MURDER TAKES TIME

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A Big Mistake

Four of Tony Sannullo's men waited outside of Cataldi's restaurant, alert for signs of trouble. A gold Lexus pulled up, and a big man dressed in a Brioni suit stepped out. Paulie "The Suit" Perlano straightened his blue silk tie, ran a comb through a full head of dark hair, then walked up to the guys gathered by the door.

"Hey, Suit," one of them called.

"Hey, Paulie," another said.

"Anyone tell Tony yet?"

Four heads shook at once. "You tell him," one of them said.

Paulie stood on his toes and peeked in the window. Tony "The Brain" Sannullo sat alone at a round table that seated six, his back against the wall. An espresso sat to the right of his crossword puzzle, and he chewed on the end of a ballpoint pen. Despite the advice he'd received all of his life, Tony was a creature of habit. On Friday mornings he took his espresso, along with breakfast, at Cataldi's.

Paulie shook his head then walked up three steps to go inside. "He's not gonna like it."

Anna Cataldi greeted him. "Buongiorno, Paulie. Beautiful day, huh?"

"That depends," Paulie said, but then he laughed. He had an easy laugh, the kind that came from frequent use. "How you doin', Anna? How's that new baby?"

"Good, Paulie. And your kids?"

"Hey, Anna, kids are kids. They're always good. Pains in the ass, but good." As they walked toward the back, Paulie asked, "He in a good mood?"

Anna raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "It's February."

"Ah, shit."

"Yeah," she said, and waved Paulie on.

He headed toward Tony's table, the rumbling in his gut a combination of hunger and nerves.

Tony scratched in one of the final answers of his crossword as Paulie came to the table. "When are you gonna dress like the rest of us, Paulie? Nobody wears suits anymore."

Paulie fidgeted with his silverware while he stared at Tony's crossword. "Still got a few to do, huh?" Nobody liked to interrupt Tony's crosswords.

"You got a seven-letter word for radiant or dazzlingly bright?"

"Sure, Tony. It's right on the tip of my tongue."

"Starts with an 'f.'"

"Yeah, I got one—frickin—as in fricking brilliant."

"That's my buddy, Paulie. I knew I could count on you." Tony chewed on the end of his pen while the waiter brought another espresso for him and new one for Paulie. "Fulgent. That's the word I was looking for."

Paulie fidgeted more. Might as well spit it out. "Okay, Mr. Fulgent, if you can take your nose out of that puzzle for a minute, I got something to tell you."

"What?"

"Nino Tortella got clipped last night."

"Shit." Tony slapped the table. "How?"

"Same as Renzo."

"You know what this means."

"Yeah, I know. There's no way Nino didn't talk. Might be a couple of guys smart enough not to talk, but not Nino."

"Anybody seen Donnie Amato?"

Paulie sipped his espresso. "I called. Got no answer."

"Send a couple of guys to warn him."

"You know how hardheaded Donnie is. He thinks he can handle himself."

Tony slugged the last of his espresso. "Fat chance of that." He tossed two twenties on the table.

"I've got to call Tito. Catch up with me later."

Paulie narrowed his eyes. "You didn't have anything to do with this, did you?"

"You know who's doing this."

"We shouldn't have done it, Tony. It was wrong from the get go."

"Tell me about it," Tony said, and headed for the door. Lot more people are gonna die now.