Park Avenue (Book Six in the Fifth Avenue Series) (55 page)

“At the risk of your own
life?”

“It’s a calculated risk,”
she said.
 
“I’ll surprise them with
the speech.
 
With the exception of
security, no one will know when it’s coming or where I’ll be standing.
 
There will be no announcement.
 
Just a sudden spotlight on me, a short
welcome, a few words so the press can take their photographs and record it for
the media, and then I’m finished.”

“If someone is planning
an attack tomorrow night, I don’t think it will go down like that,” Marty said.

“What do you mean?”

“Acting at that moment
would be too risky for this person.
 
You’ll be exposed.
 
They’ll
know how tight security will be because of that exposure.
 
If someone is going to attack you, it’ll
happen another way.
 
You could be
walking through the crowd and someone might come up behind you.
 
Stick a knife in you.
 
You could be using the washroom, and
someone might walk in after you.
 
Break your neck.
 
I’m sorry
to sound so harsh, but those are the sorts of situations I can see
happening.
 
The other is too
risky.
 
I think they’re going to be
stealth.
 
And who says it will be
tomorrow night, anyway?
 
It might be
next week or next month, when everyone’s guard is down.
 
They might act then.”

“Which would give us more
time to figure out who’s behind this and stop them.
 
So, yes, I want to hire you going
forward for that reason.”

“I’m happy to do
that.
 
But I’m going to stick to my
guns.
 
I don’t recommend that you go
forward with your party.”

“I’m sorry, Marty, but I
am.”

“Then get me in tomorrow
night.
 
Let me also be there to
watch the crowd.”

“I can do that.”

He looked at Mario.
 
“You mentioned your brothers
earlier.
 
Are they coming?”

“They are.”

“So, there’s me, you,
your brothers, Sean and his team.
 
Who
else?”

“Anastassios,” Leana
said.
 
“My brother will be there,
but he’s also a target.
 
So of
course he’ll be watching, just as I will be.
 
Beyond that, Sean is bringing in a team
of forty men and women.
 
Some will
be in black tie so they can meld into the crowd, and a group will be clearly
outfitted and armed so people know that the place is secure.”

“What Sean needs to do,
and probably already has done, is get a sheet of names and photos of those who
are coming, so that he and his staff can study their faces beforehand.
 
If they do that, they’ll be more aware
of somebody who doesn’t belong there.”

“But nobody gets in
without an invitation,” Leana said.
 
“Sean had me use a special kind of paper for the invites.
 
They’ll be scanned at the door.
 
If one happens to be a knockoff, that
person doesn’t get inside.”

“That’s a good start,”
Marty said.
 
“Now, add to that what
I’ve suggested, and you’ll be more secure.”

“You need to do that,”
Mario said.

“My brother won’t tell me
who he’s invited.”

“Your safety trumps any
surprise he might be planning.
 
Explain it to him.
 
Tell him
you need the names, or I will,” Mario said.
 
“Besides, I highly doubt that Michael
will get in the way of any of this when he understands why we need those
names.
 
That’s not like him.”

“I’ll ask him when we’re
finished here.”

“Mario and I will talk to
Sean.”

“He’s at lunch now.”

“Then we’ll talk with him
when he returns.
 
You call
Michael.
 
Let’s get things moving.”

She stood.
 
“I’ll call Michael now.
 
Thank you, Marty.”

“I wish I had answers for
you, Leana.”

“Everything can’t be
wrapped in a neat bow,” she said, repeating his earlier statement.
 
“I get it.
 
This isn’t a movie, where everything
just magically falls into place because people expect it to.
 
Real life is messier.
 
It isn’t scripted.
 
There might be no happy ending
here.
 
I’ve considered that.
 
But I’ve taken as many precautions as
possible, and now I need to see this through.”

CHAPTER
SEVENTY-SEVEN

While her team took care
of the final preparations for the opening of The Hotel Fifth, Pepper Redman was
in a limousine with Gordon Elling.
 
They sat opposite each other on black leather seats and drove down
Park.
 
As they passed Leana’s hotel,
she saw the activity surrounding it, and her heart raced.
 

I’m doing the right thing.
 
I can’t lose my nerve now.

She looked at Elling, a
polished, good-looking man in his fifties with dark hair that was just
beginning to gray at the temples, and tried to focus on what he was
saying.
 

“How did you obtain an
invitation?” she asked.

“There’s very little I
can’t obtain.
 
My man is ready to
act.”

“There’s another man on
this.
 
He’ll be at my party.”

“That’s right.
 
When Leana Redman is dead, he’ll be
notified by cell.
 
Your interaction
with him will be fleeting.
 
He’s
just going to squeeze your arm as he passes you in the crowd, and then you’ll
know it’s over for her before the press knows.
 
This way, you’ll be prepared for what’s
coming.
 
You’ll never see or hear
from us again.”

She studied him.
 
“You seem so calm.
 
I’m not.”

“Just put your faith in
us and let us do our jobs.
 
I think
you’ll be pleased with the results, and then you won’t have to worry about her
any longer.”

Which is what I want.

“How soon will this be
over?”

“When the opportunity
presents itself.”

“You’re being so
cryptic.”

“It’s how we work.
 
Besides, the less you know, the
better.
 
Wouldn’t you agree?
 
Especially if for any reason you happen
to be questioned?”

She saw his logic, and
nodded.

“You’ll be attending her
funeral by week’s end.
 
News of her
death will spread quickly and it will affect your own party.
 
The press will make certain of it.
 
When the news hits, you’ll already know
she’s dead, so it’s critical that you appear to be alarmed and in grief over
it.
 
You’ll need to become an
actress, Miss Redman.
 
You’ll need to
deliver the performance of your life.”

I’ve been giving a
performance for years
, she thought to herself.
 
From Penelope to Pepper.
 
I can do this.

“I can do that,” she
said.

“Good.
 
Just behave as if a beloved relation,
lover or friend has just been murdered.
 
Tap into those instincts.
 
Use them.
 
Don’t even think
that it’s Leana who’s dead.
 
Think
of someone you love when you hear the news.
 
Be there for your Uncle George, who will
be upset.
 
Comfort him.
 
Do what you can for him.
 
It’s what people will expect of
you.
 
You may not like Leana, which
is well known.
 
But she nevertheless
is your cousin, so behave as if this is the worst news you could have received.
 
People will be watching you.
 
The press will be watching.
 
Be believable, but don’t overdo it.
 
Remember, you will be in shock.”

“I hear you.”

“I think you’ll be fine,
Pepper.”

Really?
 
Then why do I feel sick?

“I appreciate your help,”
she said, not knowing what else to say.

“I appreciate your
business.
 
Now.
 
Let’s bring you back to your hotel, so
you haven’t been away too long.
 
We’ll drop you off a block away.
 
Then just get back to doing what you need to do for your own opening and
be the Pepper everyone knows and loves.
 
Leave the rest to me.”

“I can be the person
everyone knows,” she said.
 
“But
loves?
 
When you’re me, that’s
difficult to do.”

CHAPTER
SEVENTY-EIGHT

It was late evening when
Antonio De Cicco called the meeting at his Hell’s Kitchen office.
 
With him were his sons, Miko and Tony,
who would be at the opening of The Park, presumably to support Mario, but
really to make certain that Anastassios Fondaras came through with his promise
and to make certain that Leana Redman didn’t leave the hotel alive.
 

Other family members also
were in the room, including several bosses of various ages who had worked for
the Family for years.
 
Outside on
the street, were other men, who were guarding the building in an effort to
protect those who were inside.
 
This
was an important meeting, and De Cicco demanded everyone’s presence so they could
discuss the next steps that would need to happen if Fondaras didn’t come
through.

If he didn’t, Fondaras
and his family would feel the full weight of the De Cicco crime family in ways
that would crush them.

“I talked to Fondaras
earlier,” De Cicco said.
 
“Sounded
nervous, which is about right.
 
You
two ready to go?”

“We’re ready,” Miko said.

“You need to watch that
son of a bitch.
 
We all know he
could have something else planned.
 
Watch him like a motherfuckin’ hawk.
 
If you sense anything ain’t right, pull
him aside and get him in line.”

Miko and Tony nodded,
while the other men listened.

“We do this for Lucia,”
Antonio said.
 
“We honor her
name.
 
Leana Redman is responsible
for Lucia’s death, so we kill her for it and bring Mario back into the Family.
 
It’ll take time, but he’ll come
back.
 
Because when she dies, he’ll
see that it’s one of Fondaras’ men who kills her, not one of us.
 
He’ll want revenge for that.
 
He’ll come to me for that.
 
This is how I get my son back.
 
Nobody ever says a word of this to
him.
 
Not ever.
 
That understood?”

All agreed.

*
 
*
 
*

In the building directly
across the street from De Cicco, which was sublet from its current tenants the
day before at a price they couldn’t refuse, Sean Scott prepared to act.
 

In his hand, was a
military-grade M32A1 grenade launcher, which held six rounds of ammunition, the
lot of which was enough to severely damage the building into which he watched
Antonio De Cicco and others enter earlier.
 
Even with his connections, coming upon such a weapon so quickly had been
a challenge.

But he met it.

He arrived here three
hours ago, after one of his men told him that De Cicco was on the move and
headed for Manhattan.
 
Assuming De
Cicco and his team were coming here—which was a safe bet since Sean learned
that it was here that De Cicco did his business—Sean immediately left The
Park and drove to the building alone.
 
He let himself in through the rear entrance and sat in wait until De
Cicco arrived, along with other men, some of whom were now guarding the
entrance to the building.

There were obstacles when
it came to bringing down someone like Antonio De Cicco.
 
But when Sean was in Afghanistan,
fighting a complicated war that found him taking down men far more evil than
this man in a country that wasn’t his own, he had seen and done worse.