Finally, it was Elizabeth’s turn. She swallowed down her nerves.
The alderman reached into the sack of coins and stuck out his hand. “Merry …. Well, hello again,” he said, a huge grin coming to his face as he took her hand and held it.
“Alderman.”
He gazed at her almost dreamily. It was uncomfortable but she tried not to show it.
“Alderman?”
He laughed nervously.
“I’m sorry. You remind me of someone.”
Simon cleared his throat. The alderman noticed him for the first time and his face fell a little, but only a little. He did, however, finally let go of Elizabeth’s hand.
“This is my husband, Simon Cross,” Elizabeth said. “And I’m Elizabeth.”
The alderman shook Simon’s offered hand but looked at Elizabeth.
“Elizabeth. Beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”
Elizabeth ducked her head shyly at the compliment. She wasn’t the least bit embarrassed but she knew the alderman would be pleased if she were.
Next to her Simon looked torn between amusement and horror.
“I heard you were going to be here today and I …” she said ending with a shrug as if she were overwhelmed at the idea.
The alderman beamed. Without looking away from her, he gave an order for one of his aides to hand out the nickels and started to pull Elizabeth aside.
Almost as an afterthought, he glanced back at Simon. “You don’t mind, do you?”
Simon did, but the alderman didn’t give him a chance to say so.
“Make sure he gets whatever he wants,” the alderman said as he led Elizabeth away. “On me.”
Storm Simon started to blow in as he took a few steps to follow but Elizabeth waved him off. He stopped and held out his hand, silently begging her to stop such foolishness and listen to reason. The alderman’s aide turned his hand palm up and dropped a handful of nickels into it. Simon glared at the coins, the aide and finally, Elizabeth again before pouring the coins back into the bag and stepping out of line.
“You know when I saw you at City Hall the other day, I knew there was something about you.”
“You said I remind you of someone?”
The alderman looked almost shy as he remembered. He looked down and a fond smile came to his face. “Katherine Sullivan. Lived next door to me in Schenectady when I was a kid.”
He looked at Elizabeth with what looked like genuine affection. It was almost more disturbing than a leer would have been. At least she’d have known what to do with that.
“You have the same smile.”
Elizabeth almost felt a little bad for him. Almost.
She smiled back. “I’ll take that as a compliment, Alderman.”
“Call me Anthony.” His grin grew even wider. “Look, I know this is crazy but would you like to be my guest?”
She frowned in confusion.
“To the gala,” he clarified, nodding toward the poster board.
“What about my husband?”
“What about him?”
“Well …”
The alderman glanced over at Simon, who lurked around the edge of the room watching them. “He can come, too. More the merrier,” he said, but it was clear he was only thinking of the two of them.
“In that case, I accept.”
He took her hand and clasped it between both of his warm palms. “Good. Can you come by the office tomorrow about four? I’d pick you up but I’m booked until then.”
“Of course.” Elizabeth smiled again. “I’ll … we’ll see you then.”
He grinned like a little boy. “Great. Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.”
He squeezed her hand and literally tore himself away, rejoining the nickel-giving line.
Elizabeth filtered through the crowd to Simon.
“Do I even want to know what you’re up to?” he asked.
“Probably not. But we’ve got a date.”
“A what?”
Elizabeth led him toward a bank of windows and away from the alderman.
“He invited us to the gala.”
“Us?”
“Well, me and sorta you. I figure since we’re not really getting anywhere from the outside, if we can get on the inside, we might find an opening. Something to help Charlie.”
Simon frowned but didn’t say anything. That was unnerving.
“Simon?” she asked.
“I think you are positively insane,” he said. “This is nearly an exact repeat of our first trip here, right down to a gangster inviting you to dinner. Need I remind you how that turned out last time?”
He needn’t. She remembered it well. It wasn’t the sort of thing you forgot.
“I remember.”
“And in case you didn’t notice, the alderman’s affection for you,” Simon went on, struggling to say the word, “is more than just an appreciation of your many attributes.”
Elizabeth glanced over at the alderman, who was busy talking to an elderly woman.
“He likes you,” Simon said as though the words left a sour taste in his mouth.
“What can I say? I’m very likable.”
Her attempt at levity fell flat.
“I mean, he likes you likes you.”
Elizabeth laughed as much at the idea as at Simon’s adorably awkward way of trying to say it.
“You mean he’s going to ask me to go steady?” she said.
Simon sighed. “I know that look. I’ve seen that look before and it’s far more powerful than simple lust, Elizabeth.”
She knew there was some truth in what he said. She’d sensed it.
“And more dangerous,” he added.
She looked back at the alderman, who was just finishing up talking to the elderly woman. He leaned down and said something to her that made her smile. She patted his hand and he turned to leave.
Maybe he wasn’t so bad.
The alderman and his aide walked past them. “I thought that broad would never shut up.”
Or maybe he was.
Simon watched him walk past, the animosity plain on his face.
“I don’t like it.”
“Him liking me or my agreeing to go to the gala with him?”
Simon’s frown deepened. “Both.”
The last time they’d been in a situation like this with King Kashian, he’d been so upset and frightened at what might happen, he’d used the “f-word.”
“You’re not going to forbid me again?” she asked, half tongue-in-cheek.
Simon shook his head, then reached down and took her hand. “No. I learned long ago that it doesn’t do any good. And that … as a wise woman once told me, I am not the boss of her,” he added with a smile.
Elizabeth laughed.
“I still think it’s insane and I don’t plan on letting you out of my sight but …”
“But?” she said hopefully.
“This insane idea of yours, and it is truly insane, is sadly, the only one we have.”
Elizabeth kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Simon said glancing back toward the alderman. “And if he steps one inch out of line …”
“He sleeps with the fishes.”
Simon tried to frown but couldn’t manage. “Something like that.”
“You see? Could I be any safer? Don’t answer that.”
He didn’t, but it took effort.
He was right, though. What could possibly go wrong toying with the affections of a dangerous man? But there had to be a way to get something on him that they could use to free Charlie. She’d just have to figure out what and how.
Simon saw the worry in her eyes and started to say something. Before he could, Elizabeth knew she needed to change the subject, or he might change his mind and, worse yet, she might change hers.
And besides, she was hungry.
“Did you give back all of those nickels?” she asked.
“Of course, I did. Why?”
<
br /> She looked at the bank of automat windows behind them and then back at him. “Because pie.”
Simon chuckled and started searching for a nickel.
Chapter Nine
CHARLIE NARROWED HIS EYES and looked at Charlotte over the top of his cards. He touched one card, then another, finally settling on the first and added it to the discard pile.
Charlotte grinned as she reached for it.
“Nooo,” Charlie moaned.
Charlotte laid down her cards. “Gin!”
Charlie’s face wrinkled up as he looked at her cards and then at his. He picked up the little pencil stub, touched the tip to his tongue and then scribbled out their points on the edge of the racing form.
“Just ain’t fair,” he grumbled.
Charlotte giggled and happily gathered all of the cards.
“Maybe you should play my dad. You could beat him.”
A deep laugh bubbled up from inside his chest. “Maybe I should.”
She felt a little guilty, winning so much. At first she thought he was letting her win, but he wasn’t. He just made silly mistakes.
“Do you want to play something else?” she offered.
Charlie shook his head. “Naw, I’m not givin’ up yet.”
He got up from the table. “You want more soda? I think I got another.”
Charlotte shook her head. “No, thank you.”
Charlie smiled and turned to go to the kitchen when there was a knock on the door. He went to answer it.
“Yeah?” he said as he opened the door.
“Is Charlotte here?”
That was Henry! Charlotte jumped off her chair and hurried to the front door.
She came up next to Charlie and gave Henry a small wave. “Hi.”
Henry waved back. “Hi.”
“You know this kid?” Charlie asked.
Charlotte nodded.
Henry jerked his thumb behind him and down the hall. “I went to Mrs. Blomster’s but she said you were over here.”
Charlotte waited for more. Henry looked nervous and cleared his throat.
“I … um …” He leaned forward to try to see into the apartment. “Are your parents here?”
“No.”
He visibly relaxed then. “Oh, okay.” Then frowned. “I wanted to tell ‘em it was my fault yesterday.”
Charlie pointed a finger at him. “So, you’re the kid that helped her sneak out.”
Henry swallowed but lifted his chin. “Yeah. But if her parents aren’t here, I can come back and—”
He started to take a step away but Charlie grabbed on to his shoulder. “You can wait for ‘em.”
Henry looked at Charlotte helplessly but didn’t argue. “Okay.”
“That’s a meeting I wanna see.” Charlie said with a chuckle.
Henry looked even more nervous then. He wandered uneasily into the living room.
Charlie watched him closely. Henry wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He started to sit but wasn’t sure if he should.
Charlie gave a chuckle. “It’s all right, kid. Relax. I think it’s big of you to come here and own up to what you done.”
Henry managed a small smile then and relaxed as he looked around the room a little.
Charlotte was about to ask him if he wanted to play cards when Henry spotted the poster on the wall.
“Hey, is that John L. Sullivan?” he asked, excited as he went over for a closer look.
Charlie’s chest puffed out. “Sure is.”
He joined Henry by the poster. “I was there. Saw him fight Gentleman Jim.”
“You saw him fight Corbett?”
Charlie grinned. “I was just a kid. About your age, as a matter of fact.”
Henry turned back to the poster. “Wow.”
Charlie looked down at Henry. “That was years ago. Way before you were born. How do you even know who they are?”
“I used to hang out at Benny Case’s gym before it closed down. Over on Mercer.”
“The Killer from Canarsie?”
Henry grinned. “Yeah. You know him, too?”
“Naw, but I got an old pair of gloves they say a friend of Jack Dempsey’s sparring partner used once.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, you wanna see?”
“Sure.”
Charlie seemed like a different person, more alive, as he grinned down at Henry. He glanced over at Charlotte, a true smile on his face for maybe the first time.
“I’ll be right back,” he said and hurried into the bedroom to get the gloves.
Henry admired the poster for a moment longer then walked over to the table where Charlotte was shuffling the cards.
“He’s nice,” Henry said.
Charlotte smiled an idea beginning to form in the back of her mind. “Yeah. He is.”
~~~
“Where do you want to go for lunch?” Elizabeth asked.
“You just had pie,” Simon said as they walked down the hall of Charlie’s building. “How can you be hungry?”
“We’ve been married ten years; how can you not know the answer to that?”
Simon chuckled and knocked on Charlie’s door. “Fair enough. Maybe we’ll go uptown for a change.”
“Sure.”
A moment later, the door opened but it wasn’t Charlie standing there. It was a boy; it was that boy.
He glared at him then stepped inside and looked quickly for Charlotte. She was standing in the living room with Charlie.
“Keep your elbow in,” Charlie said as he knelt in front of Charlotte. “No chicken wings.”
Charlotte giggled then noticed her parents had arrived. She gave them a wave with a hand wearing a big, red boxing glove.
Charlie got off his knee and faced them. “Was just giving the kid some pointers.”
Of all the scenes he was expecting to find when they picked Charlotte up, this was not one of them. “Boxing?”
Charlie grimaced and turned back to Charlotte, quickly pulling the gloves off her hands. He tossed them onto the sofa and tried to pretend none of what had just happened happened.
Simon would follow up on that later. For now, his focus was on the boy. The one who’d taken his daughter out into a dangerous city alone.
His displeasure must have shown on his face because the boy backed up.
“I want to talk to you.”
The boy gulped but stood his ground and faced Simon.
“Good,” he said. “I want to talk to you.”
“Do you?”
“Simon—”
“To apologize,” Charlie said, hurrying over and standing behind the boy. “Henry came over to apologize.”
“Henry?” Elizabeth asked.
Henry nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
Simon noticed the knowing looks and smiles that passed between mother and daughter. It didn’t help his mood and he turned back to glare at the boy. He might as well start practicing now.
Charlie gave the kid an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder. “Go on.”
“Well, I was—”
“It was my fault,” Charlotte said as she came to join them. “Henry didn’t do anything. I snuck out all by myself.”
Despite the circumstances, Simon felt a surge of pride at her trying to protect the boy. It didn’t last long, though.
“That was true the first time maybe,” Henry said.
Simon narrowed his eyes. “First time?”
He looked between the two children.
“Well,” Charlotte said. “I kind of snuck out twice.”
Charlie gave a low whistle.
“I was just trying to help him,” Charlotte went on quickly. “He was getting beat up.”
“I was not,” Henry said, offended.
Charlotte gave him “the look.”
Henry sighed, resigned. “Well, anyway, there were three of them. And I gave as good as I got.”
“I’ll bet you did,” Charlie said, proudly grinning until he saw Simon’s face.
“I think that would be best,” she said. “Charlotte?”
She looked at Henry briefly, then back to her parents and proceeded to tell them everything, including having seen Captain Quinlan take money from the orphans and give it to the alderman.
“You actually saw him take the money?” Elizabeth asked.
Both children nodded.
“They take some of everything that comes in,” Henry said. “Checks and everything.”
“Stealing from the orphans’ fund?” Charlie said. “I knew he was low, but that’s about as low as you get.”
Simon had to agree.
“Are there records somewhere? Books we might be able to find?”
Henry shook his head. “Naw. I just see things. Hear them. He’s too smart to write it all down.”
Simon nodded.
Here they’d been searching for proof of the alderman’s misdeeds and Charlotte had it all along. She and Henry were actual eyewitnesses. For all the good it would do, though. Even if they told the authorities what they knew, who would believe them? And what authorities could they even trust when a police captain was involved?
Either way, Simon wasn’t about to involve Charlotte any more than she already was. What the children saw merely confirmed what he and Elizabeth already knew. Alderman Scarpetti was as crooked as they come. But they were no closer to getting rid of him and freeing Charlie than they had been.
~~~
The cab pulled over in front of The Eleanor Hellman Orphan Asylum for Destitute and Abandoned Children. Henry hopped out of the passenger door.
He leaned back in through the open door. “Thanks for the ride.”
He smiled shyly at Charlotte and smiled. “Bye.”
“Bye.”
Henry gave her a small wave then walked up the path to the front door.
“Shouldn’t we walk him in?” Charlotte said. “That would be polite, right?”
Simon and Elizabeth exchanged a look.
“Yes,” Elizabeth said. “You’re quite right.”
“Henry, wait up!” Charlotte called out and practically climbed over Simon to get out of the cab. She ran to catch up with him.
Simon sighed and stepped out, giving Elizabeth a hand.
Christmas in New York Page 10