Dangerous Conceit (Sample)

Chapter 6

The next morning, Rafa waited for the elevator to stop on the highest floor of the Royal Flush Hotel. He had something urgent to show Angelo and knocked several times on the penthouse door before entering his code and keycard to gain entry. He was surprised the room was empty. He had phoned Angelo an hour before, and Angelo agreed to meet with him there. Rafa grumbled and yanked out his phone when it rang. It was Angelo.

"You said we would meet in the penthouse. You're not where you said you'd be."

"Come to the warehouse," Angelo said.

"Now the warehouse. You could have told me—" Angelo hung up on him.

Rafa clenched the phone in his hand and descended back down to the lobby floor. He figured valet was still parking his car and looked at the other attendant outside. "Tell Todd to bring my car back. Change of plans."

Fifteen minutes later, Rafa pulled in at the warehouse and pushed through the front doors. Angelo was standing at the end of the building when Rafa approached the scene. With his arms crossed, Angelo pointed at three men at the bottom of the stage. Rafa had no idea how it could be the same men he wanted to talk about with Angelo. There was a man with straight oily hair and two others beside him. Tape bound their arms behind their backs with brothers Jim and Ray standing close and looking like two fit body guards, awaiting their next order.

Rafa glanced at the men and opened his laptop for Angelo. "These men were at Ella's restaurant last night." He pointed at Lexi and let Angelo watch the assault. "They roughed up the new bartender and split like cowards. I wish we had sound on these recordings." He pressed pause as Angelo looked at the men.

"Is that right?" Angelo walked to the one who carried out the assault and jerked up his chin, forcing him into unwilling eye contact. "You stepped into the wrong restaurant. Dumb move." Then he looked at Rafa and gestured his head to them. "You wanted them. Do what you want with them."

Rafa walked over in an instant and pulled his pistol from the back pocket of his jeans. He pushed it onto the oily man's head, making an indention with the muzzle of the gun. "What do you want with Alexis?" he asked, clicking the hammer and pushing harder. His cool composure probably fooled Angelo none. Angelo knew the more relaxed he appeared, the more infuriated he actually was.

"Who the hell are you talking about? We have no idea why we're here."

Rafa slammed his head with the side of his gun. "Let me remind you that I don't play." He moved around the man and scowled, kicking him to the back of the stage, the crashing force of the man's back echoing against the rock solid platform. "Now...the girl. What do you want with her?" he coolly demanded; his predatory stare showed the man no mercy.

"Do you mean Cinderella? That's none of your business."

Rafa clenched his teeth, breathing off his need to pull the trigger. This man was in no position to antagonize. "I'm going to ask you again." Rafa kicked him in the ribs in an effort to persuade him to talk. "What do you want with Alexis?"

"Why the fuck do you care? She's a bitch at a bar," the man spat. Rafa was growing tired of his flippancy. He pumped his fist and then pumped it again, punching the man in the jaw until it broke.

"You're getting no mercy from me. Answer the question."

"Fu- you." the man yelled, his words like syllables from his mouth being maimed.

Without thinking more, Rafa dragged the man up by the collar and smashed his face against the foot of the stairs. Despite the blood trickling down the man's eyes, he picked himself back up. How much more was it going to take to get this man to talk?

"I'm giving you three seconds to tell me your name." Rafa shoved his pistol in his mouth.

"If you kill me, she will die."

"One—" Rafa started to pull the trigger when the man spoke in defense.

"They'll send someone else. Killing me won't fix shit."

"I'll be watching her." Rafa countered his statement. "Two—"

'The man finally buckled under the pressure. "I'm Royce Payton," he sputtered through swollen lips. "Now let me go." His head lowered in shame.

"I don't think so," said Rafa. He fired several shots, killing all three men in front of him. He did not look fazed by their deaths and cleaned the handle of his gun with the bottom of one of the dead men's shirts. "He never did tell me what he wanted with her." Rafa replaced the gun in his pocket and then grabbed his laptop, walking to the office in back.

While he sat, he could hear Angelo giving orders as to the cleanup, but Angelo would also have questions for him. It was not that Angelo cared about the men. They trespassed at his wife's restaurant. That would have earned them the same fate anyway, but Angelo would want to know about Rafa's sudden interest in Lexi.

When Angelo entered, he shut the door and leaned against the side table stacked with folders. His arms were crossed. Rafa could feel his penetrating gaze. "Who's Lexi, Rafa?" Angelo questioned, not backing down.

"Lexi's a bartender at the Sandy Shores. You saw the video," Rafa stated the obvious while flipping through some papers on the desk.

"Smart ass. Who is she to you, Rafa? Since when have you given a woman your valuable time past a night? Did I miss something?"

Rafa shook his head. "No. She looked familiar, gave me some attitude, so I took her out."

"You went out with her...on a date? You?" Angelo voiced dryly.

"What? Is that so hard to believe? I told you that she looked familiar."

"And you also told me she talked back to you. Since when do you let anyone talk back to you?" Rafa could feel the mocking glare forming in Angelo's eyes. What did he have to say to get Angelo off his back?

"She caught me off guard," he returned and then continued to clear the desk. Brett is going to hear shit for being such an unorganized slob. Rafa sifted through more scattered paperwork.

"And how long has it been since you met her?"

Rafa sighed. He knew he would be the focus of Angelo's questions for days. It was clear that Angelo would not let this go. "Two weeks," he answered and looked away. He could not tell Angelo the truth right now. He was not ready to talk about his past.

"Two weeks?" Angelo scoffed. "Hell, I don't give you a month with this woman, a bartender you picked up at my wife's restaurant. I've known you for too long now."

Rafa nodded and met his stare. "We'll see then. If you're through with the interrogation, I'm going to research this Royce Payton guy."

"What you need to research is why he called her Cinderella."

Rafa started to open his laptop when he remembered the upcoming celebration at the Royal Flush Hotel. The Tomassi Group would have to heighten security because of the recent threats from the governor.

Thinking about security reminded him of another problem at hand. "Hey." Rafa glanced at Angelo. "Have you found any more news on the Moretti situation...why they're so far away from their own county?"

Angelo threw up his hands and shrugged. "All I've learned is that they're hard up and trying to cash in on my profits...to make up for their shitty business sense. Greedy bastards. They drive their own businesses in the ground and want what's mine. I put some new recruits under Jim and Ray down at the clubs where we saw Moretti's men."

"Have you found out what they're planning?"

"Not yet. I should hear something soon. I'll keep you posted." Rafa nodded and went back to his work. "I'm getting out of here," Angelo said. "I need to talk to a few men who think they have what it takes to be in the group. I'd be surprised if any of them made it through my questioning without crying."

Rafa smiled. "See you tomorrow." He then shifted all of his attention to the screen in front. If he could not find anything himself, he might make a call down to Donnie at the police station. Donnie owed him a couple of favors anyway, and it would take little effort for the sheriff to pull up information on Royce Payton.