Don of the Dead (34 page)

Johnny didn't respond. Did I really expect him to? He might cop to a forty-year-old murder of a nobody like Tommy Two Toes but if I thought he was going to admit to having Gus whacked, I was as loony as Marie.

I looked her way. "Did she know?" I asked. "About Gus. About how he ordered—"

"You leave her out of this!" Johnny moved pretty quick for an old guy. He was on his feet in an instant, glaring down at me, his hands curled into fists at his side. "Don't you ever accuse her of anything. If you do—"

His anger choked him, and it was just as well. I was pretty sure I knew what he was going to say. I didn't need him to spell it out.

I also didn't need to see the writing on the wall. This writing said
Albert
in twelve-foot-high flashing neon letters.

I jumped to my feet, too, and though I was no match for Johnny, I stood toe-to-toe with him. "You're the one who's been after me all this time! You didn't want me to find out about Tommy. You don't give a damn what people say about you, but you didn't want anyone to ever know that Marie was his mother.

You've been protecting her all this time. You still are."

He didn't confirm or deny my suspicions. "You shouldn't stick your nose where it doesn't belong," he said. "If you're smart, you won't forget it."

"But why?" Frustrated, I threw my hands in the air, whirled around, and paced to the other side of the room. I came back the other way, my mind working furiously. "What difference does it make if the whole world knows that Marie was Tommy's mother? Tommy's been dead for forty years and in case you haven't noticed, out-of-wedlock babies are a big ho-hum these days. Why do you care that much about Marie's reputation, especially since Marie is too far gone to even know what's happening? Unless—"

As if he was watching the wheels turn inside my head, Johnny stepped toward me just as the truth of the thing hit me like a ton of bricks.

"It was Marie." I looked at the smartly dressed old woman with the porcelain skin and the empty eyes and tried to picture the way she'd looked thirty years earlier. She'd been young and vital then and I knew from looking at her that Johnny's memory was spot-on; she had been beautiful. She was also a woman grieving for the child she'd never had a chance to raise. A mother who had to stand by and watch as her lover took her son's life.

"Marie's the one who ordered Gus's hit."

That'll teach me for thinking out loud.

Johnny came at me, his hands reaching for my throat, curled and ready to squeeze the life out of me.

He would have done it, too.

If Marie didn't stop him. "Johnny, you quit that! Right now." The old woman rose to her feet and pounded the table with one fist. "It's not her fault."

"But she knows!" Johnny spun to face Marie. "She knows and she'sgonna —"

"No. She isn't." When Marie looked at me, her eyes were as clear as if a switch had been turned inside her head. She smiled. "That's not why she's doing this, Johnny. She's doing this to giveAugustino peace."

Johnny wasn't buying it and frankly, I wasn't, either. How could Marie possibly know about Gus and his search for the eternal happily ever after?

"DonScarpetti is dead." Johnny's voice was heavy with disbelief. "How can you—"

She reached for him and I guess even hit men with murder in their hearts have a soft spot for the women they love. It wasn't easy for him to turn away from me but Johnny did. He went to stand at Marie's side.

"Someday when you're like me, then you'll understand," she told Johnny. "For now… promise me, Johnny. Promise me you won't hurt this girl. If it wasn't for her… " Her smile was as soft as twilight and when her gaze moved up, somewhere over my right shoulder, I figured we'd lost her again.

Until I looked that way, too, and saw a wisp of white behind me. It looked like a cloud but it got bigger and bigger and the center of it glowed. Like there was a light on inside there somewhere. When Gus stepped out of the cloud, Marie smiled.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

Johnny thought Marie was talking to thin air. But I knew better. I watched Gus walk up to his sister and fold her into a hug.

Why she didn't turn into a popsicle, I couldn't say. I only knew that when Johnny saw Marie's arms go around nothing, he turned to me.

"I told you. I told you not to listen to anything she says. Her mind is gone. She's talking nonsense."

"Shut up, Johnny." I moved closer to the table, and when Gus and Marie sat down, I did, too. I wanted
to
hear what they were going to say to each other.

"Augustino!" When Marie saw her brother looking well, she smiled. "I can't tell you how many times I've tried to talk to you. You never answered."

"It wasn't time then." Gus didn't look mad and I can only guess that Anthony had something to do with that. Anthony and all the years he'd spent praying on his father's behalf. "I didn't know it was you," he told her. "I never imagined. I suspectedLaGanza . I even thought it might be the cops. But my little sister… "

"I gave the order. You should know that. Johnny… " She looked toward her lover, who was watching the scene, slack jawed and confused. Regret, searing and painful, simmered in Marie's eyes. "Johnny tried to talk me out of it. But I wouldn't listen. Tommy was my son,Augustino . My only son. And I was crazy with grief. I wanted you to pay for what you did to him."

Gus shook his head. "I never knew. You should have said—"

"What?" Marie's laugh was high-pitched and sad. "What difference would it have made? Business is business. Isn't that what you always said? Tommy was bad for business. He had to die."

"Just like Benny." I figured I might as well join in the conversation. So what if Johnny thought I was crazy, too? I turned to him.

"You knew Benny had a tendency to run off at the mouth. You were afraid that one of these days, he was going to say too much. He knew about Tommy, and you knew that Tommy would lead me to Marie. You couldn't risk anyone finding out that she was the mastermind behind the hit."

"And the shooter?" Gus asked his sister.

She brushed aside the question. "Some mope fromChicago . I imported him for the job and I paid him well. Even had him use Tommy's old car. You know, like poetic justice. You can't hold it against the man who killed you. But me… " A sigh wracked her fragile body.

"I was angry and hurt,Augustino . I couldn't think straight. Now, I'm a prisoner in this body and all I can

do is think.Augustino … " She took Gus's hand. "Forgive me," she said. "Please."

He didn't answer. He didn't have to. When he smiled at his sister, she had the only answer she needed.

And after all those years, Anthony had the answer to his prayers.

Marie saw Gus and I knew that could mean only
one thing: she would be dead soon. But even I didn't think it would be as soon as Gus and I returned to the cemetery.

Gus asked me to drop him off at his mausoleum, and just as we got out of the car, a light as bright as two suns and as white as snow lit the sky to the east of us. I didn't have to ask what it meant. I'd heard about enough near-death experiences to know.

It took me a moment, though, to realize that the light was close. Too close to be hovering over the Scarpetti compound out in the suburbs.

As a matter of fact, it was right over Blessed Rosary church.

I guess I should have been sad and in a way, I was. I hardly knew AnthonyScarpetti , but one thing was for certain, he was a good person. When he walked into that light, he was sure to go a happy man.

I smiled and when I looked at Gus, I realized he was smiling, too. He raised a hand as if he was going to pat me on the shoulder, then decided it wasn't such a good idea. He kept his distance and tipped his head back to let the light shine on his face, and I looked up, too.

"Thanks, kid." His voice sounded like the rustle of a breeze.

"Sure. I—" I turned and Gus was gone.

"Gus?" I looked around, but there was no sign of him. And didn't it just figure that he'd decide to get cute on me now? I stalked over to his mausoleum and pressed my nose to the glass.

"Hey!" I tapped on the door. "Come on, Gus. Don't disappear on me while we're wrapping up the case.

I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. I really earned that nine thousand bucks. The least you can do is sit here and listen to me rehash the whole thing, just to prove what a genius I am!"

No answer.

I was annoyed but I also knew that at a time like that, even a don needed his privacy. We'd talk about the case the next day. I started back to the car.

That's when I heard another car glide by out on the street. From the powerful sound of the motor, I knew it was a big car. The windows must have been down and the stereo was cranked.

As clear as day, I heard the music. Sinatra singing "My Way."

And suddenly, I remembered what Gus had said all those weeks ago. About the way he'd head to the Other Side when it was his time.

I froze in place, one foot on a flat headstone, the other on the turf. A tear slipped down my cheek and I admit it, I didn't even try to wipe it away.

Instead, I walked to my car, and when I got there, I turned to Gus's mausoleum one last time.