Oh shit, yet another Lois revealing tidbit of her meddling even I didn’t know about. Man, she had her audience by the short hairs. Frank and Trish were like two guppies on the hook. “Thanks for sharing, Lo. I broke protocol, messing with an ongoing Mossad operation. We didn’t have all the fancy gadgets we have now for tracking people. I imagine Yuri had another team watching where Saib planned taking Adina, but like Lo said, he didn’t share it.”
“Our station boss, Hank Walburn, was a World War II badass from the OSS days. He laughed at the Israelis when they complained, but agreed to reassign me and Rick. He didn’t because we were on a short budget, and we were tracking the same things as the Mossad: weapons shipments, and Iranian infiltrators. Hank told us to stay out of the Mossad’s way, but keep gathering intel. I had to do info gathering the old fashioned way: people and papers we weren’t supposed to see or hear. Rick and I spoke French like native Parisians. We kept one eye on the Israelis, and the other on that little gang led by the recently departed Saib.”
“How the hell did you manage all that?” Trish was into it, while starting on her second double. I’d have to get some food into her. I knew from experience once Lo starts talking, she could drain a quart of booze without even slurring a word. We derived plenty of info from guys who thought they could drink Lo under the table.
“The first thing Rick and I did, was spread seed money amongst all the prostitutes. They loved Rick. He could have been a first rate pimp.”
“Thanks, Lo.”
“He and I would pass money and notes back and forth with our girls of the night whether we needed anything of interest or not. Naturally, the devout Muslims, on their weapons pilgrimage, spent every spare franc they could get their hands on visiting our courtesans. We even made up for the tips and shortages the cheap wankers stiffed the girls with, so the idiots thought they were getting discounts because they were so good in bed. One got plastered, and let slip they were going to teach the bar waitress a lesson.”
“I’m getting us some food before I have to carry Trish’s unconscious body to our room.” I stood up as Trish slapped my leg. “How about one of those big trays of appetizers and four beers?”
One of the Ritz guys in charge of the cabanas knew just what I wanted, and took off to get it. I talked Trish into at least wading around in the pool while I swam. She agreed reluctantly, but her first couple steps after standing underlined my suggestion being a good one. I swam until our waiter delivered the goods. Trish looked a lot better by then.
“Just sip and eat this round, my dear.”
Trish shrugged. “I got a little caught up in the story.”
“Yeah, me too. I didn’t even know the little snoop knew some of that stuff.”
Trish pulled me to a stop midway to our cabana. “Were you in love with Adina?”
What the hell does it matter now? “More like infatuation. Even back then we thought of the Mossad with the utmost respect. They were our mysterious partners we rarely saw or worked with directly.”
“You didn’t seem too in awe when you smacked old Yuri into Palookaville.”
“Look. I liked Yuri. If he was the unforgiving kind one or both of us would have been dead. He was a pro. We were guilty of baiting hooks with people too, and we’re nearly as reluctant in sharing info as they were.”
Trish hung onto my arm as we continued on to the table. “I’m digging this, Hooterville.”
“What the hell were you two gabbing about over there?”
“I stopped Trish to pretend we were talking about something important out of your hearing so we could see if your head would explode.”
Frank and Trish enjoyed that shot, but Lo gave me the Gorgon stare for a moment. “Okay, good one. Sit down. I’m not done storytelling.”
I ate some veggies and dip without comment. Trish ate too, but I could tell she was anxious for Lo to start the storytelling again. The waiter arrived with four glasses of beer. He was going to get a big tip today.
Lo reclined after eating a bit with beer in hand. “Let’s see, where was I? Oh yeah, our stable of informants paid dividends. Rick had to lay a couple of bills on Monique because the clown had roughed her up. I figured we’d settle accounts with him later. The info was dead on gold. It could be the Mossad had the apartments bugged where those guys stayed, but it was a riskier and more complicated business back then. We hit the gumshoe trail, following the woman beater, Arash Tehrani, to a Hotel Bermond in the countryside. I was afraid Rick had been seen before, so I went in to the café, finding Tehrani meeting with a known Serbian arms dealer, Duan Blazic. I got out of there and phoned in to Hank. I waited at the phone until he called me back. That’s when things got flaky.”
“There’s an understatement.” I was back sipping. The tense thrill of those days and that moment was not lost on me.
“Hank told us to forget it, back away, and write it up. The Israeli’s would handle it. He told me it came from above, no sharing, no interaction, and no interference. I told Rick. We came to the same conclusion that someone in our hierarchy had decided to teach the Israelis a lesson. So, we took a few minutes to think it over, and went rogue. We had a spot where we stashed some of our more heavy duty tools for emergencies. After loading the same Dragunov rifle you saw Rick had, an Uzi, and our .45 Colt Autos in the trunk, we hit the bandit trail. Rick and I dropped off the grid, and began following Blazic, because we knew he’d be the key.”
“Sure enough, three days later, Blazic picks up two henchmen, and drives to these old tourist ruins in Arles. We set up behind some rocks on a dirt road about a hundred and fifty yards away, me with range finders and Rick through his scope. It turns out Blazic has three large cases stashed in the rocks. Then our gang arrives. They converse for a few minutes, and Tehrani pops the trunk on the old Mercedes he’s driving. A couple of his boys pluck Yuri and Adina out of the trunk, bound and gagged. They toss the two at Blazic’s feet. Then the shootin’ starts. Before I can drop the range finders and pick up my Uzi, the five meatballs including Tehrani are all dead. The henchmen turned to fire, and my first burst dropped the one on my side. My second burst nailed the second. I looked over at Rick, and he was following Blazic, who had dived under his car. I picked up the range finders again in time to see Rick blow one of Blazic’s feet off.”
“Rick put a fresh clip in and made sure we only had one bad guy alive. He shouldered the Dragunov. I ask him what that was all about. My ears were ringin’, and I sounded like Minnie Mouse. Rick shrugs and says, ‘it seemed like the thing to do’. I laughed, and told him to put on his bandito mask. We approached the scene carefully. Although I had no doubt the only one not bound and gagged was screaming bloody murder, and the rest were dead, we played it safe. Blazic passed out by the time we reached the cars. Rick yanked the unconscious Blazic out from under his car, dragged him over by the Israelis, and then gathered up all the weapons. I cut the Mossad free, and we backed away without speaking. Rick and I took turns watching the Mossad as we retreated. They politely stayed in plain sight until we made it back to our car.”
“Do you think they knew who you were?” Trish had to take a gulp of beer before she could speak. Frank was merely smiling at Lo.
“They knew, but with our masks on, they could claim deniability, which we were hoping for. In interrogation by their superiors, when asked if they saw who did it, they could say no. That’s what they did say. The Mossad doesn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. They had a known arms dealer, who obviously was settling a personal grudge, and they had stopped a shipment of Stinger missiles Rick and I think they lost from a USA shipment to them. We packed up, put away our lethal goodies, and turned ourselves in. All Hank said was, ‘it’s about time you two got back here’. Just like that, the rogues were back in the fold.”
“You took out two guys with an Uzi from a hundred and fifty yards? That thing’s useful range is about ninety.”
Lo cackled.
“Lo can hit a man sized target with an Uzi at two hundr
ed yards,” I told Trish. “Are we all done with the felony offense sharing now?”
“Wait!” Trish wasn’t having any. “What about Adina and Yuri?”
“They left the country,” I replied. “The Mossad cleaned up the mess. They gathered their people and plunder and got the hell out of Dodge. We never saw them again.”
The cackling harpy went off again. Uh oh.
Trish smiled, and I finished off my third double. Lois reached into her bag, and threw down one of those small photo books. Trish opened it, gasped, and kept going, flipping each page slowly. Yep, it was a much younger… and more trusting me, in many photos at the Hotel Bermond with Adina. “This is wrong on so many levels, Lo, I don’t know what the hell to say.”
Frank laughed. He poured more Bushmills in my cup. “They’re really good shots, Rick. That Adina was beautiful. I bet despite her very capable Mossad exterior she was very grateful for being saved twice. I’m sorry Lo decided she needed a photo gallery of Adina’s very grateful image with yours, brother.”
“She loved you, Rick,” Trish said. “No one could look at these and not know she loved you. What happened?”
I sipped my refill. Those photos hit me down deep. It’s one thing to retreat into the long ago, deny most of it as faulty memories, claiming what’s done is done, and laugh it off. With the pictures as proof, the past didn’t seem but a moment ago. “Adina was recalled to Israel. She ignored the orders for the week we spent together at the Bermond. Two Mossad showed up one morning to take her. They were excellent, but I don’t sleep heavy. They entered the room, heading toward the bedroom with very professional moves. I stopped them. I told them on your knees, hands laced behind heads. They knew me, so they didn’t try any quick draw crapolla that would have ended in two dead Mossad. By then Adina had leaped out of bed, the Luger that she loved in hand.”
“She saw who her two collectors were, and lowered the Luger. Adina dressed. She packed her belongings. I never moved, because even back then I didn’t assume facts not in evidence, like love, or that the agents might be there to also tie up loose ends… like me. Adina hugged me, and said, ‘thank you’. I kissed her, and they were gone.”
“You didn’t think I’d figure the Bermond, huh Sparky? Not after Blazic had stayed there.”
“I wasn’t thinking. Adina passed a note to me through another waitress at the bar she’d worked undercover at. That act alone would have gotten her canned. I can’t complain about being outed for it, because I should have told you.”
Lo leaned forward again. “Damn right, Hooterville. What did you think, I’d put your tryst in the headlines? Hell, I’d have had your back. If I’d had an inkling those two Mossad were coming, I would have made sure they never reached your room.”
I lifted my cup to her. “You did get some great pictures. It was a damn fine time though. Thanks for that.”
Lo touched her cup to mine. “Just like Bogey said in Casablanca, we’ll always have Paris.”
Frank and Trish toasted with us. Sometimes… it is what it is. The moment I saw the photo book I realized what this storytelling was all about. It was the only way Lo could think to break it to me about knowing all these years about Adina. For a brief sparkling few seconds the sun peaked out over Cantelli Land. Then the darkness descended.
“Hey… Cantelli!” Some muscle bound dork approached the cabana with a bikini dressed blonde trying to stop him.
Lo cackled, because by this point in our partnership, she knew nice moments only lasted for seconds. “Oh look, Rick, we have company.”
I waved. “Hi there. Yep, Rick Cantelli at your service. How may I help you?”
“My fiancé recognized you from the scandal sheets. She claims you’re some killing machine, like James Bond.”
Lois and Trish both erupted in laughter with clapping hands and the whole smear. I saw the danger of a perfectly good day slipping right through my fingers. Even with Lois’s new installments of unknown Cantelli secrets, this had been a very nice day. Yes, it could be the over three double Bushmill’s talking. Frank’s my brother. He and I exchanged glances of understanding, and we weren’t laughing.
I stood up, extending my hand. “I am Rick Cantelli. You know how those scandal sheets blow everything out of proportion. I’ll tell you what. Let me buy you and your fiancé a bottle of champagne. Congratulations. Many, many years of bliss for you two.”
The guy didn’t even acknowledge the gesture. He turns to the pool bunny, who is all tingly with causing trouble. “See Deb, this loser is just another Hollywood flake, all hat and no cattle.”
She giggled excitedly. Then Trish stood up as I lowered my ignored hand of friendship, while Lo had smilingly reached into her bag. Trish pointed at the bunny. “Guess what, sweet cheeks, if the boys go at it because of you, I’m going to beat the living crap out of you while they do it, troublemaker!”
Sweet cheeks didn’t like that to the point of pouncing on her fiancé. “Don’t! I mean it! That bitch is nuts!”
Then too many Bushmills busted through for Trish. She moved past the boyfriend, and grabbed the fiancé. “What the hell? Did you just call me out, sweet cheeks?”
The boyfriend moved to intercept Trish, and I put him on his knees with a handhold having nothing to do with love. “You and your fiancé have disturbed the wrong gathering. Before I break something on you, could you please just accept a gift of champagne and go away?”
The guy nodded with emphasis as he realized the only progression from the hold I had on him would be bad. “Well… all right then.” I motioned for the already stunned cabana guy. He was at my side in a moment. “We want this happy couple to have a bottle of champagne in honor of their engagement.”
The waiter fled to do my bidding, and I released my playmate. I helped him to his feet. “Listen kid, you’re on the wrong track. No one cares about your muscle poses. Any woman that tries to bump you into a confrontation is bad. Hanging with a woman that gages the best companion to be the winner in a fight in this day and age is mental. Either kick clear of her, or get ready for a daily dose of this bullshit.”
To his credit, the kid met my honest gaze, and walked off. His fiancé followed at a leap when Trish released her, trying to profess her angst at being thwarted. Who the hell knows? Maybe it was a match made in heaven. I’m an old P.I. with a past made all too visible today. I’ll take the happy moments when I can get them. I sat back down. Even Lois didn’t project hard feelings about not having to use her Taser.
“To you and Lo,” Frank said, holding up his cup.
Lo put hers up quickly with Trish and me joining them. Like I said, it is what it is.
Lo cackled for a few moments, pointing out another blessing to be grateful for. “Think of it this way, Skipper, Rick won’t be in the tank for the night.”
Trish laughed, holding up her cup. “Amen to that.”
Chapter Twelve
The Unexpected
We headed back to San Diego in good spirits. I had promised Lo to be in at work with her on Thursday morning, and here we are, off and running in plenty of time to stop at home before the office. Trish and I had a memorable night, one I won’t forget no matter what goofy crap happens. For one thing, she convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt she cares for me. I found her looking at the small picture album Lo had given me before we left for San Diego. I thought maybe she imagined a time we could have been together like Adina with me in the pictures. I didn’t mind, but sometime soon if she stuck around, Trish would have to face the fact we were way too far apart in years. I’d already given my word we’d be together until she either broke her agreement with me about killing, or she wanted a different life.
“I loved last night, Rick.”
“It was special for me too, Trish. A lot of things came together yesterday. I understand now what set Lo off lately. She wanted to get a lot out that she buried a long time ago about Adina. It proves one thing: I was watching like a hawk for the Mossad while staying with Adina, and Lois
took all those photos. She kept me under surveillance without leaving a clue she was doing it… or Adina either. I’m glad you and Lo get along.”
“Me too. She’s the real deal. You two in your day were a hell of a team. I can tell that. Hell… in this day and age, you two are scary good. Maybe I can be an Adina for you, Rick… at least for a while.”
I reached over and clasped her hand. “Now that was a common sense statement. This age thing will catch up to us real quick. I know you have the common sense to understand it. Anytime you want to move on, don’t think to make excuses, just do it. I’ll understand. Please don’t go back to your other life style though.”
“That part of my life is over for me, Rick. I can really progress in your business, a lot like Bone is doing. I admit though… I’m jealous of Adina. Those pictures Lo took were exquisite, haunting images of passion I could almost feel.”
“Jealousy should never play a part in what we have, Trish. We’re two pedestrians on the moon. It’s all new, never to be repeated, and free of the past. You’re a damn killer. I don’t even want to know how many. We’re joined in a way because neither of us ever made a life beyond the killing. I had enough years away from the killing to do it, and I didn’t.”
“I’m still struggling with that for some stupid reason. I picture myself in Adina’s place and I would have never let you go. She was an idiot.” Trish straightened up in her seat, folding her arms over chest. “In a way, I wish Lo had never mentioned Adina. Imagination is a rough companion sometimes. This is one of them.”
“I have one too, and I’m sixty. Life has trails. We take the one we want when they branch out, and deal with the consequences. I remember the excitement, the thrill, and the danger like it was yesterday. For a moment in the warehouse, it was yesterday. On that Teddy Alvarez hit, I was a Seal again, doing a complex op without a safety net. Life is an inexact science, Trish. My path won’t alter course, but yours can.”
Rick Cantelli, P.I. Deadly Liaisons (Rick Cantelli, P.I. Detectives Book 2) Page 16