The decoy

Chapt 3

Chapter Three

            Sebastian wondered why she was celebrated in music.

            He had arrived in Winona, Arizona, made famous in the song "Route 66."

Things had changed since then.

            He rented a motel room out on Route 66 and sat on the bed reading files that Kelly had sent to a courier's office in town. He had five hundred dollars in expenses and a package of information on Paul Vail and Cory Pezzo His job was to kick up dust and see what happened. He had decided he should visit Vail Refuse and Landfill where the murder victim had run his operation and where he was killed and then Sebastian would meet with the widow at her home which was somewhere between Winona and Flagstaff but first he wanted to look under the rock which seemed to have the biggest snake.

            He sipped on a half of a cup of cold coffee which had been left in the cup holder the previous evening and drove his truck into a small industrial plaza on the outskirts of Winona. There wasn't a lot of industry left in this decaying town but the plaza was new and most of the offices were rented out. It was covered in beige stucco and although it was built just three years ago it was already decaying significantly. Pezzo had a small office which he had rented a year ago when he took an interest in Mr. Vail's business.

            Sebastian turned off the truck and pulled a 10mm Smith and Wesson, like the kind the California Highway Patrol used, from the glove compartment and tucked it into the back of his slacks. He draped his jacket down over it. He had flown into war zones and slept on beaches in Brazil where men would slit your throat for your shoes but he had never approached a gangster and tried to raise his anger. He expected there would be a group of men playing cards and eating cannolis waiting inside. He was about to push through Pezzo's body guards and he thought he might need the gun.

            As he stepped into the office he was immediately disoriented.  It was decorated inexpensively and felt temporary but the furniture was very modern and the place was immaculate. There was a gorgeous Asian woman who appeared to be about twenty five sitting alone in the waiting area. Her desk was glass and her skirt was short and the combination held Sebastian's attention.

            "Can I help you?" 

            "I need to see Cory Pezzo." Sebastian had already lost his composure. He was expecting an argument from a couple of gangsters not a cooperative receptionist.

            She remained at her desk and called out, "Cory, someone here to see you.

Go right in. He isn't busy."

            Sebastian relaxed his guard. Walking into the inner office, he looked at Cory Pezzo the mobster and thought the woman at the desk might be more of a threat. The file on Pezzo said he was forty five but he looked much younger. He wore tight designer jeans, and a light pink cashmere sweater and his dark hair was thinning and cut very short and neat. The guy stood about five feet nine inches and although he was sitting behind a desk, Sebastian thought he probably weighed less than one fifty. He was tanned and manicured. Sebastian had purchased slacks, loafers and a sports jacket on Kelly advice but he recognized that Pezzo's jeans probably cost more than his own entire outfit, although it still seemed a little casual for a mob kingpin at work.

            On his desk was a cell phone, a lap top, a bean salad and a mug of black coffee.

The office had the feel of a recently established insurance outfit.

            As he stepped around the desk to introduce himself, Sebastian saw that Pezzo was wearing leather flip flops. Even the sandals appeared expensive but Sebastian associated flip flops with thongs. They were worn by slender women at the pool or obese Asian men entering sumo rings. Sebastian thought the office and the casual attire gave Pezzo the look of a principal in one of those yuppie private schools where the kids all call the teachers by their first names.