Rick Cantelli, P.I. Deadly Liaisons (Rick Cantelli, P.I. Detectives Book 2)

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “Not if we want either of us to stay out of jail, kid.”

  She made one acknowledging wave, and streaked for her car. I looked around me at the bodies with a dark optimism. The parking lot was deserted which is normal before closing. Most patrons take unfortunate advantage of that last call drink deal the bars upon closing issue. I quickly made sure each of my inductees to the afterlife was indeed heading there. Then I retreated to the GMC, and texted Trish to call a cab. I headed for the motel room Trish and I shared with a relaxed attitude. Sure, I may end up in prison, but it was doubtful. Once the PD started running face and fingerprints on the bunch littering Melinda’s parking lot, I doubted the incident would acquire more than a ‘gang hit’ label. Bad guys hitting bad guys – no one gave a shit about that. Add in vigilante, and the full force of the law would be clamoring for your blood. Law enforcement figures no matter how incompetent they are at it, murderers are their rice bowl. In this instance they’d just have to suck wind… which is pretty much what they have to do even if no one else does their job for them.

  Lo called a few minutes after I reached the motel room. All of her scary facial feature’s promise of doom came through on screen, as she’s giving me the Gorgon look. “Hi, partner… what’s up?”

  “You no good… rotten… Rhinoceros’ ass! You cut me out of the final act without a thought! When you get back here I will roast your nuts until you…”

  Lo’s voice drifted away on the air, along with her curses. I held the phone, but I smilingly absorbed her verbal retribution without even a shred of displeasure or remorse. A guy who had been wanting us dead found out we don’t kill so easily. That lesson of course would have to be a case of ‘uh oh, fucked with the wrong entity, and now I’m dead’ file. It’s not real long, but there are a few people who thought they were untouchable in it. After Lo disconnected in disgust at my silence, Trish texted me with a comically worded ‘oh great, kill everyone and leave me here to listen to the cops lead a circle jerk as to what might have happened. Thanks, Hooterville! You Prick’.

  Hey, we can’t always please everyone in our endeavors. I pulled out a pint bottle of celebration Bushmills from my bag, poured a large dose of happiness, and sat down inside our drab abode. I’m one of those stone cold killers without any remorse. Remorse is for normals, who beat their breasts in anguish when our military pacifies a murderous bunch of scum, and there’s collateral damage. Oh my! Whoops! Get the hell over it, and be damn glad someone calls the shots that doesn’t give a crap what you think about it. Oh man. I was floating in paradise – that place between heaven and hell, prison and unburdened freedom. I knew what might happen if the scene fell apart on me. Boo hoo. No one in the future was ever going to lose any sleep because they thought that scum sucking mutant Velez was on their trail. I sipped, and it was good… for about fifteen minutes. The knock at the door announced that my short leave from Cantelli Land was over. I knew it down in the dark recesses of my soul, where Cantelli Land originated. I took a final sip, a deep breath, and got up to look through my spyhole in the door. It was Adina. I stepped back away from the door in absolute awe as to how a wonderful moment of satisfaction could turn to shit in the space of fifteen seconds.

  I decided hiding was the better part of valor in these wee hours of the morning. I moved to the side of the door, weapon in hand. “Nice to see you’re getting around okay, Adina. Thanks for stopping by.”

  “Open the door, Rick.”

  I don’t think so. No way did I want a Mossad station head in my little motel room. Even grainy memory reruns of hot youthful secret agent moments running through my head wasn’t enough to tempt me into doing anything that stupid. “Why in the world would I want to do that?”

  “We have much to discuss.”

  “No we don’t. Make an appointment with Lois. We’ll meet with you in a nice public place back in San Diego for a meal or drink, our treat.”

  “I could let the locals know who provided special after hours entertainment at the local bar. Very messy entertainment.”

  That’s okay by me. Lois is already threatening me with roasting my nuts for cutting her out of my little adlib. If Adina puts me in prison, Lo would make it her life’s work to show up one night in her bedroom with a propane torch and a pair of pliers. Mossad or not, Adina will never see her until those beady little Gorgon eyes are staring into Adina’s drugged up ones in the dark. I chuckled at the thought that Trish might have to visit me in prison. My silence was starting to annoy Adina.

  “Well?”

  “Well what. The only place we’re meeting is San Diego. Don’t make me have to call the police on you.”

  I chanced another glimpse through my spyhole in time to see Adina grin.

  “Very well, Rick. Another time perhaps.”

  I watched her walk away into the darkness. Two shadows joined her before they disappeared from view. Yep. This had the hamster wheel in my head spinning again, and the little bugger is still alive. It confirms something Lo and I suspected: the Mossad wanted Velez taken care of out by his ranch in the middle of nowhere for a reason it seems. They were going to burn the loose ends that did the job for them: namely me and Lo. I think Adina’s visit was a not so friendly alteration in their plans.

  I texted Trish to keep her eyes open, her hand on a weapon, and to text me when the cab was near our motel door. Next, I poured another Bushmills, sat in the room’s corner, and put my gangster Ruger next to me. Then I FaceTimed Lo.

  “You have a lot of nerve calling me back at this hour, Cantelli! This better be good, or I’m going to singe a couple spots on you as black as your soul, you wanker!”

  I sipped my Bushmills, smiling at the screen. “Adina came knocking on my chamber door right after we talked.”

  Lois’s face changed into her ‘Night of the Hunter’ look. “We were right. They were going to blow us away after the job. You’re still alive, so I assume you weren’t stupid enough to let her in. She didn’t come alone, did she?”

  “Nope. She had her shadows with her. I texted Trish and told her to watch her back when she kicks free of the bar. I hope the Mossad doesn’t mess with her. They won’t be ready to kill. She will be. We don’t need any more dead Mossad.”

  Lois nodded. “You got that right. Did you think about going to her?”

  “It’s pitch black out, and I need to check the GMC for prizes Adina may have left as lovely parting gifts. We’ll do that and get the hell on the road home first thing tomorrow morning. I told Trish to take a cab. I’ll be waiting for her.”

  “Good thinking. Drive straight through to home, Rick. They may be thinking of taking you and Trish on the road.”

  “I’ll be careful. That won’t go well for them unless they have a rocket launcher.”

  Lo cackled. “I’ll see you tomorrow then. I’ll monitor the usual places for how the scene at the bar is received. You did remember to change the plates on the GMC, and check in with your bogus ID, right?”

  “That’s just mean, Lo.”

  Another cackle, and off she went to harpy dreamland. I had time to finish off my drink before Trish’s text saying she was thirty seconds away arrived. With Ruger in hand, I went to the door, opened it after a quick spyhole look, and waited. The cab arrived. Trish paid quick, stayed low as if fumbling in her bag, and was inside the room seconds later. We sat together, ready for action, and sipped another together while I brought her up to date. Trish was not happy with the Adina visit, but it did sink in as to why she showed up at all.

  “She was going to kill you right here in the room?”

  “That would be my guess. It would have been a perfect ending for Velez’s death to have his killer die in a seedy motel, killed by other unknown bad guys.”

  “If Adina took a few seconds to realize she was leaving Lo out of the equation, you probably don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “That’s what I’m hoping. She could also decide to take the chance and get Lo later. We have to be careful on the way
home. It will be a long, straight through return trip.”

  “You should have let me cut her throat.”

  “You’re not as entertaining in prison, Trish. If she meets with us in San Diego, it will be because she has orders to stand down. You can bet Lo will get into the right channels to hint at our state department taking a look at the very chummy background a certain diplomat has with the Mossad. Adina has excellent credentials, I’m sure, but I doubt she wants that kind of attention.”

  “I saw the girl get bullied out into the parking lot with Velez. What did you do with her?”

  “Told her to get lost. They were planning on killing her.”

  “You’d make a terrible contract killer, Hooterville. You leave too many loose ends.”

  I took another sip of my elixir. “When I start tying up loose ends like Nicki, I’ll put a bullet in my own head.”

  Trish leaned over toward me, her dress riding up with tantalizing slowness. “How about throwing a shot into me.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Full Circle

  I went over the GMC with a passion. Nothing annoys me more than a car bomb or a sabotaged vehicle. Trish kept watch. We left Nogales at six in the morning, and made it into San Diego by two in the afternoon. We buried the Ruger .40 with silencer in the desert along the way. No one tailed us. With October driving and starting out early, we had a pretty clear view of other vehicles nearly all the way. We stopped by my house, changed the plates back on the GMC to our legal ones, took a nap that turned into another free-for-all, showered, and went to face the Gorgon.

  Bone met us at the door. He had been tracking the GMC as I would assume Lois had done as well. At least he was happy to see me. “I hear we can bring our people back from Devil’s Island.”

  “Yep, it’s looking good. Trish and I barely got out of our vehicle when we heard Velez and a few of his men had an accident. We rested up and came home.”

  Bone and Trish both laughed at that description of our journey. “We have company, Rick. Lo says I keep you with me, Trish. She said to send you right in, Rick.”

  “Wonderful.”

  I knocked on the outer door, and went in. Adina sat across from Lo with her shadows. At the desk corner sat an old CIA guy I hadn’t seen since leaving the Company, Van Carmichael. He was older, balder, chunkier, but still wore the ever present smile I liked. The other guy was FBI, probably Homeland Security. He sat opposite Van.

  “Wow, now this is what I call interdepartmental cooperation. How you doin’, Van?”

  We shook hands. “You’re lookin’ good, Rick. I’m sure glad you got into town before we wrapped up this meeting. We’ve been talking at Lo for over an hour, and as is her nature, we got nada in reply. I’m hoping you can help us clear up the facts surrounding this Velez case.”

  “Sure, I heard he died.”

  Lo and Van cracked up at that remark, but I had a tough audience in HS and the Mossad.

  Adina leaned back as I took a seat next to Lois. She was wearing a very professional looking brown pantsuit like she was Hillary Clinton. “We will skip the formalities. We know you killed Velez and three of his bodyguards in Nogales early this morning. You gunned them down in cold blood.”

  “Is this some kind of joke?” Lois put her fists on the desk. “Listen, you two bit skank, you’d know a hell of a lot more about cold blooded killings than either Rick or I. What the hell’s the point of this? Velez killed and tortured two of your Mossad operatives. He’s dead now. What’s your beef?”

  “There is no need for name calling, Lois,” Adina reasoned with that lilting tone and smile I no longer thought of as attractive. Israel would like an accounting of the incident. One of those three bodyguards was a former Mossad agent, working with Interpol, who are now by Executive Order of your President allowed to operate here with permission.”

  “How about you giving us an accounting of your husband trying to kill us from long range with a sniper rifle outside our restaurant,” Lo replied with a wave off. “Then you might want to go over your own plans for Velez. Since when do Israeli diplomats trail Americans or stake out foreign drug dealers. It’s possible an Interpol agent might be stupidly granted permission to work inside our borders. You certainly weren’t.”

  The HS guy spoke for the first time. “We’re checking with Interpol about a supposed agent working undercover for Chas Velez, but so far, we have found nothing. One thing we do know – if Interpol did have an inside agent, it was not with our permission. We want to cooperate fully with our friends in the Israeli intelligence bureau. What proof do you have, now that Mr. Cantelli is present, about him working as an assassin? Mr. Carmichael has stated on the record that former CIA agents Lois Madigan and Richard Cantelli have been retired from the Company for over two decades. They are American citizens, and do not have to prove their innocence in anything. If you have concerns or proof confirming their guilt in something, now would be the time to present it.”

  I liked this HS guy. He hit Adina right between the eyes. Anything she had would be an admission by a Mossad department head that Israeli intelligence agents were shadowing American citizens. Something else was going on here. At any other time, the Mossad would have embraced the death of Velez without a thought as to how it happened. Then the rubber hit the road.

  Adina stood up. “Very well. I am satisfied in your confidence as to this matter. Can we also count on your ending the investigation into the unfortunate attempt on your citizens’ lives by a disgraced former member of Israeli intelligence?”

  Bingo. The State Department must have been hounding the shit out of the Israelis over Yuri going rogue. Adina had been after a chip to play in order for it to stop. Rick Cantelli, reporting for duty. Oh well… it’s not like Velez landing an assault group off our private beach went unnoticed. My getting out of Nogales, or visiting there in the first place, I’m sure would not be dismissed out of hand by even our State Department. Trish and I handled it quietly, establishing reasonable doubt. I had no intention of blurting out my having killed anyone, including Velez.

  The HS guy straightened. “I think we can agree to forego any further investigations into the attempted murders the other night. Now, if you will excuse us, I would like to speak with Ms. Madigan and Mr. Cantelli alone without foreign representatives present.”

  “Of course.” Adina twirled around with the shadows to walk out.

  I hurried out of my seat, and opened the door for them. I glanced out at Trish’s darkening countenance, and shook my head. She looked away. I stayed at the door until they left our office before giving Trish the fingers from my eyes to her in the universal motion of I’m watching you gesture. She grinned. I closed the door again, and sat down.

  The HS Agent held out his hand and I shook it. “I’m Floyd Randolf. You and Ms. Madigan are two assets we need right now. Yes, everything that’s happened lately in your past year has set agencies back in D.C. on fire, and not in a good way. The Teddy Alvarez hit put you two on our radar big time.”

  Floyd held up his hands in a defensive fashion. “I did two tours in Iraq. I don’t pretend to be some newbie virgin to right and wrong. You two went old school on someone the suits in Washington were wringing their hands over. Van here trusts you two implicitly, and I trust him. What you did with Velez was impressive, Rick. You don’t hesitate in these matters. Van and I have discussed it, and we want you and Ms. Madigan on our side with cover. You both know some of this damn shit can’t be handled by people without common sense or logic concerning major threats to our country.”

  “We’re interested,” Lo replied cautiously. “If you’re looking for an admission of guilt though you can kiss our asses.”

  Floyd laughed for the first time after encountering the Gorgon. “You were Mr. Cantelli’s handler and partner for many years with the CIA. Van and I would like you to oversee a relationship where we could call on you both for something not authorized through official channels.”

  “I hear you speaking,” Lo replie
d. “What I don’t hear is any cover for what you ask us to do. Van can probably tell you, Rick and I are not a couple of daisies to be plucked when you want something. He and I love this country. We’ll do anything for it. What we won’t do is take the fall for some ass-wipe in DC using us as bait or a fall guy. Rick and I tend to get deadly in ways you ain’t even heard of if we get hung out to dry. That happens, and God help you… you’ll need it.”

  “We lost three FBI agents to that slime Velez. Granted, Conus was dirty, but the fact Velez could get it done when we were supposed to be on full alert really screwed up our credibility. We’re destroying his network back East. It will go even faster without him around shifting operations underground. You two put the FBI onto his network to begin with, just in a random security job. Add in stopping a cartel assault on your beach house, and luck doesn’t have anything to do with it.”

  “It’s more of a curse,” I told him. “To be honest, we’ve been trying to stay out of trouble. If you don’t hang us out to dry, we’ll help where we can.”

  “If and when we have something for you, I will contact you personally, or Van will. That was a hell of a thing you pulled off in Nogales right under the noses of that Mossad lady and her crew. Van tells me she has some history with you two.”

  “Yeah, we worked with her and the husband who tried to kill us in Paris,” Lo answered. “What name does she go by now?”

  “Adina Mattis. Do you believe she was in Nogales to kill you, Rick?”

  “She showed up at the motel room door alone. I didn’t let her in. When she left, those two guys with her today joined her from the dark. They weren’t there to catch up on old times, Floyd. I don’t believe she ordered her husband Yuri to kill us. I think that was personal. He hated my guts. Do you know anything about our real situation here with Adina and the Mossad?”

  “She was ordered back to Israel just before the meeting here. We were leaning on her pretty hard about the attempted sniping at your restaurant. Her bosses were unhappy to say the least. You and Ms. Madigan are in the clear with the Israeli’s, but I confess I don’t know how much ‘in the clear’ means to them.”