by Annie Jocoby
The next stop was a motel, and I checked in and laid down on the bed. I tried, hard, to stop my racing thoughts, but I couldn’t. Was I finally, at long last, cracking up? Was that picture of Slade the final straw? Was my sanity going to be gone in the morning? Was it gone now?
I didn’t know. I didn’t really want to know. I needed to complete this mission, such as it was, and I needed to complete it soon.
Either Charlotte was going to be exiled or dead or I would be. Either way, it would be a change.
And change is always good, right?
Chapter 8
Slade
Serena left me this text message to meet her, and I was getting ready to, when I checked my phone. There was something that was telling me, a little voice inside of me, that was telling me that Serena wasn’t going to be where she said she was going to be. My instinct caused me to check my tracker for her, and I immediately saw that she was over the Mexican border, and that was where the trail ended.
I knew what happened at that moment, although I wasn’t sure exactly why. She had chosen to go to Mexico, as opposed to meeting with me, and she apparently decided to get rid of her phone someplace in Tijuana. Unfortunately, the tracking device simply said that she was in Tijuana, and I couldn’t pinpoint exactly where she was right at that moment.
“Goddammit,” I said, looking at my tracker. “What the fuck is she doing?”
I was going to take the chance to meet with Serena, even though I knew that Charlotte was tracking me, too, or, at least, I suspected that she was. Bug sweeps of my car had so far turned up nothing, but I didn’t trust her one bit.
At the moment, Charlotte wasn’t at home. She was on the set of her new movie, and she had told me that morning not to expect her home until at least midnight. I thought that was perfect, because I’d meet with Serena to get a plan together, hoping that Charlotte wasn’t tracking me, and then I’d rapidly carry out whatever plan Serena and I would come up with. Whatever it was, it would involve my going straight to Gianni, Charlotte’s father, and try to play the father against the daughter. I needed some leverage, though, and I had hoped that Serena and I could come up with exactly what this leverage was going to be.
Yet Serena had other plans, and I had no clue on what these other plans were. She was in Tijuana, somewhere, and I needed to find a way to figure out just where she was going.
So, I called Santino’s restaurant. Obviously, Santino was going to be able to direct me on where Serena was, or where she was going. He was the key to this whole thing, really. Santino was the person who told Serena something important about Charlotte, and I needed to find out just what that something was.
A pleasant-sounding woman answered the phone. “Santino’s Restaurant, how may I help you?”
“Yes, is Santino in tonight?”
“No, I’m sorry, he has the night off.”
I shook my head. I had no idea how to get ahold of him, other than call his restaurant. I obviously never bothered to get his cell phone number or his address from Serena, because I never thought that to be relevant. I did know where he worked, though, and that was my one life-line. “Could you tell me when he is expected back?”
“He took a few days off, but he’ll be back on Monday.”
Monday? Today was Thursday. I couldn’t wait that long to find out where the hell Serena went. “I really need to speak with him as soon as possible.” I took a deep breath, wondering what I could tell this woman that would convince her to tell me where I could find Santino.
“Well, I’m very sorry,” she said, “but he went to his house in Italy for a few days. You’ll just have to call back on Monday.”
Italy? Who goes to Italy on a whim for a few days? Mobsters, that’s who. He probably had some important business over there. Somebody needed to be bumped off no doubt.
I bit my lower lip. All this technology I had, and it was useless to me at that moment. Serena was somewhere in Mexico, I had no idea why, and I had no clue where. She was up to something, and I needed to find out immediately what exactly that something was.
She was in danger. That much I knew.
I took a deep breath. I was going to have to go down there and try to charm this hostess, or whomever she was, in person. I was going to have to find out just where Santino was, or get his cell phone number, or something. I needed to speak with him, because only he knew exactly what was going down with Serena.
“Okay,” I finally said.
Then I got in my car and flew down to San Diego. I drove as fast as I possibly could, because I not only had to get down there before that restaurant closed, but I also knew that time was of the essence.
Somehow, I knew, in my heart, that if I didn’t reach Serena soon, it was going to be too late.
I got to Santino's restaurant, and immediately went in there. "Hi,” I said to the pretty hostess who looked at me with a sly smile. “My name is Slade Bridgewell, I, well, I have to find out where Santino is tonight.”
She batted her eyelashes coyly and blushed. “I knew that I recognized you,” she said with a little giggle. “Do you need a table?”
I leaned down on the lectern, where she kept her menus and tried to turn on the charm offensive. “I do,” I said in a low voice. “But I really need to find Santino. It’s business.” I nodded to her knowingly. I had no idea if she knew what Santino did on the side. Looking at her, I thought that she probably didn’t. She looked pretty naïve.
She cocked her head. “Are you a supplier? If you are, I can put you in touch with the purchasing manager. I mean, Santino usually does the purchasing, except for when he’s out of town, of course. Which he is. He’s at his home in Palermo.”
Now I was getting somewhere. “Palermo. Does he go there often?”
She giggled again. I was surprised that Santino would have a hostess who was so not-savvy about exactly what he did when he wasn’t at that restaurant. If I were Santino, and I was watching my back, I’d make sure that all my employees knew never to say a word about me when I wasn’t around. But this little girl, who couldn’t be more than 16, obviously wasn’t instructed about all that.
“Well, yes,” she said. “I mean, there’s another Santino’s there. He doesn’t have much part in it, though. He’s mainly a silent partner. But I know that he likes to visit that restaurant from time to time. You know, kinda pop in unexpectedly, see how things are running there.”
Bingo. I was amazed at how easy this was.
No, it was simple, not easy. Easy would be actually getting Santino’s phone number and just calling him. Easy would be if Santino actually was at the other Santino’s in Palermo, and I could just call the restaurant and talk to him.
Somehow, I knew that this mission wasn’t going to be that easy.
I tried, for about another thirty minutes, to get more out of this hostess. The restaurant wasn’t busy, so she as able to talk to me pretty freely. Try as I might, though, I couldn’t get her to tell me his cell number.
So, that was it. I was going to have to fly to Palermo that night. I couldn’t risk just calling the restaurant the next day, only to have them tell me that he wasn’t expected in. And I couldn’t risk him not wanting to talk to me over the phone, even if he was in his Santino’s restaurant in Palermo. After all, he wouldn’t necessarily believe me if I told him who I was, and he probably didn’t want to give those sensitive details over the phone.
After I left Santino’s, I immediately went to the airport and got my private plane, calling my pilot on the way. “Alex,” I said, getting him out of bed, no doubt. He tended to go to bed early because he had to be up at 5 AM most mornings for work. “I’m sorry for the short notice, but I need you to take me to Sicily tonight,” I said. “I’ll contact your regular boss and tell him what’s going on, so he can find a substitute for you for the next day or so.”
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll meet you at the airport in a half hour.”
Good ol’ Alex. I could always count on him to save me in
a pinch.
This was a desperate time, so, of course, it called for desperate measures.
Damn Serena, though. Why would she do such a thing? How could she be so stupid? I just knew that she was down there trying to find out something that she could use against Charlotte. What that thing was, I didn’t necessarily know. Santino knew, though, and I was determined that he was going to tell me exactly what that was.
Chapter 9
Serena
The next day, I felt more well-rested, but I still was bound and determined to go through with my plan. The first thing that I needed to do was get a regular map of Mexico. I had never ventured further than Tijuana, with the one exception of the time I took a cruise to the Florida Keys and Cozumel. That was going to tell me nothing, though, of course. The only thing that I remember about that cruise was that I was drinking a lot, and that the water was beautiful. But that was strictly a tourist thing – I did the whole Carlos and Charlie's thing, which apparently was mandatory in Cozumel, and drank plenty of cheap tequila.
This trip, of course, was going to be completely different. I knew just where to go to find this Miguel, as Santino had filled me in on it before he left my house. And, if I could use my GPS, I’d find his house no problem. But I, of course, wasn’t going to use my GPS, because I figured that Slade would be able to find me if I did. I was bound and determined that I was going to do this on my own.
My inner voice was bugging me. First it was the guardian angel, now it was my inner voice. “Why don’t you let Slade help you at least?” the voice asked.
“Because I don’t want his help anymore. I don’t want him around me. I hate him. He killed me. Ripped out my soul, and then lied to me. Lied to me. Told me that he was only with Charlotte to gather information, and then apparently held her hand behind closed doors. I want revenge on Charlotte, and I want him to leave me the hell alone.”
There, that should answer that nagging goddamned voice.
I went to a local drug store and purchased a map of Mexico, including all the highways that would take me to the Chihuahua province, and then onto Ciudad Juarez. Once I got into Ciudad Juarez, I would simply get a map that would show me the street names and find this place where Miguel lived. Santino told me that Miguel lived in a veritable fortress that is high on a hill, and that, if I wanted to go and see Miguel, Santino would call him to make sure that I would be able to get in to see him.
I called Santino’s cell phone. He picked up right away. “Hello?” he asked. I, frankly, was surprised that he picked up the phone, considering I was using a random phone and he couldn’t know that it was me who was calling. “Who’s calling?”
“Santino, it’s Serena,” I said. “I’m in Mexico. I’m going to see Miguel.”
He chuckled on the phone. “Miss Serena, it’s good to hear from you. I’m in Italy. I need to lay low for a few days. I’ll explain later. What can I do to help you out?”
“I need you to call Miguel,” I said, “I’ll be at his home in the next 10 hours or so,” I said, “which means that I’ll be there about five o’clock his time.”
“Miss Serena, what are you doing? Where is Slade?”
“I have no clue. Are you going to call him?” I felt apprehensive, because if Santino didn’t call this guy, there was no way I was going to be able to get in there and talk to this guy.
“What are you going to do when you get there?”
“I’m going to ask him about Charlotte. I have a recording device in my pocket, and then I’m…”
“Miss Serena, that sounds like a dumb idea, no offense. He has bodyguards who aren’t going to let you get that recording device in there. You better put it in one of your body cavities.”
That sounded gross, but also like it might work. It made me nervous, though, and I knew that I was going to have to go to a hospital to get it out. It was small enough to fit in either one of my “bodily cavities,” yet, at the same time, it was large enough that a good surgeon could remove it if it got lost somewhere. It was also sensitive enough that it could record what was going on, even if I swallowed it. That why I bought this particular device. I somehow knew that I would one day need it. That day was now.
I felt nervous swallowing it, though. “Thanks for the advice,” I said. “Listen, will this Miguel tell me what Charlotte did? And what is she doing, anyhow?” I couldn’t believe that I never asked Santino this before - what leverage did Charlotte have over this guy?
Santino chuckled again. “Miguel has a daughter who wants to move to Hollywood and become a big star. Carlotta apparently has been promising him that she’ll pull some strings. Get her an agent, put in a good word on her new movie, that kind of thing. Miguel hasn’t jumped just yet, though, because Carlotta hasn’t quite come through. As soon as she does, though, Miguel’s going to be giving his big shipment to the Vichellis.”
I shook my head. It was amazing to me that a big drug dealer would just tip from one family to another for something that was so trivial. Then again, helping his daughter in her career was probably important to him. The family is always important, and I got that. But in something as important as this…
“Really? That’s all that she’s promising?”
“Oh, no, I’m quite sure that she’s used her womanly charms too. But, yeah, that’s what she’s promising. You have to understand, Serena, it’s a toss-up between the two families. There won’t be any downside for Miguel either way. Both families want this shipment badly, and both families want to do business with Miguel badly in the future. But if he chooses the Vichellis over the Garancinos, or the Garancinos over the Vichellis, the other family isn’t going to come after him. So anything can tip him over, and that’s what Carlotta is doing.”
That made sense. I would imagine if Miguel had promised the Garancinos, then went back on his word, and gave the shipment to the Vichellis, there would be hell to pay. But, if he just hadn’t made up his mind, then that was another matter.
I shook my head. Charlotte was a vindictive one, but I was surprised that she would do something against her own father like that. She had to know that it could bite her in the ass, as it hopefully was going to do. I wondered what kind of bad blood would have led her to do this.
Leverage. I was going to have leverage if this all worked out right. Real leverage, assuming that her father would punish her for her disloyalty. I thought about the movie The Godfather Part Two, where Fredo was murdered at the behest of Michael, his own brother, and knew that, if there’s a rat in the family, that rat will be taken care of. Daughter or not.
“Well, thanks, Santino. I really owe you a lot.”
“No you don’t, Miss Serena. After all, the reason why I’m on the street at all is because you worked that deal with the persecutor.” Then he laughed. “Oh, I shouldn’t call her a persecutor, because she got me a good deal. Guess I’ll just call her a prosecutor.”
I smiled, because Santino answered a burning question for me – whether or not he was using the term “persecutor” deliberately or because he didn’t know any better. “Yes, they’re not all bad after all, are they?”
“No, I guess not. Well, I’ll give Miguel a call and let him know to expect you.” He paused. “You be careful, Miss Serena. I don’t think that you know what you’re dealing with. Those are rough guys, and that’s something coming from me. I think that you should be on the up and up on what you’re doing. Tell him your situation, and tell him what you’re going to do. Because if you do things without telling him, and it gets back to him, he’ll kill you. You’re a beautiful woman. Maybe he’ll just go ahead and talk about that whole Carlotta thing with you. But you’re probably going to have to do something for him first.”
Do something for him first. What would that be? Sex, drug running, what? “What does that mean?”
“He’ll probably want you to take a shipment over the border for him. That’s usually what he asks for when people want favors. After all, if your plan goes through, his daughter is going to be t
he one who suffers. I hope that you realize that. I don’t think that he’s going to want to push his daughter under the bus like that.”
Santino was making sense. If this whole thing played out the way that I wanted it to, Charlotte was going to be in serious trouble. She would obviously renege on her promise to Miguel to help Miguel’s daughter, at the very least. I was going to have to give Miguel something in exchange for that. To make up for it. Because Santino was right – I couldn’t just surreptitiously record him giving up Charlotte. Number one, he wasn’t just going to give up Charlotte to me, a woman that he doesn’t know from Eve. And number two, even if he did give up Charlotte, and I went behind his back to use it against him, he’d have me killed himself.
I’d be out of the frying pan and into the fire.
“Thanks for the advice,” I said to Santino. “What do you recommend I give him in exchange for this information?”
“Miss Serena, you know Miguel’s weakness. It’s his daughter. If you could do something for his daughter, something that is equal to what Carlotta was doing, then you might be able to make a case. Other than that, I don’t know. Probably he’ll have you be a mule a time or two. He’s always needing mules.”
Egads. Being a mule would mean me putting drugs into my body cavities and trying to sneak it over the border. I took a deep breath, hoping that it wouldn’t come to that, but knowing that if it did, I’d chance it. I’d chance anything for an opportunity to bring Charlotte down. Even if it meant that I was going to spend a few years in prison if I got caught.
That’s how serious I was about bringing her down.
“Anything else he might want from me in exchange for this information?”
“Sex probably, but that would be in addition to your being a mule, not instead of it.” He paused. “Miss Serena, I hate to say it, but it doesn’t sound like you thought all this through.”