On Tour (9 page)

"Okay, I'll bite. Who are 'The Five Families'?" I asked.

Marsha jumped in. "It's the term used for the five major mafia families still operating on the East Coast, mainly in the New York/Pennsylvania/New Jersey areas."

"Although they're separate families, the hired help often overlaps among the families. They all pull from the same talent pool when they hire free-lancers. Which is more likely the way hits, drug deals, and other illegal activities are accomplished these days."

"So they outsource the dirty work?" I asked. Sounded like a temp service for cutthroats and criminals.

Mark nodded. "Which is why it's difficult to track down the actual culprit and predict where he might strike next. It's also why this maneuver will buy us more time."

"Mark's right," Andre chimed in. "It's the perfect set up."

"But what if they attack you two at sea?"

Marsha leaned. "Really, Diana, do you think the assassin has submarines at his disposal?"

"Hello, Miss Smarty Pants, they already attacked me on a sandbar in a boat."

"We'll be on the yacht. We'd see them coming a mile away. We're not stopping until we get to Annapolis."

Andre continued, "Mark's contacts may have this wrapped up before we even get there. But, if not, this should force a confrontation as soon as we dock. We control the time and place."

"It sucks that we're trading in our leisurely cruise up the coast. And for what? A two day bus ride?" I asked Mark.

"I'm still working on that part. I don't think I'm going to decide until the last second in case we really do have a mole. So far it's just the five of us who know, and I want to keep it that way."

I stared glumly at my empty martini glass. I couldn't take much more cloak and dagger stuff. I signaled to Eli for a refill.

Mark groaned.

"Hey, I think I've earned it." I made puppy eyes at him.

"Oh, good grief," he said, shaking his head. "Give me another beer, Eli."

 *  *  *

After a thorough check of the villa by Andre and Marsha, I was rushed from the SUV inside. I thought it was a bit overkill since we'd just come from a public place, but if it made them all feel useful, then what the heck. Carlos and the band had stayed at the bar, so things promised to be a little quieter. It was nearing sunset when Mark fired up the grill and cooked us fresh mahi-mahi.

After two martinis, my nerves had finally taken a rest, and my eyelids were getting heavy. I watched Mark fuss with the grill and thought briefly of all the packing I had to do and the pile of papers on my desk.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty," Mark whispered, lightly kissing my neck.

I kept my eyes closed and let the delicious ripples make their way slowly down my spine and spread to all the good parts.

"Yes, Prince Charming," I giggled. He blew a raspberry on my neck and sent me in a fit of laughter.

"If you two are done, we'd like to eat." Ashley stood over us with her hands on her hips.

"Yes, Mom," I jabbed, getting up from the lounge chair.

Over dinner we rehashed the plan. We'd pack tonight. Mark would go over procedures on the boat with Andre. Marsha, it seemed, was very familiar with the boat—grrr. Everyone, including Ashley, would leave for the airport as scheduled tomorrow morning. To keep up appearances, Andre and Marsha were scheduled for later flights. Rudimentary disguises would be enough to get Marsha and Andre onto the boat and Mark and me into a car.

"We'll definitely head to the airport, but I'm not sure we're flying," Mark said.

"So what's the plan from there?" Andre asked.

"Still working on it. And, frankly, I think I'm keeping the details to myself. I wouldn't rule out bugs."

"We've checked everywhere we can think of," Marsha added in agreement, "and so far we're clean, but at this point we just don't know."

Ashley's phone rang. "What now?" she grumbled. "Hi Honey, sure I'll say goodnight to them." She walked off down the hallway.

I felt a little pang of jealousy. I must've been just the right distance away from my nephews and niece to feel my clock tick tock. Trouble was, if you got too close, you'd bust a spring. Those kids were a handful. My picture of family life didn't include three kids and a yard full of critters. But I needed something more to mother in my future than a dog. I wondered how Mark felt about kids.

Ashley was back in the room. She put her hand over the phone, saying, "It's Granddaddy. The family is over for a barbecue a la Dan." She rolled her eyes but seemed mildly impressed her husband had undertaken entertaining The Parents and The Grands while she was away. I'm sure there were mounds of deer meat on the grill. Yuck.

"She is? Wow." Ashley put her hand over the phone again. "He brought his girlfriend," she told me.

Mark raised eyebrows. "He's a fast worker."

Ashley motioned for me to take the phone. I grabbed it, saying, "Hi Granddaddy. Sounds like you got yourself a keeper."

He chuckled. "You bet yer britches I do. She's a big fan of yours, ya know."

"She is? Wow, I'm flattered. I'll have to give her an autographed picture when we get back." Didn't realize I was reaching the octogenarian market.

"That'd be nice. Score me some points," Granddaddy cackled. "Say, when you leavin'?"

"Oh, sometime tomorrow. We're coming back on the boat, so it'll take a while."

"Ya don't say! Well don't get marooned on an island or let the pirates get ya."

"I don't think there are any pirates on the East Coast, Granddaddy. How's my dog?" I asked.

"Ah, he's havin' a high time stealin' peoples' food and humpin' legs. Kinda reminds me of myself!" He cackled heartily at that one.

We hung up, and I handed the phone to Ashley.

"Sounds like Dan's keeping it together."

Ashley sighed. "I can't even begin to imagine how trashed the house is."

"There's thinking positive, Ashley. Maybe he'll beg Mom to help him get it all cleaned up for you."

Ashley's eyes lit up at the thought of a Mom-cleaned-and-inspected home. It was the little things in life.

The quiet serenity of the villa was broken as Carlos and The Brethren stumbled in.

"We're a bit in our cups, m'lady," Carlos explained.

I looked up and saw his hat was gone and his shirt was rumpled. "I can see that. You know you're leaving for the airport at six in the morning."

"Aye, we'll be ready." He was unsteady on his feet. "Never fear, m'lady, we're pirates through and through." He raised his fist, and the rest of the guys gave a loud cheer.

Oh, brother. "I'm going to bed." I did a fair imitation of a bow and left the room.

It was at least an hour later when Mark finally joined me. Despite the security force in and around the villa, I'd been tossing and turning at every little noise and shadow. It wasn't until he was at my side that I could relax.

"What're you doing still awake?" he asked, sliding his arms around my waist and pulling me against his warm, naked body.

"Hard to sleep with a hitman on your tail."

"I think we're getting close to the end here." Mark rubbed my shoulders soothingly.

"Hopefully it's not my end."

He chuckled against the back of my neck, sending shivers everywhere. "Never. I got a call a few minutes ago. They didn't find the motorcycle guy yet, but they did get a full name: Sal Bonanno. They tracked down the guy who tampered with the amp from surveillance footage at the festival. Get this—he's a registered electrician with a pretty serious gambling habit. He claims he was paying off a debt to Bonanno by doing the amp job."

I thought about this. "So The Spider outsources these guys to do crazy things like poison me, electrocute me, and deliver scrapbook pictures. It's ludicrous."

"No one's ever heard of threatening scrapbook letters, but I think you were right. It's starting to look more like those messages are from someone who's trying to stop The Spider."

"So why not just go to the Police with the info? It must be an insider. Maybe a Mafia family member." I reasoned. Mark hugged me in closer. "Hopefully, they'll track down Bonanno soon and find a way to get him to give up everything he knows about The Spider. And," he added, "I've just gotten access to a hacker who will track down the wire transfers in no time. Once we know who the money went to, we'll know where to find The Spider."

His confidence was infectious. I wiggled against him, feeling his quick intake of breath. "You take such good care of me…" the words hung suggestively in the air.

"That sounds like an offer," he whispered against my neck.

I shivered, turned, and placed my lips against his. "Lucky guess."

*  *  *

I woke up with a start. Mark was gone, and the sun was just starting to warm up the sky. I heard the familiar sounds of hung-over pirates coming from the living room. I pulled on a robe and headed towards the ruckus.

Ashley was standing in a pile of bags, wrestling a scabbard away from one of The Brethren.

"You can't take this on the plane!" She pulled hard.

"Yea won't be takin' me sword, wench!" He pulled back. His hat was askew, and his white shirt was stained with rum.

"What's going on?" I asked her. I saw Mark, Andre, and Marsha outside on the patio, deep in discussion.

"They're still drunk!" Ashley cried. "Phil and Roger are on their way."

I started to laugh. "Where's Carlos?"

Ashley pointed. Under the large dining room table Carlos lay asleep, his legs crossed and his feet propped on a chair. His hat covered his face.

"Pirate wrangling rule number one," I said, walking over to Carlos. "All requests to the crew should be made through the captain."

I leaned down and pulled off Carlos' hat. He turned a bleary eye to me. "Well, good mornin', M'lady. Have you come to give me a snuggle?"

"In all the time we've been playing together have I ever given you a snuggle?"

"No, and it's high time!" He surprised me by pulling me down on top of him. "Give me a boon, fair Diana," he whispered against my lips with rum-scented breath.

I looked into his dark playful eyes and actually thought about it for a second.

A sound startled us. Mark crouched down, peering under the table. "What are you two doing?"

Carlos sighed. "You have such timing," he complained. "M'lady was considering giving me a boon. Who knows when next we might meet."

Mark growled. "How about a tip instead of boon, Captain? Keep your hands to yourself or get used to wearing a hook—how's that suit you?"

Carlos let go of me. "It doesn't suit me at all, sir." He gave me a smile and a nod. "M'lady."

We crawled out from under the table.

"Your men are looking less than shipshape, Carlos. Better have them shake a leg," I said, watching Ashley swat at two snoring pirates with the kitchen broom.

"Aye, aye." He yawned and stretched.

Mark came up alongside me. "Were you really considering giving him a boon?"

I shrugged. "Moment of weakness. He has the biggest puppy dog eyes. And I am going to miss him."

We watched one of the pirates jump up and run retching to the bathroom.

"Yeah, I can see the attraction," Mark replied.

After seeing everyone off to the airport, we donned our disguises. Beads of sweat immediately began trickling out from under my heavy red wig. Marsha looked cool and comfortable in her blonde wig and sundress. Mark and Andre wore hats over their close-cropped hair. Mark was dressed in one of Andre's classic linen suits. Andre wore jeans and a T-shirt. The suit looked a little baggy on Mark, but we all agreed he'd pass from a distance.

Thus costumed, we helped Andre and Marsha load the last of their things onto the boat. We made a big, loud fuss wishing them well and exchanging hugs.

"Don't do anything we wouldn't do," Mark called from the dock as the boat slowly pulled away.

Andre saluted; Marsha gave him the finger.

"Well, at least she's keeping in character."

I gave Mark an elbow in the gut for that remark.

"Now—" I began, but Mark stopped me with a finger to his lips.

"We'd better get the car back to the rental agency. Plane leaves at noon."

"Sure thing, Andre," I said too loudly.

Mark rolled his eyes and went into the villa. Our bags were already packed in the car, so after a quick once over through the villa, we took off for Miami International Airport.

We had agreed to stay in character for the ride in case the car was bugged. It was challenging making small talk as Marsha and Andre.

"So Andre," I began too loudly again, "some crazy stuff going on around here."

"Yep," Mark agreed. "How about those pirates? Quite a handful."

"Yeah, I don't know how Diana worked with them for so long. She must be a saint."

Mark gave me a warning glare. I continued having fun with putting words in Marsha's mouth even if she couldn't hear me. "She sure is a great singer. Bet she's great in bed, too."

Mark narrowed his eyes at me. "Yeah, she's okay. We had a thing awhile back. No big deal really. Just another notch on my gun belt. Anyway, I prefer my women with a little more meat on their bones."

I hit Mark in the arm. Okay, maybe I'd just stare out the window for the next few hours.

We talked more openly when we stopped for lunch at a little restaurant outside of Miami. We sat outside to have more privacy, even though it was stinking hot.

"So can I hear the plan?" I asked.

Mark took a bite of his red snapper sandwich. I was pretty sure he'd eaten red snapper at every meal since he'd gotten here.

"We're turning the car in and taking the shuttle to the airport." He paused and sipped his iced tea. "In the luggage area, there'll be a guy holding a card that says Anderson Industries. He'll take us to a private airport outside the city."

"You've hired a private plane?" I asked.

He tilted his head. "Kind of. I'm borrowing a private plane from a friend."

"Who's the friend? Are you sure we can trust them? What if The Spider has gotten wind of this?" I know I sounded like I was losing it. But the truth was I was starting to.