Christmas in New York

by Monique Martin

  “I used to,” she added quickly. “I quit. Or I’m going to. I had no idea what he was doing. If I had …” She shook her head.

  Elizabeth believed her and reached out a comforting hand. “It’s all right.”

  “I don’t know.” Mrs. Adler shook her head. “He’s got such a temper when things don’t go his way.”

  Charlie humphed in agreement.

  Simon cast a concerned glance at Elizabeth, who pretended not to have heard.

  “Is Henry here?” she asked by way of distraction. She held up Charlie’s gift. “We’ve got a present for him. Well, Charlie does.”

  Mrs. Adler smiled, happy to be on a different topic, but the worry never left her eyes. “Yes, but he’s recording with the other children. For the gala.”

  Her expression fell again. “Oh, the gala. I thought it was such a good idea, too.”

  Elizabeth comforted her. “It was. How could you know your boss was a schnook?”

  A laugh bubbled up from Mrs. Adler then faded. “But I should have known, shouldn’t I? I guess I just didn’t want to see it.”

  “Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Charlie said. “We all make mistakes. I’ve made plenty myself.”

  Mrs. Adler smiled in appreciation at the kind words.

  “Can we listen to Henry sing?” Charlotte asked. “I bet he sounds like a frog.”

  “Charlotte,” Simon said.

  “What?”

  Mrs. Adler smiled. “I think I can arrange that.”

  She looked at her parents for permission then held out her hand. Charlotte took it.

  “You can all come, if you’d like. We just have to be quiet.”

  Simon and Elizabeth followed with Charlie tagging along behind.

  She led them down the hall to the dining room and eased the door slowly open. Putting a shushing finger to her lips in reminder, she held the door open for them and they quietly walked into the room and stood along the back wall.

  The children chattered excitedly.

  A man in a suit tried to quiet them. “Settle down. Settle down. Let’s try it again. You, in the front. Yes, you.”

  A little redheaded boy covered with freckles pointed to his own chest.

  “Yes, you,” the man said. “Maybe you could sing a little less, uh, vigorously this time, hmm?”

  The boy grinned and the man sighed. He walked over to a machine on a metal cart. It looked like a Victrola on steroids. The horn was enormous. He cued his assistant to start playing the piano and faced the children. He raised his hand and they began an energetic version of “Good King Wenceslas.”

  The children were adorable. They weren’t bad, and what they lacked in talent they more than made up for in sheer volume. And even from the back, Elizabeth could hear the little redheaded boy.

  As she listened to the children sing, her mind began to wander. What was she going to do tonight? How on earth could she save Charlie? The alderman had to have a weakness.

  And then slowly an idea started to form in the back of her mind. It was crazy. Simon would hate it. Even she wasn’t too fond of it, but no matter how ill-formed and ill-advised it was, it was a possibility. There was just one more thing she needed to make it work.

  She leaned over to Mrs. Adler and whispered. “Is there an intercom system in the alderman’s office?”

  Mrs. Adler looked at her, confused by the non-sequitur, but nodded. “Yes.”

  Elizabeth smiled and turned back to enjoy the children.

  It would work. It had to.

  ~~~

  “This will never work.”

  Elizabeth had a hunch it would, but convincing Simon of that was another matter entirely, and they didn’t have much time to discuss it. She picked up her wristwatch from the vanity in their hotel bedroom. They really didn’t have much time. She put on the watch.

  “It’ll work,” she said then turned her back so that he could fasten the back of her dress. They’d left Charlotte and Charlie at the orphanage with the other children and were going to meet Mrs. Adler in the lobby of city hall. In less than half an hour.

  Simon grumbled but did up her dress. “I don’t like it. You heard what Mrs. Adler said about his temper. What if he loses it?”

  Elizabeth turned to face him. “That’s what I’m counting on.”

  Simon looked to the ceiling for strength.

  Elizabeth put her hand on his chest. “I’ll be fine. You’ll be right outside the door. If something goes wrong, and it won’t, but if it does, I think you can handle him.”

  Simon sighed but knew there was no use arguing about it. This was their best shot and despite his grumbling, he trusted her judgment.

  He looked down at her, his anger fading. He gently touched one of the loose curls that fell from her hasty updo.

  “You look beautiful, by the way.”

  No matter how often she heard that from him it always made her feel warm and wanted. She stepped back to admire him in his tuxedo. “You don’t look half bad yourself.”

  “Flattery will get you nowhere,” he said.

  She stepped forward and kissed his cheek, whispering in his ear. “Are you sure?”

  His arms went around her and started to pull her close but she knew where that would lead and they were already almost late. She slipped out of his arms, earning another sigh.

  “We should go.”

  He nodded. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Elizabeth grinned and picked up her clutch bag, tapping him on the chest with it as she crossed to the door. “That’s the spirit.”

  ~~~

  Mrs. Adler was pacing back and forth across the marble rotunda floor when they arrived. She looked at her watch.

  “Mrs. Adler.”

  “Constance, please.”

  “Thank you for helping us,” Simon said.

  She nodded and started toward the stairs. “We have to hurry. The alderman is many things and I’m afraid punctual is one of them. He’ll want to leave the office no later than four-fifteen. I’ve made sure that Captain Quinlan is busy with something at the gala. He won’t bother us.”

  Elizabeth felt a shiver of nerves as they started up the curved staircase to the second floor.

  Constance leaned in close. “The intercom is on his desk. You’ll need to press down the second button until you hear a click, otherwise it won’t stay on. You understand?”

  Elizabeth nodded. “Second button.”

  Constance looked at her and offered an encouraging smile. “We’ll be right outside.”

  They reached the top of the stairs and started down the hall to the alderman’s office. When they reached the doorway, Constance paused.

  She looked at Simon. “You should wait here until I come get you.”

  Simon shook his head but she went on.

  “He’ll be more likely to say what we need if he doesn’t know you’re here.”

  Simon was uneasy under the best of circumstances letting someone else be in control, and this was far from the best of circumstances.

  “I promise, as soon as it starts, I’ll come get you,” Constance said. “You have my word.”

  Simon looked to Elizabeth who nodded encouragingly.

  He held up a warning finger. “The moment he starts.”

  Constance nodded and took Elizabeth by the arm. She waved Simon away from the doorway and escorted Elizabeth inside, closing the door behind them. The door to the inner office was open, and Elizabeth could hear the alderman talking with someone on the phone.

  She let out a nervous breath. Constance gave her a reassuring smile before she sat at her desk.

  A moment later the alderman appeared in the doorway to his office. “Mrs. Adler, is that—”

  Whatever he was going to say faded as he saw Elizabeth. That same stupid smile came to his face and Elizabeth almost felt a pang of sympathy for him. Almost.

  “Well, hello. And don’t you look … amazing.”

  He reached out to take her hand. She offered it and h
e gave the back of her hand a kiss.

  He looked behind her. “And where is your husband?”

  “I asked him to meet us there.”

  The alderman smiled and the little pang she felt fled.

  “I wanted to talk to you,” she went on and then glanced at Mrs. Adler, “privately.”

  The alderman was more than happy to have some alone time with her and held his arm out toward his office.

  “Hold my calls,” he said, then followed her in, closing the door behind him.

  The office felt small. Mostly because he was standing so close. She pretended to admire the certificates and plaques on the wall as she made her way over to his desk. Unfortunately, he was stuck to her like glue.

  “Man of the Year. Impressive,” she said, then glanced down at his desk. The intercom was right there. If she could just get him to look away.

  She turned, hoping to draw his attention to something across the room but he was right behind her. So close she bumped into him when she turned. He took hold of her arms to keep her from falling back.

  “Careful,” he said.

  ~~~

  Simon paced outside in the hall. What sort of man let his wife do something as asinine as this? Apparently, a man like him, he thought.

  “Idiot.”

  He was winding himself up when the office door opened and Constance beckoned for him to come in.

  Quietly, he joined her in the outer office, but his eyes and his heart were fixed on the door to the alderman’s office.

  Constance ignored him and got to work. Very carefully, she wheeled a large metal cart with the Dictaphone on it closer to her desk. Then she opened a drawer and took out a cylinder wrapped in cardboard. She reached inside the tube with two fingers and pulled out a fresh wax cylinder. Carefully, she removed the one already occupying the machine and replaced it with the fresh one.

  Attached to the machine there was a long tube with a small version of a Victrola horn on the end of it. She laid it carefully down next to the intercom on her desk.

  The intercom which was still silent.

  Simon walked over to the door to try to hear what was going on inside, but the wood was too thick.

  What was she doing in there?

  ~~~

  Elizabeth smiled and slipped out of the alderman’s grip. “What’s that?” she asked pointing to something by the window.

  The alderman took a few steps away and Elizabeth pushed down the second button on the intercom.

  “What?” he asked then turned back toward her.

  “I thought I saw something.”

  He smiled then dismissed it. “Well, what was it you wanted to talk to me about? Or,” he added, coming closer, “was that just a ruse to get me alone?”

  Elizabeth laughed. “No. It wasn’t.”

  She moved around the room, keeping the desk between them. “It’s actually something kind of serious.”

  That surprised him. “All right.” He gestured to the chair on the other side of the desk.

  Elizabeth took it as he sat on the edge of the desk, close and looming over her. He wasn’t a big man, but the power play was unmistakable.

  Courage, Camille, she told herself. It was now or never.

  “I’m afraid I heard some very disturbing things,” she said. “About you.”

  They say there’s no fury like a woman scorned but, in her experience, that didn’t hold a candle to the fury of an insecure man whose ego was suddenly and painfully deflated.

  The alderman smiled but she could see there was a hint of unease in it. It was too quick, too broad.

  “People say all sorts of things. Don’t pay any attention. They’re just jealous.”

  “They say you’re part of that Tammany Hall group.”

  He smiled and held out his hands. “Politics.”

  “And your involvement in the mob? Money laundering, embezzlement? Or are those just politics, too?”

  The smile faded. He stared at her with cool eyes for long moment.

  “Who are you?” he asked.

  ~~~

  Simon sat in a chair by the desk and listened raptly as Elizabeth confronted Scarpetti.

  “Or are those just politics, too?”

  Simon’s stomach dropped as he heard the words, then dropped even further when they were answered by silence.

  Simon balled his hands into fists and tried to resist the temptation to storm in.

  “Who are you?”

  Simon started to stand, but Constance reached out and touched his arm. She shook her head, urging him to sit back down.

  It took all he had, but he did. He leaned in closer to the intercom as if that would somehow make things happen faster.

  Finally, Elizabeth replied.

  “I’m someone who thought you were better than that.”

  Constance actually winced. Elizabeth didn’t pull any punches. If she was going to get him to admit to anything, she couldn’t.

  “You work for that reporter, don’t you?”

  “What reporter?”

  “Don’t play dumb with me.”

  There was a clear threat in the way he said that and Simon was nearly out of his seat again.

  “You think you can play games with me? Do you have any idea who I am?”

  ~~~

  “Do you have any idea who I am?”

  “Someone who steals from orphans?”

  She knew it was a risky thing to say. There was poking the bear and then there was stabbing it with a flaming hot poker.

  He looked at her and then laughed. But he wasn’t amused. It was that slightly hysterical laugh someone had before they became totally unhinged.

  “You like to play with fire, don’t you?” He leaned forward and grabbed on to her wrist. “You better be careful. You might get burned.”

  Elizabeth felt a wave of panic but pushed it down. She was still the one in control here but she couldn’t let him know it.

  “So, it’s true, then?” she said, letting her voice quiver with fear. “You and Captain Quinlan are stealing money from the orphans’ gala fund.”

  He let go of her wrist.

  “Off the record?” he said with a smirk. “They wouldn’t have anything without me. This whole damn city wouldn’t without us. Without us,” he said, thumping his chest with his fist, “making things happen.”

  “And hurting people? Blackmailing them is—”

  “The way business is done.”

  Elizabeth could have cheered if it weren’t for the fact it would have given her away, and he had a rather unnervingly cold look in his eyes.

  “You civilians are so naive. You think cities like this could run without people like me. They run because of people like me. Trash workers go on strike. You need a permit the council doesn’t want you to have. Who do you call? Me. I make a phone call and it’s done. Me. I get it done. And it ain’t by playin’ nice.”

  He stood and walked over to the window. He was wound up now. He turned back. “And if I take a little off the top sometimes, hell, I deserve it. I deserve a helluva a lot more than this job pays. And if a few people get hurt for the greater good, I’m all right with that, too.”

  He walked back over to her and leaned down. “And if you know what’s good for you, you will be, too.”

  Elizabeth was genuinely frightened now but knew she there was an opportunity for one more nail in his coffin. “And if I’m not?”

  He arched his eyebrows and smiled. It actually made her shiver. “I’d hate to see a pretty face like yours get all messed up.”

  He ran a finger down her cheek. “Such a waste.”

  Elizabeth’s heart raced. She nodded. “I understand.”

  “Good,” he said and walked around behind his desk. “Now tell your boss he’s gonna have to do a lot better than this if he wants to bring down Anthony Scarpetti.”

  Elizabeth stood. “I guess I’ll be going now.”

  The alderman smirked at her. “Yeah. That’s a good idea.”

&n
bsp; She lingered for a moment, pretending indecision, but really just stalling to give Mrs. Adler and Simon a little time.

  She walked to the door and turned the knob but didn’t open it. She turned back to the alderman.

  “Merry Christmas.”

  ~~~

  Both Mrs. Adler and Simon were gone by the time she entered the outer office. She found them both downstairs in the rotunda where they’d agreed to meet.

  When she reached the bottom of the stairs Simon strode toward her and pulled her into his arms. “You are never doing that again.”

  Mrs. Adler grinned at her. “You were magnificent.”

  “You got it all?”

  Mrs. Adler led them to an alcove and pulled out a cardboard covered cylinder from her purse. She looked triumphant then frowned. “But what do we do now? We can’t exactly take it to the police.”

  That was true enough. With Captain Quinlan involved who knew who else in the department was dirty. Evidence like that could disappear fast.

  “I don’t know,” Elizabeth confessed. She’d been so focused on getting it, she hadn’t put much thought into what they’d do once they had it.

  “About that,” Simon said. “I have an idea.”

  ~~~

  A man tried to block them as they entered the office. “I’m sorry but you can’t come in here. The mayor’s very busy.”

  “I’m sure he is,” Simon said. “But I think he’ll want to talk to us.”

  The aide laughed. “On Christmas eve? Do you have any idea how many places the mayor has to be tonight?” He raised his voice. “And he’s late.”

  Right on cue, the door to the inner office opened and Mayor LaGuardia came out.

  “Make sure that gets to him by tonight,” he said as he shrugged on his jacket.

  Two men followed him out.

  “Mayor,” Elizabeth said but his head was down as he read through a stack of papers. He was already on a beeline for the door. “Another time. I’m running late.”

  Elizabeth stepped into his path to get his attention. “Please?”