There was no reason he couldn’t do the same. He never considered his future, only that he knew he didn’t want to repeat the past. He wouldn’t leave Eva in the same position his father left his mother after he was killed – without provisions. Without a Plan B. Forty was slowly creeping up on him. He would find balance. He had to. He wasn’t letting her go, nor would he let her push him away. Too late – they were way past that.
“Yeah?” Ben kept it cool with Vic as he finished the last drop of scotch from his glass. “What about?”
“Thanksgiving. Little lady wants to do it on her own. But…..you’re on for dessert. Janice practically empties out the pie case and brings it over.”
Ben smiled – something he did a lot of since meeting Eva. He appreciated the annual invite to Vic’s all these years, but he looked forward to what Eva had planned. He pictured sitting in his now-favorite chair - which still had the feel of their first fuck – before a blazing fire while the aroma of turkey, stuffing, biscuits and gravy filled the house. Maybe watch a little football. Maybe work off some sweet potatoes with a little romp. Maybe go out in the yard and find some spare trees to chop for more wood? Maybe show up on Mrs. Bachman’s doorstep – offering to do the same and give the old coot a heart attack?
No matter what, he was looking forward to something he never used to. “Sounds good to me, pres.”
Aero joined them. “You hear from her?
Ben nodded. “On her way back.”
Vic checked the clock. Ten fifiteen. “And
they
should be on their way
in
.”
Good. He wanted to get out of here and head home.
Home.
~~~***~~~
Point Pleasant off Route 35; Martinsburg off Interstate 81; Northfolk off Interstate 77 – these were where the other three Mountain Skull charters called home. As well as three package stores run by the Santagio family
At exactly ten fifteen six men men in quarter-length black coats and fedoras waited at the back entrance – two at each store - for the scheduled cash pick up. The driver appeared, knocked on the back door and was let in – just as the two men came forward and pushed their way in, driving a silenced bullet between their eyes then took the money.
Up north, inside Ticker Liquor, Joey Perrone sat in the back of the store, smoking a joint while watching some amateur porn video on YouTube. A fist pounded on the back door right at the good part. Huffing, Joey took one, more deep drag, held it in just so before letting it out. He opened the door and clasped hands with the driver. The next thing he saw was the back of his head being blown off.
The last thing he saw were two guns pointed at him before it went dark.
One of the men bent down to find Joey’s cell while the other scooped up the cash bag next to the computer. He chuckled at the video, before closing the computer down. The other man found the phone and scrolled through the outgoing calls before finding the number he wanted. Removing a glove, he pressed the number with the skin of his knuckle, then waited for the other end to pick up.
“Jesu Christo, Guissepe
,” Emilio Santagio’s voice said. “Just fucking wait…..”
“I’d be calling your clean-up crews if I were you, Emilio. All four stores.”
“
What? Who….who the fuck is this?”
“Not who, but what. Consider this a four-part message from
don
Caprese. And here’s how it concludes. You shut down that upstart heroin business. You turn over the narcotics. You go nowhere near the Mountain Skulls or their families. You breach any part of this, the Santagio name will be nothing more than an echo. Consider tonight’s deposit payment for pain and suffering.” Click.
It was done. It didn’t take much – not when the Caprese name was dropped.
~~~***~~~
It was a little before eleven when Eva was dropped off. Ben’s bike wasn’t next to her car in the driveway. It was either parked on the back patio or he was still at the clubhouse. She gave the driver a wave and watched the black Mercedes disappear into the night, passing a white, parked one on the way. Someone on this street was doing well! Once inside the front door, she kicked off her shoes, hung up her coat, put down her purse then went into the kitchen to put on the tea kettle. She sniffed, the faint whiff Chanel No. 5 still clinging to her living room even long after Elle left. She needed to do a complete rewind of her first dinner visit with Carmine so she could replay it for Ben when he got home.
She flicked on the kitchen light then…….jumped. A woman stood by the table, by the slightly opened slider – the one Ben bitched to her about her forgetting to lock. A hand went to her mouth as she shrieked. “Who….?” All Eva could reach for was a wooden meat mallet from the utensil jar next to the stove. “Why are you in my…….?” She cut off and really looked at the woman, recognizing her as the one she bumped into coming out of Linda the psychic’s. Fifty-ish, styled, layered haircut, high cheekbones, dark, arched brows. She wore some designer-logo blouse tucked into navy blue pants. A Mercedes key ring sat on the table. That was
her
car. “Who the hell are you?”
The woman didn’t say a word – just slowly walked forward, as Eva gripped the mallet. “You wouldn’t recognize me after twenty six years,” the woman said.
Eva’s stomach lurched with her words, as well as the thick stench of Chanel No. 5. “Mom?” It made her sick to even call her that.
“Hello, Eva.” Carol Caprese, formerly Carol Sinclair, looked over her daughter. “Look at you. Oh my God, look at you………”
“Get out of my house!” Eva said that through clenched teeth. “How dare you? How
DARE
you?”
“Eva, please.” Carol put her hands up. “I need to talk to you. You may be in danger.”
Eva dropped the mallet then gave her mother an ‘oh, really’ look. “Let me guess. From my…..
father
?”
Carol stepped back, shocked. “He got to you already.”
“That’s what you get from keeping secrets…..Carol.”
“I did that for you,” Carol said. “For your sake…..”
“Don’t you fucking
dare
say that! You did
nothing
for
my
sake. If you hadn’t gone off every fucking year to some damn fucking insurance convention so you could have a fucking affair there wouldn’t be anything for you to do for my
fucking
sake!” Eva’s entire body shook with her verbal tirade. She never swore like that, but she was utterly appalled by this…..this woman waltzing into her house uninvited and trying to make herself out to be some martyr. “
You
cheated.
You
got knocked up.
You
lied, making Michael……
dad
think I was his.
You
left willingly when Antonio came for you that night.”
Carol took a sharp breath. “You….you know?”
“I know everything I need to know. So don’t stand there like some innocent kidnapping victim. Day after day, week after week, I asked dad where you were. When you were coming home. Why you left and each time it must’ve broke his heart to have to lie to save the feelings of someone too young to understand. He finally told me the truth, when I was sixteen.” Eva left out the charm bracelet with the inscription. Carol didn’t need to know. That was private between her and her dad. Only MaryLynn and, now, Ben knew. “And now that dad’s dead and my father is dying, you felt it safe to tell him the truth.”
Carol shook her head. “You have no idea how much it burdened me.”
“You have no idea how much I don’t care.” Eva felt good saying that.
“Eva, listen. I didn’t mean to come in like this. I knew you’d turn me away if I went to your store. I always knew where you were, but never dared to approach you. But I have to warn you.”
“About being in danger?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me something, mother.” She said that last word sarcastically. “If you thought telling Carmine would put me in danger, then why did you? If you really loved me, then you wouldn’t have….”
“We don’t have much time, Eva.” Carol had lept forward, grabbing both of Eva’s wrists. “I know he’s made contact. I’ve been spending time around here since he turned me from the house. I know you went there tonight. I saw the car pick you up and bring you back. And I know you’ll go back again. Which is why we’re running out of time. Work with me instead of fighting me and I’ll make it worth your while.”
Eva tugged her hands away, Carol’s hard grip sinking the chain of her bracelet into her skin. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Carol stepped back and folded her arms. “He hasn’t gone to his appointment yet. His attorney’s still on vacation until the end of the month. There’s still time, Eva. I can’t do this, but you can.”
“Do what?”
“I’ll take care of getting it to you. All you have to do when you go for dinner is slip it in his drink and….”
“Whoa, wait. Are you saying you want me to
poison
your husband?”
“He’s already half-dead, Eva. And if he dies before he can change the will…..”
Carol let the end of that sentence linger. Eva didn’t need her to finish it. Ben said she was smart at putting two and two together and this math problem she could do blindfolded, gagged and bound. She remembered something Carmine had said:
“
Oh, we’re still married, but when I soon die, Carol Caprese will find herself completely shut off.”
Her mother was going to be cut off and wanted to head her husband off at the pass by killing him before he cut her out of his will. “I see.”
“Do you? You’ll……do it, then?”
“Are you kidding me? Do your own dirty work, Carol. Now take your designer self and drive that luxury car of yours off my street and out of my life.”
Eva wasn’t prepared for Carol’s hand snatching out to grab her arm – tight. She got her height from her mother, but Carol had a few more inches on her – moreso with heels. “I don’t think you understand what’s at stake here, Eva. A lot of money for which a good portion will come your way. You’ve got a business and this old house. Look at these floors? These cabinets? These ugly gold appliances? You’ll never want for nothing.”
She tried to tug her arm, but Carol’s grip was like a vice. Eva shook her head with confusion. “How can you do this?
How, mother
? Guess it’s as easy to decide to kill your husband as it is to walk out on your own family.”
“Do it, Eva.”
“Or else?”
With a shove, Carol let go and backed away. “Not many people know you’re Carmine Caprese’s daughter. Especially his enemies. It would be a shame if they did. You’d have a target on your head not even that biker could deflect.”
“Think again, Carol.”
Ben’s voice and the sound of metal clicking sparked behind her as Carol Caprese’s face went white as a sheet. He stepped in front of Eva, putting himself between her and her mother, as Ben trained his gun between Carol’s eyes. “You threaten my ol’ lady? Your own
daugher
?”
Eva softly placed her hands against Ben’s back. “Ben…..don’t.”
In a flash, Ben had his left hand around Carol’s throat, lifting her to where her feet were actually dangling. Her hands came up to grab his, trying to pry free as the barrel of his gun dug deep into her temple. “You wouldn’t,” she gasped out. “You wouldn’t.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” Ben said with utter calm. “Trust me. I have no problem with putting a bullet in a bitch’s head.”
That was true, Eva knew. She shuddered, but composed herself. “Ben, don’t. You can’t. She’s still his wife and……you can’t.”
As if her words rang home, Ben dropped Carol. He never took the gun off her as she collapsed to the ugly linoleum she just mocked, desperate for breath. Ben gave Eva a look as if it was her call to make. “You can’t kill her.” Then Eva gave her mother a disgusted look. “I have a more…..appropriate idea.”
Chapter Twenty Three
Twenty six years ago, Antonio Conti showed up at Michael Sinclair’s house to deliver the man’s wife to his Uncle Carmine. Tonight, he showed up at Eva Sinclair’s house to do the same thing.
Eva opened the front door, letting the Caprese family
consigliere
and an associate into her home and leading them to the kitchen. Ben nodded when they entered the kitchen, his gun still trained on Carol at the kitchen table with her hands tied behind her back and mouth gagged. That’s all the ol’ biddie across the way needed to hear was a woman screaming her head off. She desperately tried to do just that when she saw Antonio. Ben had given the details over the phone of what went down – and what Carol’s motive was.