Binding Arbitration (36 page)

Aidan raised an eyebrow.

Tony grimaced. “Holy shit isn’t the half of it. The company listed as the sender is out of Yopal, Colombia. Guess whose home town is Yopal, Colombia, and who’s the largest employer there?”

“Enrique Espinoza?” I sliced through a piece of bacon thinking that a knife was always a handy weapon.

I frowned at Tony’s frown, pointing my knife at him. “And how were you able to ascertain this information?”

Tony looked at Evita, and then smiled. “If you’re asking as my lawyer, then I figured it out via the internet, but if you’re asking as a friend, I called in a favor at the FBI.”

“You have FBI connections? Are you an informant?”

He shook his head. “No, I’m not.”

“Are you going to tell me what you are?”

“If I told you more I’d have to kill you.” He flashed his classic Italian smile.

Evita chimed in. “Why would you be surprised that a mobster knows people in the FBI? Haven’t you watched
The Departed
?”

Tony got to his feet and tossed his napkin onto his half eaten plate. “Aidan, would you mind if I took a shower? I thought since it’s fairly secluded, we would stay for the day. Manny could use a day outdoors away from the rectory.”

Aidan looked at me, and I nodded my agreement. Company would keep Aidan out of my hair.

Aidan said, “You’re welcome here anytime.”

Tony looked at Evita a heartbeat longer than he should have, before they left the kitchen.

I looked to Evita. “What’s going on between you and Tony?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “He’s my boss.”

“Bosses don’t take this much interest in their employees.”

“You’re the one who told him to keep an eye on me. He thinks you meant literally.”

“Uh-huh.” I didn’t sound convinced.

“Do you think this information will be able to help me?”

“It just might. But I need to consider all my options before I take the information to the FBI.”

“Your state department handles Senatorial misconduct, no?”

“Yes, but my contacts are at the FBI.”

We started to gather up the dishes. When Evita’s rag was soapy she asked, “Could those contacts find out if Tony is the godfather of Chicago?”

“I don’t know.” I hesitated. “His family has a long history in organized crime. Did you ask him?”

“Of course, I did. I don’t want to get invov . . . I mean, I don’t want to work for someone like that. I’ve had enough of criminals to last me a lifetime.” She opened the dishwasher. “He said he wasn’t the godfather, he actually laughed at that.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“No, but I asked him if he had done anything illegal.” “What did he say?”

She looked out the kitchen window absently swirling bubbles around the plate as if she were frightened. “He wouldn’t answer, but said he could take care of Espinoza, if he had to.”

Did that mean machine guns, brass knuckles or an array of hired hit men? I wanted to say holy fuck! But I settled for, “Crap!”

27

CHARITY CASES

Charity never humiliated him that profited from it, nor ever bound him by the chains of gratitude, since it was not to him but to God that the gift was made.
Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Aidan 3:30 p.m.

Life fell into a rhythm, as I took over Cass’ care, giving Libby the freedom to work longer hours. Between trying to keep up with case overload, keeping Accardo in line, and Evita in the U.S., she had her plate full.

I stayed at her apartment during the week, and they stayed at my house on the weekends. Chemo was going well for Cass, and my body was recovering. I was looking forward to his transplant, so we could move forward.

The day of the Halloween party fundraiser, it became apparent to me that Cass was going to lose all his hair. I suggested we both shave it all off. I convinced him by saying I had been considering a new look. He laughed, but looked at me skeptically. As soon as Libby went to work, we shaved our heads. Then I prayed a few Hail Mary’s that she wouldn’t blow a gasket.

She had been courteous and cautious ever since the internet fiasco, which I was still working on getting pulled. It had hurt Libby, but every once in awhile, I caught her looking at me in a way that sent all my blood to a centralized portion of my body. I knew the time for ‘all of it’ was drawing closer, and it would be worth waiting for.

Cass and I wore matching baseball uniforms for the party. I took some ribbing about both my hair loss and the bimbo site.

When my family arrived, my mother was aghast that all my locks were gone, but once she saw Cass’ head, she understood. Even Avery appeared, dragging his feet and complaining about how lame the event was, until Ollie came in dressed as Elphaba.

I’d given him a lecture last weekend, when he’d wandered into the Rodger’s house, when he was supposed to be loading Tank for a Baseball Card show. Obviously, he was not going to heed my warning about Ollie’s only being in high school. If she was older, I wouldn’t have a beef, but there’s a lot of adult experience between seventeen and twenty, and Ollie needed to have those experiences with someone closer to her own age.

Avery assured me they were just friends, but I caught him looking at her in a way that could quickly move past friendship, if I didn’t keep an eye on him—the way the scarecrow was looking at Elphaba right now.

Libby said she would get away from the office early and whatever was holding her up wasn’t Accardo, as he’d already arrived. He had given me a hefty donation, and Evita and Manny were playing a game of pinball.

Madi was goosing me to get my attention. “Uncle Butt-Head, we want to play Foosball.”

“Madi, you know my name’s Band-Aid.”

She smiled wickedly. “Yes, but you were a Butt-Head first.”

You better cooperate otherwise she might call in back up fairies and we know how you faired last time.

She and Cass were dragging me to the Foosball table. I looked closer at Cass’ mouth, as one side of it was distinctly blue. “How much cotton candy did you have?” I asked.

“Just a little and I ate all my carrot sticks.” He held up his fingers about an inch apart.

I doubted that was all he ate, so I glanced between him and the bathroom, just to get my bearings. Cass’ eyes got wide like saucers right before he puked, so I was keeping a close eye out. “No more cotton candy.”

He knew there was no wiggle room. “No more cotton candy got it.” He clobbered the puck right past one of mine to score a point. He’d become quite competitive over the last few weeks. I had to concentrate to beat him, which I occasionally did just to keep his competitive juices flowing, and I could only take losing for so long. The only reason he was able to score off me now was because I was gaping at Libby pushing through the door.

She had a trench coat on, but if the pencils in her wild bun were any indication of what she had on underneath, I might just combust. “Be right back.”

I started toward her. She was scanning the crowd and smiling at the kids and their costumes, but I could see her three-inch, pastel pink stilettos. After she put her briefcase down, she started to unbutton her coat. I was right behind her when it slipped down her shoulders and I could see the white apron strings, which she was trying to tie. I reached out and steadied her hips with my hands before I kissed her neck, then her ear. “I hope you’re here to take my order.” I bit into the meaty part of the back of her neck and she shivered in my arms which were wrapped around her waist. Her top button had come undone and what it revealed made me want to panic breathe. I hissed. “Forget my order, I’ll just take you.”

She patted my cheek, resting her head on my shoulder. “I need a hug,” she said wrapping her arms around me.

“I’m your man.” No matter how much I wanted her in the pink waitress’ uniform, I sensed that she needed my reassurance more than my lust right now. “What’s wrong?”

She buried her face in my baseball uniform. “I’m fine.”

I moved her toward a chair in the corner, and I sat down in it never taking my hands off her.

Once she was seated in my lap, she looked up at me, pulled off my cap and ran her fingers over my scalp. “What did you do?”

“Cass and I shaved it off. It’s no big deal.”

Before I got all the words out, she burst into tears. “But I love your hair,” she sobbed.

Okay, there was a major league problem. “Tell me what you’re upset about.”

Tears ran down her face. I was trying to comfort her, but her tingling touch over my skull shot right through me.

“The hair will grow back. Did something happen at work?”

When she backhanded her nose, I fished around in my pocket for a handkerchief. She took the handkerchief and blew her nose. Her face was streaked with make-up, but she’d never been more beautiful. I asked again, acknowledging Vicki and Rick as they came through the revolving door with scowls on their faces.

She hiccupped. “I told you Rat Bastard gave me a pedophile case, and I met with Pervesis. I knew the charges were going to stick so I went to the DA and got a plea deal. The charge is aggravated sexual assault with a minor, so he should be getting at least ten years, but the DA’s office offered him five with five more for probation. It’s a good deal. If this creep goes to court, all kinds of things could go wrong including other victims coming forward. Law enforcement estimates that before a pedophile is caught, he has at least twenty-five victims.”

“Did he take the plea deal?”

“I met with him this morning, and laid the whole offer out for him. He refused the deal and said he wanted his day in court. I insisted. When I told him he would have to face the victim and listen to his testimony, he said he would relish it. Then he said that he read about my son in the paper and he would love to take a look at him sometime.”

Oh no.

“I wanted to reach across the table and strangle him. Then

I said I would have to take the matter up with Rat Bastard because I wasn’t prepared to take on another lengthy trial.

“He walked behind me out the door and he put his face in my hair and said. ‘It was more than twenty-five before I got caught, so I’ll take my chance with the penal system.’ And he cackled the most heinous laugh. I had to restrain myself from pulling the elevator doors open and shoving him into the shaft.”

“What did Rat Bastard say about it?”

“He said if I wanted an easy workload, I should have gone to work at the public defender’s office. And that if I didn’t want the case, I could quit, there were plenty of other attorneys eager to move up in the firm.”

“You finally quit?” That would be a blessing.

She looked at me wide-eyed, “I wanted to quit. But I couldn’t do it.” She looked around at the crowd, remembering that there was a party going on around us.

“You don’t need to work. And more importantly, you shouldn’t be exposed to perverts, junkies, and lowlifes.”

“If I quit now, the guy will get an extension to his trial date to find an attorney. I’m already the third lawyer he’s had. It’s part of the game he’s playing, he thinks he can play the system and end up on the right side of the bars.”

“He deserves whatever you have in mind.”

“How do you know that I have anything in mind?”

“I know you’re not going to let him get off scot free. He might have thought that getting under your skin was the way to get rid of you, but he might have just met his match.”

“I’m going to make sure he fries. I’m not sure exactly how I can make that happen, but I will.”

“Good. Do you feel better now?” I rubbed her back, but instead of relaxing she tensed up and sat straighter in my lap which wasn’t helping me compose myself.

“Urghhh!!!!!” Was all she said as she rose to her feet. I followed her gaze. “Did you invite Jeanne?”

I caught sight of Hildy the Hillbilly clown and she rounded her way through the revolving door. Cass, Madi, and Manny were waiting on this side of it and she went around another time to increase their anticipation. When she came through the door Dr. Seuss was behind her. Cass hooted drawing my attention away from them appearing together. “Grandma! I’m so happy you came.”

Hildy bent low and whispered to the kids.

I rubbed Libby’s arm gently. “Be nice.” Although Jeanne smiled lovingly at Libby she was blind to it. Whatever was wrong between them flowed right below the surface.

Libby rolled her eyes but spoke to her mother. “Seriously, Jeanne, couldn’t you have worn real clothes?”

She frowned at Libby. “Aidan, you need to tell her you asked me to come like this. She thinks this a flashback to her childhood, and I’m trying to embarrass her.” She looked around for a moment. “I’ll set up the face painting upstairs, if you bring her up there maybe I can paint that sour look off her face. It might be the only way to get it off.”

“I am starting to see more and more similarities.” I looked at Libby. “Don’t glare at me. She’s doing me a favor by being here, I was going to ask my mom to fill in, but I don’t think the French maids costume is PG enough for the kids.

“And my father with nothing on but a butcher’s apron. I mean, talk about meat cleavers…” I was going to go on, but then she put her mouth over mine, which was her favorite way to shut me up. When I could feel my tongue again I said, “Now go make peace.” I pushed her mother’s direction patting her behind.

In response, she swung her hips more than necessary and when she reached the swarm of kids around her mom, she looked back at me, bent forward, and blew me a kiss. A sheen of perspiration rose on my body.

I groaned, as Fletch came up alongside me and put his arm around my neck. “Where did she get that costume? I never considered the possibilities of the diner waitress thing.”

“It’s not a costume.” I smacked him to get his attention.

He whistled through his teeth, “You know all the grief you gave me when I met Tricia, and I was gaga?”

“What about it?”

“You’re going to pay for it.”

A man with a pair of broad shoulders approached Libby. I couldn’t see who it was, and I raised an eyebrow.

“Mitch Ackermann,” Fletch chirped happily.