me all the money, but the studio still winds up as my company.”

“So how are we going to pay back the advance?” Handley asked.

I smiled. “For years I’ve been watching Kerkorian sell MGM and UA over and over again. And at the end of it he always ends up back in control of the company. What he sells is pieces.”

“So?” Handley said.

“It’s very simple. I sell them the foreign distribution rights to the film library. That’s still fifteen hundred feature films, plus other film inventory,” I said.

Handley looked at me. “I thought you didn’t want to stay in the film business.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “Didn’t we talk about the fact that their real estate and property could sell for as much as four hundred million dollars. That’s not bad.”

A bemused look of respect crossed Handley’s face. “Jed,” he said, “you’re turning into a real prick.”

*   *   *

KIM ENTERED MY
office an hour and a half later. “My sister sent the nanny. And I made arrangements for her to take Angela to Disneyland,” she said.

“That’s nice,” I said.

“Also, after they had left for Disneyland and I was getting ready to come to work, Da Vinci came to the apartment and left a couple of large aluminum valises for us to give Alma when she returns.”

“Fine,” I said. “Did he say anything else?”

“Only that he was catching a flight this afternoon for Europe.”

“Well,” I said, “I guess that takes care of that.”

The phone rang and my secretary spoke into the intercom. “A Mr. Pelleggi is on the phone.”

I picked up the telephone. “Yes, sir.”

“We didn’t really meet last night,” Pelleggi said. “But I saw you with Da Vinci, and I was wondering if you had a number for him.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “As far as I know he is on his way back to Europe.”

“Damn,” Pelleggi said. “Do you have any information about Mrs. Jarvis?” he asked.

“No,” I said.

He hesitated for a moment. “I’m a friend of your uncle’s. We’ve known each other for many years.”

“I’m glad,” I said. “I’m very fond of Uncle Rocco.”

“I’m also one of the investors in a company with Mr. Di Stefano,” he said.

“Yes?” I said.

“It is very important that I get in touch with your uncle,” Pelleggi said.

“As far as I know, he’s still in Atlantic City,” I responded.

“I got no answer at his apartment,” he said.

“I’m sure he’ll show up in a short time,” I said. “If I hear from him, I will ask him to get in touch with you.”

“I appreciate that,” Mr. Pelleggi said, and hesitated again. “By the way, did you know that Alma’s husband, Reed Jarvis, hit on my girlfriend the night of Bradley Shepherd’s party?”

“I know nothing about it,” I said. Which was the truth.

“The son of a bitch is lucky he got himself killed before I could do him in. I wouldn’t have made it that easy for him,” he said.

“Well,” I said, “all’s well that ends well. Now all we have to do is keep our noses clean.”

There was silence, then he laughed. “You call me Jimmy Blue Eyes. I like you. You’re just like your uncle.” Then he hung up.

9

IT WAS LATE
by the time I left the office. Kim had left earlier because she wanted to check on Angela and make sure everything was okay. When I got to the downstairs parking lot, it was empty. All the attendants had gone for the day.

I jumped into the Blazer and left the garage. I turned onto Century Boulevard. A voice came from behind me in the back seat.

“Señor Stevens,” a man’s Spanish-accented voice said. “It’s been a long time.”

I looked in the rearview mirror. “It has been a long time,” I said. The last time I’d seen the man was in Peru. “Captain Gonzales.”

The man smiled. “You remember the name correctly, but it is no longer captain. I am now a general.”

“Congratulations,” I said. “Why didn’t you come up to the office?”

“I didn’t want anyone to know that I was here with you,” he answered.

“What can I do for you?” I asked.

“Señorita Vargas called me yesterday and asked me to get in touch with you because there are some big troubles.”

I pulled over to the side of the road and turned to him. “General Gonzales, why don’t you get into the front seat? It’s easier for us to talk that way.”

General Gonzales hadn’t changed much. He was still slim and dapper as before. There was a little gray in his hair, but his pencil-line mustache was still black.

I moved back into traffic. “Did Alma say what kind of trouble?”

“She couldn’t go into detail. But I know it has something to do with
la cocaina.
”

“I thought she was through with that business. After all, she married a very rich man, and she now has a lot of money.”

“That’s true,” Gonzales said. “But she’s under a great deal of pressure from the Mafia. They want her to open up her South American contacts for them.”

“Christ,” I said. “Nothing seems to change.”

Gonzales nodded. “She told me that she will be in touch with you, and we’ll find out what we need to do.”

I looked at him. “Do you know of my uncle, Mr. Di Stefano?” I asked.

“I know of him,” Gonzales said. “But we have never met.”

“I think that she and my uncle are together in Europe trying to straighten out the problems.”

He looked out the window. “Will you let me know the minute she contacts you?”

“Okay,” I said. “Where are you staying?”

“I haven’t checked into a hotel yet,” he answered. “I just arrived here.”

“Then come home to dinner with me and we’ll find a place for you to stay.”

He nodded. “
Gracias,
señor.”

I turned north onto the freeway to Sunset Boulevard, and then east to the Bel Air gates.

Gonzales said, “Do you have bodyguards following you?”

“No,” I said.

“There are two men in a black Ford who have been behind us since you pulled out of the office garage.”

I looked in my rearview mirror. I couldn’t see anything.

Gonzales opened his jacket and took out an automatic. “Just in case,” he said quietly.

“I wonder what the hell is going on,” I said, as I pulled past the hotel entrance to my bungalow.

We got out of the car, but I still didn’t see anyone. We went into the apartment. Angela saw me as I came through the door and then she saw Gonzales.

She smiled and spoke in Spanish.
“Buenas noches, Tío!”

He bent over to kiss her. “Angela,” he said in English, “you’re becoming a very big girl.”

She turned to me. “I would like to get a Big Mac for dinner.”

Just then Kim came from the other room. “The nanny says she’s been eating hamburgers and French fries all day at Disneyland.” she said.

“What the hell do I know?” I said. “If she wants a Big Mac let her have it. Kids are entitled to be kids.”

I introduced Kim to the general, but told her that he was visiting from Peru because I had called him.

“I think we should have dinner in,” I said. “I think we’ll hear from either Alma or my uncle this evening.”

“I still want a Big Mac,” Angela said.

“Okay. Kim, ask the nanny to take Angela out and get one for her.” Then to Gonzales, “You’ll join us for dinner and I’ll call the desk and get you a room here at the hotel.”

We ordered from room service, and while we were sitting at the bar having a drink, Jimmy Blue Eyes called me.

“Have you heard anything from your uncle?” he asked.

“Not yet.”

“I put two bodyguards on you,” Jimmy said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“You worried me a little bit,” I said. “I was aware there were two people following me from my office.”

“They are my men,” he said. “I told them to stay nearby in case you had any problems.”

“Why should I have any problems?” I asked.

“Da Vinci is going to screw you,” he said.

“How is he going to screw me? He’s nothing but a fucking messenger.”

“He’s more than a messenger,” he said. “He’s a hit man.”

“Who is he after?” I asked. “He didn’t bother me.”

“He’s after your uncle,” Jimmy said. “I’m guessing that’s why he went back to Europe. I have a feeling that your uncle has gone to Sicily to talk to the commission.” Jimmy Blue Eyes was quiet for a moment. Then, “Did Da Vinci leave anything with you?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “He left two valises that he said belonged to Alma.”

“Okay,” Jimmy Blue Eyes said. “Sit tight, I’m on my way over.”

We were in the middle of dinner when the desk clerk called and told us we had a visitor, a Mr. Pelleggi.

“Send him over,” I told her.

When I opened the door, Jimmy Blue Eyes looked at Gonzales. “Who the hell is he?” he asked.

“He’s a friend of Alma’s from Peru,” I answered.

He looked at me. “Is he okay?” he asked.

“He’s on our side,” I answered.

“Good,” he said. Jimmy opened the bungalow door, asked his two bodyguards to come in, and then turned back to me. “Where are the valises that Da Vinci left?”

I looked at Kim. “Where did you put the valises?”

“In the guest closet,” Kim answered.

I opened the door and took out two twenty-eight-inch aluminum valises.

Jimmy gestured to one of his men. “Open them.”

The man took out a big pocket knife. He pushed the flat side of the blade against a valise lock and hit it. The lock fell open. He lifted the top of the valise.

We looked inside. It was packed with cellophane-wrapped bags of white powder. Jimmy had his man jab one of the packages. Jimmy dipped his finger in the powder and tasted it.

“That’s heroin,” he said.

Kim turned to me. “What are you doing? You’re going to wind up in jail.”

“Look, this isn’t my business,” I said.

“Now what do we do?” I asked Jimmy.

“This was part of the deal. Da Vinci was to bring heroin from Sicily in return for cocaine from Colombia,” he answered.