MURDER TAKES TIME

Chapter 50

 

Tony and Tito Have Lunch

 

Brooklyn—18 Months Ago

It had been a few months since I left Gina, and the memories were already fading. For a while there had been a strong desire, but maybe that was just me being horny. What I needed was a “good lay” as Tony always said, but that didn’t strike me as appealing. I might as well beat off. It was faster, cheaper, and I could dream about somebody I actually wanted to be with.

As I pushed the image of Angela out of my mind, the cell phone rang. “Hello?” 

“Nicky, it’s Tony. We’re having lunch at Cataldi’s.”

It was early for lunch, but what the hell. “I’ll be twenty minutes.”

When I got there, Paulie and Bugs were at the table with Tony, and it looked as if at least one, if not two, limoncellos had already gone down. “You guys getting an early start on something?”

“Just another wonderful day,” Paulie said. 

“So I guess you’ve all been swimming?”

Bugs grabbed a piece of bread from the basket, but before he stuffed it in his mouth, he said. “I have.”

“I don’t care about swimming,” Paulie said. “I’m hungry.”

“What’s everyone having?” 

“Cannelloni,” Tony said, and the grunts coming from Paulie convinced me he was too.

When the waiter came to the table, three of us ordered cannelloni. Bugs ordered manicotti. All through lunch, we talked about old days, like we did every time we got together. As the years passed, real memories of the old days faded and they became more what we wanted them to be. We talked about gang fights but forgot how scared we were before the fight happened. All we remembered was that one moment of euphoria afterwards. Frankie and Tony talked about girls and their conquests, ignoring the heartbreaks that went along with them. 

Paulie downed his drink, ordered another round, then asked me if I was ever going to see Angie. “Take a goddamn weekend off and drive down, for Christ’s sake. It’s only a couple of hours.”

The suggestion sounded good, I had to admit, but then reality hit. “What am I going to do, Paulie, go back and say, ‘Hey, Angie, look at me. I’m a union rep.’”

Tony seemed pissed. “Why the hell would you want to see her after what she did to you?”

I didn’t like his tone or his attitude. “What the hell, Tony. I was in prison. Tell me you’re waiting seven years for someone?”

He let out a half-snort, accompanied by a sneer, the kind Tony was so good at. “Yeah, but she didn’t even wait seven months. She’s a—”

I reached for him, but he was across the table. If he’d have been closer, I’d have hit him. “Don’t.”

I looked at each of them. “I know you didn’t like Angie much, but I won’t have anyone talking bad about her.” I turned, staring straight into Tony’s eyes. “Nobody.”  

Bugs changed the subject then scooped the last of his dessert onto his fork. “That’s it for me, guys.”

“What?” Paulie asked.

“Tito just walked in. I can’t afford to be seen with him.” Bugs wiped his mouth and threw two twenties on the table. 

“Put your money away,” Tony said. 

“Can’t take a lunch from you either.”

“I can,” I said. 

“Yeah,” Tony said. “See you guys next time.”

I nodded to Tito as we passed. 

Within five minutes, I was on my way.

#

Tito walked to the table that Nicky and Bugs just left, pulled up a seat across from Tony. “Hey, Paulie, why don’t you watch the car. Let Tony and me talk.”

Paulie got up and left, and after the waiter took Tito’s order and brought some more bread, Tito started talking. “I’ve been proud of you, Tony. You’ve been making good money.” 

“Thanks, Tito.” 

“They told me you were a smart kid when I took you on. That was the tag you had coming up, but lots of kids have that. What you’ve done is deliver, and that’s important.” He took a sip of water, then another. “Nothing is more important than delivering.” 

“I couldn’t have done shit without Paulie. He’s the best.” 

Tito nodded. “Yeah, I hear Paulie’s good. You need good people around you. You’ve got a lot of good friends—Paulie, Nicky, and even Bugs is good. It’s a shame he’s a goddamn cop.” 

“At least he had the balls to give us a heads-up.” 

“That’s what I mean—he’s all right.” Tito drank more water, then held his glass up for the waiter to see. “Service here has gotten bad.” 

“They’re just busy. It’s usually great.”

After Tito got more water, he leaned close to Tony. “That thing we talked about before? It went good. Your boy did okay.” 

Tony’s eyes went wide. “You mean Nicky?”

Tito looked at him as if he were nuts. “Yeah, the same Nicky who just left here ten minutes ago.” 

Tony wiped his mouth and crumpled the napkin, laying it on his plate. “You see the body? If not, you paid for something you never got. But who cares? If it took care of your problem, that’s all that matters.”

“My men saw it go down. Manny verified it with the papers.” He wiped his face with the napkin—wiped it hard, as if he were scrubbing off glue—then wagged a thick finger at Tony. “And I get what I pay for. That’s what matters.”

Tony held up his hands. “Whatever you say, Tito. But he didn’t kill her. Nicky Fusco would never kill a broad.”

Tito sat silent for a while. He ordered a cappuccino when the waiter came, and once they were alone again, he spoke. “I’m gonna have this checked out. In the meantime, you put somebody on Nicky. I want to know what he does, where he goes, what he buys, what he eats. If this guy screwed me…”

“If he screwed you, it wasn’t you he was after. I’m telling you, it’s the broad thing.”

Tito stood, threw his napkin on the table. “You find out if he killed that girl. And if he didn’t—kill them both.” He stared at Tony. “That’s what you want, isn’t it? You’ve been pressing real hard on this. What’s the matter, he screw your wife or something?”

Tony’s face tightened. “That’s out of line. I don’t care who you are.”

“I’m going to have this checked out. I’ll let you know what I find,” he said, and stormed out of the restaurant.