Reno and Trina: In the Shadows of Love, Book 12 (17 page)

Reno’s heart
was hammering.
 
But he knew they couldn’t
gun down the only lead they had.
 
Especially after what Palameri had just told them.
 
He waved off Jannick and Debrosiac, and all
three put their guns away.

“Now sit
down like civilized individuals if you please,” Palameri said.
 
“And let’s talk.”

Reno sat
down.
 
He knew Palameri had the upper
hand, and he had to let this play itself out.
 
Debrosiac and Jannick, both seemingly more affronted than Reno was, sat
back down too.

“Now that we
understand each other,” Palameri said, “let’s make a deal.”

“Where is my
son?” Reno asked.

“I will give
you your son this day,” Palameri said, “if you give me a cool million this day.”

“Are you out
of your fucking mind?” Jannick asked.
 
“A
million dollars?”

“Or not,”
Palameri said.
 
“But Dominic Gabrini,
Junior will not be purchased for anything less.”

Reno
swallowed hard.
 
He was studying
Palameri. He was studying his every smile, frown, quirk.
 
He could be full of truth, or full of
shit.
 
Reno couldn’t say.
 
But this was the first kernel of hope he had
since last night.
 
He wasn’t dismissing
it that easily.
 
“Prove it,” he said to
his nemesis.

Palameri
smiled.
 
And tossed Reno the cell phone
he had on his desk.
 
“That phone in your
hand is a throwaway.
 
You can throw it
away, if you care to, or you can press the number 1 and listen.”

Reno pressed
the number 1 and the phone began ringing.
 
He put the phone on Speaker in case his men heard something he didn’t
hear.

Then the
ringing stopped.
 
“Hello?” a voice said.

Reno closed
his eyes.
 
It was his son.
 
He opened them again.
 
“Dommi?” he asked.

“Daddy?”

“Are you
okay?”

“Yes,
sir.
 
Where are you?”

“I’m coming
to get you, okay?”
 
Reno had to try
it.
 
Debrosiac and Jannick, understanding
it too, stood up, pulled out their guns, and trained them on Palameri again.

Reno tried
it.
 
“Where are you, Dom?”

“I don’t
know,” Dommi said.
 
“A room.”

“In a
house?”

“I don’t
know.
 
It’s scary, Daddy.”

“Who’s there
with you?”

“I don’t
know.
 
They come and go.
 
I don’t know anything.”

Reno fought
back tears.
 
“You stay strong, you hear
me?
 
You stay strong and do everything
they tell you to do, you hear me, boy?”

“I hear you,
Daddy.”

“Don’t be a
hero.
 
Do whatever they say.”

“I will,
Daddy.”

Then the
phone went dead.

“Proof
enough?” Palameri asked.

Reno nodded
to his men.
 
They stood down again and
put away their weapons.
 
“When do you
want the money?” Reno asked Palameri.

“I want my
phone back first.”

Reno hesitated,
then tossed him back his cell phone.

“When can
you have the money?” Palameri asked.

“Without
drawing the attention of the authorities?
 
Next week.”

Palameri
smiled.
 
“Come now, Reno.
 
Who do you think you’re dealing with?
 
I’m not talking about that neat little money
you keep in that neat little bank.
 
I’m
talking about that dirty big money the bank, nor IRS, know shit about.
 
Pay me with that money.”

Palameri
then slid a notepad across the desk.
 
Reno grabbed it.
 
“That’s the
meeting place,” he said.
 
“I’ll meet you
there in two hours.
 
My men are already
there, so don’t try to get yours there early.
 
My men are already blanketing my office, and will be following you, so
don’t try to follow me.
 
If you get that
money, and bring it to that location at ten thirty this morning, then you will
have your beautiful boy in your bosom by ten-thirty-one.
 
Understood?”

Reno didn’t
like the odds.
 
They favored Palameri too
much and were too stacked against him.
 
But he knew he didn’t have a choice.
 
He stood up.
 
“You’ll get your
money.
 
See that I get my son.”

And Reno and
his small entourage left.

Palameri
leaned back and clasped his hands.
 
He
could not believe his great luck.

Amy Shumer
walked into Champagne’s expecting to see Trina behind the counter.
 
She saw Liz Mertan, Trina’s business partner,
instead.

“May I help
you?” Liz asked.
 
The woman looked
downright depressed to Liz.

“Hi.
 
I’m Amy Shumer.”

“Oh, right.”
Liz remembered her now.
 
“You’re the
young lady that Trina hired.
 
Or will be
hiring. Or didn’t hire.
 
I’m not sure of
your status.
 
What is it?
 
Trina didn’t say.”

“We’re still
in the talking phase,” Amy said.
 
“Is
Mrs. Gabrini here?”

“Here at
work today? Oh, heavens no,” Liz said. “Her daughter-in-law was the victim of a
shooting last night.
 
I’m not expecting
her at all today.
 
She’s at the hospital
and probably will be there for the balance of the day.
 
Sorry.
 
Perhaps if you come back tomorrow?”

“Thanks,”
Amy said and headed out.
 
But tomorrow
felt like an eternity away.
 
She had
leverage now, and she aimed to use it.

Trina was
lying on the couch, with Sophia in her arms, when the doctor finally walked
in.
 
Buddy and Jimmy were sitting down,
but they both stood up when the neurosurgeon walked in.
 
Trina sat up.

“How is she,
Doc?” Buddy asked.

The doctor
removed his surgical cap, revealing a bald head.
  
“She’s resting comfortably,” he said.
 
“Surgery went as well as we could have hoped
for.
 
The bullet has been removed, and
thankfully there appears to be no damage to her brain.”

“Thank God,”
Jimmy said.
 
“What about her
recovery?
 
Is she going to be alright?”

“There’s
always risks to consider, but yes.
 
If we
can keep her infection-free, then she should make a full recovery.”

“Thank-you,
Jesus,” Buddy said.

“Can we see
her?” Jimmy asked.

“You’re her
husband?”

“Yes.”

“You can see
her.
 
The rest of you will have to wait.”

Buddy
nodded.
 
Just as long as Jimmy eye-balled
her for him.
 
“Make sure she’s
comfortable,” he said to his son-in-law.

“I will,”
Jimmy assured him, and followed the doctor out.

Buddy looked
at Trina and smiled in relief.
 
“Thank
you, Jesus,” he said.
 
“Thank you Jesus!”

Trina was
relieved too, but she couldn’t manage a smile.
 
It had been well over two hours, and still no word from Reno.
 
She wasn’t in any celebratory mood just yet.

Palameri was
right.
 
His men had blanketed the
area.
 
They had followed Reno to the
PaLargio to get the money, and had followed him to the drop-off point in Spring
Valley at what used to be a thriving housing project.
 
Now it was boarded up and deserted,
surrounded by old, rusty cars, piles of trash, and vultures swarming some dead
carcass in the middle of another heap of trash.
 
A landfill would have looked more desirable than this place.
 
But this was the place Palameri had
chosen.
 
Reno knew he and Debrosiac and
Jannick were at risk.
 
Their men were on
standby, and Jannick was wired so that they could listen in on the entire
encounter.
 
They were on their way, but
they couldn’t make a move until all of Palameri’s people had gone.
 
They were far behind. But Reno had
insurance.
 
He always did.

He parked
his Porsche beside Palameri’s SUV, and he and his men got out.
 
Palameri was already out, and waiting.

“What took
you so long?” he said with that ridiculous grin on his face.

“Where’s my
son?”

“Where’s my
money?” Palameri asked.
 
“You aren’t
running this, Reno.
 
I run this.
 
And this is how it’s going to work: you will
give me my money, give me and my men a chance to get out of the area without
being followed, and then I’ll phone back and let you know where you can find
your son.
 
Safe and sound.”

“Hell
no!
 
Even swap. You know that.
 
You give me my son, I give you the money.”

“Then your
men ambush my men on our way out?
 
No
way, Reno.
 
I have what you want.
 
You have to make the compromise.
 
Not me.
 
I have the strongest hand here.
 
I
have your son.
 
And once I get the money,
and is safely away, then I’ll call and tell you where you can find your boy.”

“What’s to
stop you from not bothering to call?”

Palameri
smiled.
 
“You’ll just have to trust me,
now won’t you?
 
Don’t worry, Reno.
 
I keep my word.
 
Your son will be delivered to you safe and
sound.”

“If he’s not
safe and sound,” Reno said, “and I don’t find him, you’re dead.
 
You know that?”

“I know it.”

“If anything
happens to me or my men, you’re dead.
 
You know that?”

Palameri
smiled.
 
“I know.
 
I know Sal Gabrini is still out there, and
Dapper Tom.
 
I’m no fool, Reno.”

“But just in
case you have foolish plans in that direction,” Reno said, pulling out his
phone, “I would advise you to change them.”

Reno handed
the phone to Palameri. On it was a live feed of a young, beautiful woman bound
and gagged, sitting in a chair.
 
Palameri
stood up straight.
 
“What the fuck,” he
said.

“My men
snatched her while you were setting up this lovely event.
 
You don’t deliver my son, I won’t deliver
your gorgeous wife.”
 
Palameri looked at
him.
 
“Just so we’re clear,” Reno added.

Palameri
stared at Reno with nothing but contempt in his eyes.
 
There was a reason Reno was king of the Vegas
mountain.
 
But even Kings got dethroned
sometimes.
 
“You outsmarted me,” he said.
 
Then he nodded.
 
“You’ll get the call.
 
And then you’ll release her?”

“After I
eyeball my son, your wife will be free to go.”

“What’s to
stop your men from killing her after you get your son?”

Reno stared
at Palameri.
 
“You’ll have to trust me,
now won’t you?”

Palameri
continued to stare at Reno.
 
It wasn’t as
if he had a choice either.
 
Then he
exhaled.
 
“You’ll get the call,” he said.

Reno then
nodded to Jannick.
 
Jannick reached
inside of the Porsche, pulled out a duffel bag, and tossed it to Palameri.
 
Palameri opened it, saw all of the big bills,
and smiled.
 
Then he zipped it closed and
tossed it into his SUV.
 

“You’ll get
the call,” he said again, as he got into his SUV.
 
He rolled down the window.
 
“If any of your people follow us, that boy of
yours is dead.
 
I cannot stress that
enough.”
 
He then rolled up his window,
and his Driver drove him away.

“I don’t
like this, boss,” Jannick said when the SUV was clean out of sight.

“You’ve got
a better idea?” Reno asked.
 
“He’s not
turning over Dom unless he gets away.
 
What else am I supposed to do? Not let him get away when he has an army
around this place?”

“Stop
worrying,” Debrosiac said.
 
“He has
Dom.
 
We have his wife.
  
We’re insured.”

But it would
be five more minutes.
 
Five agonizing
minutes, before the call came in.
 
Reno
quickly answered his cell phone.

“Where is
he?” Reno asked.

“Look around
you,” Palameri said into the phone.
 
“At
all of those cars.”
 
Reno began looking
around.
 
“There’s one.
 
All the way in the back.
 
An old, rusty Chevy Malibu.
 
The white one.
 
You see it?”

Reno saw
it.
 
“I see it.”

“Your son’s
in there,” Palameri said and Reno, Jannick, and Debrosiac all ran toward the
vehicle, with Reno leading the pack.

But just as
they approached, the car detonated and blew up in their faces.
 
They fell back, from the impact, and Reno was
the first to look back up in horror.
 
It
was only then could they hear Palameri’s voice still on the cell phone. “Reno,”
he was saying.
 
“Reno!”

Reno
answered the call.
 
“What the fuck have
you done?” he screamed into the phone.

“Oops,”
Palameri said.
 
“Wrong car.
 
The right car is the Malibu on the other side
of the yard.
 
All the way on the other
side.
 
The green one.”

Reno saw the
car, but then he frowned.
 
“What kind of
game are you playing?
 
You’re trying to
fuck with me?”

“I’m not
fucking with you.
 
I was just kidding,
Reno, goodness.
 
Can’t you enjoy a good
laugh?
 
It bought me more time.
 
But for real.
 
Your son is in the green Malibu.
 
I promise.”

Reno and his
men hurried to the green Malibu.
 
“If
you’re kidding this time, Palameri, your wife is dead. You hear me?”

“I’m not
kidding, Reno.
 
He’s in the green one.”

Reno and his
men cautiously approached the green car.
 
But when they peeped inside, they saw what appeared to be a partial shoe
beneath a blanket on the backseat.
 
Somebody was indeed in the car.
 

“It could be
a trap, boss,” Debrosiac said.

“You think I
don’t know that?” Reno responded with irritation in his voice.
 
“What you want me to do?
 
Get some bomb-sniffing dogs out here first?”
 
Then Reno ordered his men to stay back.

Jannick and
Debrosiac did hang back while Reno braced himself and then quickly opened the
backseat door.
 
Reno then threw himself
away from the car in case of an explosion, but no explosion occurred.
 
No bomb went off this time.

Reno and his
men pulled out their weapons and hurried to the car’s backseat and threw off
the blanket.
 
But they didn’t find Dommi
in that backseat, but a full-grown man, bound and gagged.
 
Reno couldn’t believe it.
  
He flung the tape from the man’s mouth.
  
He looked like some homeless bum.
 
“Where’s my son?” he asked him.

“Who are
you?” the man asked.

“Who the
hell are you?” Reno asked.

“I’m the
delivery man.”

Reno
frowned.
 
“The what?”

“The drop
man.
 
I dropped off the cargo.”

“What
cargo?”

The man
hesitated.
 
Reno grabbed him and slung
him out of the car.
 
His feet and hands
were bound, so he fell.
 
“What cargo?”
Reno asked again.

“Some boy,”
the man cried.
 
“I don’t know who.
 
A little black looking mix looking boy.
 
I was just doing what I was told.
  
I made the delivery.”

“To
who?
 
Who accepted the delivery?”

“I don’t
know who!
 
I didn’t see anybody’s
face!
 
I just dropped the boy off.”

“Where did
you drop him off?” Reno asked.

“Here,” the
man said.
 
“I was told to bring him here
and put him in this car and leave.”