Class Act
- Автор: Вудс Стюарт
- Серия: Stone Barrington #58
- Год: 2021
- Язык: английский
- Год: G.P. Putnam's Sons
- ISBN: 978-0-593-33166-8
- Жанр: Триллеры
Электронная книга - «Class Act». Краткое содержание книги:
As Stone sets out to unravel a tangled web of crime and secrets, his mission becomes even more complicated when he makes an irresistible new acquaintance. In both the underbelly and upper echelons of New York, everyone has something to hide — and if Stone has learned anything, it’s that history has a way of repeating itself...
He leaned close to the screen. “Hello, Tiny,” he said.
The noises stopped for a moment, while Tiny tried to place the voice, then he chewed some more and swallowed. “Whozzat?” he asked.
“An old acquaintance,” Bob replied.
“Whaddaya want?”
“Just the answers to a couple of questions.”
“Not now, I’m eating.”
“Yeah, I know. I could hear the noises out in the street.”
“Maybe you would like to ask your questions to some friends of mine.”
“No, Tiny, just you. Give me straight answers, and I’ll be gone. Give me crooked answers, and I’ll shut you down, take your money, and pull out your phones. How’d you like to do a couple of years on Rikers? I hear they have a very fine chef there.”
“What do you want?” Tiny said, enunciating more clearly without a slab of veal in the way.
“You sent Willie Pasco to see Mickey O’Brien. Who told you to send him and why?”
“You don’t want to mess with that,” Tiny said. “Those people play for keeps.”
“Then what’s a small-time bookie like you messing with them?”
“I got a request,” Tiny said.
“That brings us back to my original question,” Bob said. “Who from and what for? And if I don’t get an answer I like, you’re going to hear the sound of police sirens before the next minute has passed.”
“From a guy in Florida,” Tiny said. “Manny runs things for the boys down there.”
“Keep going.”
“Manny Fiore. Every buck off a track or a card game in South Florida passes through Manny Fiore’s hands.”
“Where does he work out of?”
“He has an old trailer parked at the back of the parking lot of the Hialeah, one of them Streamers, or something.”
“Airstreamer?”
“Yeah, that’s it. Now get off my back, or I’ll call for some help.”
“And you’d need it,” Bob said. He slid out of his seat, left a twenty for the waiter, and left the restaurant.
Tiny was left wondering if he still had company. Finally, he pulled back the screen an inch and looked. Nobody there.
Back in his van, Bob Cantor called Stone.
“Yes, Bob?”
“I got a name for somebody who might be involved with trying to find your client.”
“And that would be...?”
“Manny Fiore, who deals with all the betting money in South Florida.” He told Stone about the Airstream trailer.
“I don’t guess you’d want to take a hop down to Florida and check him out.”
“He’s the kind of guy you don’t want to check out,” Bob said. “He hears somebody is looking into him, and first thing you know, the looker has a gun in his ear, and somebody’s pulling the trigger.”
“Then don’t go to Florida,” Stone said.
“Exactly what I had in mind.”
“I’ll mention the name to my client and see if it rings a bell.”
“Okay, but don’t ring any bells while you’re doing it,” Bob said. “People get hurt that way.”
“Thanks, Bob.”
Stone called Jack Coulter.
“Yes, Stone?”
“When you were in Florida, did you ever hear of somebody called Manny Fiore?”
“Certainly. Everybody who knows anything about the mob in South Florida knows that name. He’s one of the people who handled my money. And it wouldn’t have been refunded, if he hadn’t approved.”
“He’s been looking into you, I hear.”
“I’m sorry to hear it, but not surprised.”
“He works out of an Airstream trailer in the parking lot at the Hialeah track.”
“Ah.”
“You think he wants another shot at your money?”
“I think he probably regrets giving it back. It’s not really the sort of thing those guys do.”
“How’d you manage it?”
“I threatened him, and he took it seriously.”
“Jack, don’t threaten mob guys. You could get hurt again that way.”
“Thanks for the advice. I’ll take care of it.” Jack hung up.
Stone called Bob Cantor back. “The information you gave me meant something to my client. Is there anybody who can say you were asking about Fiore?”
“No, the guy I asked couldn’t see me at the time.”
“Whatever you say, Bob. I just don’t want you to get caught up in this thing.”
“I’m clear. Don’t worry about it.”
19
Jack Coulter dug out another throwaway phone from a desk drawer and called Vinnie.
“This is Vinnie.”
“It’s Johnny,” Jack said.
“I don’t much want to hear from you,” Vinnie said.
“I just want to slip a flea into your ear. Are you where you usually are?”
“Nah, I’m in the big city, been here a couple days.”
“You might want to extend your stay a little further,” Jack said. “Be as far as possible from your friend in the trailer park.”
“I’m far enough,” Vinnie said. “Thanks.”
“Be safe.” Jack hung up. He gave some thought to old acquaintances from his former home up the Hudson. One came to mind. He called back Vinnie. “One more thing, where might I find Solly White?”
“I’ll give you a number.”
“Shoot.”
“It’s a diner in Boca. He has lunch there most days. Don’t mention I told you.”
“I never mention anything to anybody,” Jack said, then hung up. He checked his watch. Worth a try. He called the Boca number.
A woman answered, “Pizza Rumble.”
“Lemme speak to Solly White,” Jack said, reverting to his old voice.
The woman yelled, “Solly, for you!” She slammed the phone down hard.
It took Solly a moment to disengage from his pasta. “This is Solly,” he said finally.
“This is a voice from the past,” Jack said. “Don’t mention any names.”
“Gotcha, pal.”
“Call me back at this number when you’re done with lunch.” He gave Solly another throwaway number.
“Half an hour,” Solly said, then hung up.
The throwaway rang on schedule. “Yeah?”
“Well, I’ll be fucked,” Solly said. “I heard you had flown the coop, but I never...”
“You want some profitable work?”
“Depends on how profitable.”
“Fifty G’s. Half now, half when the work’s done.”
“That’s an interesting number.”
“Can you put your hands on some military-grade fireworks?”
“Depends. Who do I have to vaporize?”
“Nobody, just a trailer.”
“Trailers are in trailer parks. Lots of people.”
“This one is all by its lonesome. And it’ll be empty of people at, say, three am.”
“Near here?”
“A few miles.”
“When do you want the trailer to go away?”
“Tonight would be good. Tomorrow night at the latest.”
“Where, exactly, is the thing parked?”
“At the south end of the parking lot at Hialeah track. You’ll have to cut through a chain-link fence.”
“Sounds doable. Let me swing by there and take a look. I’ll call you back in a couple of hours.”
“Good.”
“How big a bang do you want to make?”
“Just big enough to shred the trailer. You can plant the plastic with a cell phone, then set if off from a distance.”
“Good idea. I’ll call you after I’ve checked it out.”
“Right. This phone is okay for a couple more calls.”
Jack watched an old movie on TV, then the phone rang. “Yeah?”
“It’s doable. How about the money?”
“Give me an account number, and I’ll wire you half now, the rest when it’s done.”
“Can you do it from offshore?”