Jimmy smiled too, as he continued to gyrate his hips and push in deeper and deeper. He was just getting into his groove. He was just feeling the kind of heat he loved to feel. He was so into the feeling that he didn’t hear the door unlocking. He was so into the feeling that he didn’t realize he was in danger, until the big man walked in, and yelled his own shock.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he yelled angrily.
As soon as Sam heard his voice, she pushed Jimmy off of her. As soon as Jimmy heard his voice, he turned around, trying to see who was making such a declaration. But the big man was already coming, and before Jimmy could even get out of bed, he rammed into Jimmy, head first.
“Denny, no!” Sam started screaming. “Denny, stop!”
But the fight was joined now, as both men fell off of the bed. Denny couldn’t stop even if he wanted to, and Jimmy wasn’t about to take a beating lying down.
He tried to beat Jimmy’s ass, and initially he was succeeding. He got in body blows and a few face shots. But Jimmy was able to flip the big guy onto his back, get on top of him, and began doing his own brand of beat down. Until Denny finally utilized his considerable size advantage, and began choking Jimmy.
Jimmy could hardly breathe, and lost what gains he’d made. Denny flipped Jimmy back onto his back and continued to choke him. He was bearing down on Jimmy’s larynx as if he was not going to let go until every breath was out of Jimmy’s body.
Jimmy saw his own discarded pants out of his peripheral vision, and began reaching for them. His hand was feeling for them. But his energy was fading. His ability to do anything at all was going fast. But he knew he had to fight. He knew he wasn’t about to go out like this!
As Sam continued to beg the man Jimmy assumed was her man to stop, Jimmy allowed all those morning workouts to pay dividends for him and lifted his body with all the strength he had left. And was able to slide a little closer to his trousers. But it was enough. He reached into the pocket of his pants, pulled out the loaded revolver he carried with him everywhere he went simply because he was Reno Gabrini’s son.
When Sam saw the gun, her screaming escalated. “He has a gun!” she cried. “Denny, he has a gun!”
But her cries went on death ears. Because Jimmy didn’t hesitate. By the time she saw the gun in his hands, he was already pulling the trigger. And Denny’s eyes turned popeyed big, and then they stopped turning altogether, as his entire big body stopped, and he slumped over to the other side.
Jimmy pushed him off of him completely, and jumped up.
Sam was hysterical. “You killed him!” she was crying. “You killed him!”
Jimmy couldn’t believe what she was saying. That motherfucker had just tried to kill him. What the fuck did she expect him to do? But he didn’t give a shit. He was putting on his pants, putting on his shoes, and grabbing his shirt and briefs. He put his gun away as he was ready to get out of this hellhole of a tiny apartment before the cops came. He would go to his father. His father would deal with the cops.
But as Jimmy was about to leave, he realized something profound. And looked back at Sam, who was no longer screaming but was just sitting on the bed as if sex had taken place, but no violence. And it suddenly smelled like a setup to him.
“Put on your clothes,” he ordered her.
She looked up at him as if she was lost.
He hurried to her, and grabbed her out of the bed. “Put on your fucking clothes!” he yelled. “You’re coming with me!”
After the mall, Reno and Trina dropped off Dommi and Sophia to spend the weekend with their Uncle Sal, even though his wife, Gemma Jones-Gabrini, was still out of town on business. But Sal was becoming the regular five-star father now that he had a son of his own, and gladly agreed to babysit.
Reno and Trina, however, had to get back to work at the PaLargio. Both had individual meetings to attend, and one mutual meeting: the status of the con game being perpetrated inside their various casinos. The meeting was in Reno’s office at the PaLargio, and it was with Luigi Spanelli and Bo Jackson. But the news was not good.
“What we don’t know,” Luigi said, “is a list far longer than what we do know.”
“Tell me,” Reno said.
He was behind his desk. All of the usual crowd of assistants and executives were cleared out, and only he, his two men, and Trina were inside. Both men stood in front of the desk. Trina was behind the desk with Reno, standing too, with her arms folded.
“We haven’t been able to spot any cells inside any of our other casinos,” Bo said. “It may be that they are too sophisticated, super-cautious, and we haven’t figured the con out yet.”
“Or?” Trina asked.
“Or the Mexican was lying,” Luigi said.
But Reno, rocking in his chair, in deep contemplation, was shaking his head. “I don’t think so.”
Everybody looked at him.
“He pinpointed the time we started losing revenue exactly right,” Reno said. “It started two months ago. I started seeing the slide across the board two months ago. I think there’s a con going on and I think the reason we haven’t been able to spot it is because it’s not sophisticated at all.”
Trina was intrigued by Reno’s thinking. “What do you mean?” she asked him.
“We’re looking too deep. Big money. Big characters.” He looked at Luigi and Bo. “We need to go small.”
“Small, sir?” Bo was intrigued by Reno’s thinking too.
“Small,” Reno responded. “Forget big money. Forget unusual characters. Look at the old ladies. Some discarded-looking man in one of those Hoverounds. It may not be one big con in every casino, but a ton of small cons that add up to a big one in each casino.”
Bo smiled. “I like where you’re going with this. It’ll be the same result: the separation of your money from you.”
Reno was nodding. “That’s how I’m figuring it, and that’s how we play it.” His cell phone, sitting on his desk, began to buzz. “Get the word out, Bo,” he said as he glanced at his Caller ID. But when he saw that it was Jimmy, 911, he answered quickly. “Jimmy? What’s going on?”
“I was with Sam.”
Reno frowned. “Who the fuck is Sam?”
“This girl.” Jimmy had already told his father that Sam was one of his hires, but he didn’t need to hear any lecture right now. “I was with her,” he continued, “and her boyfriend came home. We fought to the death. And I won.”
Reno’s heart began to pound. Any time his son was subjected to any dangerous situation, he felt the kind of agony only a parent loaded with guilt could feel. “Where are you now?”
“In my car. I have Sam with me. But what should I do, Pop?”
“Where’s the body?”
Trina looked at him when he mentioned a body. Everybody looked at him.
“At Sam’s apartment.”
“And Sam?”
“She’s with me. We’re heading to the PaLargio.”
“Not here,” Reno said. “Take her to Stanton.” Stanton was one of Reno’s safe houses in Vegas. “Give me the address to her apartment. I’ll send a crew to clean up the mess. But keep her away from any phones or any contact. She may be in on it.”
Jimmy looked over at Sam, who was now almost catatonic. “That’s what I figure too,” he said.
After Jimmy gave Reno her address, and Reno ended the call, Trina didn’t ask for details. She knew Reno had business to handle first. And he did.
He looked at Luigi Spanelli, his security chief. He ripped the sheet of paper from the notepad on his desk, the sheet with Sam’s address on it, and handed it to Luigi. “Get a crew to that location. A cleanup crew.”
“Yes, sir, Boss.”
“And alert Stanton. Tell them to expect two people: my son and a girl. Tell them to make certain the girl gets no privileges. Treat her as our prisoner, not our guest.”
“Yes, sir,” Luigi said, and took off to do what he was told.
Reno stood up, ready to take off too.
“Jimmy’s okay?” Trina asked.
“He’s okay. But I’ve got to take care of some business.”
“I’m going with you,” Trina said.
Reno was about to tell her no way, but he realized what he should have known all along. Trina was as tough as any man he had on his team. She could handle it. And besides, he thought, his days of neglecting her, of keeping her in the dark and shutout, were over.
“Get the word out,” he said again to Bo. “Tell them to change the focus in every way. Look for the small, not the big. But look for patterns. See who’s using the same bank for their deposits, especially any out of country banks. Forget the size of the deposits. Just focus on the deposits themselves.”
“It’s going to be a tall order, Boss. You’re talking thousands of customer receipts to comb through.”
“But comb through them. It’ll take some time, but that’s where I want the focus to be. Keep a skeleton crew on the old assignment. I could be wrong, and I want to make sure I don’t abandon the idea altogether. But I want the new assignment to be the focus. Understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Bo said, and left to implement Reno’s orders.
Trina grabbed her purse. “Ready?” she asked.
“Leave the purse,” he said. “You won’t need it where we’re going.”
Trina grabbed her cell phone, but left her purse. And she realized, at that moment, that this would be the first time that she could recall where Reno allowed her to accompany him on a job. Especially a job involving Jimmy. It was a Saturday of firsts for them. But because this first involved her beloved stepson, because it involved Jimmy, she was more on edge than excited.
CHAPTER TEN
Reno took a seat in front of Jim and Sam, and Trina stood behind him. They remembered the girl. They’d seen her around the casino. But Jimmy was their focus. His neck was still red and sore, and his parents could only imagine what he’d been through, but they kept the sentimentality to a minimum. Reno’s security team was in the room. Sam was in the room. This had to be all about business.
“What’s the boyfriend’s name?” Reno asked.
Jimmy looked at Sam. She had called his name, but he was fighting for his life and couldn’t remember what she said.
“Denny,” she said.
“Denny who?” Reno asked.
“Denny Matera. Why am I here with all of these guards and things? I didn’t do anything wrong!”
But Reno was sizing her up. She was no innocent. He didn’t give a shit about her discomfort. “Who do you work for?” he asked her.
She frowned. “Who do I work for? I work for you. And for Jimmy. What are you talking about?”
“Stupid kids who play games with men like me,” Reno said. “Know what happens to them?”
Sam stared at Reno. She knew his reputation. She knew all about the mob ties and dangerousness that seemed to cloak him. But this wasn’t about what she knew. This was about self-preservation. She had to play dumb. She had to keep her secret a secret. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said. “I don’t work for anybody but you.”
Reno, shocking Trina and even Jimmy, jumped up, punched Sam in the face so hard it nearly broke her jaw, and then grabbed her by the face and squeezed. Blood was oozing from the slash his fist created. “You’re fucking with the wrong one,” he said.
Jimmy stood up too, stunned by his father’s actions.
“Why are you looking so shocked?” Reno asked Sam. “Because I hit your ass? Because a man isn’t supposed to hit a lady? And you’re right. I don’t hit ladies. But we’re talking about you!”
Although Trina and Jimmy were still trying to figure her out, Reno was already there. He had Sam so pegged that it wasn’t even close. She was no sweet little innocent caught up in some love triangle. This woman, in his estimation, was a killer. “You set up my son,” he said. “You expected him to die today, not your boyfriend. But you set up your boyfriend too, didn’t you? How did it work? You text for Denny to come home over and get some, so that he could catch you and my son in the act? Is that how you planned it?”
But Sam was shaking her head, and crying. “No,” she said.
“Who do you work for? I’m not asking you again.”
Sam knew it was no use. She knew she had to come clean, and hope for mercy. “I was paid.”
Reno finally let her go. And he stood erect. “Before or after you got the job in my casino?” he asked her.
“After,” Sam said. “The money was too easy. He was willing to pay me more than I would make in ten years working at the PaLargio. All I had to do was . . . I had to set up what I set up between Denny and Jimmy.”
“Who paid you?” Reno asked.
“Some guy. I don’t know his name.”
“But you know what he looks like?”
She nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “He followed me home from work one day, and pitched the idea to me.”
Pitched the idea to her, Trina thought. What a way to put it! This idiot was acting as if setting up somebody for a kill was just another gig.
“This guy,” Reno said. “Tell me about him.”
Sam was still in tremendous pain, but she was more worried about what else he could do to her rather than what he’d already done. She pushed through. “He’s a black guy,” she said. “Big. Not great looking, but nice looking.”
“That’s not telling me shit,” Reno said. “Tell me about him!”
“He’s a businessman, alright? A rich businessman. He said one day he’s going to own more stores than McDonald’s. He said he’s going to call them Lavern and Shirley, which I thought was a stupid name.”
Trina couldn’t believe it. She began to have heart palpitations. “Lavern and Shirley?” she asked Sam.
Everybody looked at her.
“Yeah,” Sam said. “I guess he wanted to name his stores after some family members, I don’t know.”
But even Reno knew Lavern and Shirley used to be a TV show. But why was Trina looking so ghostly. And why was she suddenly rummaging through her cell phone.
“What is it?” he asked her.
Trina knew only one person who would make that reference. And the only reason he made the reference was because she called him on it. His name was the same name as the producer of that old show, of Lavern and Shirley. She used to joke with him about it. But how could it be? Why would he pay off Sam to get Jimmy killed?
When Trina found the photograph in her phone she was looking for, she showed it to Sam. “Is that him?” she asked.
Sam immediately began nodding her head. “Yeah. That’s him.”
Reno grabbed the phone from Trina and looked himself. And he recognized that bastard too. Garry Marshall. He even remembered his name. He attempted to go into business with Trina. He was in Florida hanging out with Trina when all of that craziness went down.
Reno immediately sent the photo to Luigi’s cell phone, with a text ordering him to find Garry Marshall, and to put every available man on the case to do so. He also text Bo Jackson with the picture and ordered him to show Marshall’s photo to the Mexican. Since the Mexican said his money man was a black guy too, it couldn’t hurt.
Then Reno looked at Trina, and handed her back her cell. He didn’t like the idea that she had that guy’s picture in her phone, and his face revealed his displeasure, but that was an argument for another day. Besides, she looked distressed enough. Unusually so.
He looked at Jimmy. “Take her home,” he ordered. “And stay with her.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m alright, Reno,” Trina insisted. “Jimmy doesn’t have to take me anywhere.”
“Yeah, Pop. Ma’s tough. She can handle it.”
But Reno gave her a look that brook no debate. He had to handle some nasty business now, and no wife of his, certainly not his Trina, was going to bear witness. He looked at Jimmy again. “Take her home,” he said.
And wife and son both knew that when Reno gave that final
warning, they had better heed it.
They heeded it. They voiced no further complaints and left. Reno walked them out to Jimmy’s car.
Reno opened the passenger door for Trina, as Jimmy walked around to the driver side. “I’ll be home as soon as I can get there.”
Trina looked him in the eyes. “I can bear some of this load for you, Reno. Why don’t you let me?”
“Because you’re bearing too much already.”
Trina frowned. “Too much? That’s not true, Reno.”
“It is true.” Reno was nodding his head. “I put more on you than any wife should have to bear. Bringing you to a place like this to begin with.” He shook his head. Then he kissed her on the lips. “Go home,” he said. “I’ll be there when I get there.”
Trina got in the car, Jimmy got in behind the wheel, and Reno closed her door. He remained outside until his wife and son were completely out of sight.
But when Reno went back inside, and didn’t see his target. He frowned. “Where the fuck is she?”
“Bathroom,” one of his men responded as if it was no big deal.
But it was a big deal to Reno. “Alone?” he asked them. They all might have bought Sam’s innocent routine. Reno didn’t.
“Yeah, Boss. She was pretty messed up.”
Reno couldn’t believe it. He hurried to the bathroom at the end of the hall. His men, terrified now that they had fucked up, hurried behind him. Reno turned the knob. When he realized it was locked, he rammed the side of his body against the door, repeatedly, until it flew open. As he’d already suspected, Sam was gone, and the bathroom window was wide open.
“Fucking idiots!” Reno yelled and ran back down the hall and through the back door. He pulled out his gun as he ran. His men pulled out their guns as they ran. Then Reno stopped and yelled. Was he the only one with brains on this detail? “A couple of you stay put in case she doubles back,” he ordered, amazed that he had to even speak it.
Two guards remained at the house as Reno and the rest of the crew hurried out. The Stanton safe house was deep in the woods, which Reno felt gave him and his team some advantages. He ordered them to split up and fan out. And they did in three teams of twos. Only Reno moved by himself. A team of one.
Reno Gabrini: When His Woman Cries Page 6