by James Norton
“Can’t we just meet in a bar or restaurant or someplace civilized.”
“I like your room.”
“Really?”
“No.”
Nick turned on the lights in the HoJo motel room. Seated in the room’s single easy chair, Lucerio adjusted his gold rimmed glasses. The diamond in a pinky ring sparkled as he raised the half smoked cigar to his lips.
“What are you doing here?” Nick asked.
“Checking up on you.”
“Without your gorilla?”
“Why would I need him?”
“In case I’ve got a gun.”
“Do you think killing me would help you?”
Nick knew the answer. It was the same reason he did not bother changing motels. Lucerio was only one of many. Nick sat in the spindly desk chair on the other side of the double bed from his companion.
Lucerio let a few moments pass. “How are you doing with our movie?”
Maybe it was the stress of the moment. Maybe it was just out and out stupidity, but Nick said, “Look, I’ve got something that can square things with the backers and buy them out of the movie.”
The Colombian puffed on his smoke lovingly. “Go ahead.”
“Are your people interested in rare coins?”
“Depends.”
“How about the rarest coin in the world?
“You are so full of shit.”
“No, no, hear me out. If it’s not the real deal, we can still get the movie back. What do you have to lose?”
Lucerio twirled the cigar between his pursed lips. “Tell me.”
Nick told him the story of the 1933 Double Eagle in less than five minutes.
“You think you can acquire it for us?”
“Yes, but I might need some help.”
“Such as?”
“Muscle.”
“And you say that Rhonda, the one who took the film has this expensive coin?”
“Yes.”
Lucerio stood, puffed once on the cigar and smoothed down the front of his tailored suit coat. “Very imaginative, Knickerbocker. It is a quality we liked in you at the beginning. I will discuss it with the others and get back to you.”
“Make it quick. She intends to auction the coin off in a week.”
The Columbian nodded and walked out the door.
Chapter 78
Rhonda sat in Bernie’s kitchen when she heard Nick, Leon and Stan walk in the front door. While the trio played grab-ass out in the living room she lit up a cigarette and proceeded to smoke it.
“Hey,” Stan yelled. “We don’t have all night.”
“Yes you do, you lame-ass shit-heads,” she mumbled and took another drag.
Just as she was stubbing the butt out, Bernie stuck his head through the doorway. “Could we start? I don’t know how much more Nick can stand before he shoots Stan and Leon.”
She stood and squared her shoulders. “Time to get the ball rolling.” In ten minutes she told them what they needed to know about the coin - the history of the 1933 Double Eagle, Rudolph, digging the box up in Nana’s basement, the hidden compartment, the letters and Nana’s recollections of her husband’s family. The little troupe sat silent.
“Alright!” Stan danced from one foot to the other.
“Let me get this straight,” Nick said. “There is only one coin known to be in circulation. But, you have another.”
“Yes,” Rhonda said.
Nick leaned back in his chair. “How do we know the one you have isn’t a phony?”
“Yeah! How do we know?” Stan asked.
Rhonda walked in a circle then picked up the coin. “First, we can prove that this is gold.” She explained the aqua regia test.
Nick nodded.
“From census and employment records we can determine that the people who wrote the supporting letters really existed. They worked in the Philadelphia Mint during and after the times the coins were there.” She smiled. “After that I’m not sure.”
“We can find out if the guy Hidli says she killed was killed when she says she killed him,” Stan added.
“How?” Leon asked
“Old newspaper files. Old police files,” Leon said.
Bernie smiled at the father-son pair. “You’ve been giving this some thought, haven’t you?”
They smiled.
“But, we don’t know who she killed, because she never was caught.” Nick looked out the window. “Lame.”
“Nothings perfect,” Bernie said.
The group was silent again.
“Is that enough?” Stan asked.
Rhonda shrugged, “It all sounds circumstantial. I don’t know.”
“It’s up to the buyer,” Nick said. “Unless the government acknowledged that the coin is the McCoy, we could never prove it.”
“Well, we could ask them,” Leon said.
“Who?” asked Stan.
“The government.”
Rhonda cleared her throat. “Yes, but we’re not going to do that.” She took a deep breath. “So Nick, do you know anybody who might be interested?”
Chapter 79
“You have a nice ass,” the young Mexican said to the stately Vietnamese woman.
Thom gave him a look out of the corner of her eye while she took a seat. She was dressed in a red business suit with a close-fitting skirt and high heels - a little much for a cantina in East LA. She judged him to be about twenty and handsome in an unshaven, flowered shirt sort of way. Finally, she did have to admit that she did have a fine ass. “Can you get the message to Mr. Jaguar?”
“Sure, if I want to.” He draped his right arm across the back of the chair and blew her a kiss. “Tell me again about this knicker guy.”
She crossed her leg to show him a bit of thigh. “Knickerbocker Smith, Nick Smith is the guy. He’s short, about five feet. Did time with your cousin, the Jaguar. Smith got out two, three weeks ago.”
Halieto took a pen out of the apron pocket of a passing waitress. The girl slapped his hand.
“Hey,” he said. “I’ll give it back.”
The girl gave him a sour look and marched to the bar.
Halieto took a napkin and raised the pen. “Spell that.” He wrote it down as Thom spelled Smith’s name.
The AC in the bar was bad. Thom took off her suit jacket. The guy smiled. “What do you want me to tell him?”
“Smith makes and sells special films. I have his customer list.”
“What kind of movies?”
“Hardcore porn. And, sometimes pictures of important people in situations that they would like to keep secret.”
“Such as?”
“A United States senator’s son having sex with a young boy. A war hero robbing a gas station. A woman from an old southern family in a wild orgy with several black men.”
He gave her a quizzical look. “He blackmails these people?”
“Yes, to get the money to make more movies.”
“So, now you have the pictures?”
“No, I have something more valuable than some cheap porn. I have the list of people he sells the junk to.”
The man nodded.
“Smith wants the list back. He is working some kind of bigger deal. He is coming out to get the list from me. I need leverage.”
Halieto touched his chopped ponytail.
Thom licked her lips. “If Knickerbocker Smith thinks that whatever he has coming down is a bigger deal than the scam he has been working with these fish, I want to be a part of it.”
“You want muscle behind you, just hire a big guy.”
“I want reputation and that’s what you guys and the Jaguar have.”
The young man nodded as he put the napkin in his shirt pocket.
“Tell him, Smith thinks it is worth a lot of money.”
“How much is a lot?”
“Two million bucks.”
Halieto grinned and looked down her blouse at her small breasts. “You want a drink?”
“Can you ge
t the message to Jaguar?”
“Sure, I can do it.” He waved the pen at the waitress. “You want a drink with an umbrella? They can do that here.”
Thom smiled at him.
Chapter 80
The plane arrived at LAX gate G17 ten minutes ahead of schedule. Knickerbocker Smith disembarked and hurried down the concourse to catch a cab to the hacienda style hotel in El Segundo. Thom waited for him on a Mediterranean loveseat near the fountain in the middle of the six story lobby. The sound of the water echoed off the painted tiles and filled the air with a fresh-washed smell that contrasted pleasantly to the smog outside. Her spot among the large ferns and palms offered some privacy.
“Hello Nick. Have a seat.” She pointed to a chair next to her.
“Let’s make this quick. I’ve got a plane to catch.” He consulted his watch. “In less than an hour. Did you bring it with you?”
She reached in her black patent leather shoulder bag and brought out a thin envelope.
“What’s this?”
“Find out.”
He looked at his handwriting on a single piece of yellow legal paper. There were eight names and addresses. He read them carefully as each one jogged his memory, then folded the paper and put it in his suit coat pocket. “Okay, let’s see the rest.” He tapped the gray plastic briefcase at the side of his chair. “I have the cash you wanted for keeping my property safe while I was away.”
“There’s been a change in plans,” she said. Halieto stepped out from behind a thick dwarf palm.
Nick smiled. “And, you think this is a surprise to me?” He whistled loudly and two very large black men stepped into the group.
“Don’t you want to hear the deal?” Thom asked.
“Sure, why the hell not.”
“And, I want in. Fifty-fifty.”
“Is that all.” Nick smiled and looked at the brothers. “Thanks fellas, you can go.” He got up and shook hands as they smiled and moved off.
“Catch us on the next picture, Nick?” the blackest one asked.
“It’s a lock, Tyrell,” he said to their backs. “You know,” Nick leaned close to Thom, “if this thing goes bust, half of nothing is nothing.”
Halieto spoke up. “If this deal, whatever it is, doesn’t pan out, we keep the list.”
“Fuck you, I make the rules.”
“No Nick,” Thom said. “The Jaguar makes the rules. Halieto, here, is his cousin. We keep the list until the deal is down and then we turn it over.”
Nick almost smiled. They could kiss his ass and keep the rest of the list. The page he put in his pocket was more than enough to get the coin auction rolling.
“Manuel says hello. He remembers you from the library,” the Mexican said.
Nick blanched. He underestimated the little bitch. The list would still be worth plenty after he got his movie back from Lucerio, that Colombian asshole. “You’ll have to bring it to Chicago on short notice.”
“No problem,” Halieto said.
“I’ll call you to tell you when.”
“Sure. And, we’ll keep your briefcase just for collateral.”
Thom grabbed the brown wrist. “Don’t bother. There isn’t any money in that thing. Knickerbocker Smith never even saw that much money. And, if he did, he’d never pay it out for any reason.”
Nick shrugged. Halieto stepped back.
Nick took the case. “Say sugar, what happened to your accent?”
Thom twisted toward him. “Left on the sidewalk outside Stanford.”
“Live and learn,” Nick said. “Well, gotta catch a plane.”
Chapter 81
Instead of leaving the hotel in El Segundo for the airport, Knickerbocker decided to wait outside. In due time Thom and her new benefactor left together. The next morning Nick waited in the doorway of a bodega in the section of LA that was coming to be known as “Little Saigon”.
Smith knew the advantages of being short. Long ago he learned how easily he could hide in the shadows as he watched neighborhood girls undressing for bed. He cut his chances of being arrested as a “peeping tom” by only looking in on high school classmates who liked to be watched. That was then. These days, everything was through the viewfinder of a camera, but the proclivities of the young ladies hadn’t changed.
Nick didn’t find it difficult to follow Thom and Halieto, because he had been to her place many times. He parked behind the Mexican’s flashy Chevrolet convertible. Hours of waiting in the car to avoid the desert chill slid into a brilliant dawn and brought him outside to confront Thom’s man as he left the flat over the beauty shop.
Nick struck a match to light a cigarette as his mark walked from the building’s side door. “Hombre.”
Halieto squinted at him and felt for the pistol under his left arm as he walked to Nick’s position. “Smith?”
“Good morning. Man, you look worn out. She must have really put you through your paces.”
Halieto smiled wearily. “I though you were going back to Mil-walk-ee.”
“I am, but I wanted to discuss something with you.”
“Okay, but hurry up. I gotta get some sleep.”
Nick gave him the whole thing about Keagan, Rhonda and the gold coin.
“So you want us to fence this coin for you?”
“It’s as rare as any coin gets. The collector who can afford to buy it can never show it. We’re looking for a buyer.”
“Oh! That’s why you want the list.”
“If the Jaguar isn’t interested in owning the coin, maybe he knows someone who is. If we get several people interested, Rhonda wants to have a little auction to drive up the price.”
Halieto scratched his tangled hair. “The whole thing sounds like a scam to me.”
“I know, but I’ve seen the gold and it’s the real deal.”
“So?”
Nick decided to look at one of the many different angles that were possible. “So, instead of taking the shitty cut she’s offered me, I’m going to steal it. I could use another man to help me out. You look like the one I need. What do you say?”
“I think, I’m hungry. Are you hungry?”
“I’ve been up all night waiting for you while Thom hauled your ashes.”
“My tia owns a place close by. We can eat and talk.”
Nick crushed the cigarette butt out with the toe of his shoe. “Sounds fine.”
Chapter 82
Leon and Stan knew they weren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer, but they were crooks. As such, they carried a certain cachet in the criminal community, albeit one of low quality. They knew one real, big time bad guy who was in a position to get the kind of cash and the connections needed for a deal like this. Dressed in suits they purchased from an upscale church thrift shop, they wrangled themselves a meeting with the capo on the south side of Chicago.
John Pelagraso sat in a booth at his restaurant and listened to these dunces. Either these guys were dumber than they looked or the story was strange enough to be true. He would have to sort it out mostly, because that’s what the don wanted him to do. But, John was curious. Normally, he would have tossed guys like Stan and Leon out on their asses just on principle. When he heard the story it was all he could do to keep from spitting his Campari and soda on the table, but that would not have been in keeping with his image as a serious man. He took a moment to consider these crackers from Milwaukee. These fools were dressed up as fancy as they knew how and traveled to Chicago for this meeting. They gave him a neatly typed list of a few of the coins, and took their story seriously. Maybe he would, too.
His sister’s kid was into collecting shit - stamps, coins, small dead animals, and other things his mother didn’t want to know about. The kid was spooky. Still, the little, pencil-neck could talk your arm off on that shit.
John scratched his eyebrow, “You got a phone?”
The idiots nodded in unison while the older one said, “Yeah, Mr.Pelagraso. Yeah.”
Swell. The capo picked up his glass a
nd pushed the napkin over to them. “Write your number down and I’ll be back to you tomorrow.”
Stan wrote the number as he and his father stood up. “We’ll talk tomorrow, right, Mr. Pelagraso, right?”
The capo looked at the napkin to make sure he could read the numbers. The scrawl was tricky. The nuns at St. Damian would have walloped the crap out of these guys for this kind of penmanship. “What is this, 414-258-9693?”
“4693,” Stan said.
He took the pen and made the adjustment.
“Tomorrow then, Mr. Pelagraso?”
“Yeah or the day after.”
Leon and Stan slithered backwards out of the restaurant door and into the sun.
John took a moment to consider the situation and called to one of the large men sitting in a nearby booth. “Angelo, let’s go see Rose.”
The big man’s shoulders sagged and a weary frown crossed his face. “Do I have to go into the house? That kid creeps me out.”
John stood. “Yes, but I’ll do all the talking to the kid.”
The bodyguard sighed.
Chapter 83
The capo sat in his sister’s living room admiring his thousand dollar suit when his nephew walked in the front door of the large ranch style house. He carried a skateboard and a book bag. The kid was dressed all in black - T-shirt, jeans, canvas gym shoes, no socks. He looked like a fifteen year old vampire. It didn’t work that well ‘cause the boy had a deep olive complexion.
John thanked Jesus, Mary and Joseph that his mother was dead, because if she saw this grandchild of hers there would have been no peace from the woman. And, somehow he would have taken the brunt of her wrath. He twisted to his left in the faux Louis XIV love seat to face the kid. “Hi, Tommy.”
The kid started at the greeting. “Oh, ah, hi Uncle John.” He dropped the bag on the marble floor in the hall. “Is my mom around?”
“Sure, she’s in the kitchen with Angie and Bruce. Are you still collecting coins?”
Tommy gave the big man a sideways look. “Sure, why?”
“Two men want to sell me some coins and I want to know if they are offering me a good deal.”