by Robert Swetz
“Too quiet?”
“Where we live, you can always hear stuff going on. Especially from the street outside.”
“How awful!” Isabel proclaimed. She looked to Francesca. “I know you have to be very glad to be out of there.”
Francesca had mixed feelings about it.
“We’re going to have to leave soon,” Gerald told her. “Vince will be here in a little while and I’ll be going home.”
“No problem,” Isabel replied. “Let me get my husband. I know he’s looking forward to getting together with Vincent. He mentioned some kind of business he wanted to discuss with him.
Let the games begin, Francesca thought. She was back. Back into the world of manipulation on top of manipulation. And her son was caught right in the center of all of it. Her son, and a hundred and twenty million missing dollars.
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Francesca wasn’t happy in the least about Samuel Scuderi insisting that Brian stay back at the house while Michael drove her and her brother to meet Vincent’s jet when it landed. And to make matters worse, her brother would be abandoning her right after that to go home. According to Samuel, he was sure that she and her husband were going to have a lot of things to talk about that Brian probably shouldn’t hear. He was certainly right about that. But as much as those conversations with Vincent needed to happen soon, there were now more important things on the agenda.
Michael had driven the car. Gerald and Francesca were in the back seat. Now the car was parked outside a small hanger. They all watched as the small executive jet taxied up toward the hanger and parked right outside. “Let me go in first to see if he wants to see you on the plane or if he’s coming out,” Gerald told her.
Francesca nodded. “Thanks,” she replied, but as her brother opened his car door, she opened her door and got out too. She was still wearing the same lousy dress she had worn the night before, and she also still didn’t have any makeup. Like it or not, she was about to meet her husband looking as low as she possibly could. About as low as the life she had been living for the last few years.
She walked to a place halfway between the jet and the car. She stood there standing as tall and proud as she could manage, but her stomach felt ready to throw up. She shouldn’t have eaten breakfast, but appearances were everything right now. This was about to be the worst moment of her life. Even worse than hearing that her father had been murdered. Still, she was a Giordano. She was also Vincent’s wife. She stood tall and proud, like a queen.
She watched as the steps were lowered and her brother ran up them into the jet. Would her husband come out to her, or would she go in to face him alone? She didn’t know. Her brother was back only a few seconds later. Too soon for him to have told her husband anything. She waited until Gerald got all the way back to her.
“He’s ready for you,” he said.
“How does he seem?” she asked.
“To be honest, you know Vince. I can’t tell.”
Not good. For a moment, she slumped in disappointment, but she quickly straightened her spine and looked at the steps leading up into the little jet. She forced her feet to walk in that direction. Too soon, she was climbing those steps as they led her into the interior of her husband’s private plane. It was the same jet she had flown countless times before. She knew every inch of it. She knew where he would be sitting, and he was. Their eyes met. He was older now, but still just as handsome as ever. And his face appeared serious. She walked past the few seats towards him and stopped. “Hello Vince,” she said.
He nodded. “Francesca,” he replied. “I’ve missed you. Greatly.”
She sighed. “Me too, Vince. Believe it or not, me too.”
“I loved you. You know I loved you. With all my heart. I thought I was good to you. Why did you leave?”
She looked at him, but for the thousands of times she’d worried about this conversation and what she would say, she didn’t know where to begin.
“Fran,” Vince said more pointedly. “It’s time! I have to know why you left me.”
She knew it was time. Unfortunately. “I left you, because…I was scared. For myself, and mostly, for Brian.”
“Scared? Of what? You’re my wife. Brian is my son.”
“Of you!”
“Me? When did I ever hurt you? Never! I never could.”
It all suddenly tumbled out. “But you murdered my father. Or you had him murdered. Or…”
Vincent’s head went reeling. “What? Fran, I didn’t do anything to your father. I wouldn’t! Especially since he was your father. We were working the biggest deal of my life together. A deal that somehow you ruined.”
She shook her head. “Vince, I’m sorry but…back then…”
“Fran, I promise you. I swear I had nothing to do with your father’s death. Gerald and I have been trying for the last eight years to figure out who did it. Not only that, but your father’s death brought the entire deal to a standstill. Fran, I swear it. Why would you ever think that I had something to do with it?”
“Because I was told you did.”
“By who?”
She sat down in one of the seats across from him. “Until this morning, I would have said that you and Brian are too much alike. You both say things that sound like it’s all nothing but the truth, when in reality there’s too many lies mixed in with it. Actually, I still think that. I know that.”
“Fran. I swear I didn’t do it.”
“I know. I found out this morning that the Scuderi’s killed him. “I figure that either Michael did it himself, or more likely, Samuel had someone do it for them.”
Vincent stared at her. “How did you find out?”
“Brian told me. Did I mention you two are a lot alike? He hears things. He listens at keyholes. I don’t know how but he just knows things. This time, he heard a very disturbing conversation between Michael and his father.”
Vince smiled. “Brian spends ten minutes in Scuderi’s house and comes up with more than we’ve been able to find in the last eight years. Your brother phoned me and told me some of it, but somehow, he neglected to mention that part. Did he know about it then?”
“She nodded. “Yes. He’s probably planning his own revenge.”
“More than likely. But it’s the rest of it that worries me. What else did he leave out?”
“Did he tell you about Iris or Irene?”
“That Michael seems to have a sister that nobody knew about? Yes.”
“Vince, I’m sorry, but the reason I left you was because one of our maids came to me. She was all hot and bothered over it. She said she had heard you talking to someone else about how you had gotten Daddy out of the way so you could get all the profits from that deal yourself.”
“Fran, I swear I never had a conversation like that. I couldn’t! The money we would have made was worth billions, but if one of us tried to get that much profit individually, there would be too much chance that the authorities somewhere might take notice. It was chancy enough as it was. It was just a deal that your father and I felt we couldn’t pass up. Who was the maid that told you this?”
She looked at him, her face forlorn. “It’s been a long time now, but I think her name was Iris. Now, I’m betting it was. She hadn’t been with us very long.”
“We need to find her,” Vince said with some determination.
“What are we going to do about Samuel and Michael holding Brian? They want that missing money!”
“Where is it?” Vince asked.
“I don’t have it!” she told him pointedly. “I wouldn’t have known how to get it if I could. And trust me, there’s been a million times since we left when I could have really used that money. Vince, we were destitute! Living in the worst place in the world.”
Vince nodded. “So your brother told me.”
“What are we going to do? Vince, believe me, I just want to get out of here. I just want to go home with you where we can sort this all out, but not without Brian. I’m not
going anywhere without my son.”
“Of course not,” Vince replied. “Neither am I. Like it or not, I’m afraid that for now we’re going to have no choice but to play Samuel’s game and hope that before we’re done, we can turn this all to our advantage.”
Francesca looked at her husband for a moment. “I’m sorry Vince,” she said. “I’m very sorry for leaving. But at the time, I did what I thought was best for my son…our son. I know now that you didn’t do it, but I didn’t know that then. Back then, even if you told me you didn’t do it, I couldn’t know for sure. Like I said, you and Brian are too much alike. Everything sounds like the truth, but not all of it is.”
“Fran, I swear. It wasn’t me.”
“I know,” she replied. “I know that…now.”
Chapter 11
Vince said nothing as he sat in the back seat of the car with his wife. He didn’t look at her and as far as he could tell, she never once looked at him. His mind though was comparing what her brother had told him on the phone with what Fran had just told him. Much the same thing, but not everything. Not the part about who had killed Dominic. He had no doubt that getting his wife and son out of Scuderi’s house was going to be difficult. There was a good chance that Gerald could be his only lifeline. His own men were all back in Chicago. He could get them here, and he would, but doing it might be not only dangerous, but noticeable. That could get his son killed.
Francesca sat staring at the back of Michael’s head as he drove. A head she’d like to put a bullet into. The silence between her and Vince was noticeable. But what could either of them say? Certainly nothing about the few things they knew about the Scuderi’s plotting. And the things they needed to discuss about them being man and wife were for someplace far more private. A world of trouble on one front, and a worse world of trouble on the other. It was like being stuck between a rock and a hard place, only worse.
The car pulled up in front of Scuderi’s house, and once again she saw the door opening. This time, Samuel was standing in the doorway with Brian at his side. She was shocked to feel Vince grab her hand, even though he never once moved his head in her direction. That little gesture meant the world to her. And then his hand was gone, and he was opening his door. She got out too and went around to the other side of the car where he was waiting for her. He didn’t take her hand, but she fell into place beside him as they headed together toward the door. The big grin she saw on Samuel’s face was a bit too big. Brian was only staring at his father. She had no doubt that Vince was looking only at his son.
“Vincent!” Samuel proclaimed happily. “It’s so good to see you and Francesca together again.”
Vince said nothing about that. He held out his hand. “Samuel,” he said, greeting his host. “Thank you for your efforts in helping my wife and my son. I am deeply in your debt.”
“Nonsense,” Samuel replied. “Happy to help. Come in, come in.”
Coming in wasn’t what Vince wanted to do. He wanted to meet his son. He wanted to talk to his son – privately. He wanted this pain in the neck Samuel and all the problems he was causing, out of his life! He noticed Samuel turning and heading inside, but his son wasn’t. His son was still standing in front of him. And then his son did the last thing he ever expected him to do, he held out his hand toward him.
“Hi,” Brian said. “I’m Brian.”
Vince leaned forward and shook his son’s hand and smiled. “Brian,” he said. “I’ve waited a very long time to see you again.”
Brian swallowed. He didn’t know what to say. “Should I call you Dad, or Father, or something else?”
“Whatever you like. Whatever feels natural to you. And I know it may be some time before you feel like calling me your father. If you’re more comfortable, you can call me the same as everyone else. Vincent, or just Vince.”
Brain nodded. “I’ve dreamed about you every night for as long as I can remember, but I couldn’t picture your face anymore.”
“You did? Was it a good dream?”
He shrugged. “It was just a dream about someplace else. Someplace that doesn’t exist.”
“But I exist.”
“Yeah,” Brian replied. “Finally.”
Vince looked briefly at his wife, but he no longer knew her well enough to know what she was thinking. Instead, he put his hand on Brian’s shoulder and led his family into Scuderi’s house. Into the lion’s den.
Isabel was waiting for them just inside. They went through the mandatory niceties before Vincent turned to Samuel. “Samuel, would it be possible for me to meet someplace private with my family for a while. We have a lot to talk about.”
“I’m sure you do,” Samuel replied. “But please, do me the favor of meeting with me first. I promise you, it’s nothing important and it will only take a moment. After that, you can have all the time in the world.”
“Of course,” Vincent had no choice but to reply. “I’ll see you both in a little bit,” he told his wife and son.
He followed Samuel into his office, but before going inside, he glanced one more time at his family. They were both watching him. A moment later, Samuel closed his office door behind them. “What’s on your mind?” Vincent asked.
“What’s on my mind? A hundred and twenty million dollars.”
“You’ve got a busy mind then,” Vincent replied.
Samuels voice suddenly lashed out. “Don’t play innocent with me! I know you and Dominic were working on a deal where you pooled that much money together. I know Francesca took every bit of it when she left. Now I want it. End of story. You either convince your wife to get it for me, or you’ll never see your family again…that is, if you’re still alive to care.”
Vincent had heard a lot of threats in his life, but never one as blatant as this. “What makes you think Francesca took it?”
“I know she took it!”
“How?”
“That much, you don’t need to know. All you need to know is that unless I get that money, you don’t get a family. Is your wife and son worth a hundred and twenty million dollars to you?”
“I don’t have that much!”
“Don’t tell me that! I know better. But I’m only interested in the chunk that you and Dominic pooled together. The chunk your wife stole from under your very nose! Where is it?”
“I haven’t got a clue!”
“Then I suggest you get a clue and get it fast. You’ve got a choice Bianchi, that money or their lives, and probably yours too. Killing you will be safer anyway.”
“Just like you killed Dominic?”
“Who told you that?”
“I know. I didn’t know until recently, but I know it now.”
“And what difference will it ever make? So what? I had to stop that deal before the money was spent.”
“Which means you were after the money all along.”
“Until your wife got in the way. She’s got it, and I want it. Either that, or you’re going to get it…along with both her and your son. Have I put it plainly enough for you? I’ve waited eight long years wondering where that money is. I’m done waiting.”
“I don’t have it, and she says she doesn’t have it either,” Vince told him.
Samuel opened a desk drawer and pulled out a gun. He placed it on the desk in front of him. “Empty your pockets, Vince. All of them.”
Vince had no choice but to empty his pockets, although the only things he really had to put on the desk were his wallet and his cellphone. “I need some place to talk with my family,” he said. “Someplace private! Where your big listening ears won’t hear us.”
“Since Gerald left this morning, you can have the entire third floor. There’s no one up there anyway except Francesca and your son.”
Vincent had serious doubts about how private their conversations might be, but he had no doubt it was the best he was going to get.
A few minutes later, Isabel pointed at Francesca’s door and Brian’s door just past it. “Gerald was staying there acros
s the hall,” she told him, “but you can stay wherever you like up here. Good luck Vincent,” she said just before she walked away. “I wish you the best for your family.”
Vince opened Francesca’s door to see both Brian and her inside. His family. All three of them together again…except they weren’t.
Francesca saw him standing there. She was tempted to run to him, but after what she had done, misreading the situation and believing the word of a maid, she was too embarrassed. She had no idea what he was thinking. She watched as instead of going to either her or Brian, he sat on the bed.
“Samuel and I just had a little talk,” he told Francesca. “Gerald and you told me earlier that they were going to hold Brian to use him against you to get at the money. But somewhere along the line I think he upped the game. He’s threatening the lives of not just Brian, but all of us if we don’t give him what he wants.”
“But Vince, I don’t have it! I never took it. Yes, I’m afraid it was me that messed with it. But I didn’t take it. All I did was change the password so nobody could get into that account. But I don’t know what bank it is, what account number it was, and now there isn’t even a password anymore. It’s gone Vince. Long gone. And there’s no way to get it back. I’m sorry. Very, very, sorry Vince. I screwed up so bad. I just…misread the entire thing. I’m sorry.”
“You changed the password? I noticed that when I suddenly couldn’t get into it. But I never expected that you wouldn’t access that money.”
“I never did Vince. I promise.”
“What happened to the password?”
She sighed. “I needed something long and difficult to remember, so I copied my driver’s license number. Then I just shut the website down.”
“How did you get into it to change it?”
“What do you mean? It was already open. It was already set to the screen where I could do that. I thought you were in the process of doing it when you left it that way. I was just trying to reset it ahead of you.”
“I would never, never leave a bank account screen open. Any bank screen.”