The way the construction scam worked was like this: Marty got an order from a contractor who needed equipment fast and cheap. Marty or another of Jimmy’s lieutenants went out and found the equipment at a construction site. Marty or one of the boys showed up with a flatbed and phony work order and took it.
Within hours of its being stolen, the equipment was delivered to its new owner, cash was paid, and the deal was done. It was lucrative. It was easy. The risk came with letting any of the machinery sit around—not that it was easily identified as stolen. It wasn’t. Construction equipment didn’t need license plates, it wasn’t registered with any agency, the serial numbers were easily defaced or removed.
So even when Marty didn’t have an order for the stolen machines, Jimmy was ready to take what fortune offered. Skid steers, in particular, which sold for $40,000 used, were routinely left parked at a building site and just begged to be taken. So Jimmy took them whenever he could. He figured it was worth the small risk involved.
Jimmy the Bug felt a lot of pride in the theft ring. It had made him rich, and it drew a lot less attention from the cops than drugs.
Having Marty out on bail with an ankle bracelet hadn’t slowed down the operation yet, but Jimmy couldn’t keep sending contractors up to Camden to do business. Sooner or later, they would attract the wrong kind of attention. He’d have to cut Marty out soon. Since Marty would get upset about his loss of income and might start singing to the authorities, eliminating Marty would have to be permanent.
Ordering a hit on Marty was just the way it was. James Torelli had known Marty Biz for forty years. They went to Barringer High School together. But Jimmy the Bug wasn’t sentimental, and Marty wasn’t related by blood. Business was business.
Jimmy sat back in his chair and lit a cigarette. Outside of that small bit of unpleasantness, he felt pretty good today. Once he got his genie back, all would be right in his world.
But when Sal and Joey showed up, their clothes bloody and their hands empty, Jimmy knew his world had gone to hell again.
‘‘Where’s the girl?’’ he demanded of the twin lieutenants.
‘‘We couldn’t get her, boss,’’ they said.
‘‘Whadda you mean, you couldn’t get her? Puggy called me. He said you three were about to grab her. How could you screw this up!’’ His eyes popped out of his head so far they looked like hard-boiled eggs. The veins on his neck bulged like blue ropes. ‘‘And where the hell is Puggy!’’
Puggy, it turned out, was in the hospital. Neither Sal nor Joey dared to give their boss the real story. The one they made up about the casino security guards stopping them only made him curse louder. Jimmy the Bug screamed at them to get out before he shot them right in the ass. He slipped a revolver out of his desk drawer and figured he might just as well do it, but they ran out of the room so fast he didn’t get a chance to pull the trigger.
Later, Jimmy figured it was better he didn’t do anything hasty. Sal and Joey had to take that flatbed to Delaware tonight. Help was hard to find. And with Puggy out of commission, he’d have to call up Newark and tell one of his other cousins to get down here to cook the ziti for him.
For a long time, Jimmy the Bug sat in his office and brooded. As soon as the twins brought the payoff from the Delaware guy tonight, he would take care of the girl himself. He had figured out a way to force her to return the bottle, and unlike the morons who worked for him, he didn’t intend to screw it up.
As far as Mike was concerned, the drive back to Atlantic City with Corrine turned out okay. He didn’t blame her for giving him a hard time. What she said about Kiki hit home, although Mike thought she exaggerated a little. He had been with Kiki for a long time. The relationship didn’t work out, but he didn’t feel right bad-mouthing her. They had some good times together. He hoped things worked out for Kiki. He wished her well.
Of course, those were Mike’s thoughts
before
he got back to the hotel, before he told Kiki they needed to talk.
The first thing Kiki said to Mike when he walked into their suite in Trump Plaza was that she was going back to New York. She called to him from the bedroom where she had her suitcases open on the bed. He walked over to the door and stopped without going in.
Kiki was busy packing her clothes. She was rushing, focused on the task, and didn’t bother looking at him while she folded up blouses, tucked shoes into cloth bags, and informed him in a matter-of-fact manner that she had a fitting for her wedding gown tomorrow, and she had gotten a contract with the
New York Times Magazine
to do some shoots in the city. She’d be staying at their apartment for the rest of the summer. He could keep this hotel room, but only until Monday. His condo project down here really didn’t need him to be on site, did it? She made an appointment with Armani to make him a new tux for the wedding. By next week, he needed to come back to New York.
Mike waited for her to finish. Slowly, deliberately,and in a calm voice he said, ‘‘I’m not coming back to New York. Kiki, we need to talk.’’
She whirled around, her face angry, her voice annoyed. ‘‘You’re being really inconsiderate. I want you in the city.’’
‘‘Kiki, I said I’m not going.’’
‘‘What are you talking about?’’ She stopped packing and stared at him.
‘‘I told you a while ago that I was thinking about leaving the real estate business. I am. I’m becoming a private investigator. I went into partnership with Jake Truesdale.’’
‘‘You have to be joking. This is a joke, isn’t it, Michael? You’re just trying to test me or something.’’
‘‘Kiki, I plan to sell the apartment in the city. You can buy me out if you want to. I need the money to get a place down here. This is where I’m going to be living.’’
‘‘I don’t understand. Do you think I’m going to commute from Manhattan? I don’t want to live at the Jersey shore.’’ Her voice was shrill.
‘‘I know you don’t. I’m not asking you to. I don’t want to marry you. You went ahead with the wedding date without consulting me. You didn’t tell me you were spending a lot of money on a designer dress. I’m sorry about that. Take it back. Save it for your next fiancé. I don’t care.’’ Mike wasn’t going to back down. He knew what he had to do and he just wanted to get it over with.
Kiki still hadn’t moved from the side of the bed. ‘‘Michael, this isn’t like you. Is it because you had sex with your old girlfriend? I told you I forgave you. It was just some prewedding fling. Maybe I was too hasty about announcing the date. If you’re really upset about that, it’s okay. We’ll postpone it until you’re ready.’’ She started to move toward him now, her arms out to him.
He backed away. ‘‘No, it’s not that. There’s not going to be a wedding, ever. I don’t love you anymore, Kiki. I’m sorry. It didn’t work out. It’s over.’’
For a microsecond, rage crossed Kiki’s beautiful face. Then she took a trembling breath and tears filled her eyes. ‘‘Michael, no!’’ she cried, her voice catching in a sob. ‘‘You can’t do this to me!’’
‘‘Kiki, you’re a beautiful woman. You’ll find someone else, someone who’s crazy about you. You know there’s been nothing between us for a long time.’’ He turned to go. He figured he’d come back and pack his things after she left for New York.
But before he got to the front door, Kiki launched herself at his back and was clutching his shoulders, sobbing into his neck. He gently pried her loose and turned around. ‘‘Kiki, don’t do this.’’ His voice was soft although his words were cruel. ‘‘I don’t love you. I love someone else. I don’t want you anymore.’’
Kiki glared at Mike with something like triumph in her eyes. She put her fingers around his wrist. Her red painted nails dug into his flesh. ‘‘You wanted me last night, didn’t you? You wanted me enough to make love to me without any protection. So you go ahead and leave, Michael Amante. I know my body. I am pretty sure by next week I’ll have proof that I’m carrying your child.’’
Mike felt a chilling moment of panic. His blood turned to ice in his veins. ‘‘No,’’ he said. ‘‘No. I don’t believe you. I don’t believe we had sex last night. I don’t believe you’re carrying my child.’’
He pulled away from her and opened the door.
‘‘You might not believe me. But what about your little country mouse? What’s her name, Hildy? How is she going to feel when I tell her you went from her bed right back into mine?’’
Mike didn’t look at Kiki again. He slammed the door behind him, but he couldn’t shut out the memory of her words or stop the bad feeling he had inside.
Chapter 24
Tony G. retrieved Hildy’s cell phone after it had slipped from her fingers. He took a firm grip on her arm and stopped her from rushing to the door.
‘‘I have to stop Mike! I have to get to him!’’ she had cried out after she dropped the phone. Her wide eyes darted left and right. The white towel fell to her shoulders. Wet strands of blond hair dangled around her face.
Tony G. held her fast. He could see she was in shock. ‘‘Get hold of yourself. Calm down. You can’t go anywhere.’’
‘‘Why not? I have to!’’ Hildy tried to pull her arm free.
‘‘For one thing, you’re wearing nothing more than a bathrobe. For another thing, whatever is wrong, we need to talk it through and decide
calmly
what to do. Running off half-cocked isn’t going to help.’’
His words didn’t seem to register. Hildy fought to get to the door. Tony surrounded her with his powerful arms, immobilizing her. ‘‘Ms. Caldwell! Ms. Caldwell, do you hear me!’’
After a moment, Hildy stopped struggling. The genie released her and stepped away.
She stared unseeing at the Roman’s craggy face. She blinked hard. She took a deep breath. The flood of adrenaline that had triggered her fight-or-flight response began to ebb away. ‘‘You’re right,’’ she said at last. She looked down at her bathrobe. ‘‘Damn, I wish I were already dressed.’’
‘‘Certainly,’’ the genie said and tossed some glittering dust into the air.
Hildy heard an eerie sliding tone that sounded like the opening of Led Zeppelin’s ‘‘Whole Lotta Love.’’ ‘‘Oh!’’ she exclaimed, as the rustling of clothes tickled her flesh. She found herself dressed in skinny black pants and a scoop-necked black tank top. She had sneakers on her feet. Her hair was dry and styled. She couldn’t tell for sure, but she suspected she was also wearing makeup. She turned grateful eyes to Tony. ‘‘Thank you.’’
‘‘My pleasure. Now let’s sit down and discuss this.’’ He steered her into the dining room to their usual spot at the red Formica and chrome table. ‘‘I think it would help if you started at the beginning.’’
Hildy wanted to plunge right in and talk about Mike, but maybe the genie was right. If she related things in order, perhaps her thoughts would become less chaotic and her fear less like a beast that was clawing at her heart. ‘‘Okay. First, my sister told me to ask what you two discussed about getting rid of my ‘bug problem.’ ’’
‘‘About
her
idea for getting rid of Jimmy the Bug? I don’t think it has any merit.’’
‘‘
She
does. I hate to say it, but in the end she’s usually right, so tell me.’’
‘‘She said you should just think up the right kind of wish to eliminate him, that’s all. I told her I couldn’t bring anyone harm. She said I had no imagination.’’ He shrugged his shoulders and held up his hands, palms skyward.
‘‘So what kind of a wish did she mean?’’
‘‘How do I know? She’s
your
sister.’’
‘‘I’ll have to think about it. She also said you told her about the security at Jimmy the Bug’s office. I don’t understand. What were you two talking about? Why did that even come up?’’
‘‘I’m not sure how the conversation came around to that particular topic. Your sister asked a lot of questions. She wanted to know where Jimmy the Bug lived and where he worked. She made me give her a detailed description of his associates, including his girlfriend, Jennifer. You know, she wasn’t even taking notes. She said she had a mind like a steel trap.’’
‘‘She does, Tony. Believe me, she does,’’ Hildy assured him. ‘‘Then what?’’
‘‘She required me to tell her all about Jimmy the Bug’s criminal enterprises and if other mobsters ever tried to ‘rub him out.’ That kind of thing. I must tell you, she was a little scary the way she wanted all the details of some very nasty stuff. What’s with this fascination with the Mafia, anyway? Is she connected?’’
Hildy shook her head. ‘‘The only thing Corrine’s connected with is HBO. So what did you tell her, about Jimmy the Bug’s office?’’
‘‘I told her that nobody ever made a hit on him there, because they never could. Jimmy the Bug is paranoid about a rival from North Jersey moving in on his territory. His place of business is as solid as a concrete bunker. It sits off the highway in a secluded part of the Pine Barrens. Video cameras monitor anybody who comes near the place.
‘‘Besides that, he’s got an arsenal inside to use on any hit man trying to pop him. If anyone tries to sneak onto the property, he’s got the place booby-trapped. Now why do you want to know?’’
Hildy’s face registered her growing anxiety. ‘‘Corrine said Mike and his partner have a lead on recovering stolen construction equipment. They’ve linked the thefts to Jimmy the Bug. She thinks Mike may be headed to Jimmy’s office tonight, and Tony—’’ She clutched the genie’s arm. She looked at him with haunted eyes. ‘‘If that’s where he’s going, Mike doesn’t know what he’s walking into. We have to stop him before he gets killed.’’
A purple-hued twilight softly fell on Long Beach Island, forestalling the dark of night for another hour. The Bermuda High stayed stubbornly over the northeast, keeping temperatures high and air conditioners blasting. But fishermen casting into the surf noticed the waves were breaking farther from the shore than usual. The seabirds too felt a subtle change in the direction of the wind and winged inland, instead of roosting on the jetties.
The tropical depression called Angie had, it seemed, intensified into a category one hurricane. Still gestating in the warm Caribbean waters, it had turned ever so slightly toward the northeast, its trajectory turning away from Cuba and Miami, and taking aim at the Carolinas.