Beautifully Forgotten (40 page)

“Why?”

“I suspect there’s some laundering of money going on and they’re using the bar to do it, integrating the dirty money in with the legit cash flow of the bar. Paying suppliers for the alcohol with dirty money is a good way to clean it. Your mom’s vodka, I’m guessing, is a by-product of the operation.”

“So the person who’s paying her off is possibly a gangster.”

“Or knows one.”

“I realize that Lucien associates with a shady group, but when this all happened with the baby, he hadn’t yet started that.”

“Whoever is doing this isn’t doing it because of Lucien’s colorful past.”

“So we’re back to square one.”

“Not quite. We know where the bar is located. Fun fact: it’s the same place where Lacy picked up her bribe money.”

“Well, hell.”

“I still don’t see why we didn’t bring Trace,” Kyle said as he, Darcy, and Ember climbed from the cab. They were on Queens Boulevard checking out Polly’s.

“Because if he knew we were coming here, he wouldn’t have let me come.”

“I shouldn’t have let you come—either of you.”

Ember looked over at Darcy and nodded her head in Kyle’s direction. “He’s great, isn’t he?”

They’d followed the directions given to them by Josh and when they reached the front of the dive bar, Darcy stopped walking so abruptly that Ember walked right into her. The parrot on the sign was the same one from the matches in her mom’s apartment.

Ember asked, “Why did you stop?”

“My mom comes here.”

“That’s interesting. Maybe she started coming here regularly after she made her deal with the devil. At least we know we’re on the right track,” Ember said.

“Let’s see if anyone in there looks familiar, but stay close,” Kyle cautioned. “If something happens to either of you, I’m as good as dead.”

Darcy stepped into the bar and the smell of grease and alcohol made her think of her mom’s apartment. An old scarred bar lined one wall and was packed; not a stool was empty. Floors that were sticky from spilled beer fit in perfectly with the scattered tables that sat mostly empty, except for a few with remnants of meals.

“Nice place,” Kyle muttered.

“That table over there has a good view of the bar,” Ember suggested before she started over to it. Once settled, a waitress walked over.

“What can I get you?”

“Two bottles of beer and a glass of ginger ale,” Kyle said. The waitress barely acknowledged the order before she turned away.

“Beer in a bottle, good call,” Ember said before she looked over at Darcy. “Anyone look familiar?”

“Not yet.” Darcy didn’t take her eyes from the bar when she replied, but after a few minutes she leaned back in her chair. Her disappointment was obvious when she said, “He’s not here.”

“Well, he’s not here now, but we know he’s been here,” Ember said encouragingly.

“I know. I was just hoping that we’d walk in and find him standing in a spotlight with a large black arrow over his head.” She tried for a grin over her silliness, but was feeling too dejected.

“I say we have our drink and give it an hour. We can come back as often as we need,” Kyle said.

Darcy tried for optimistic, but failed. “Okay.”

They stayed for a little over an hour before Darcy made the call that they should go.

“I need to pee. I’ll be right back.” Ember was almost halfway to the restroom before Darcy caught up to her.

“I remember peeing all the time.”

Ember stopped so fast that Darcy almost tripped on her own feet to keep from hitting her, and when Ember turned to her, there were tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry. I’m crying all the time these days, but in this case—Christ, Darcy. I’m here if you need to talk.”

Darcy felt her throat closing up because she hadn’t realized how much she missed having a close girlfriend in her life until that moment. Words wouldn’t come, so she simply replied, “Thank you.”

Ember took her hand and squeezed as if she understood exactly what Darcy was thinking.

“Okay, I need to pee or this is going to be embarrassing.”

Ember took a step away from Darcy, which gave Darcy a clear view of the hallway in the back where there was a picture on the wall; it looked as if it had been taken when the bar had first opened. There were several people in the shot, but one person in particular caught her attention.

“That’s him.”

Ember was looking down the hall for the person in question. Darcy stepped up in front of the picture and pointed.

“Not what I was expecting.”

Darcy’s head tilted slightly in Ember’s direction. “Yeah, he doesn’t look as intimidating now that I’m older, but when I was sixteen, he scared the shit out of me.”

“No doubt.” Ember tilted her own head. “I think we could totally take him.”

Darcy hadn’t meant to smile, because the emotions that were coursing through her were intense, but her lips curved up just the same.

A waitress passed by and Ember turned to her and pointed to the man. “Do you know who that is?”

There was definite distrust in the older woman’s eyes, but she obviously wasn’t that suspicious, since she offered up his name rather easily, “Nick DiNuzzio, why?”

“I think we may have gone to school together,” Ember said before turning back to the picture.

The waitress walked away, shaking her head. Darcy leaned closer and whispered, “You do realize that he’s twice your age?”

“I know; I panicked.”

Ember looked around before lifting the picture from the wall and stuffing it into her bag.

“We can’t take her word that his name is Nick, but with his picture, my uncle can find out everything about him.”

Darcy would have taken the picture if Ember hadn’t, but she couldn’t help teasing her friend. “That’s stealing, you know that, right?”

“Yeah, I seem to be doing that a lot lately. Maybe I’ll turn to a life of crime. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Darcy gestured to Kyle who had caught her eye and was holding up his hands in the universal gesture for “What the fuck?”

She pointed at the ladies’ room sign before she followed Ember into the bathroom.

“With as often as I’m going to the bathroom, I think I might just move a bed into ours. It’s crazy.” The sound of the bathroom door opening made Ember stop her chitchatting. She finished up and stepped out of the stall to see Darcy looking a bit weird, her eyes shifting to her left, and as soon as Ember cleared the stalls, she understood why. Nick DiNuzzio was standing in the ladies’ room.

He opened his jacket to flash the piece at his hip before he asked, “Why are you asking about me?”

Darcy’s mind was racing, looking for an answer, so it took her a minute to realize that Ember had taken a few steps closer to Nick. She was studying his face as if it were a painting.

He was just as confused by it when he snapped, “What the fuck are you doing?”

Ember moved her eyes up to his and took a step back. “No, I think I was wrong.”

“About what?” Nick asked, and the same question was on the tip of Darcy’s tongue.

“I thought maybe you were my father, but I don’t think so. I’m sorry.”

It took effort for Darcy not to laugh out loud. Damn, Ember was good. She almost believed her sincerity and she knew better.

He looked uncomfortable, as if the possibility that he could have a woman Ember’s age as a daughter wasn’t too far-fetched. He started backing up to the door. Clearly he didn’t want any part of fatherhood. “Easy enough mistake.”

The next minute happened in a blur. The door opened and a second later Kyle had his hand wrapped around Nick’s neck, pushing him up against the wall so that his cheek was pressing against the tile. In Kyle’s other hand was Nick’s gun, aimed at his head.

“What . . . how did you . . .” Ember stopped talking and took a few deep breaths before she tried again.

“How the hell did you do that?”

“I ran with a bad crowd in my youth. Long story for another time.”

“I can’t believe I’ve known you for almost four years and I didn’t know you knew your way around a gun.” Ember looked back at Nick. “I also can’t believe we’re in the bathroom of a dive bar in Queens and my best friend is holding a gun on a man. You can’t make this shit up.”

Kyle grinned. “What now?”

Ember exhaled on a sigh. “We call Lucien and Trace. Damn, I wish I had cotton balls.”

Darcy didn’t bother to hide her confusion. “Why?”

An hour later Darcy and Kyle stood in Lucien’s office at Allegro after being escorted there by two very angry men. Even Nick seemed to appreciate the situation and didn’t refuse when it was suggested to him by Lucien that he join them. Even from her distance, Darcy heard Trace yelling at Ember loud enough to shake the building.

Kyle leaned up against the wall with a slight grin on his face. “Understand now?”

“Yeah, she’s going to go deaf.”

“Probably, but she totally had it coming.”

“It must be nice to have someone love you so much to shout at you until you’re disabled,” Darcy said almost dreamily.

“I’m doubting Ember agrees with that statement at the moment.”

Loud footfalls came from down the hall just before Lucien appeared in the doorway. He looked as if he wanted to kill someone. In two strides he had Darcy’s hand and was pulling her out of his office just as Kyle said, “You might rethink your last comment.”

Lucien was so angry that once he had Darcy in her office, he put the distance of the room between them. He was fairly sure he was going to murder her. He tried to take a few deep breaths and calm down, but thinking about how that wannabe had threatened her with a gun, he was steadily losing that battle.

“What the fuck were you thinking? Do you have a fucking death wish? He could have fucking shot you! I should put you over my fucking knee.”

Darcy stood quietly, watching as Lucien seethed and paced, admiring his very fine form prowling. He was silent for a minute so, seeking to lighten the mood, she asked, “Is fuck your word of the day?”

He pierced her with a look that should have smote her.

“It’s not a joke.”

“I know. We didn’t realize he was carrying.”

That wasn’t the right thing to say because he turned a dangerous shade of red. She wasn’t a fan of getting reprimanded, but her previous sentiment still held. It was nice having someone care enough to yell. She didn’t even think as she walked across the room and wrapped her arms around him, pressing herself as close to him as possible. He tensed for a minute and then his arms came around her before he buried his face in her hair.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “And not just for walking into trouble, but for getting angry that you were trying to protect me. I’m not used to someone caring. I guess I can get used to it as long as that person is you.”

He held her until it must have sunk in that she was here and safe before he pulled back and cradled her face in his hands. He stared as if he was getting his fill. A slight smile touched his mouth. “I’ll try to leave my club in the cave.”

She smiled in reply, but it faded. “He’s the man,” she said.

“I know.”

“What are we going to do?”

“Find out who he works for.”

“He may not be feeling very talkative.”

Lucien pressed a kiss on her forehead. “He’ll talk, trust me.”