ASCENSION (29 page)

“Yes
, it sure is
.” He gulped down the champagne
then pushed his glass out for more
, “Let’s make it several
,
primo
.
”

T
he
twin
s
were sprawled out
on the floor
absorbed
in
the
ir favorite
Disney
show
when
Nico
entered the
bedroom.
He spent an entire week with the boys
.
Ariana did a
good job raising them during his absence. He
stepped over each one
affectionately
to
u
sl
ing their
thick black hair then flopped down and le
aned his
back against one of the beds.

“Hey, dad’s going away again but I’ll be home for good
very soon
.”

The youngest Aaron
’s nose twitched, “
When
dad
?”

Nico stretched his legs in the confined space
, “A few weeks
.
”

For the money Ariana spen
t
on this tiny east side apartment we could have a
n
ice spacious villa!

Darren
stayed
quiet, his bright almond shaped eyes inquisitive.
Nico
suspected the boy
assessed him skeptically, unlike his brother
Aaron
.
Darren did not
accept
his father’s
simple explanations each time
he went away.
Darren
got up and lay on his bed, “Well that’s what you said the last time and you
missed my birthday!”

Nico
grimaced
. The boy spoke truthfully and he could only answer in kind.
“I know I missed you guy’s birthday
b
ut
it’s not because I didn’t want to be here. The
Swiss Police
were holding
my passport.”

The boys gasped. Darren sat up and
scrambled to the floor for details. So, their
d
ad got in trouble with the police.
C
ool
!
“Why the
y
hold your passport, were you wanted or something?” Darren asked.

Nico chuckled at how astute the boy was. If Ariana heard him telling the
boys these
stories
she
’d
freak
.
So
, like most normal parents
he
lied
, “No, they
got
me mixed up with somebody else
and when they
realized their mistake they let me go.”

The truth
i
s Alfonzo pulled a few strings with the
authorities and Nico was released
under one condition,
he could
never return to Switzerland.
Persona non grata
!

The boring ending received a
tepid
chorus of, “
Oh
’s
.”

He heard the front door
close
and made his escape
, “Okay boys
gotta
go
mommy’s
home.” He rose from the floor
a
nd touched
their shoulders,
“Love you guys, take
care
of
mom until I get back, okay?”

“We will!”

He closed the door and intercepted Ariana in the kitchen, “All right, what do you have?”

“Good
night
to you too,” she answered over her shoulder while turning on the
k
ettle
, a
long-standing ritual.

An entire week he sat cooped up in the tiny apartment
wait
ing
for the prints to come back and each day
there was an excuse for the hold-up. He
suspected she deliberately delayed giving him the report to keep him home
longer
.

Ariana turned around and pointed to the folder
on the counter
, “You know
,
something
big is going down. I got the notice at
work.”

Nico reached
eagerly
for the manila envelope, “What
happened at work
?”

“
The F.B.I contacted our office, apparently there’s a TFW
being
executed
tonight.”

Nico examined the papers stamped: CONFIDENTIAL.

What
the fuck
?

Ariana’s voice reached him, “Isn’t that who you mentioned?”

Nico clutched the document. His face
was
stern, “
That sonovabitch
!”

Suddenly
Ariana stepped in front of
Nico
to get his attention, “
Who
’s
Christopher
Hernandez, do you know him?”

He looked down at the photo.
Christopher
Hernandez was an F.B.I agent
.
Franky
was a goddamn fed!
N
ico
fumbled for
his cell phone and dialed Alfonzo’s emergency contact number.
It
rang
repeatedly
then went to an encrypted voice system.
Dammit, no answer!

He thought about calling Vincent but did not want to risk the conversation going
across
an
u
nsecure line, especially if Franky managed to plant more surveillance equipment.
He rushed to
the
living room
and reached
under the sofa
for his duffle bag,
shoved the papers inside then retrieved his shoes. “Ariana, listen to me, put in your
resignation. Make an excuse I don’t care what you
say. Quit
your
fucking job!”

The corner of her mouth
descended
, “Does this have anything to do with the TFW
for Alfonzo Diaz.
Isn’t he your employer
?”

He tied his shoe lace
s,
“What exactly is a TFW?”

“Temporary Felony Warrant.”

“
W
hat about
a
TFW
and Alfonzo
?”

“Weren’t you listening to a word I said?”

Nico
twist
his head in
her direction,
“No, now tell me again,
por
favore
!”

“
T
he
bureau
’s notified
us
the
y’re
execut
ing
a TFW on
the
suspect Alfonzo Diaz
tonight
. They’re
c
harg
ing
him
pursuant
to violation of the RICO law under Title 18 U.S.C section 1956, money laundering.”

Nico froze. Tonight the Diaz’
were
attend
ing
an awards ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria. He hoped he could get there in time to warn Alfonzo
and
get him out of town before
they arrested him
in the states
.
He donned his coat and hat. He had to try
. T
he Waldorf-Astoria wasn
’
t far. The
way these
New York
taxis
drove he’d
get
there in minutes.

Ariana
grabbe
d his hand, “I want you to promise me, if I quit
my
job th
en
you’ll
quit yours
-
for good
.”

“Ariana,” his eyes were hard, “this is not the time!”

She
backed away
and folded her arms. H
er words
were as direct as her eyes
. He never had to figure out what she meant or decipher the alien
language of women because Ariana was atypical, like him.

“
Fine, then. Here’s my demand. You either return in
ninety days
or don’t bother coming back
!”

She
’s
definitely a goddamn lawyer.
Who else
talks like that? Ninety
days. Hell,
she knows I love her and I’ll be back
eventually.
I can’t abandon Alfonzo. I made a blood oath to his father
and I plan to keep it
!

He
gave her a
tight squeeze, “I’ll be back…you know I will but I
gotta
’
go. This is important!” Then he kissed her and
rush
ed out of the
apartment
before she could respond.

He
scrambl
ed
down the
stairs
.
His footsteps echo
ing
loudly
as he took the st
eps
by three’s
then
exhaled
when
he
reached
the
landing
. He
burst out the door
and t
he night chill awakened his languid eyes
. He stepped to the
curb of
eighty-seventh
and second
. H
e spotted a caravan of
yellow
taxis streaming
his way.
In
Big Apple
tradition he stepped off the curb
, a
n arm
shot
high
into the air and
he
shout, “
Taxi!”

D
ominick
swam a final lap in the in
door pool then stretched
his arms a
longside
the
ceramic edge. Swimming was a form of
relaxation,
it cleaned the clutter from his mind and helped him focus. He pulled himself out of the
pool
and retrieved the towel from a wicker
chair to pat the water from his face.

He thought about Gina Palazzo, such a shame. He would have liked to have a
w
oman like
her
instead of a weak alcoholic for a wife. Right now,
his wife
was in bed with
a
nother one of
those
hang-over migraines. He
sneered
,
if it weren’t for the old man he’d have
her
c
ommitted
to a mental hospital or maybe accidentally overdose on those prescription
medications she gulped like candy. Anything to be free of the noose around his neck!

“
Mr. Fiorello, there’s an FBI man here to see you
,”
his
maid
Sue Chang
announced.

Dominick
nodded. Agent Sinesi undoubtedly, “Send him in.”

Sinesi entered the lavish pool house to find Dominick sitting in a wicker chair
enjoying a
n
icy glass of
a
fruit drink concoction.

“What brings you
to
my doorstep
A
gent Sinesi, not enough work at the
bureau?”

Sinesi
resented men
like Dominick who flaunted
their
ill-gained
rich
es.
“Nice summer home.
How much a place like this
cost
in Naples, Florida nowadays?”