Until You Come Back To Me, Book 5 (17 page)

Sal agreed, and they
ended the call.
 
It was only then did Sal
realize Reno was standing at his room door.
 
“You called the Joneses too?” he asked him.

Sal nodded.
 
Then he looked at Reno.
 
“Where do we begin?
 
I don’t even know where to fucking begin!”

Reno pushed off of the
doorjamb and made his way further into the room.
 
He sat on the bed beside Sal.
 
“We begin at the end.
 
With the new stuff.
 
And we begin with Gemma.
 
Who had a beef with Gemma?”

Sal shook his head.
 
“Hell if I know.
 
I asked Curtis and Barb, her assistants, but
they turned up blanks too.
 
They didn’t
know either.”

“Get them to pull her
files.
 
See if somebody she defended who
got convicted and recently was released from prison.
 
Or recently got convicted.”

Sal nodded.
 
“They’re on it.
 
I told them.”

Reno was surprised.
 
He expected Sal, given how deeply he felt
about Gemma, to fall apart by now, with no good clarity to his actions.
 
But he was surpassing expectations.
 
He was hanging on.
 
“And you can’t think of anybody either?”
 

“There’s this one guy,
this Rory Calhoun, who came to town a couple months ago.
 
He’s this judge who’s getting ready to retire
and relocate here to Vegas.
 
He was her
mentor while she was still in law school, and when she first began her
profession.
 
They hadn’t been in touch
for years.”

“And he suddenly appeared
in town a couple months ago?”

“Yep.
 
He bought her a Bentley for her birthday.”

“A
Bentley
?” Reno was stunned.
 
“Get the fuck out of here!”

“He claim it was because
of their prior father-daughter kind of relationship, and he had nobody else to
spoil.
 
But when she went to return
it---”

Reno nodded.
 
“You made her take it back?”

“Yeah.”

“Damn right.
 
Gemma should have known better.”

“The guy was her
mentor.
 
He lost his wife last year and
was just a lonely old man in Gemma’s eyes.
 
She didn’t want to make him feel bad.
 
But when she went to return it, I think he tried to hit on her, and that
kind of devastated her.”

“Wait a minute.
 
He tried to hit on her?”

“Yeah, I think so.
 
She wouldn’t say, but I had a feeling he gave
it a try.
 
But I nipped that in the bud
right then and there.”

“But you think he could
have been obsessed with her?” Reno asked.
 
“Gemma’s that kind of woman, you know.”

 
Sal frowned and looked at Reno.
 
“What kind of woman?”

“The kind that can drive
guys nuts with her exotic looks.
 
Not to
mention that smoking body.
 
The kind that
could have some retiring judge relocate to Vegas, just to be near her.”

Sal nodded.
 
“You’re right.
 
I tried to tell Gemma time and time again she
had that effect on guys, but she never believed me.
 
She doesn’t think she’s all that pretty.”

“Get out of here!
 
Gemma?”

“She knows she’s
attractive, I mean she has to know that.
 
But she doesn’t understand just how drop dead attractive she is.”

“But some old lonely guy
like this judge would know.”

“Hell yeah,” Sal
said.
 
“Let’s go.”
 
He rose from the bed, prompting Reno to rise
too.
 
“It’s a longshot, but since our
guys are checking into every thug and criminal from the East Coast to the West,
it’s a good place for us to start.”
 

“He’s going to wish he
never met her,” Reno said as they walked out of the bedroom, “if we find out
he’s hiding something.”

The
law office of Rory Calhoun was not in the more luxurious Gabrini Office Complex
the way the judge had originally planned, but was further south, in a smaller,
not nonetheless prestigious office building.
 
His office was on the fifth floor, and his secretary had Sal and Reno
waiting far longer than either one of them were accustomed to, but they didn’t
complain.
 
Until the secretary returned
to the waiting room from Rory’s office and told them that he would not be able
to see them today.

“He
won’t see us?” Sal asked as he and Reno stood up.
 
“Who the fuck do he think he is?”

“Or
who the fuck does he think we are?” Reno asked as they headed for the office.

“But
sirs,” the secretary said, but neither man would listen.
 
They kept walking.
 
“Call Security,” the secretary then said to
another assistant in the waiting area, who immediately picked up her desk
phone.

Sal
didn’t bother to knock.
 
He flung the
door open and he and Reno entered.
 
Rory
stood to his feet. “Now just a minute here,” Rory said angrily.
  
“You can’t barge into my office like that!”

“Wanna
bet?” Reno said.

“What
do you want?” Rory asked Sal.

“Where’s
Gemma?” Sal asked him.

Rory
frowned.
 
“Why would I know where your
wife should be?”

“Do
you know where she is?”

“No,
I do not know where she is.”
 
Then Rory’s
look turned to concern.
 
“What happened?”
he asked.
 

“You
tell us,” Reno said.

“What
am I supposed to tell you?
 
I haven’t
seen Gemma in months.
 
You told me to
stay away,” he said to Sal, “and I stayed away from her.
 
Why would I suddenly know where she could
be?”

“Somebody
took her from the parking lot of the courthouse,” Sal said, “and we don’t know
who.”

Rory
looked horrified.
 
“What do you mean
somebody took her?
 
You mean
kidnapped
her?”

Sal
nodded.
 
He hated that word. “That’s what
I mean,” he said.

“Oh,
my,” Rory said.
 
“Well what is being done
about it?
 
Has the authorities been
alerted?
 
What are they saying?
 
Who would want to do Gemma harm?
 
What is the police saying?
 
What about the FBI?”

Sal
shook his head.
 
“We aren’t alerting any
authorities, and you aren’t either.”

Rory
frowned.
 
“No authorities?
 
Mr. Gabrini, that is not a wise
decision.
 
The police---”

“Will
only get in our way,” Sal said, “and they will not be alerted.
 
Not by us.
 
Not by you.”

“Because
if they are alerted,” Reno said, moving closer to the desk, “only one person
would have done the dastardly deed, and that would be you.
 
Then we’ll be coming for you.”

“I
used to be a federal judge, sir.
 
Are you
threatening me?”

“I
don’t give a fuck what you used to be,” Reno said, “and yes, I’m threatening
you.”

“Your
name?”

“Reno
Gabrini,” Reno said, and even Rory knew that name.

“I
see,” he said.
 
“You own the PaLargio.”

“Among
other things, that’s right.”

There
was also rumors swirling around about his mob affiliation just like with
Sal.
 

“So
you see why, Mister Used-to-be-a-federal-judge, we don’t give a damn about what
you used to be,” Reno said.
 
“Button your
mouth and let us handle this situation.”

“But
is Gemma going to be all right?” Rory asked.
 
“I’m only thinking about her welfare.”

“And
I’m not?” Sal said with guilt in his voice.
 
“You think I want my wife in jeopardy?
 
Just keep your mouth shut and let us locate her.”

“And
if you start mouthing off,” Reno added, “we’ll locate you.”

“But---”

“But
what?”

“What
can I do?” Rory asked.
 
“Perhaps I can be
of assistance.
 
I still carry some
clout.
 
What can I do?”

Sal
saw the sincere distress in Rory’s eyes.
 
He exhaled.
 
“Sit tight,” he
said.
 
“Don’t call anybody or ask too
many questions around that courthouse. Just let us handle it.”

Rory
understood.
 
And both men were satisfied
that he understood.

But
when they made it outside, and back inside of Reno’s Porsche, they felt
deflated again.
 
“So much for that,” Sal
said, disappointed.

“What
about his back story?” Reno asked as he cranked up.

“What
about it?”

“Did
you check it out?
 
Did it add up?”

“Of
course I checked it out,” Sal responded.
 
“I checked it out the first time I saw him talking to Gem.”

“And
everything added up?”

“Everything.
 
His wife did die last year.
 
He did step down from the bench to go into
private practice, and there was no scandal that forced him to quit or anything
like that.
 
And from what my people could
gather, he’s a respectable, older, lonely man.
 
No red flags at all.”

Reno
exhaled.
 
“So where does that leave
us?”
 
He looked at Sal.

“To
me,” Sal said, and looked back at Reno.
 
“As usual.”

Alfie
Farino’s
widow didn’t even want to let Sal in her
house.
 
That was how deep her hate for
him ran.
 
But she had no choice.
 
When Sal Gabrini came calling, she knew she
had no choice.

She
let him in, along with Reno, whom she also knew.
 
But she wasn’t going to pretend she liked
having scum like them in her home, she didn’t care how powerful they were.

“State
your business and state it quick,” Rose Marie
Farino
said.
 
Ever since her husband was killed
during that hotel shootout, and Sal left him behind, even used him as a human
shield, she’d been hating on him.
 
She
wasn’t about to go to the cops with her hate, because she was no fool, but she
wallowed in her disdain for him.

“Nice
seeing you again, Rosie,” Reno said.
 
“I
hear you and Alfie have been living the good life on Sal’s money.”

Rosie
looked at Reno.
 
“What Sal money? I won’t
take a dime from that creep!”

“That’s
because you already took it.
 
Living in
this lap of luxurious home.
 
Who do you
think paid for it?
 
Alfie?
 
His ass was shoving shit at the landfill when
Sal gave him a shot, and in that short period of time he didn’t go on nearly
enough jobs to pay for something like this.
 
And your broke ass certainly didn’t pay for it.
 
So cut the act and treat my cousin with the
respect he’s due.
 
He didn’t kill your
husband.
 
That prick Marty Dim in that
hotel room killed your husband, and you need to start facing truth.”

“He
left him behind!” Rosie shot back. “He used my Alfie as a human shield!”

“He
didn’t leave Alfie behind,” Reno said.
 
“He left Alfie’s dead body behind.
 
He used Alfie’s dead body as a human shield because his ass was dead!
 
You would have used him too to get out of
there!
 
So stop twisting this shit for
your own pleasure.”

 
Rosie rolled her eyes.
 
She didn’t want to hear logic, she didn’t
care how much Reno spewed it.
 
She wanted
justice for her husband.
 
He was
dead.
 
Sal was fine.

“Where’s
my wife?” Sal asked her.

She
looked at him.
 
“Your wife?
 
What you lost your wife, Sal? Can’t even keep
up with that black bitch?”

Sal
wanted to kick her ass right then and there, and Reno wanted to join in, but
they both knew not to take the bait.
 
If
she had any intel whatsoever, they needed it.
 
Because as of right now, they had nothing.
 
Their men were checking in, but they were
giving them nothing.
 
They had nothing.

“Have
you seen her, Rosie?”

“No,
I haven’t seen her!
 
We don’t exactly run
in the same circles.”

“If
you mean Gemma Gabrini doesn’t run with the trailer park trash crowd like you
do,” Reno said, “no truer words have ever been spoken.”

“Kiss
my ass, Reno!” Rosie said.
 
“And you too,
Sal.”

“Have
you heard anything about anybody planning something like this?” Sal asked
her.
 
He wasn’t expending an ounce of
energy on Rosie’s hate.
 
He didn’t have
an ounce to expend.

“Planning
something like what?” Rosie asked.
 
“A
snatch?
 
No.
 
I ain’t heard anything.
  
And I wouldn’t tell you if I had.
 
I don’t care nothing about saving your
wife.
 
You didn’t care about saving my
Alfie!”

“Let’s
go,” Sal said.
 
He knew this would be a
waste of time.

“Yeah,
ya’ll
better leave,” Rosie said.
 
“Take your chump ass out of my house!”

And
they were about to do just that, until Reno doubled back, hurried behind a
confused Rosie, and gave her a swift kick in the ass.
 
“I won’t kiss it,” he said as she fell
against her couch, “but I’ll kick it all day long!”

Sal
was stunned.
 
“Reno, she’s a widow,
what’s your problem?”

“Forget
her!” Reno said, leaving.
 

Rosie
fought to get back up, but her bulk kept her down.
 
“Assholes!” she yelled repeatedly, and Reno
was about to double back again, but Sal forced him out the door.
 
He slammed it behind them.
 
Wasting energy on a nobody like Rosie
Farino
would get them no-where.
 
They needed answers.
 
He needed his wife!

It
was after nine p.m. by the time they made it back to Sal and Gemma’s home.
 
To Sal’s relief, Tommy had arrived and was
waiting there, along with Trina and Jimmy, for them to return.
 
Tommy stood by the fireplace, in a yellow
cardigan sweater and blue slacks, looking like an elegant and handsome version
of Mister Rogers, talking with Jimmy.
 
Trina
was curled up asleep on the sofa.

“Tommy!”
he said as if the name itself was an exhale, and he hurried to his big
brother.
 
He fell into Tommy’s arms, his
eyes squeezed shut.
 

Tommy
held his brother with a grip that kept both of them holding on for dear
life.
 
Not all that long ago, Tommy had
been through hell and back, nearly dying himself in a hail of gunfire.
 
And now this.
 
If it had not been for his lady Liz, he would not have been alive
today.
 
Now the love of Sal’s life was in
trouble.

“Did
you guys find out anything?” Jimmy asked Reno as Reno headed toward his wife.

“Nothing,”
Reno said regrettably and lifted Trina’s curled body into his arms, sat down,
and sat her cradled on his lap.
 
Jimmy
went and sat next to his parents.
 

“How
long has she been asleep?” Reno asked.

“About
an hour,” Jimmy said.
 
“She looked so peaceful,
I didn’t want to wake her.”

“Good
boy,” Reno said, and looked at his beloved wife.
 
Katrina Gabrini.
 
He knew the anguish Sal had to be feeling.

When
Sal and Tommy finally stopped embracing, Tommy continued to squeeze his
brother’s biceps.
 
“You still have men
out there?” he asked.