“Would you mind if we found somewhere quieter?”
“Good plan. Like to come back to mine for a coffee?”
“Your place sounds fine. Okay if I bring some party powder to help with the... coffee?”
“Nice idea. I‘m Sam Wray.”
“Frank Lagotti.”
SAM AWOKE FACE up from the brink of a horny dream to find her feet on the pillows and Frank‘s head between her thighs. She stretched her arms and arched her back. In the corner of her eye she saw two lines of white on the bedside table.
Although she needed a hit to kick-start the day, there was no way she wanted to interrupt Frank who was hard at work creating ripples of tingles throughout her body - emanating from her groin but spreading to her toes, her fingers. Even her eyelids felt more alive.
Later they snaffled up the remaining coke and spent the rest of the day naked and sweaty. The simple act of having Alice‘s twin in bed with her turned Sam on. Whenever his dick was inside, the rush was immense.
“So am I better than Alice?”
“If I thought you‘d compare yourself to her, I‘d never have mentioned it.”
“Don‘t lie. Must be freaking awesome to have a brother and a sister.”
“Has its moments, for sure.”
Sam didn‘t want to get bogged down by thoughts of Alice and her delectable body. She was having fun and wanted more.
“Are we going out tonight or shall we party at home?”
“No need to decide. You throw a dress on and we'll hang out with some people I‘ve met and if everything‘s cool, we can invite them here - or to mine - to carry on the fun until the sun rises again.”
Sam rolled on top of Frank so her groin touched his, rocking forward and back until his breathing changed rhythm.
“Sure thing honey - only not just yet, eh?”
1996
20
THE PREVIOUS YEAR ended with Indiana's decision to reintroduce a handful of riverboat casinos. One of the earliest licenses to be granted was run from Chicago, out of East Dubuque and Mary Lou saw this loosening up of gaming laws as a natural extension of their existing casino operations. All she needed to do was convince the Gaming Commission that Alice was an appropriate person to own the riverboat.
“Another day, another license to be bought.”
“How is Teddy Prescott?”
“Been better. He had a heartache three months ago and there's talk he'll step down soon.”
“We should have a conversation before he does anything rash.”
“I'm sure he'll be pleased to see you. Always has been in the past.”
“Send my regards.”
Bobby flew out to Prescott's mansion the following day. The butler answered the door and showed Bobby to the library. This room with its musty books felt like a home from home although Bobby had only visited Prescott a handful of times. Unlike every previous occasion Hannah Prescott appeared in the doorway in place of her husband. Bobby stood up from the insanely luxurious armchair and took the five steps forward to introduce himself and to shake her hand. Hannah kept her arms by her side and her expression reflected her disgust for him. Teddy had briefed her.
“Mr. Trevestan, I'm so sorry you have had a wasted journey.”
“Call me Bobby. How is Teddy?”
“Far too ill to receive visitors, I'm afraid.”
“So he knows I am here then? Or have you reached that decision on his behalf?”
“Mr. Trevestan...”
“... Bobby...”
“... my husband has made me only too aware of you. He asked me to convey his apologies but you will not be seeing him today.”
Bobby stared into the eyes of this shrewish woman. Chances were she was just trying to protect her husband from the myriad strangers who spend their lives lobbying politicians.
“Has Teddy told you how he and I first met?”
“No, he hasn't mentioned...”
“... then you can't possibly expect me to believe Teddy won't see me. So either you have decided for yourself or he isn't here anywhere. Which is it, Hannah?”
Bobby's expression gained the edge of a grimace and he moved a step forward to enter her personal space.
“Men like you do not intimidate me. You think you can walk into people's homes and order them about, but you are wrong.“
“And women like you think you can boss men like me around and we'll do what you say. You are not just wrong - you are making a very poor mistake. I can help your husband get the finest medical treatment, for example. I could protect him, you and your entire family from life's misfortunes.”
“Don't threaten me, Trevisan.”
“Lady, this is no threat. Answer my question: is Teddy in this joint?”
Hannah looked at Bobby's eyes and her cheeks flushed red.
“Yes he is, but he's too tired for visitors. He asked me to send you away as he doesn't have the energy to see anyone nowadays.”
“He'll see me. Now.”
Mrs. Prescott nodded and walked out of the room at such a pace that Bobby could easily follow her up the stairs, along the landing and into a large bedroom. Hannah pulled up a chair near the bed and Bobby sat down facing the tired man lying under the sheets. Without turning around, Bobby issued a clear instruction:
“Shut the door on your way out.”
Hannah parted her lips as if she planned on replying but closed her mouth and left.
BOBBY SAT BACK in his seat and watched Teddy Prescott wheeze in front of him. The heart attack had knocked him sideways.
“Hi Teddy. Good to see you.”
“Seen better days.”
“Maybe so, but I‘m sure you‘ve got some great years ahead of you still.”
“Not sure about that from what the doctors have told me.”
“Ah, their job is to make money out of you being ill. Of course they want to keep you down. You‘ll bounce back from this. Just focus on building up your strength and you‘ll be in the Palace humping your way through our girls like there‘s no tomorrow.”
“There may be no tomorrow for me. That‘s my point.”
Bobby watched this old man‘s face. He had a real fear he was on his last legs.
“I hope you‘re wrong, Teddy - for your sake and mine.”
“You always want something but this time I‘m far too gone to do your bidding.”
“You‘re still here, Teddy. And this isn‘t about you. It‘s about your darling Hannah.”
“Leave her out of this.”
“I can‘t ignore her when you sent her down to meet me instead of calling me up here to speak to you, my friend.”
Prescott began to cough, caused by the tightness in his chest: the stress of seeing Bobby.
“Do you fancy a beer? I think I do. Shall I find Hannah and ask her for one?”
Beat.
“Did you ever tell her?”
Teddy‘s pale complexion gained a reddish hue.
“Thought not. I mean, how can a man explain to his wife he raped an underage prostitute to death with a glass bottle? Fucked if I know how to start that conversation, but that‘s what you‘ll be doing soon unless you listen carefully to what I need you to do, you shit bag.”
A pause as Bobby crossed his legs and picked off a piece of white fluff from Prescott‘s sheets.
“It‘s your reputation on the line, not mine. In five minutes time I can tell Hannah what you did and then you‘ll be dying and divorced. Well, what‘s it to be?”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I brought a letter with me today and you will sign it. You‘ll be recommending Alice Lagotti as a fine upstanding member of the community to the Gaming Commission. The family wants to run a riverboat casino.”
Bobby pulled out the typewritten sheet from his inside jacket pocket and fumbled around until he found a pen. Teddy took it and Bobby held the paper so he could write a wobbly signature.
“Thank you for your cooperation. As ever, we appreciate the assi
stance you‘ve provided over the years.”
“This was the last time. I can‘t...”
“Don‘t be ridiculous, Teddy. Of course you can - and you will. We don‘t ask much but, as you know, sometimes we need an accommodation. Besides, mark my words, you‘ll be out of this bed in no time. I made this offer to Hannah but I'm making a promise to you. I will arrange for one of our doctors to pay you a visit.”
“Please don‘t...”
Bobby stood up, put the letter in his pocket and patted Prescott on the shoulder. He might never have liked the senator but Teddy had always come good for them and he looked pitiful right now. Worth showering a few thousand dollars on the old goat if only to make Bobby feel better on the off chance he had to come calling again.
ALICE ENJOYED SPENDING time with Mama especially as she had been entrusted to kick off another key project for the family. East Dubuque nestled just south of the state border with Wisconsin and on the opposite side of the Mississippi to its bigger brother, Dubuque in Iowa. To describe the town as small would be an understatement but Mary Lou wasn‘t shacked up in the East Dubuque Regal to settle down and make a home for herself.
She and Alice only needed to spend a few days here to set up a boilerplate legal entity and to ensure Alice met the residency requirements laid out in the statutes to secure the casino license.
“We‘ll have to stay past the weekend, won‘t we?”
“Looks like it right now. Can‘t be helped. People don‘t move fast in these hick towns - and we‘re from California.”
“I know, but this is the first place I‘ve been where I feel bigger than it.”
Mary Lou smiled: she‘d raised herself a city chick.
“It‘ll grow if we have anything to do with it.”
“Saturday, shall we visit Chicago for some shopping?”
“Spoken like a true Al Capone.”
“A girl has to have fun sometimes. All work and no play...”
“... makes Jill a rich woman.”
Beat.
“I‘m teasing. Chicago is a great idea - unless you‘d rather meet up with Sam instead of hanging out with your old mom.”
“You‘re not old. Anyway, I told Sam I‘d be busy the next few weeks so she wouldn‘t think I was ignoring her. The family business comes first.”
“It‘ll take two hours to drive over there, less if I‘m behind the wheel so why don‘t we stay overnight?”
Alice clapped her hands with glee like a little girl and gave Mama an enormous hug.
“That‘d be great. Just like we used to pop over to LA when I was a kid.”
“Only one difference, darling.”
“Huh?”
“This time you‘re paying.”
SIXTY YEARS BEFORE, Chicago had been at the epicenter of mob activity thanks to its location smack in the middle of the country's waterways for transportation and to the pliability of its local law enforcement officers. That was then. Now the organized crime syndicates were no more and anyone could walk the streets safely without the grinding fear of being shot - unless you were black and poor of course.
Mary Lou and Alice checked into their hotel and sat in the bar contemplating where to eat dinner. Alice thumbed through the local newspaper while Mary Lou went to a phone to speak with Bobby. When she returned five minutes later, concern was written all over her face. Alice's back stiffened as she braced herself.
“What's happened?”
“I've got to go.”
“Go? Where?”
“Atlantic City.”
With those two words, Alice's heart sank because it meant only one thing: Mama needed to bail out Frank. Mary Lou saw Alice's expression shift from excitement to misery.
“He needs me so I have to help.”
“And how old does he have to be before you let him stand or fall by himself?”
“Probably never: he's my son and I love him so I want to look after him. Just as I love you and want to look after you.”
Alice glared and sulked, hiding her head behind her paper. This was not the weekend she'd wanted. Frank always got in the way. Always got more attention than her.
“This isn't a debate. I'll book a flight now. Would be great if you'd drive me to O'Hare but I'll take a taxi if you won’t.”
“Don't be like that, Mama. I'll drive you for sure. I'm disappointed. That's all.”
Every word was true - Alice was saddened but not at the prospect of losing a weekend's shopping because retail therapy could wait. It was her mother and her blinkered attitude to Frank. That was disappointing her because it never seemed to change. The boy snapped his fingers and Mama came running. Every single time.
FRANK FACED DISAPPOINTMENT of his own but this was business and not personal. Leonida had vanished and so had a cool half a million in cash from the Lucky Nugget safe. The two events were connected because it was too much of a coincidence and a member of the reception staff saw Leonida leave with a case in his hard. Frank might not have been Philip Marlowe, but he was no schnook.
His gut told him to track the motherfucker down and slice his skin off while his head said he should focus on the business and not let the red mist take over. In the short-term his head won and he called Palm Springs only to hear Mama was somewhere in Illinois with the golden girl, Alice.
A fresh layer of anger descended on his shoulders and he vowed to find Leonida and settle matters the old-fashioned way. Two hours later, three men burst into Leonida's hotel room. The guy hid in plain sight in AC instead of fleeing town at the earliest opportunity. All three wore plastic masks but only one spoke to the prostitute sitting astride Leonida.
“Put your clothes on: the party's over.”
As the whore scuttled off Leonida's body, he stretched his hand to the bedside table. Three revolvers aimed at his head.
“Don't do it. Don't even try to get your piece.”
“I was going to pay her.”
“No need to bother. My treat.”
The girl just finished putting on her dress and Frank pointed at her panties lying on the floor. She nodded, put them on as quickly as she physically could and looked round the room.
“Got everything?”
A nod. She tried her best not to make eye contact.
“How much does he owe you?”
“Thirty... plus tip. No offence.”
“None taken. We all have to earn a living.”
Frank pulled out a thick roll of bills from his pants pocket and held out a C-note.
“Now beat it. And remember you were never here.”
As the girl took the bill, Frank squeezed her ass under that short dress with enough venom for her to know he wasn't fucking about. The masks and the guns were sufficient reminder however, so she knew it was a just a cheap grope. Under the circumstances, she let it ride and scurried out the room.
By the time Mary Lou arrived that evening, Leonida was missing three fingers but Frank was no expert in torture. They were holed up on the third floor of the Nugget which Frank had never bothered to renovate. Leonida was tied to a chair in an otherwise empty room. The two windows had one shutter ajar and a bare bulb was on, hanging in the middle of the ceiling.
Frank's problem was simple: how to get Leonida to say where he'd stashed the money. While the guy was willing to talk, he reckoned he was a dead man so had no motivation to spill his guts.
Mary Lou stood in the corner watching proceedings as she did when rats were being tortured. Her son was doing his best but all he was achieving was causing the dude pain. She beckoned Frank to stop for a moment and he walked over to her with Leonida's blood dripping from his knuckles.
“Carry on like this and he'll be dead but you'll be no closer to our money. What leverage do we have?”
Frank shrugged. His plan relied on hurting the guy until he squealed, which plainly wasn't working. Mary Lou sauntered toward Leonida, circling him before stopping in front of him. She leaned forward and raised his head by gently moving his chin.
&nbs
p; “How did it come to this? You are not looking in good shape. I hope you understand unless you tell us what we want to know, my son will continue to beat on you until you are dead.”
“I know.”
“That could take a minute, an hour or a day. Or longer. If I make a phone call, I could get someone who could kill you over the course of a week... or more.”
She bent down until her lips were next to his right ear.
“A week or longer: imagine that.”
Leonida strained to look at Mary Lou's face but she had to stand up before he could check out her expression. When their eyes locked, he thought through the reality of her words. He swallowed hard. Mary Lou stood and waited.
“The key in my jacket opens a locker at the station. The money's in there.”
“If I send someone over and the green isn't there, do you understand I'll make that phone call?”
“It's there. I promise.”
One of Frank's goons rummaged through jacket pockets until he found the key. Then with a nod to Mary Lou he left the room. Mary Lou pulled a gun from her waistband and shot Leonida in the head.
“Clean up this mess, Frank. And then find out how you missed that key in the first place. Now, get me somewhere decent to stay for tonight. Tomorrow I want to get back to your sister.”
21
DESPITE HIS ILL-health, Teddy Prescott came through for Bobby yet again and soon Alice's name was added to the roster of legitimate gaming professionals. Work began in earnest. A vessel had been located, bought and renovations were in motion. The infrastructure was only half the story because a casino was successful if you employed the right people and that was proving to be harder than they'd imagined.
The riverboat's route would take it on a loop between Davenport near Iowa City and Fort Madison further south. Every two-bit outfit on both sides of the Mississippi wanted to get in on the action but there simply wasn't room to fit all those beaks in the trough. Instead, Alice found the task of hiring dealers, watchers and counters too difficult.
The Lagotti Family Series Page 77