The Scorpion's Tale (22 page)

“I don’t know yet. When I find out tomorrow,
I will call you.”

“Fair enough,” the detective said. “You’d
better call me.”

Steven hung up and closed his eyes. He
wondered why he was still alive.

____________

As he surveyed the dark sea, Pablo placed his
wine goblet on the railing outside of his bedroom and picked up his
cordless phone.

“Have you arranged the expendables?” the
voice on the phone inquired.

“I had two low lifes from town hired for the
boat,” Pablo answered. “They can do your grunt work and will not be
missed.”

“Excellent choice for tomorrow’s flotsam. Now
I will see what Steven Capresi is truly made of.”

“How do I know you won’t add me to the
debris, intentionally or by accident?”

Pablo’s goblet suddenly exploded an inch from
his right hand. “My dear Pablo. If I wanted you dead, your blood
would be where the wine has just now spilled.”

Pablo viewed the water and marveled at a shot
that could only have originated from a boat hidden in the darkness,
on the choppy waves.

“I see that you are still the master,” Pablo
said.

“Not quite,” the Scorpion laughed. “I was
aiming for the goblet’s stem.” He abruptly hung up.

At thirty thousand feet, Nick was feeling
guilty about leaving Giovanna, but it wasn’t a battle worth waging
against his uncle. The plane had been delayed at the gate for a few
hours after boarding, and Nick had fallen into a deep sleep. He was
awoken by Pete, who was lightly shaking him. “What the hell?” Nick
muttered.

Pete whispered in his ear. “Boss, we got a
situation. You’re going to want to see this.”

Nick looked puzzled. “This better be
good.”

Pete jerked his head toward the back of the
plane. “Oh, it’s good! Trust me.”

Nick followed Pete, who stopped abruptly as
he reached the middle of the cabin and pointed toward the center
seat. Eddie was standing at the end of the row. Nick froze the
second he saw her. Giovanna was sitting right next to Braulio. She
looked at him with a guilty expression and shrugged her shoulders.
Pete grinned as Nick slid in beside her. He motioned for Braulio
and Eddie to return to their seats.

Nick sat next to her and gently took her
hands in his. She looked into his eyes, which showed no trace of
anger.

He smiled. “Let me guess. You took down the
flight information while you were giving me a massage.”

Giovanna nodded.

Nick kissed her delicately on her cheek.
“Alberto is going to be pissed. But you’re here now and there’s
nothing we can do about it. We may as well enjoy.”

Nick stood up and gathered a few pillows and
blankets. He made a makeshift bed for her. Giovanna stretched out
and fell asleep within minutes.

“I’ll keep an eye on her, boss,” Pete said as
he sat on the aisle seat next to Giovanna.

Nick nodded. “I’m going to walk around. I
need time to think.”

Nick walked upstairs and ordered a Bloody
Mary. He sat down at a satellite telephone station and swiped his
credit card through the phone. The phone rang twice.

“Hello,” a voice answered.

“It’s Nick,” he said softly.

“Where are you?”

“Flying to Rio.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?”

“Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to
Georgio, you punk!” Nick screamed.

There was an awkward silence at the other
end. “I’m sorry. I’ve been under a lot of pressure.”

“Your personal problems don’t concern me!
Capiche?”

“Capito. But why are you coming to Rio?”

“The Brazilians tried to kill me last
night.”

“That’s impossible!” Giorgio protested. “They
would never order a hit on anyone in your organization!”

“Listen, you fuck, they killed one of my best
men! It was in retaliation for Jackie Cairo.”

“Why would anyone care about that piece of
shit?”

“I don’t know and it doesn’t matter.”

“What do you need me to do?”

Nick glanced around the lounge to ensure he
was still alone. “I need to distance myself from this mess. My
uncle is getting suspicious, and I need time to sort things out. I
want to know exactly who knows about JTS’s connection with Gia’s
Imports.”

“That’s easy. Joey, Sal, Tony, and Jackie
Cairo are dead, which leaves you, me, and the Brazilians.”

“Anyone else?” Nick asked.

“Just the maritime guys who pack the
containers and do the shipping, and of course the local officials
whose palms we greased.”

“I’m not worried about them. As far as
they’re concerned, it’s business as usual. I want you to get our
Brazilians together at a discrete location, so that we can wipe
them out.”

There was no response from Giorgio.

“Don’t worry, Giorgio, you’ll be paid
handsomely. In fact, after getting rid of these guys, you’ll get
half the profits as my partner.”

“I’m not sure I want to double-cross them.
Besides, what about the Columbians?”

“The Columbians have already agreed. We can
find other Brazilian punks to replace these guys in a
heartbeat.”

“I’m not comfortable,” Giorgio said.

“We kill them together or I kill you and then
get rid of them. You choose!”

“I don’t understand what you’re doing Nick.
Why would you want to kill them?”

“Are you fucking stupid? They tried to kill
me! Me! You asshole!” Nick shouted. Giorgio didn’t need to know
that there would be no future Brazilian middlemen. Once they were
eliminated, their positions would be filled by Nick’s soldiers.
Nick changed his tone. “One last thing. You never told me you had a
cousin named Giovanna.”

“Giovanna? What are you talking about?”

“She’s been in New York searching for the
people who killed her family. I’m sure you didn’t see that one
coming, did you?” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Giovanna is in New York? With you?”

“She had a brother named Roberto Milani, but
you already know that.” Nick could feel Giorgio starting to
sweat.

“Honest Nick, I had no idea. I never gave her
the name of anyone in New York. She must have spoken with our
uncles.”

“Are you telling me you had absolutely no
idea she was coming to New York?”

“Nick, I swear!”

Nick wanted to torture Giorgio just a little
bit more. “So this means that Roberto was actually your
cousin.”

Giorgio’s hands were sweating. “Yes.”

“That’s very interesting. It’s not going to
make Giovanna happy to discover you killed her family.”

“I didn’t kill anyone! I had no idea that her
parents were going to be killed.”

Nick laughed. “But you sure knew her brother
was getting whacked.”

“I didn’t have a choice. The Brazilians would
have killed me if I didn’t play along. They gave me an ultimatum.
You know that!”

“
I
know and
I
understand. But I
don’t think
Giovanna
will be as understanding. Giovanna was
with me at the restaurant when these animals opened fire. They were
trying to kill her too. That’s what Jackie Cairo told us.”

Giorgio was shaking. He hadn’t thought of
Giovanna and the mere mention of her name caused his heart to
quicken. “Is she okay?” he asked apprehensively.

“She’s with me on the plane. I’m going to
protect her. I want to help her avenge the murders.”

Giorgio exploded. “Avenge their murders? You
signed their death warrants!”

“Screw you, Giorgio! I didn’t kill anyone.
Don’t forget, you’re in this as deep as I am. You were his
family!”

“I didn’t kill them!” Giorgio barked. “I just
provided information!”

“Sure you did,” Nick sneered. “And I’m a
saint!”

“Giovanna can never see us together,” Giorgio
said. “But why are you doing this for her? Is there something in it
for you, or are you going to tell me you care for her?” he asked,
hoping Nick was doing it for money.

“Not that it’s any of your business Giorgio,
but yes, I do care for her,” Nick admitted, having no idea that
Giorgio loved her. “I want to marry her and live in San Remo. You
can be my best man! By that time we’ll have buried the past and we
can all be the best of friends.”

Giorgio felt nauseated. He tightened his grip
on a pillow on his couch as his mental image of Manzione’s hands on
Giovanna replaced itself with a visual of Manzione’s neck in his
hands. He curbed his revulsion so his voice did not betray his
thoughts. “So this will put a neat ribbon around everything. You
are the hero who walks into the sunset with the girl. You’ll even
give your bride-to-be the perfect engagement gift–her family’s
killers delivered in coffins instead of a gift box!”

Nick laughed. “You should write movie
scripts!”

“Let me get things in place here. When are
you arriving?”

Nick looked at his watch. “In a few
hours.”

“We’ll have to set the meeting for
tomorrow.”

“Do whatever you need to do. I’ll call you
later.”

Nick finished his drink and sat back. Perhaps
things may work out after all, he thought
.
He imagined
himself strolling along the beach in San Remo with Giovanna. With
renewed confidence, he reinserted his credit card to make his
dreaded next call. A man answered.

“Jimmy, it’s Nick. Is Alberto there?”

There was a long pause on the other end. Nick
felt like a schoolboy waiting to be chastised by the principal. He
knew Alberto would be angry.

Alberto answered the telephone. “Nick, tell
me she’s with you!”

“Yes, Uncle.”

Alberto breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank
God. I was afraid something happened to her.”

“She was standing behind me while I was
booking the tickets.”

“And you knew nothing about it?” Alberto
asked, sensing Nick’s trepidation.

“No, Uncle.”

Alberto chuckled. “Nick, you are going to
have your hands full with her. She’s not only beautiful; she’s also
shrewd and manipulative. She’s your responsibility now, but be on
your guard. Don’t get confused about your feelings for her. She’s
got an ulterior motive in finding her family’s killers, and she may
be using you. If she orchestrated this plan against our wishes, she
will stop at nothing to find these people, regardless of your best
interest. Take care. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Nick sighed with relief.
He hadn’t expected Alberto to be so impressed with Giovanna’s
resourcefulness. This was indeed shaping up to be a great day.

Giorgio was trembling and felt violently ill.
Nick wanted him to betray his Brazilian associates so Nick could
kill them, steal the business, marry his woman, and live happily
ever after! The Brazilians were contacts that he met when he had
left San Remo after Gia had scorned him. Over his dead body! What
if Giovanna discovered that he had known about the decision to kill
her brother and he had done nothing to stop it? He never imagined
that these people would kill her parents. With Roberto, the
Brazilians had given Giorgio an ultimatum; gold or cement shoes!
Unbeknownst to Roberto, the Brazilians had been paying Giorgio. He
could never have predicted that he would become Judas. He agonized
over the decision, but in the end opted to save himself. It was
easy to rationalize that Roberto’s plight was his own fault. If
Roberto hadn’t interfered, Giovanna would have been his wife. Since
it was during his self-imposed exile that he met the Brazilians and
became involved with JTS, all of these problems originated when
Roberto forced Giovanna to leave him.

Giorgio thought about Giovanna in Nick’s
arms. Even worse, he thought about them in bed together. No. He
would not allow that to happen! If Nick was dead, Giovanna would
never know about his involvement. He also knew the Brazilians would
richly reward him for his loyalty. He would tell them Nick’s
plan
.
He dialed a number.

“Yeah,” a gruff voice answered.

“Renaldo, it’s Giorgio.”

“Whaddaya want?”

Giorgio bristled. Renaldo was a psychopath,
made more rabid by his drug addiction.

“I just heard from Nick Manzione.”

“So!” Renaldo barked.

“He’ll be in Rio in a few hours to kill you!”
Giorgio hoped the gravity of his words would sink in despite
Renaldo’s apparent stupor. “He thinks you ordered a hit on him last
night.”

“What? Is he stupid?” Renaldo shouted. “He’s
my goddamn partner! Why the hell would I want to kill him! What the
fuck is he up to?”

“Maybe he thinks you were getting him back
for Jackie Cairo,” Giorgio said.

“Jackie Cairo?” Renaldo barked. “Why would I
give a shit about somebody killing that worthless scum? I was going
to kill him myself when I had the chance. Nick saved me the trouble
and I wanted to thank him! You think I’d go to war over that sack
of shit?” Renaldo coughed wretchedly into the phone. “That stupid
dago!”

“He wants me to set you guys up,” Giorgio
added.

“And did you?” Renaldo asked.

“Of course not! That’s why I’m calling
you.”

“Giorgio, if I thought you were
double-crossing me, I would slowly cut your body up, piece by
piece, in front of a large mirror so that you could watch yourself
disappear!”

Giorgio swallowed hard as he listened to
Renaldo laughing hysterically, amused by his own sadistic fantasy.
“Let’s welcome Nick and his boys. We’ll have a ‘Carnival for
them.”

“Renaldo. He’s with a girl named Giovanna. I
don’t want her harmed. She’s mine, okay?”

Renaldo abruptly stopped laughing. “You don’t
make demands, Giorgio!” Then he paused and considered Giorgio’s
request. “But if you like this girl, I’ll leave her for you.”

Renaldo hung up, leaving Giorgio to
second-guess whether he had made the right decision.