by James Norton
Nana flinched, “Jesus H. Christ, you scared the crap
outa me.”
Rhonda’s eyes crinkled in the corners. She closed the door and faced him.
“Hi, Bernie, how’ve you been?”
He took a sip from the cup, enjoying the taste, the
smell and the moment. “I’m better. How are you?”
“Good.” She wore a knee length camel coat over a black turtleneck sweater and pants. Her hair was dyed black and cut short.
“You look great, very stylish." Then again, he always thought she looked wonderful ever since that summer day on the playground when they were kids. That felt like yesterday to him, but … he needed to keep his head in the game. “Seriously, I’m very glad you’re not dead. On top of that, you look terrific.”
“What are you doing here?” Rhonda asked.
“I like the way Mitchell cooks.”
“Smart ass. You definitely are better.” She took off her coat and tossed it over a stool. “How did you find them?”
“Nana has a portrait photograph of Virginia.” He sipped his coffee. “It looks remarkably like you.”
Nana poured coffee for herself and Rhonda. “Hey, that was packed away. What gives you the right to go rummaging through my things?”
He held up the key to her storage locker.“What’s a fella to do with some Columbian drug smuggler hot on his trail?”
Rhonda took a mug from Nana. “Who would that be?”
“Lucerio, Nick’s buddy.”
“You know him?” Rhonda blew on her drink.
He rolled the mug between his palms. “’Fraid so.”
“Where are Virginia and her man friend?” Nana asked.
“Grocery shopping. You just missed them. They should be back in an hour or so.”
“How’d you find them?”
Bernie told his tale.
“Where’s my movie?” Rhonda asked.
“It’s funny you should call it that. A number of people use the same words when referring to that property.” He got up from his stool. “Other than the fact that you appear in it, some others might have a stronger claim.”
“Like who, Nick?” She asked. “That dirtball didn’t even pay me a dime. He used me.”
With Rhonda, Bernie knew that was true up to a point, but he didn’t have any idea where that point might be. “Let’s go into the front room where we can be comfortable.”
They followed him as he hobbled out of the kitchen with his cane. Today the place smelled of burnt out fires.
Rhonda said, “I’m sorry you got hurt.”
“No need to be sorry. Unless you were involved in sending a hit man around.” He turned toward her. “Or, pulled the trigger yourself.”
“I didn’t.”
“That’s good.” He took a seat on the blue and yellow striped couch.
She drank from the mug as she leaned against the wall. “But, I got you involved in all of this.”
That was true, but in all honesty, he never really tried to get away. He pointed to a large box sitting in front of the slate fireplace. “There it is.”
“How’d you know that the film was here?” she asked.
“I’ve had lots of time to think the past few months, to say nothing of the intimidation from Lucerio. Once I thought about it from your point of view, it wasn’t too big a stretch.”
“How do you mean?”
“I remembered that Nana was very persistent about keeping that house. When the cops started hassling her, you got up there incredibly fast. There must be a reason. Finally, I thought if you wanted to hide something valuable, the only person you could trust was Nana.”
“Hey, up yours, Bernie!” Rhonda’s eyes flashed hot at him. “You think I wouldn’t have come just for her. Fuck you very much.”
“Sorry, I just needed to know.” He smiled. He was glad he’d hit a nerve on that. She was mercenary, but very loyal. “Anyway I thought you might send it to Nana. Going through the things in the storage locker was easy enough.”
“But, it wasn’t there,” Nana said.
“That’s when I got lucky and found the picture,” Bernie said.
“Of course you would,” Lucerio said from the front hall. Mendez stepped around the corner to stand next to him.
Lucerio clapped three times as he strolled into the living room. “Very good, simplicity itself. I knew you were the only one who had the experience with this lady to think it all through. Bravo.”
“Judas,” Rhonda hissed.
“Oh, don’t be mad at Bernie. We didn’t pay him. We threatened him … and his mother. There is always his natural curiosity. And, one more thing. What was it Mendez?”
The thug looked at his boss. “You said I could kill the women.”
“Yes, that’s right.” Lucerio turned to Rhonda. “Did you think that for one moment we thought you were dead?”
She put her mug down and sulked on the couch.
“Do you have the movie here Bernie?” Lucerio asked.
Bernie nodded toward the box by the fireplace. “Mitchell hauled it up from the basement this morning.”
Mendez walked over and struggled to pick the box up.
“Help him take it out to the car,” Lucerio said.
Rhonda grabbed Bernie’s right hand and held tight.
He looked at her hand then tapped his foot with the cane. “Love to, but the hole you guys put in my leg keeps me from doing that sort of thing.”
Lucerio shrugged at Mendez who dragged the box toward the door. “And Nick’s client list?”
Bernie rested his cane on the papers sitting on a Queen Anne coffee table.
The Columbian’s smile turned into a frown. “You were expecting us?” He picked up the paper and put it into his gray Armani suit coat.
“Sure. You couldn’t find Rhonda. You couldn’t find the film. All you could do was watch me and hope they both turned up. Someone tailed me for days. No mystery why you’re here.”
“Thank you. We’ll be going.” Lucerio opened the front door. His way was blocked by Knickerbocker Smith pointing a large pistol.
“Suck my dick, you wetback faggot,” said the diminutive pornographer.
“We’re Colombian,” Mendez said.
“I don’t care.” Nick waved the pair back into the living room.
Lucerio stared at him. “And, you are a dead man.”
“How about this?” Rhonda crossed her legs and sat up straight. “Just like some old Charlie Chan movie.” Her lip curled up slightly on the left side as she smiled in Bernie’s direction.
He smiled back and stood without the cane. This hadn’t worked quite like he’d expected. Time to play the only card he had. “Ah … Lucerio, Nick told me that … ah … at one point you were willing to trade the movie for the ’33 Double Eagle. Um … Would you still be interested?”
Rhonda’s mouth dropped open and she made a move to stand, but stopped.
Nick looked from Bernie to Lucerio and said, “You get the coin and I get the film. That was our deal.”
“That’s a screwed-up deal,” Rhonda said.
Bernie looked at her. “Babe, I love you, but Lucerio and Mr. Mendez travel with some very nasty people. I’ve looked into it. If they leave happy, we don’t get hurt. It’s a bad situation, but we can walk away.” It was his sincerest hope.
She sat back on the couch and crossed her arms over her chest.
“You have the coin?” Lucerio asked.
Mendez punched Nick in the face, dropping him to the floor.
Bernie smiled, reached in his shirt pocket and took out a small envelope which contained a gold coin. Perfecto!
Mendez picked up the pistol.
Rhonda lurched toward Bernie with an outstretched right arm. He blocked her with his body. “The deal is I give you the coin, you give me the film.”
Lucerio took the envelope in his fingers. “Let me see it.”
Kneeling, Nick bit the Columbian on the ankle and caught the packet
as it dropped. Mendez belted Nick in the face with the barrel of the pistol. The little man fell on his back with his nose bleeding, but he hung tightly onto the coin in the wrapper. Bernie grabbed the gun hand of Mendez and dug his thumb into a pressure point at the wrist. They looked at each other, then Mendez swung at Bernie’s head with his left hand. The pistol clanked to the wood floor as the two men wrestled for it. They rolled over Nick who dug his teeth into the neck of Mendez as they passed.
Lucerio lunged for the gun. Ronda was quicker and knelt with the automatic pointed at the four men. “Stop!”
No one stopped. She fired the pistol into the ceiling. They came to an intertwined, panting halt as plaster dust settled on them. Bernie freed a hand and twisted the envelope from Nick’s grasp leaving only a corner of the packet for him.
Lucerio stood. “You wouldn’t shoot us.”
Nick wiped his nose. “Yes, she would.”
“She would,” Bernie said. “Take his word for it.”
Mendez pushed himself free of the group. “You can’t get us all.”
Rhonda aimed the gun into the center of Lucerio’s chest. “I can get two.”
“Hey, hey,” Nana said. “We’re here to talk business not shoot each other.”
Lucerio nodded. “Fine, let’s talk.” He backed up to a brown leather chair and sat down.
From his place on the floor Nick asked Lucerio. “What about my deal?”
The Colombian frowned. “The coin is chump change. No deal.”
Rhonda took a step back and lowered the pistol to her side. “Too late Nicky, he knows what the film is worth.”
Bernie put the coin in his pants pocket as Nick dropped the scrap of envelope on the floor.
“What about our arrangement, Lucerio?” Rhonda asked.
“I’ve got the film, so our previous conversation doesn’t make much sense right now.”
Rhonda raised the pistol half way. Lucerio frowned.
“Be realistic.” Bernie stood. “These guys are just the front for a bigger and nastier organization.”
Rhonda put the pistol on an end-table. “The movie is one thing, Lou, but distribution is something else entirely.” She got the Colombian’s attention.
“Go on.”
“I can get the movie run in all the theaters showing skin-flicks in the country.”
Lucerio stood and crossed to the door while contemplating her pitch. “How could you do that?”
“Pelegraso,” she said.
“The mob boss?” Lucerio stepped back into the living room. “What’s your connection to him?”
“The auction.”
“And he’s not angry with you?”
“Hey, money’s money. If I make him money, how mad can he be?”
“You’d have to re-cut it.” Nick stood. “Even with Debbie Does Dallas and The Devil In Miss Jones out there the mob theaters will only go so far.”
“And, here’s the kicker,” she said. “After the movie runs in the theaters, we do a private release of the entire thing.”
“I thought I worked the angles.” Lucerio smiled.
Rhonda put her arm around Nana. “Girls have to eat.”
“That could work,” Nick said.
Rhonda leaned toward him. “You double, maybe triple your profit.”
Lucerio rubbed his chin then nodded to Mendez. “You have a talk with Pelegraso. We’ll go back to LA to finish cutting the film.”
Bernie leaned over to Rhonda. “How much money are we talking here?”
“Fifty, sixty million.”
Chapter 116
Nick and Mendez took the box with the raw footage out to the white Ford Galaxy while Lucerio followed. Mendez got behind the wheel. Nick began to go through the film canisters in the car’s trunk, slowly at first, and then with more excitement. He turned and walked toward the house.
“What’s the matter?” Lucerio called from the front seat.
“She kept the one I need.”
Bernie, Nana and Rhonda stood in the foyer of the house watching the men in the street. Nana put her hand inside her purse and pressed something.
“Push it,” Rhonda said as she watched Nick continue up the walk.
Lucerio turned to Mendez. “When he gets inside go in and kill them all.”
Mendez reached under the seat and pulled out two chromed .45 caliber pistols. He shoved one into the belt of his black pants and held the other in his left hand.
A rusty Lincoln Continental rounded the corner and screeched to a halt next to the Ford. Mendez and Lucerio stepped out of their car.
Nana pulled out a garage door opener, pointed at the front door and pressed frantically. “I am. I am pushing, but its not working.” She shoved it back in her purse as Nick reached the front stoop.
“Where’d you get the coin?” Rhonda asked
Bernie didn’t say anything because he was watching Stan step out of the Continental with a pump shotgun which he leveled at Mendez. Leon stayed at the wheel.
“Borrowed it,” Bernie replied.
Nick kept his focus on Rhonda and didn’t seem to notice what was happening in the street. He pushed open the front door and pointed a finger at her. “Okay, where’s the blue canister?”
She stared just over his right shoulder. “What are you talking about?”
“Cut the crap. Where’s the film that was in the blue canister?”
“I burned it,” Rhonda said.
A large explosion roared at the curb. Everybody hit the floor as the plaster dust settled on them. A tire from a car bounced up the front walk and struck the door. Glass from the surrounding windows showered down on them.
Nick looked up at the burning hulks. “That’s my movie!”
On his hands and knees Bernie looked through the broken window. “What the hell was that?” Mendez lay on the side of the street with his head at an unnatural angle. Lucerio’s burning corpse was half way up the lawn. The acrid smell of the explosion filled the room. The Continental laid upside-down in the yard across the street. Stan had disappeared.
Bernie turned his head to stare at Rhonda. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open slightly, astonished, but not completely so. She glanced at him and composed herself.
Nick knelt, sat back on his heals and sighed. “With a good distribution deal we can always re-shoot it.” He stood and lightly brushed his sleeves with his hand. “Rhonda, you think you could make that kind of distribution deal for any of my movies?”
“Maybe if they’re good.” She stood and looked at Bernie still kneeling on the floor.
“What the hell was that?” Bernie asked.
Nick picked himself up. “I should go. Parole violation and all that, you know.”
“Call me, babe,” Rhonda said.
Nana stood and pulled her hand out of her purse. She held a tan garage door opener then threw it on the slate floor. “I thought that thing would never blow.”
Bernie stood and pointed at the burning cars. “What the hell was that?”
The tree next to the Ford caught fire as Nana said, “Damn Korean knockoffs. Should have bought American.”
Bernie picked up the halves of the door opener. “Holy shit. What was that?”
“A bomb. Had it shipped in,” Nana said.
“Shipped in. You mean it was in that box with the movie?”
“Yeah,” Nana said.
“It sat in this house for … what … about a week?”
Smoke drifted into the house.
“Sounds right.”
Bernie dropped to his knees. “And I helped Mitchell drag it in here this morning.”
“If you say you did, then sure,” Nana said.
He leaned against the wall. “That thing could have gone off any time it was here. It could have killed me.”
“Naw, it was perfectly safe” said Nana. “I’m the only one who had the button.”
“It didn’t seem to work real well when you finally pressed it.”
Nana pursed her l
ips in thought.
“There are only a couple hundred frequencies available to any garage door opener. What if someone around this neighborhood had the same frequency door opener?” he asked.
Nana frowned.
“That’s right. Kaboom!” Bernie threw his arms over his head.
“Hadn’t thought of that.” Nana shrugged.
Bernie closed his eyes. “Holy shit.” The smell of burning rubber was strong.
“I hate to break up this little technical discussion, but we should go,” Rhonda said. “Nana and I are still officially in the witness protection program. The Marshals’ Service wouldn’t be happy to find us here.”
Bracing himself against the wall, Bernie stood. “Rhonda, I really want to talk with you. We’ve got some things to work out.”
She stopped mid-stride and did a half turn toward him as the sirens started up in the distance. “Not right now. C’mon, let’s get out of here.” She took his hand and pulled him through the backdoor. Burning leaves fell on the grass.
While Nana, Bernie and Rhonda walked through the backyard to get to her car, Bernie asked, “Where did that story about working with Pelegraso come from?”
They rounded a hedge into the neighbor’s property. “I’ve been rolling it around in my head and it makes sense,” Rhonda said.
The wet grass soaked Bernie’s shoes. “What makes you think Pelegraso would buy it?”
Rhonda looked away from him toward Nana, who was having trouble matching their pace.
“Well?” he pressed.
“I talked to him,” Rhonda mumbled
Bernie stopped and she strode past him. “Say again.”
Rhonda turned to him. “I talked with John and he liked the idea.”
“What the hell were you thinking? He’s the main reason you’re in the witness protection program,” Bernie said.
“Don’t get your undies in a bundle. Yeah, it was a risk, but we talked through the numbers and it works out nicely.” Rhonda turned and started to walk up the block. “Besides we’ve known each other since the three of us worked those summers at the zoo. Come on, the car is this way.”
Bernie stopped on the sidewalk as Nana caught up to him. “Why kill Lucerio and what’s his name, Mendez?”
“They were not good people,” Nana said.
“And, Nick?”