The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.: Box Set (90 page)

“Nice. Real class act.”

“With the hair though, she looks similar to Lisa. I really got a feeling about this. I think Albert used her as a double. We just got to make the connection tighter.”

“Well, I’ll stick to Albert like glue. I’m thinking I’ll ditch the van, and follow on foot if he and his friends are walking.”

“Good idea, but stay back. Don’t want to spook him.”

“Gotcha. I’ll wear my headset, and keep you posted.”

“My mark is hailing a cab, I’ll catch you later.” So much for heading home. He just hoped he wasn’t headed to another Manhattan party club. His head was pounding last night, and he even heard the beats in his head until he finally passed out.

*     *     *

Twenty minutes later,
Gio watched his mark get out in Times Square. Connie was headed straight for the theatre district, and Gio began to wonder if Albert had the balls to take her out in public with all the publicity now. But when he watched her slip into an alleyway between two buildings, he knew he’d been right. He wasn’t taking her to see a show, but maybe he was meeting her briefly. He decided to park and foot it too. He grabbed the hat he brought, and the lightweight black jacket and slipped them on. He wouldn’t head down the alley yet. He’d wait. He spotted a coffee shop with the view of the entrance to the alley and went there instead. They had a few tables and stools on the sidewalk, and he decided he could blend in there as well as anywhere. He went up to the takeout window and ordered a cup of coffee, plain, and then perched at one of the high tables keeping a lookout.

His cell phone rang. He answered. It was Nikko. “Albert and his group are walking to the theatre like I thought. I’m on foot, but Albert broke away from them, saying he would meet with them in twenty minutes. He had a quick errand to run. He slipped into a bodega, then when they were well out of view, he came back out. He’s headed in their same direction, but he is not walking too fast. I think something’s up.”

“Connie’s in an alley on the corner of . . .” Gio looked up and read the sign. “7
^th
Street and 42
^nd
Avenue.”

“Shit, I’m two blocks away from there. He’s headed that way. Can you get in there without her seeing? If he’s meeting her, I don’t have the van. Shit, it would be great to hear what the hell those two have to say in alleyway.”

“Shoot, I’ll try.” Gio hung up, and dumped the rest of his coffee in a tin garbage can on the way out. He crossed the street, and headed to the alley. He’d make like he was taking a piss if she spotted him, but he kept close to the wall and walked quietly.

There were plenty of obstacles he could maneuver and hide behind. The alley was littered with garbage bins, trash, and pallets. Gio spotted Connie fifty yards ahead. She wasn’t looking his way, and he figured he was close enough. He might be able to hear them from here if Albert was meeting her. He could see her standing under a lit doorway, smoking, and scrolling through her phone. He slid behind a dumpster, but ten yards up ahead he saw a recessed doorway, with two pallets beside it. He took the risk, and stealthily went forward. Lifting the pallet silently he inched it sideways, slipped behind it. He took the other pallet and slid it so he was totally blocked from view. He sent Nikko a quick text.

Gio:
In good position. Don’t call, going on silent.

Afterwards, Gio quickly muted the sound on his phone, turned off the brightness on the screen, and shut off the automatic flash. He was going to try to record the meeting maybe get a few pictures too. His camera was in his pocket. He fiddled with the settings and felt confident he would be able to get some kind of information.

Nikko saw the text. He was relieved his brother had made it. Albert was just taking the turn into the alley. Nikko saw the coffee shop and headed there. He wouldn’t risk his brother being caught by texting or calling now. He just had to wait it out and hope for the best.

*     *     *

Gio heard Connie
speak. “Hey mister, got a light?” He also heard her heels clacking on the pavement getting closer to his position.

“No, I don’t. Sorry.” It was Albert.

“Excuse me,” Connie said as she tried to pass by Albert. They were practically in front of Gio. Albert’s hand whipped out and he grabbed her wrist.

“Not so fast,” Albert’s voice came out husky.

“Ouch that hurts. Let me go.”

Through the slats Gio could see her. She was directly in front, and he was confused. They were acting like they didn’t know each other.

“Not a fucking chance.” He threw the girl against the wall directly opposite where Gio was holed up. Then he saw a flash of silver. Albert had a knife. Gio was about to burst from the scene and help her. When the girl laughed.

“Albert, you really want to play this out for real.”

“Shut the fuck up, Connie. You’re ruining it. I’ve got only twenty minutes.”

They were role playing.

“Sorry,” she whimpered. “Mister. Please just let me go.”

“Get on your fucking knees.” He slapped her hard. “You are going to suck my cock, and like it. I’ll slit your god dammed throat if you don’t.”

Connie began to cry. The force of the blow had been real enough. But Gio knew it was one of Albert’s games. He began recording them with his phone. It would be dark but there was a bit of light in the alley. He could have the sound enhanced and that could be matched.

Connie sunk to her knees. Gio heard Albert’s zipper come down. He felt ill. Thinking of Lisa putting up with this sick bastard for all those years.

Albert waved the knife in front of Connie’s eyes. “Suck my cock you stupid cunt. And like I said, pretend you like it, or I’ll cut you.”

He heard the sounds Connie was making, sounds of pleasure mixed with tears as she brought Albert to orgasm. When she finished she wiped her face with the back of her hand. “Are you going to let me go now, mister?

“Not yet. Soon. Get over there. On that barrel.”

Connie, crying, did as she was told. Gio heard the sound of cloth tearing. Presumably the girl’s fishnet stockings after he heard Albert’s next words. “You are such a slut. No underwear. You were asking for this by walking down this alley at night.”

“Please mister, what are you going to do?” Connie feigned ignorance.

Albert laughed evilly. “I am going to fuck you with my fist. Because sluts like you don’t deserve my cock.”

Gio heard the girl cry out, and he heard the sounds of Albert forcing his hand up inside the girl as she cried. He could see Albert’s elbow moving back and forth. He had slipped the knife in his pocket, and he held the girl’s hair in his other closed fist, as he pumped into her. The girl moaned, cried, but she did orgasm. “Please, please, stop,” she cried put.

“Come for me again, you dirty whore.” Albert kept ramming her, until she cried out once more.

When he released his hold on her hair, the girl slumped over. She was panting. Albert stepped to the side, and Gio could see all of her. She was slick and wet. He looked away. He was sick. And Albert was sick.

He watched as Albert licked his fingers. He threw a wad of cash at the girl. Then wiped his hand off on a handkerchief.

“Don’t forget about Tuesday. It’s important.”

“You sure this is okay with Master?” she asked as she scrabbled to pick up the cash.

“Fuck him. He doesn’t run my life.” And with that, Albert walked back the way he had come. Connie didn’t stay long either. She cleaned herself up a bit, straightened her long thin trench coat after ditching the fishnets. Gio waited a few more minutes after alerting Nikko to wait for him. There was no need to follow either one of them tonight any longer. But they did need to figure out what Connie meant by the Master.
Another player? What the hell?

The puzzle was getting more complicated. They needed to figure this out soon.

And hopefully before Tuesday.

*     *     *

When Gio got
home, the first thing he did was check in on his son. The lights were all out, and he stood by his old room, and watched as his son slept soundly in the bed Gio had slept in as a boy. It made some of the horrible night’s images slip from his mind. The things he had seen and heard affected him greatly. He couldn’t stop imagining all that Lisa had gone through over the years.

After assuring himself his son was out for the night, he quietly made his way upstairs to the attic. Nikko was in the shower and he was sleeping over. They figured all would be quiet with Albert the rest of the night, and sleeping in the van another night, well Gio didn’t want to ask his brother for that. He’d done so for the last two nights.

At the top of the stairs to the attic room, Gio knocked softly. He saw the strip of light from under her door, and knew she was still up. He didn’t know what possessed him to go up; he’d vowed to stay away until he could clear her name and think more clearly, but after what he had seen in the alley, he needed to assure himself she was all right.

Lisa answered the door. She was wearing one of his t-shirts. And again, he saw the scars. Scars that Albert put on her body. He wanted to kill the man.

Lisa saw Gio’s eyes narrow, as he gazed at her body lingering on her scars, and then finally his blue eyes met hers. “Gio?” she asked, her voice full of concern.

He took a step into the room. She took a step back.

“I don’t know where we are going to be, Lisa. Sorry,” he added when she averted her eyes. “But I do know I need to be in your bed tonight.” Her eyes whipped up to his face.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Nothing that is important for right now. But this is,” he said as he clasped her face palming the back of her head and pulling her towards him. He pressed his lips to hers watching her eyes, and when she opened for him, he was lost. He kept walking her backwards and when her arms slipped around his neck, he picked her up, sweeping her off her feet, and carried her over to Andreas’s bed. He laid her down gently then slowly removed his clothes as she watched him.

When Gio made love to her that night, he took his time, crawling between her legs, he kissed each and every one of her scars trying to take them all away, and Lisa had a hard time not to cry as he worshipped her body slowly the way no man ever had done before.

Misunderstood

A
lbert entered his
study in his condo. It was late, and the play he had just seen with friends had been mildly entertaining. But not as entertaining as his pre-play foreplay. Sitting next to Alan Dunkirk, a wealthy car enthusiast and his new girlfriend, and longtime friend Senator Wilson McCarthy, who was one of his best customers, the play had dragged on. But the memory of his rendezvous with Connie in the alley kept him entertained.

He was at half-mast throughout the Broadway debut of
Kinky Boots
. He was able to convince his companions to go on ahead of him while he stopped in a small bodega to find some allergy medicine. That had been his excuse. It also made him using his handkerchief, the one he had wiped his hands on after fisting Connie, plausible. He lifted it to his face time and time again to inhale her scent. Fabulous. He loved the smell of pussy. It was his aphrodisiac.