“You didn’t expect him to tell you that part, did you?”
She tried to process the meaning of his words. “I only gave a portion of the cost. He said there were four of us in on the deal.”
“Yes, but apparently they all signed it over to you immediately after.”
Melanie grabbed for the nearest chair and sat down to absorb what he’d said.
“For all I know, this story is bullshit.”
“Oh, I assure you, it’s not.” James handed her a large manila envelope. “This is a copy of everything I intend to pass on to the commission, and the media.”
Melanie jumped up and paced around the room. “That bastard!”
James smirked. “But you have to admit, a charming bastard.”
“It wasn’t enough that he screwed me, he’s giving you the chance, too.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, he doesn’t know anything about my proposition.”
“Maybe if he found out he’d—”
“Dean’s into me for so much money he wouldn’t dare try to bargain on your behalf.”
She couldn’t hear anymore. “You’ve said what you came to say. Now get out of my bar.”
“Certainly.” He gestured toward the envelope. “My phone number is in there. Let me know when you’re ready to close the deal.”
◆◆◆
Melanie knew only one person she could ask for advice, so she arranged to meet Charlie at his house that evening. She paced around the room while he sat at the kitchen table, examining the contents of the envelope.
“Jesus, how could you get yourself involved with those maggots?”
“I met Dean at a Chamber meeting in Encino. Ted was out of town for a few days, and we—” She stopped when she saw him raise his eyebrows. “It wasn’t like that. It was all business. The other stuff came later.”
He peered at her over his reading glasses with a look of disapproval.
“Oh, really? Care to give me a rundown of your marital indiscretions?”
Charlie cleared his throat and went back to the papers. “There’s enough here to implicate you, that’s for sure.”
“I told you.”
“Now tell me you didn’t know what Dean was up to.”
“I didn’t. The business seemed perfectly legitimate, and I’ve put together enough deals to know the difference.”
“From the look of these, he paid you pretty well from the profits.”
“It was my way of staying in the business world while still being there for Ted.” She plunked down in the chair opposite Charlie. “The funny thing is, I was happier than I’d been in quite a while.”
“When did you break off the relationship?”
“About three months ago. Ted was starting to get publicity about his interest in applying for chief. I couldn’t afford to have my affair splashed all over TV and the newspapers.”
“But you’re still getting regular deposits made to your account.”
“Of course. That was business. I didn’t see anything wrong with having a business venture.”
Charlie scoffed. “Especially one so tidy and nicely laundered.” He dropped the paperwork, went into the family room, and sat on the couch.
Melanie glared at him, but joined him. “What can I do to stop James?”
“Sell him the damn bar.”
“No.”
“The slime bag’s got you.”
“And there’s nothing I can do to him legally?”
“Like what?”
Melanie let out a deep sigh. “I’m in trouble aren’t I?”
“If you want to stay married to Ted.”
How had she gotten to this place? As she sat in silence, the past came flooding up inside of her. “I never did, you know.”
Charlie answered matter-of-factly. “Yeah, I know. You wanted Mancini.”
“Well, you were already married.”
He sloughed it off. “Oh yeah, sure.
“It’s true,” she said.
“You certainly didn’t show it.”
“I wasn’t interested in just screwing a uniform.”
“Jesus. I never saw it.”
“You were too busy trying to add me to the notches on your nightstick.”
“Funny thing is, it wasn’t a line. If I’d thought for a minute I could’ve really had you I—”
She jumped in. “Would’ve left your wife and kids?”
He shrugged. “When you walked into the Bronze Anchor the other night, you were exactly as I remembered you. I was so jealous of Ted at that moment.”
He scooted over toward her. “But as you spoke, I gazed into your eyes and saw my life in them; empty and full of pain.”
He leaned in and brushed her face with his lips. “I could see it. I just didn’t realize I was the reason for it.”
Melanie pulled back. “Well, not—”
Charlie continued, “I blamed Ted and Mancini, but I know now if I had done the right thing back then, you might not be in this position now.”
Melanie bounded to her feet. “Wait a minute! I screw up a marriage and threaten my husband’s career, and you’re taking the blame for that?”
Charlie sat up and said, “Well I—”
She gathered the papers and her purse into her arms and headed toward the door. “I’ll take the blame for my own failures if you don’t mind.”
Charlie stepped in front of her and grabbed her shoulders. “Mel, wait. I want to make it up to you.”
She pulled out of his grasp. “Even if I had spent the last twenty years pining over you, you think you can make up for a lifetime of hurt with a kiss?”
“Of course not, I—”
“Ya know? You’re more like Ted than you’d care to believe.”
Charlie shook his head and dropped onto the couch, as she opened the door.
“Thanks for the legal advice,” she said and walked out.
CHAPTER 9
Melanie might have been irritated with Charlie for the things he’d said the night before, but he had confirmed one thing; she needed to sell the bar. After having convinced herself that the club would allow her to re-capture the dreams of her youth, and give her life a new purpose, telling everyone would be painful.
She started by telling Connie that afternoon.
He tried to make her feel better. “I know how tough this is on you, but Benny would be okay with it, really.”
Melanie planned to tell Scott and Adriana together that night, so she went down the hall to wait in her office. When she came upon the open back door, she noticed a car pulling up. She did a double-take when she caught a glimpse of Adriana in the passenger seat next to Marco. Hmm. Hadn’t that relationship ended when Adriana had learned about Enzo’s fate?
Melanie had assumed Adriana would send Marco packing, and come into the bar, so she waited at the door. Instead, she saw Adriana lean over and give him a long kiss. The love scene became more intense, then Adriana got out of the car and made her way to the bar door. Melanie ducked out of sight just before Adriana entered the hallway.
◆◆◆
The next day, Charlie walked up to Scott as he sat as his desk in the detective unit. “Come on, I found a lead in the Schneider case.”
“Sorry, I have an appointment with a guy said he remembers Mancini.”
“I told you we haven’t got time for Mancini.”
“Since when haven’t we got time for a little shopping on duty?”
“Look, I only shop for worthwhile goods. What you’re looking for ain’t worth shit.”
“That’s your opinion.”
“Yeah, and mine’s what’s important, cuz I’m the senior man, and I write the shopping list. Roger dat?’
“That’s pretty clear.”
”Good. Then let’s go.”
“Can’t right now. I’m taking my code 7. Be back in an hour.”
Charlie sighed and shook his head, as Scott left.
◆◆◆
Scott drove to the po
rt, knocked on the door of GLEASON CHARTERS, and found Phil Gleason sitting at his desk.
“I gave a statement to the police back then,” Phil said.
“Yeah. You said that Mancini had fired you the day before. You were pissed, but you had an alibi for the night of the murder.”
“That’s right.”
“Anybody else on Mancini’s crew have a beef with him?”
“Not that I know of.”
“What about Sergio?”
“Hell no. Enzo was tight with him. He even let Sergio take the boat out for personal business sometimes.”
Scott had been hoping for more from this guy. “So that’s all?”
“Well, I remember that night he fired me I was pretty wasted; afraid to go home to tell my wife. I knew Mancini hung out at McNeil’s Pub on 6th Street, so I went over there to get even by kicking the shit out of him.”
“And?” Scott said. “So did you?”
Phil smiled. “Turns out I didn’t have to. I only had to suggest to ol’ Benny that Mancini might be in bed with his daughter, and he took off and tore into him like a maniac.
“Did you actually see him do it?”
“I followed him outside and saw him go upstairs, but when the shit hit the fan I got the hell out of there. I didn’t need any more trouble that day.”
“Why didn’t you tell this to the police?”
“I would have if they’d try to pin it on me. But I figured the old guy was entitled to protect his daughter. My own daughter was only five at the time, but I understood how he felt.”
◆◆◆
Scott arranged to meet his mother at one of her favorite restaurants in the Valley. It wasn’t for a casual lunch. After hearing Phil’s story, he had to know if it was true, and she was the only one who could confirm it.
After they were both seated, Scott said, “Thanks for meeting me here, Mom.”
“You know I’d never pass up a chance to lunch with you.” She placed her napkin on her lap. “So what brings you up here today?”
“You. I wanted to talk to you.”
It occurred to her it might have something to do with Adriana. Maybe he’d caught on to her. “Is everything all right?” She asked.
“I’m thinking of dropping the Mancini case.”
That sounded promising, she thought. She tried to act nonchalant. “Really, why?”
“You never told me that Grandpa didn’t approve of you seeing Mancini.”
“How do you know that?”
“I talked to a guy named Phil Gleason. Know him?”
She shook her head.
“He was there the night Grandpa busted in on you and Mancini. Remember?”
1973
Melanie and Enzo were asleep in each other’s arms, when Benny burst in to her studio apartment shouting, “Get up you son of a bitch!”
Melanie jumped up. “Daddy, what are you doing?”
“I’m throwing his guinea ass out of your bed.” He pulled the sheets off them. “Now, get up and put your clothes on.”
“But he loves me, Daddy.”
“Maybe loving you and screwing you mean the same thing in Italian, but they’re two different things in English.”
He grabbed Enzo by the neck, threw him up against the wall, and put a knife to his face. “I don’t want to see your face around here again, or they’ll be sending you back to sunny Italy in pieces. Capisce?”
1998
Scott brought Melanie back to his question. “Mom? Did it happen?”
She nodded.
“And he didn’t have an alibi for the time of the murder?”
Melanie looked up with tears in her eyes and shook her head. “In twenty-five years I’ve never said it out loud.”
Scott sat back in his chair. “But you never forgave him either.”
“No,” she whispered and took a sip of water.
“So why did you reopen the bar?”
“I thought if I did, I could make peace with him, with myself.”
◆◆◆
Connie was next on Scott’s list, so he invited him over to watch a ballgame. Scott handed Connie a beer and sat down in his recliner.
“Ya know, Mom didn’t mention that Grandpa hated Mancini.”
“He’d seen guys like him pass through the bar for years. It wasn’t what he wanted for his daughter. Matter of fact, it was his worst nightmare.” Connie took a swig of beer. “I figured it wouldn’t last, but Benny couldn’t wait it out.”
“Are you saying he did it?”
“Hell, he was mad enough. I went looking for him that night, but I never found him.”
Scott stood up and stared out a window. “Jesus, I wish I’d never started this.”
“Then go to that office of yours, and file those records back where they belong, in 1973.”
◆◆◆
Connie always took a break from his shift by smoking his cigar on a bench outside next to the front door. Saturday night was no different. It wasn’t known if he had noticed the two gangbangers walk by on their way to the store next door, because a spray of gunfire from a passing car blew Connie off the bench. By the time Adriana got to him after hearing the shots, he was dead.
When Scott arrived, police, paramedics, and the coroner’s office vehicles clogged the street. He spotted Charlie standing next to Adriana, who was still in a state of shock. She answered questions in between sobs.
“Looks like a gang hit,” Charlie said. “You noticed much gang activity around here?”
“The usual,” Scott said, as he comforted Adriana.
“Why would they do this to him?” she cried. “He never hurt them.”
“They weren’t after him. They probably wanted the gangbangers walking by the bar.”
“This is terrible,” she said.
Charlie took Scott aside. “We’ve got her statement. Why don’t you take her home? I’ll get somebody else to help with this one.”
“I’ll take her home, but I’m coming back.”
◆◆◆
Charlie and Scott worked nothing but Connie’s case for the next couple of weeks. They talked to the two gangbangers who were at the scene. They knocked on doors up and down the street, and in surrounding neighborhoods. Charlie hit up two of his snitches. They came up empty. There was nothing left to do, but bury Connie the way he had always said he wanted.
Melanie, Ted, Scott, Adriana, and Charlie stood on the deck of a freighter in the harbor. They comforted each other as the minister spoke over Connie’s remains. When he finished, he gave the urn to Melanie who opened it and released the contents into the water. “Smooth sailing, friend.”
From there, they all retreated to the bar for a toast to Connie. Before the toast, Melanie took Charlie aside in the back room and whispered, “Thanks for coming today.”
“I’ve known Connie for over twenty years, too.”
“I know. But I’ve been wanting to apologize for going off on you that day when you were just trying to comfort me.”
Charlie smiled and shrugged. “Hey, I took a lot more abuse than that from you at Harbor, and it never stopped me from going back for more.”
“It’s just that I’d never realized how many other lives have been affected by my marrying Ted for the wrong reasons, and I—”
They were interrupted by Ted’s voice from the bar where he, Scott, and Adriana were ready to give the toast. Scott poured as Melanie and Charlie joined them.
With glasses held high, they all said, “To Connie. A hell of a guy.”
Melanie swallowed her drink and said, “I have an announcement. In light of everything that’s happened, I’ve decided to sell the bar.”
“But Mom, are you sure?”
“Yes. I should have put it up for sale weeks ago.”
Ted reached out and pulled her to him. “I know how many plans you had for the remodel. I hope you’re not doing this on my account. You know I was—”
“No. It’s for the best. And the good thing is,” she gl
anced over at Charlie. “I’ve already had a great offer.”
The group became silent.
“So,” she said, changing the subject, “are you guys any closer to the gangbangers who shot Connie?”
Charlie said, “There’s no evidence that it was a gang hit.”
“But those guys were standing right there,” Adriana said.
Ted downed his champagne. “What have you found?”
“Nobody’s taking credit for this one.”
Scott explained. “There was no call-out at the scene, and no chatter about it later.”
Adriana seemed confused. “What does that mean?”
“You have to understand the gang mentality,” Ted said. “There’s no point in a hit unless their rivals know it was them.”
“So what does that leave us with?” Melanie asked.
Ted answered. “It leaves us to assume that whoever fired that rifle probably got the man he was after.”
CHAPTER 10
With Connie’s murder still unsolved, her suspicions about Adriana, and James Mah’s threat hanging over her head, Melanie couldn’t face the emotional job of packing up the bar by herself, so she asked Sandra to help. They arrived ready for work, wearing jeans and carrying boxes. Sandra jumped in by clearing off the table tops.
“So how do you want to organize this stuff?” she said.
But Melanie’s thoughts were elsewhere, so instead of answering her question, she told her she had seen Adriana with another man.
“You didn’t trust her from the minute she walked in the door.” Sandra pointed to the back entrance.
“I know, but I kept hoping I was wrong for Scott’s sake.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I asked Charlie to run a check on her. Including her visa status.”
“You’d send her to jail?”
“In a heartbeat.”
“I give you credit. You’ve got balls.”
“If I really had a set, I’d tell James what to do with himself and open my club.”
She started to gather things from behind the bar. “I can’t believe McNeil’s Pub will be gone for good. It’s where I grew up.”
Harbor Blues Page 8