He watched her raise
the fork to her lips and smiled as they closed slowly over the soft dessert.
He nodded, “
I like to travel e
very chance I get.”
Her interest piqued, “Where?”
“I love Spain
. It’s got a
rich history
, also
the people are cool.”
He sipped the Frappuccino then sat the cup down, “I’ve visited the United Kingdom, London’s overrated but I appreciate the architecture of the old buildings
, the other shit they can have
.
I li
ke Rome. I visit
Puerto Rico all the time and
the
other
C
aribbean islands.
”
“
I plan to start
traveling,
there are a lot of places I want to visit.
”
“How about coming with me to Puerto Rico, sometime?” H
e slid his chair close to the table and sighed, “I was planning to go there
b
efore
, y
ou know.”
She nodded and took another bite. He didn’t need to
elaborate,
she read the sadness in his eyes, “
I
’ll
love to go, when
?
”
“
When they catch the
son of
…”
H
e stopped abruptly at the sight of her unease
then apologized, “I’m sorry. Tonight is not about
any of
that.”
“
It’s okay Alfonzo. We can talk about
it,
I’m not going to fall to pieces.”
Alfonzo finished his drink
. His
plate sat empty except for a fork and a chocolate swirl from his portion of dessert
.
He
slid the plate aside to lean forward to ask,
“Has Detective Johnson said anything about the
c
ase?”
“No…no but I think I migh
t’ve
seen the killer.”
His eyes narrowed, “What…when?”
She put down her fork and looked around then back at him. “I’m not sure Alfonzo that’s why I haven’t told anyone about it.”
“Selange,” he breathed, “what did you see?”
“The day it happened I was angry at my mom when I found out she and your uncle got married without telling me. I
w
as leaving the building and I practically bumped into this guy. I’ve never seen the guy around before so of course I looked over at him and he turned away.
Like he didn’t want me to see his face or something.
I didn’t get a good look at him but he was tall about your complexion and he had this mark on his arm.”
Alfonzo
stiffened, “A mark or a tattoo?”
Her eyes brightened, “Yes, I think it was a tattoo.”
“Go on.”
“At the funeral I almost swear I saw the guy there, too.”
“Holy shit!”
He rocked back, “Selange the dude who attacked me had a tattoo on his arm. This is crazy.”
“What does it mean?”
“
Fuck if I know but
I
need to get some answers.”
“How?”
“The cops know something. They just aren’t telling. I’ll get somebody to talk.”
Minutes later he paid the tab, collected the cake boxes and they scurried to the car. They made it inside
just as lightning illuminated the sky. An angry barrage of rain pounded the pavement
and he sat the boxes on the backseat then said, “wait here a minute, I’ll be right back.”
He ran down the block to the nondescript vehicle and tapped on the window. Detective Winoski peered from behind a crack in the tinted glass.
“I need to talk to you detective.” The lock popped open loudly and he sat in the passenger seat water dripping from his forehead onto his suit, “Why are you following me?”
“
Routine.”
“Bullshit.”
The handsome
man
wasn’t dumb, “Alright. Truth is I’m thinking maybe the
perp
who tried to put you ten feet under might be foolish enough to go for a second try.”
Alfonzo twisted his body to view her fully, “And why would he do that?”
“I was hoping you
’d
know.”
“I don’t.
What aren’t you saying to me detective?
”
She reached over his lap to remove the sketch from the glove compartment and he saw the silhouette of her breasts from the slits of her blouse.
“Do you know this guy?”
He took the crumpled paper and stared at the drawing. “No.”
“What about someone they call Freddie, does it ring a bell?”
“No. Is this the guy who killed my uncle and Selange’s mom?”
“He’s
a person of interest.”
“Can I keep this?” he asked already folding the paper to put in his pocket.
“Go ahead.” She started the car, “How was the opera?” She smirked.
“Shouldn’t you be out
t
here looking for a murderer instead of
f
ollowing me?”
“I’m going to do that as soon as you get out the car.”
He opened the door then hesitated to ask one more question, “Is Selange in any danger?”
The pretty blonde detective seemed amused, “If she keeps hanging with you it’s inevitable.”
Her eyes caressed his crotch and his lip curled at her boldness, “
Let me worry about that, hope you catch this guy before someone else does.”
He escaped from the car and rushed
back to his date. Shit, did he actually go on a date,
who
goes on dates
nowadays, don’t people usually just hook-up? He wondered.
“Where did you go?” She asked.
“To use the bathroom,” He lied then peered at the buckets of water flooding the windshield.
“Are you all right driving in this?”
Sh
e frowned, “You better drive,
it’s
coming down hard.
”
They
exchanged seats. He looked over as she wiped rain from her face and removed a jeweled hairclip to allow her wet locks to fall unimpeded around her shoulders.
On impulse he leaned over, gently cupped her cheeks caressing the curvature of her jaw with his thumbs as he kissed her rosy lips. Her mouth parted as he probed and tasted the velvety chocolate of her tongue.
Fire ignited in his
groin and his hands slid to her bare shoulders then across her breasts. Selange’s
arms circled his neck as Alfonzo’s lips moved low
er s
corching a trail across her
cleavage.
She tasted sweet….so damn…sweet.
Slender f
ingers raked through his hair and he groaned in frustration
and unbridled longing
.
He forced himself to stop.
“What‘s wrong…is it your shoulder?”
Alfonzo grunted, “
Yeah…let me get you home.”
“How are you going to get back to your place?” She asked.
“
Cab.”
“No…why don’t I just stay the night and I’ll drive home in the morning?”
His brow furrowed,
“Okay.”
He drove in silence, wondering if she understood how dangerously close he came to
taking her right there in the car.
His cell was blowing up with calls from Domingo and Antonia which he ignored. He didn’t act on his impulses that
night
,
instead he prepared the guest room, made an excuse about having to take care of a family emergency then paid a carnal visit to Antonia to release his sexual frustration. She was asleep when he returned
. He
quickly showered
,
climbed into his
k
ing
-size
bed alone
and
then shut his eyes.
Selange is special, don’t corrupt her. If the detective is right as long as she’s around
me
she
’s
in danger!
He thrashed around fitfully knowing she was so dam
n close
,
yet so
damn
far. This girl was getting in his blood.
Goddammit…
this girl is making me
seriously consider
monogamy
!
He closed his eyes and dreamt of Selange.
Tonight
,
he played the gentleman
, tomorrow he wasn’t so sure about.
Music
reached
their position
thirty
feet away.
Festivities were u
nderway
at Maria Diaz’ house.
They were celebrating
Alfonzo’s twenty-fourth birthday.
Marchese and Winoski witnessed g
uests emerge from expensive cars carrying gifts and wine.
I
mpeccably dressed
people
beam
ed
as they walked toward
the
brownstone
.
“Holy Shit!”
Marchese screeched causing Carey to look up from her mystery novel
inquisitively.
“What you got?”
She said sliding up from a slouched position.
Marchese pointed to a sleek BMW and the two men standing at the curb.
She’d seen
th
ose
faces
before, but where?
As she tried to recall,
her partner
looked
around frantically. Where the hell was the FBI
de
tail? He
immediately
called the Lieutenant.
“L.T., what the hell is going on? We’re outside the Diaz residence and the
Serano brothers
have arrived.
Where the fuck is the FBI on this?”
That’s it! The Serano’s were mob
hitmen
from Palermo. She sat the book down and checked her weapon. This didn’t make any sense. Why were they ascending the steps to
the Diaz home? What connection did the Diaz’ have to
the mafia
? Too many unanswered questions and she wanted answers.
She reached for the door-handle when Marchese stopped her.
“Hanlon wants us to lay low, he’s contacting the Bureau.” He pointed at the
men,
“It looks like they come bearing gifts.”
“
It’s a
ruse
, we can’t sit here and do nothing if a hit is about to go down
.”
“They know we’re here. They’ve spotted us. This isn’t a hit, it’s a cordial visit.”
She holstered her weapon, “This is getting interesting. We need to get a court order to bug the house.”
The front door was opened by a teenage girl. The men were not let in.
Good!
They monitor
ed
the situation from their vantage point
as a
woman
, Alfonz
o’s mother,
appeared in the
door
way
.
From
her
expression she was not
pleased to see the visitors. The twin on the right handed her a
present a
nd said
something
. Carey w
as anxious to know what it was. Too bad they didn’t have proper surveillance equipment in place.
Marchese’s
cell phone vibrated and he answered. The Lieutenant was giving him a rundown on what he’d been told by the Bureau. Somehow the FBI lost the men near the
F
ifty-ninth
S
treet
B
ridge an hour ago and
were
heading to their location. They were told to tail the men
if the agents didn’t arrive and contact Lieutenant Hanlon.
The twins descended the
stairs
,
one turned in their direction then without concern causally entered the BMW.
As the car pulled away Carey
saw someone peer from the window.
This was
becoming
more interesting by the hour.
“The FBI lost ‘
em
and now we have to do their fucking job!”
Marchese said through clenched teeth. He worked years undercover and got to know people on the
street.
There
a
re inconsequential street players and professionals.
The Serano’s were professionals. If they wanted to wipe out somebody they wouldn’t arrive in full view bearing gifts. They were big-time mafia protectors sent to handle sensitive jobs.
The brothers were suspects in
countless
murders of mob informants in America
and Europe.
The fact they were never tried or convicted of any of the crimes was a testament to their
expertise.
Marchese remained a safe distance from the BMW.
His
summation
, Maria Diaz was withholding information.