“No it’s not,” Lo said. “It’s cuckold.”
“That’s mean, and in front of company too.” Our two men in black enjoyed Lo’s dig out the door.
Lois turned on me the moment she closed the door. “Figure out a way to get Largos alive, Hooterville, or I light your ass up in his place. Don’t think for a moment I didn’t know you were banging our little sister, wise-guy. Just like with that Mossad skank, Adina, I know every one of your secrets. You had a thing for her. I saw your face when we found her.”
Damn it! If she knew about me and Ava, there really isn’t anything she doesn’t know. Ava was young, sweet, and deadly. I wasn’t so old back then either. As Lo suspected, I thought we were discreet to the point of obsession. “We have him now, Lo. That’s all that matters. I’ll find a way to get him. We’ll have to ditch Carl so I can watch you party with our old friend Largos.”
Lois patted my cheek. “That’s all I ask. Let’s get another double, and go out to the movie mogul meeting.”
After finding out Largos was still alive, and remembering Ava, I needed one… or two. “Now you’re talkin’. I say we throw down a shot, and then join them with another double.”
“Agreed.”
We poured the first one. I held mine up. “Here’s to Ben, Gary, Chris, and Ava.”
Lo toasted with me.
“Ben’s working his desk back in D.C. and we haven’t visited him for a while. You know what I’m thinkin’.”
Lo’s eyes sparkled. “Of course. You’re an open book to me, Cantelli. We need to visit Ben with some souvenirs of our soon to be last sighting of Largos. I’m thinkin’ a baggie with all that bastard’s teeth in it.”
Oh yeah! “Remember… he told us the last time we saw him in D.C. that he could still hear Ava’s screams in his sleep. Maybe we should bring him a recording of some new screams.”
“Yep… old school all the way on this one, partner. I’m bringing my pencil thin torch. This will be delicate work.”
“Ben always did think we were sickos, Lo. It’s best we remove any doubt.”
* * *
We walked out to the back deck, where our friends were bundled warmly in the cooling ocean breeze, with darkness seeping across the sky. The voices quieted, accompanied by furtive looks from even our own personal Tony Soprano.
“Okay… what the hell’s going on here,” Lo laid into them right away. “Frank… I leave you in charge with these kids for a few minutes, and we’re in the middle of another apocalypse?”
That accusation amused Frank to no end as he accepted a double from me. “Thanks, brother. I don’t know what you and Lo enjoyed for entertainment in the kitchen, but the movie discussion has been a real treat.”
Jim patted Temple’s hand. He stood to face us. “Mr. Garibaldi thinks I would be a great love interest for Temple in his sequel.”
“Thanks, Godfather,” I said, as Lo simply sat down next to Frank, shaking her head. “What happened to the movie giving the kids some space?”
Cheech stood next to Jim. He patted Jim’s shoulder. “I got rolled. On the plus side, it’s a good thing if you let it happen. These two have chemistry I can’t buy. In the movie, Temple plays a sixteen year old, and Jim looks sixteen. Here’s my thoughts. After this movie hits the theaters, everyone in the nation will be in love with these two. Having them seen apart, even with the age thing, will seem sad. Coupled with Karen’s pregnancy angst, and Trish’s smartass interaction throughout with new love interest, this will be the feel good blockbuster of the century.”
To his credit, Jim didn’t plead. Temple on the other hand went for the gold ring.
“Please… please… please!” Temple immediately embarrassed herself to the others’ amusement with hands locked in prayer where she had leaped to Jim’s side. “I’ll hire a tutor for him throughout the shoot. We’ll have Trish and Karen as chaperones the whole time. Think about it. Like Mr. Garibaldi said, everyone in the country will be rooting for us to be together in reality. This will be like magic!”
Yeah… black magic. Stacy moved in next to me, gripping my arm. She leaned her head against my shoulder while my head went from dismembering Largos to teenage love plots.
“I know you’re worried, Rick,” Stacy said. “This is a huge opportunity for Jim. I go along with anything you decide, and so does Jim. We’ve talked it out. I told him it’s important if you say no, it’s because you can see things a hell of a lot further down the road than any of us.”
“I’ll keep the kids in line, Hooterville,” Trish said. “The kids will be stars. They’ll be yanking Karen and me along on a dynasty of movies in this franchise.”
“We would look after them, Rick,” Karen agreed.
“Remember too… we’ll make them attend workouts when shooting permits,” Jadie added. “I’d like to see the movie with these two in it.”
I could see a number of positives in this ploy, one of them being the whole country… and world for that matter seeing them together in a romantic light. With the way they can make Jim look older than sixteen, it could keep Temple out of prison, and not harm her career at all. Suddenly, the darkness and shadow of Cantelli-land seemed like an old friend, one in which I wouldn’t make decisions like this. Then again, the casualty list was higher.
“I see what you mean, Cheech. Common sense, logic, and discipline are extinct anyway. This illustration of it proves beyond the shadow of a doubt no matter how in tune with technology we geezers stay, the social aspect is consistently out of our reach. I hope Trish and Karen take what they’ve promised seriously. I see tragic lust in the eyes of you two young turds, ready to spoil anything in its wake, including the bright future blindingly beyond your knuckleheaded sight.”
Jim grabbed the squealing Temple into his arms before she could launch on me. He held her until she cooled from fever pitch at his touch. “Thanks for the chance, Pa. I won’t let you down.”
I embraced Stacy. “Life happens, young Jedi. I refuse to start our journey out as some old has-been blocking your incredible future. Temple has the most to lose if you two screw this up. I trust Trish and Karen as chaperones, but they will not be held accountable for failure by the two of you. That blame will lie at your doorstep, kids. I’m fully aware of how problematic keeping you both on a path into the future will be. If my friends here can help me, then fine. If they can’t… I’ll take the rap for your failure along with you. Please don’t take this as backing for a romance at your ages. Only we geezers know it’s a wrong move. Exceptions to it are one in a thousand.”
“We’ll do this,” Jim said. He looked dedicated, but I saw his Delilah next to him with looks stating otherwise. My little Temple was lost. I hated to start rooting for the celebrity jerk, using her like a footstool, but all kidding aside, this was a longshot, dangerous gamble. In this day and age, people often don’t pay for errors in judgment, but this one could cost Temple everything.
“I hope you’re right, kid.”
“How did the meeting go?” Shelly asked.
“Relatively well,” Lois answered. She didn’t elaborate. The object of our meeting would remain unnamed until his extinction. “Tomorrow, it will be back to business. We have to play catchup with our regular cases, so it will be all hands on deck. That includes you, Skipper, unless you’ve decided to fade away into movie land.”
“I’ll be there, Crone. By the way, Bone and I saved a skip for you and Hooterville.”
Lo turned her Gorgon gaze on Bone. She didn’t like getting new info from Trish. “Why am I only hearing this now, Timothy?”
Only Carlene and Lo can call Bone Timothy. When Bone hears his real name pass Lo’s lips, he knows whatever explanation he had for the question better be a good one. “Easy, Lo… I explained to Rick we avoided high profile skips because of our probationary status with the law. This one keeps coming up, because no one else wants it. The fly-by-night, bail bond place trying to pawn off the ticket is in Washington. I noticed we’ve never taken any work from
there.”
“Good answer,” Lo replied. “Who do they want picked up?”
“Rico Gannon. He’s wanted for armed robbery, and he has a sheet that’ll make you wonder how the hell he’s not already in prison for life. Barker Bonds claim he’s in Oceanside.”
“We’ll take a look at it in the morning,” Lo said. “Rick can bring Jim in with him tomorrow, and take care of school registration after we get an idea of where this Gannon guy is.”
“Sounds good. Oceanside’s a little upscale for a hideout,” I observed. “It would be interesting to find out some background on Barker Bonds, and how they know he’s there. On that note, and our return to the grind tomorrow, I think I’ll take Stace and my young movie star in training home.”
“He can come home with me,” Temple immediately volunteered.
Lo launched off her seat. She had a Temple ear between her fingers in a split second, bringing her to dancing, head tilted attention. “One more word out of your mouth, little floozy, and you’ll be doing pushups in the sand until dawn!”
“Ow…ow…ow…ow… okay! I was just… joking around… let me go… please…”
Lois released the chastised Temple amidst laughter from our appreciative cohorts, except for Jim. Cheech took Temple’s arm.
“I have my driver waiting. I’ll drop you off at home.”
“Thanks, Mr. Garibaldi,” Temple replied, rubbing her ear with one hand, and waving a forlorn goodbye to Jim.
Ah… tortured youth.
Chapter Nine
Back to Business
I woke at 5 AM, which never varies much anymore. I love the alone time in the morning with no other sounds than the gears spinning in my head. Stacy didn’t budge as I eased away from the bed. In the kitchen I started the already prepared coffee pot. Jim found it quite difficult to get either Temple or his movie opportunity out of his young head the night before. Finally, at eleven, he began yawning, and Stacy had already been nodding off against me. I guided him into bed without much protest from the young thespian.
Rico Gannon threaded into my head as I waited for my coffee. My laptop with me at the table revealed a few different images when I Googled his name for the hell of it. I smiled at the screen. Idiocy abounds in the world of crime, especially during this fabulous age of smart-phones and social media. Mr. Gannon had a Facebook page, complete with beautiful pictures uploaded the night before from his Oceanside beach rental. He even filmed a neat little video of a bikini clad vixen, gallivanting in the sand with his HD quality smart-phone. Ain’t technology grand? I downloaded the clip into my Adobe program, obtaining a still of Gannon’s beach bunny. Using the facial recognition database with my Company key, I found out who she was, where she lived, and a phone number I could reach her at.
Next, I hit the Twitter trail, and sure enough, our little social butterfly Gannon loved to tweet everything to his adoring Twitter friends. According to both his Facebook page and Twitter account, Mr. Gannon produced movies. Well how about that? I zipped my findings to Bone. He may have forgotten our talk on the social media temptations the criminal crowd can’t resist. It’s no wonder the FBI and police love social media. Perps make confessions, reveal their whereabouts, and post incriminating evidence completely useable in court. Yep… it’s a new day in the art of being a gumshoe these days. I already have a plan formulated to get Gannon I knew Lo would get a kick out of. What better bait for a fake producer than a real starlet: our very own Trish (Rocha) Medina from the very popular movie ‘In the Beginning’. Talking with the beach bunny comes first. We’ll find out where the rental is, and warn her off from any surprise visits. I quickly made a hard copy of my plan for Lo to speed through on my wireless printer.
My second cup of coffee tasted as good as the first, while perusing Largos Abiola’s info from our on-line drop. Floyd must have loaded what he already had last night. Every second, the guilt trip hit. Lo and I made a mistake leaving the reconnaissance job to Ben. They didn’t cover the back or make certain all exits were covered. Worst of all, they lost sight of Ava. If we had told Ben to hang tight until we could join them, the tragedy would have been averted.
Ava was another young one who thought she was tougher than tree bark. Lois trained her, but called me in, because the arrogant little preppie was getting under Lo’s skin. Ava had all the moves, but she didn’t understand quickness, and the fact there is always someone around the corner who can kick your ass. Under orders, I schooled her. I slapped her silly, avoiding everything she did, while planting open hand slaps to her cheeks. Lois enjoyed the hell out of it, but Ava not so much, and she was a slow learner. Life or death means just that. It was our duty to supplement her training with the Company where she had been the star, with the reality of an operative’s life at stake, and other operatives’ lives in the balance. She backed away, rubbing her face with both hands, and a big smile. Lo and I saw the glint in Ava’s eye. The kid would be back for more. Ava had that streak in her, where payback was on her mind. Like I said, she was a natural. Company field agents don’t get into the field if they’re missing an edge to their personalities.
I leaned back, sipping my coffee this wonderful morning a long time down the road in the future, remembering the night I left my favorite bar after a few beers. I spotted the movement in the dark near my car. It was a slight glint cast from the overhead parking lot lights. At the time, high voltage Tasers and stun-guns were not as prevalent as they are now. I pretended I was drunker than I actually was. When I reached my driver’s side car door, I fumbled with the keys, dropping them and cussing while bending over to get them. Ava moved in to sap me. I waited until the last second, spun, and planted a left hook in her sternum. She collapsed, vomiting, with sharp intakes of breath as she writhed helplessly on the ground. The adrenaline rush faded quickly when I saw who it was. Luckily for Ava, we didn’t have iPhones to FaceTime with. Otherwise, I would have either given Lo a viewing, or she would have made my life miserable. I did have one of those bulky-ass cell-phones. I called Lo, allowing her to cackle away at the newbie’s mistake of vengeance on an experienced agent.
Lois arrived ten minutes later. By then I had dragged Ava away from her spew, and had her nearly breathing normally. I had already felt for any ribcage damage, but I couldn’t feel any. Lo immediately crouched down, and slapped Ava across the face with a vicious bitch slap.
“You ever come for my partner again, little bird, you’d best kill me first. This is your one and only warning. We’ll overlook your stupidity this one time, since I see Rick has taught you a couple of lessons: one being we didn’t just get beamed down here from the planet Pluto yesterday, and secondly, not all is as it appears when doing close in work. You’re damn lucky he didn’t kill you before he understood who the hell you were. Rick and I like you. Now get your funky ass up, and get the hell out of here.”
I grinned like a big Halloween pumpkin remembering those days. Weirdly enough, when I arrived at my apartment after Lo and I went back in my favorite bar for a shot of being glad to be alive, there was little bird on my doorstep. I never said a word. I unlocked the apartment door, and let her in. I stupidly figured Ava and I kept our relationship under Lo’s radar, especially after what she witnessed of our rather brutal interaction. Not so – Lois could decipher nuances no one else could even contemplate. I noticed a sound at the kitchen entryway. Jim was watching me.
“You were smiling while holding your coffee cup halfway to your mouth,” Jim said. “I thought maybe you had a stroke, when you held the position for so long.”
Smartass. “Geezers do those kinds of things. We fade into suspended animation sometimes while remembering past decades no one gives a crap about, kid. We live. We collect memories… sometimes good and sometimes bad. They ride us like hobby horses when we’re alone in quiet moments. You’re up early, young Jedi.”
Jim shrugged. “I slept good. It’s hard to not think about the past days and Temple. Do you think we can stay together without Temple being arrested?”<
br />
There went the good times memories from past life streaking out of my head. “I wish I knew. Teenagers hot for each other tend to tip the scales the wrong way. I don’t know how it’s done other than focusing on other elements of life. The manual has never been written in a number of ways. If you two can figure out a way to remain friends without publicly or privately losing control, it’s possible. You and Temple are an anomaly. God only knows how anything happens in this situation. I admit that I don’t. The potential you two have for the future can be buried in an instant of indiscretion. Sorry… that means sexual deeds either real or imagined.”
“We get to work out together tonight,” Jim said. “This is like being sick. I liked those girls at the foster care home. I knew it was wrong what those people were doing. I wanted to help them get away from there too, but I don’t really miss them, because of the way things happened there. I miss Temple, and we were together just last night.”
Oh boy. “I’ll skip the ‘you’re only thirteen lecture’. You care about her. I imagine after seeing you two on the beach, something deeper than infatuation clicked. Let’s concentrate on our day ahead. We’ll have to check out schools. The nearest is Lewis Middle School. It’s actually within walking distance. I already checked their admission requirements. I put Bone on it. He’ll have the documents we need. I have your immunization record from when we did the DNA test, and Cleaver forced your doctor in Arizona to forward the medical records. I’d like to drop you off and meet you after school for a while, unless it would embarrass you.”
“I don’t mind,” Jim replied. “If I make some friends, I’ll call and ask if I can walk with them. Thanks for getting me the new iPhone. I’ve never had anything like it.”
“I’ll get you your own laptop today, so you can do your homework. I have a wireless printer, so you can print from anywhere. Go brush your teeth, and get a shower. I need to check in at the office with you first for the documents, and to talk with Lo about a plan I have to get the skip we’re going after.”
Rick Cantelli, PI: Into the Darkness (Rick Cantelli, P.I. Detectives Book 3) Page 21