Rick Cantelli, P.I. (Rick Cantelli, P.I. Detectives Book 1)

by Bernard DeLeo

  No, she couldn’t. “Don’t know, don’t care. You can be the champ unchallenged.”

  “C’mon… please,” Temple pleaded like a five year old at a picnic. “You have a marker buoy out there. I’ll race you there and back.”

  What the hell. A cool swim before I sit down won’t be bad. Besides, I needed a good stretch today for my joints sake. The buoy was nearly a quarter mile. “Okay, fine. Karen? Make sure she doesn’t cheat. You start us.”

  I got set next to Temple, who was bobbing up and down, ready to rock.

  Karen stood off to the side in front of us, her arm ready to launch us. “Ready… set… go!”

  Down came the arm and Temple streaked into the surf. I went in at a more leisurely pace. She was fast. I caught her half way to the buoy, rounded it and headed back to the beach. I can go a full out half mile in the ocean without missing a stroke. I was standing next to Karen with a beer in my hand when Temple left the surf. I didn’t understand the shocked look she wore on her approach. She knew I’d been in the Seals.

  “Holy crap, I let a geezer beat me,” Temple said, hanging her head, a bit out of breath. “I knew you were in the Navy Seals, but I figured being eighty would slow you down.”

  Karen and I laughed at the eighty remark. “You’re fast kid, and you have stamina. I’m sure you’ve beaten everyone you ever raced at the beach or in a pool.”

  “My trainer said I’m Olympic caliber, but after getting dusted like a guppy by you, I think I’m getting told what I want to hear.”

  “Now that the contests are over, I’ll have a drink,” Karen said. “Did you bring anything else in the cooler besides beer and soda pop?”

  “I have a pint of Jack Daniels in there you can mix with a soda.” I handed Temple a soda, and Karen a Diet Pepsi and the pint. In moments, we were all settled down watching the waves.

  Karen helped Temple and I with sun block coverage. Then I coated her, and I was diligent in covering every exposed inch of skin not covered by the string bikini. Temple had snorted and turned her chair away from us. By the time I finished with Karen, we both knew there would be another episode for Lois to be pissed off about later.

  Chapter 17: Cheech Garibaldi

  The hours passed in their usual time warp fashion at my age. All I have to do is start having a good time, and the hands on the clock spin like a roulette wheel with geezer chiseled on the black. I’m not real crazy about sun worship, but the ice cold beer, sea breeze, music, and relatively quiet company suited me perfectly. I’m a swivel head, even in familiar places I deem safe. I have excellent peripheral vision, and I turn to check my six at regular intervals. It helps when you have a harpy for a partner who loves to appear unannounced.

  I glanced back and saw three rough looking guys in black windbreakers strolling toward us in a spread formation. I casually pulled my bag toward me, getting my hand around the grip of my .45 caliber Colt. I picked it for the beach because it never jams.

  “Don’t look around girls! Grab the floats, and run out into the surf. Swim for the buoy. Don’t stop until you reach it. If you hear gunfire paddle along the beach line, keeping your distance. Now! Right now!”

  My tone got them moving, and in a flurry of action, they were both stumbling toward the surf. The men approaching increased their strides to a jog, but when I got into a shooter’s crouch with the Colt aimed in their direction, they slowed down. The two in front with hair halted as the bald headed guy trailing them called out for them to stop. They approached together then in cautious, hands showing fashion. Yeah, that’ll work for them. I’m inches away from sixty, but if one of them sneezes, I’ve already decided to add three more to my body count for the quarter. If I have to spend the rest of my life in prison, then so be it. At least I’ll know Karen and Temple will be safe. It’s incredibly soothing when you make a decision to go all out. You get in a zone of incredible calmness. I’m honed in, knowing my first, second, and third targets just by the way they approach.

  They’re weaponless right now, which means they’re all walking dead men if one of them blinks or turns the wrong way. Thousands of hours in combat and training for combat do mean something. Add in a blessed second nature to never second guess my split second decisions, and that’s how you get to be sixty in this line of work. When they made it to fifteen yards, I called my own halt.

  “That’s far enough boys. Talk from there. How may I be of service?”

  They stopped, but bright boy on my right got a silly grin on his face, waving his hands gently in a calming fashion while taking another step.

  “We’re just here to talk, Cantelli. I know you don’t-”

  “You take one more step and I fire! I don’t mean just at you either. I’ll blow your head off and both your pals’ heads too! You feel me, Ace?”

  Baldy in the back gets a worried look. He knows I ain’t kidding around. “Stop! Both of you stop! Mr. Cantelli? I am Cheech Garibaldi. I am here to collect my idiot brother’s remains. I have done extensive research into your background, and I know all the details from the unfortunate incidents that led to Neil’s death. He has been out of control for far too long. I thought his last brush with prison would have sobered him to the facts of his recent descent into stupidity, but it didn’t.”

  I have no problem with a meet and greet, especially given the reasonable tone I hear. “Tell you what. Have your boys go wait in the car, and don’t come within sight of this beach, and you and I can have a talk. Otherwise, we say goodbye, and you take the boys and get the hell off my beach.”

  Cheech looked at his henchmen and nodded. “Do as he says, and do it fast.”

  The one on the right looked like he wanted to get romantic, but better judgment ruled. He and his partner took off at a jog toward the street. I looked around for a place where Cheech may have a sniper waiting for an opportunity. The spots I would have picked were vacant, so I waved him on. He held his hands up as he walked.

  “I have a weapon, Mr. Cantelli. Do you need to take it?”

  “Call me Rick, Cheech. I think we can have a friendly chat without a pat down. If you reach for anything, it won’t go well for you. May I call my two friends in without upsetting you?”

  “Yes… I am sorry about that. I did not know you had guests.”

  “Excuse me.” I went down to the water and waved my beach buddies in, keeping Cheech within my excellent peripheral vision. They waved their understanding, and began paddling in. I returned to my visitor. “Would you like a beer?”

  Cheech smiled, some of the tension leaving his face. “Very much so.”

  I handed him a beer from the ice chest, and got one for myself. He took a long swallow. “I’m sorry things ended badly with your brother. I should have killed him the first time he crossed my path. He would not listen to reason.”

  Cheech chuckled and held up his beer for a toast. “I nearly shot him a few times in the last two years. We were close as children. His wife drove him insane. I tried to reason with him. He cheated on her openly and expected her to accept it. I am sorry it all led to his death, and I am sorry most that his ill conceived actions were deposited on your doorstep.”

  I clinked bottles with him. I’m easy… to a certain extent. “God rest his soul. I wish things had ended differently.”

  Cheech nodded. “I too wish he had listened to my pleas for sanity. I came here to offer you a job, Rick. Your actions now as we approached make me convinced I could use you in my organization. We are almost legit in all phases, and I have managed to shed nearly everything of a shady nature. I need a level headed entity to sometimes supervise or check on one of my enterprises out here on the coast. Would you be interested in something such as that?”

  Man, that’s way out there. I was silent, watching Karen and Temple nearing shore on their floats. I turned to face him. “Look, I don’t mean for this to be insulting, but I killed your brother. No matter how goofy he had gotten, I can’t see you doing a forgive and forget.”

  A shadow passed
over Garibali’s features. “You are right in a way. If I had to be in constant contact with you, this thing with my brother would bother me at this time.” Cheech held out his hand. “I will ask nothing of you illegal in nature. I respect you, Rick. I believe you will give me an honest assessment of anything I ask.”

  I shook his hand as Karen and Temple cleared the surf. “That may be workable. We’ll go on a case by case basis once I talk things over with my partner. If I can help, I will help.”

  Cheech held my hand, staring into my eyes long enough I figured he was either making a decision in his head or thinking about asking me out on a date. “I like it. Let’s give it a try at least. No matter what, this business with my brother is at an end.”

  “Fair enough.” I gestured at my haltingly approaching beach bunnies. “Cheech Garibaldi, this is Karen Bastille and Temple Donavan. Girls, I’d like you to meet Cheech Garibaldi.”

  Cheech shook hands with each of them, smiling in what appeared to be an honest form. “I am happy to meet each of you. I am sorry if I disturbed your day. I am a big fan of yours, Ms. Bastille. I know of you, Ms. Donavan, but teen TV and movies are out of my interest zone. Perhaps I will watch this new movie adaptation you have coming out. I will take my leave now, Rick. Thank you for the meeting.”

  I shook his hand. “I hope we will meet under better circumstances next time, Cheech.”

  “I’m sure we will. Goodbye for now, my friends.”

  Cheech walked away without further comment. I took a deep breath and smiled at my grim faced companions. “Sorry for the excitement, but it was unavoidable. I was afraid they meant to take you two.”

  Karen grabbed her beach towel as did Temple. They were both shivering. “I’m glad you didn’t hold your summit meeting any longer or we would have frozen out there.”

  Temple was staring at me with wide-eyed innocence. It’s most disconcerting. “I…I thought for a moment you were going to gun those guys all down, Rick. I kept cringing as Karen and I swam out to the buoy, expecting shots to ring out at any time.”

  Time to find out if that was going to bother her. I’m an old dog. New tricks don’t interest me. “If the one on the right had ignored my warning not to step closer, I would have killed all three, kid. It was my fault you two were here today, and my responsibility. No way in hell was I going to allow them past me.”

  “But you would have been sent to prison, Rick,” Temple replied in a hushed tone.

  “He doesn’t care, young sis.” Karen put an arm around Temple’s shoulders. “It’s what separates people who hesitate, and real killers. Rick’s a little rough around the edges. My sister Lois and Rick are poured from the same mold. It’s nice having partners in business like them, but it makes for some very unnerving get-togethers sometimes.”

  Temple nodded. “I think I understand. It’s one thing to read about a Rick adventure, and a completely different experience to be part of one.”

  Can’t argue with that. “Yeah, it is. I know it wasn’t a pleasurable encounter for the two of you, but possibly settling things with Cheech Garibaldi helps my peace of mind considerably. Since I had the gunfight with his brother Neil, I figured he’d send someone to settle the score when I least expected it.”

  “What did he come for?”

  “He wants to hire the firm to oversee and check out potential investments for him on the west coast – all supposedly legal. I’ll run it by Lois, but I don’t see any harm in considering what Cheech asks on a case by case basis.”

  “She’ll laugh her ass off at first. Bet on that,” Karen replied. “Only you could kill one of the Sopranos and a few weeks later get hired by them. You’re like an ongoing disaster movie, Rick.”

  I shrugged. Why argue with the obvious. “If either of you want to wash your hands of the Madigan/Cantelli monster movie, just say so. Lois and I will understand. Lo and Frank are in for the long haul until death do us part. We understand if younger, more intelligent people wish to stay out of our affairs, either as partners or clients.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Karen stated. “My new ‘Sam’ the piano guy starts next Friday. Our Casablanca enterprise is about to take off like a rocket ship. I’m just hoping you’ll be alive long enough to keep it moving in the right direction. Rick’s right about one thing, little sis: odd occurrences have been happening on a regular basis around him lately. It may be a bump in the road, or it may be a glimpse of his future. You have your own life and future to think about.”

  “Well, the next event I had Rick down for is a ‘Planet Hollywood’ type opening on Wednesday night in LA. I’m signed on to sing a few songs and do some picture ops for a couple of hours. Want to try a duet with me, Sis? Rick can chaperone like he did at the dinner. It will mean a lot of publicity. I doubt we’ll have to worry about gangsters and assassins there.”

  “I’d love to, but I wouldn’t rule out anything with Rick along. Why don’t we take our beach gear to the house and get showered. Rick can probably cook us up something to eat. Maybe we can try a few tunes together, and see if we can make something work.”

  “I’m starving,” Temple immediately stated. “How about it, Rick?”

  Yeah, I can cook, but I ain’t going to. I plan on having a couple of shots to celebrate my exit off the Garibaldi hit list. I might consider warming something out of a can though. “As long as chicken noodle soup and crackers is to your liking, I’m all for it.”

  Karen grinned over at Temple who nodded in silent agreement. “Perfect.”

  * * *

  Temple left shortly after our impromptu meal. She had a meeting scheduled with the director at her house for the new movie. I admit it. Karen and I tore into each other like a couple of ravenous wolves. I was innocently doing the dishes in the kitchen after Temple’s departure when Karen came in to help, dressed in only her transparent robe. Oh, good Lord, did she look good. Now, here we are in a sweaty, heaving heap on the living room couch when a fist bangs on the door.

  “Cantelli! Put aside the floozy and let me in! I know she’s in there.”

  Karen yelped, trying to disentangle herself from me. I think she planned on running naked out the beach house back door. I caught her to me as Lois continued to bang and threaten.

  “Calm down. Go into my bedroom and find a sweatshirt or something. Just stay there. I’ll handle the harpy.”

  Karen’s eyes were in terror mode and she jumped at each banging. “Okay, Rick… don’t let her get me.”

  I chuckled. “I will not let her get you. She has a key of her own. If she wanted to barge in and attack, Lo would already be hovering over us. Go on. Lock the bedroom door if you want.”

  I put my jeans and t-shirt on before striding to the door. I opened it, and Lois jammed past me, streaking into the living room. “Looking for something, Lo?”

  She turned with a big grin. “My skanky Sis ran out the back naked, didn’t she?”

  I sighed and took a deep breath. Lois was adding a new dimension to mean. “She was going to, but I sent her into the bedroom instead. It’s not an overnighter, and Temple asked her to come along to the beach for the day.”

  “Get her out here so I can visit with family. Damn, it smells like wild skank sex in here.”

  “Karen won’t be joining us, and if you want any news, you’ll get the hell out of here. I’ll come over to the office tomorrow morning with the latest can’t miss Cantelli news. Believe me. You won’t want to miss out. I will not tell you a thing tomorrow if you don’t leave this minute.”

  Lo cackled. “That’s a laugh. You spend a day at the beach with skanky and her young protégé – then you think that’s newsworthy? Get her out here so the two of us sisters can bond.”

  “Not happenin’. My news concerns a certain Cheech Garibaldi.”

  All frivolity ceased with that name. Lois shifted to her hands on hips harpy mode. “Spill it, Cantelli, or I go get the torch and pliers.”

  I gave her the wave off. “Turn that record over, mean girl. I�
��ll give you some good news before you go. Karen found a great ‘Sam’ to play piano on Casablanca night starting this Friday. Temple is going to stop by and do a duet with her.”

  “No shit?” Lois moped around, hand on chin, contemplating the windfall such a happening would have on our business venture. “That’s damn good, Rick. I thought I heard something on the wire when all of you were together, but the smarminess of the dialogue was kicking in my gag reflex.”

  “Now get out, and I’ll lay the Garibaldi story on you tomorrow morning.”

  “Damn it!”

  Heh… heh… Lo knows I won’t tell her squat until tomorrow morning. She spends the next minute contemplating how mean and scary she could get with her sister in comparison to how satisfying my story would be. Her info junky side won out. She poked me in the chest on the way to the door. “Your story better be good, Rick, or I am going to toast you but good, brother.”

  “Oh, it’s good. It will rock your world. Now get out, and tell Frank I said hi. He needs to put you on a shorter leash, harpy. It’s nearly eight on a Sunday night. Here you are away from your long suffering husband, trying to frighten your long suffering sister out of her mind. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

  “Oh barf! Don’t forget my warning, Cantelli!”

  I smiled as the front door banged shut. I felt like seeing how the long suffering sister felt about some more wild muskrat love. Nearly a split second later I hear the harpy screeching through the door.

  “I’m calling the floozy’s house in twenty minutes, Cantelli! She better be there to answer!”

  Damn it! A right through the door thought theft as Spock-ella slices into my head once more when my shields were down. “Bite me, you old bat!”

  The cackle at the door lasted at least twenty seconds of irritating audio white noise before it faded away with its owner. Twenty minutes, my ass. I walked to the bedroom and rapped on the door. “She’s gone, Karen. Want to play some hide the Cantelli?”

  There was a giggle. The bedroom door opened with Karen bent naked at the waist, peering back at me, her hair falling gently around her pouty mouth. She swayed with rhythm.