Чарли Стелла - Johnny Porno

At nine-fifteen she slipped out of bed to make the coffee. She scrambled some eggs, put up the bacon and prepared four slices of toast while listening to the news on her kitchen radio. The weather report… sports… the time.

She woke him at nine-thirty.

“What time is it?” he asked.

“Nine thirty-five.”

“Shit.”

“What?”

“I have to call the bar.”

“Why?”

“I have to talk to Vento.”

“Who’s he?”

“Eddie Vento.”

She remembered the gangster. “Why?”

“And Nancy,” John said. “I should probably call her first, see if she spoke to Louis yet.”

“Louis is probably in Las Vegas.”

“Probably, but I need to know. And my mother. I have to call her and see what’s going on there. I told her to go someplace safe.”

“Jesus,” Melinda said. “You made all these plans… when exactly?”

She was feeling left out and it scared her. She called to him as he made his way to the bathroom.

“John?”

“I’ll be right out,” he said.

She saw the bathroom door close.

“You’re shutting me out,” she said.

“What?”

She stood there staring at the bathroom door. She heard the toilet flush, then the sink running.

“John?”

He opened the door and kissed her on the cheek as he tried to brush passed her.

“John!”

He slipped through her hold and headed for the kitchen. Melinda followed him.

“You’re ignoring me,” she said, then waited for him to turn and face her again. “You made all these decisions and none of them include me.”

“I don’t want you involved, Melinda.”

“I am involved, damn it.”

He hugged her.

“I’m afraid for you, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“I notice you made breakfast.”

She slapped his arm a bit harder than she intended.

“Ouch.”

“Pay attention to me,” she said. “I’m trying to help.”

“I’m sorry.”

Melinda could feel herself turning red with frustration. “Eat something,” she said. She motioned at him to sit, then poured the coffee while he started on the eggs.

“Aren’t you hungry?” he asked between bites.

“I was. I’m not now.”

“You should eat.”

She grabbed a piece of toast.

“Jill is coming over.”

“Your waitress friend?”

“She had a fight with some guy she was dating and he won’t stop calling her house.”

“Why doesn’t she leave the phone off the hook.”

“Because then he rings her doorbell.”

“Cops?”

“John, I don’t know, but she’s coming over and I don’t want to talk with anybody right now. I mean it.”

“Okay,” John said.

“Except you.”

“I’m right here.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why are you calling Nancy?”

“To see if Louis called.”

“And if he did?”

“Maybe she knows where he is.”

“You think she’ll tell you? She loves him. She isn’t going to give him up.”

“She’s scared enough she will. She was terrified last night.”

“I’m not so sure.”

“I saw her. She was scared.”

He was doing it again, defending the woman who had tried to set him up to take a fall with the mob.

“And why call that other guy from the bar?” she asked.

“Because he’s the one who counts,” John said. “It’s Eddie Vento’s money. I need him to know I didn’t rob him. He already knows about me and Santorra.” He grabbed a strip of bacon. “Not what I did last night, but that I popped him at the bar last week. Vento should know what Santorra did to my car.”

“Why would the mob guy care about what Santorra did to your car or that you beat him up?”

“Because Eddie Vento knows Santorra is a fuckup. He told me so himself.”

Melinda was confused. “I don’t see how that helps.”

“Let him suspect Santorra or that he had something to do with it. The punk deserves it.”

“But you won’t give up Nancy, right?”

“I won’t. It was Louis did this. I know she helped, but he’s the one with the money. She’s my son’s mother. I may not be able to find Louis on my own, but they sure can.”

“And how does that help you? If Louis spent it, I mean. You said the mob won’t care anyway, they’ll still look for you.”

“Eddie will, probably, but maybe he won’t kill me.”

It was too much to contemplate. She suggested the obvious. “What about the police?”

“Only if I want to kill myself,” he said. “There’s no turning to the law on this, Melinda. I’m not going that route, looking over my shoulder the rest of my life. No thanks. It was my choice to take that work. It’s my headache.”

There was no talking to the man, she thought. He was stubborn to the point of suicidal.

“I was thinking I’d follow Nancy,” he said. “I’ll have to be careful because Vento’s guys are probably doing the same. I doubt Louis goes to meet her. She’d have to go to him.”

“And he’ll spot you if you’re there and then he’d disappear for sure, right?”

“It gets tricky.”

“If it’s all about the money, I think you should consider my offer again. You could go find Louis after you’re safe.”

He ignored her comment and reached for a piece of toast.

“John?”

“Can I use your car again?”

“Can I come along?”

He sipped his coffee.

“I might be able to help,” she said. “They don’t know me.”

“I don’t want you involved.”

“I know that. And I won’t be, but you might need me.”

“What about work?”

“I already called in.”

“So you made some plans too?”

“Don’t fight me on this.”

He rubbed his temples.

“John?”

“Alright,” he said. “But we do it my way. No arguing.”

She didn’t like giving in, even temporarily, but it was better than watching him leave and then having to spend the day waiting again.

“Okay,” she said. “Deal.”

Billy wasn’t sure if the old man had survived being hit so hard with the handgun, but he’d tied and gagged him anyway. If the geezer wound up suffocating from the gag or choking on his own blood, it’d be his own fault for being nosey.

That had been hours ago. Still impressed by the old man’s nerve, Billy hoped he’d been found.

After leaving Albano’s apartment, he’d driven to the girlfriend’s house. He’d made a few passes around the block, but didn’t see the Buick or the Valiant. It was possible they had gone out to breakfast. It was also possible Albano had started back to Brooklyn and the girlfriend had gone to work, but then Billy spotted movement through the living room window and pulled to the curb two houses from the corner.

The street was quiet except for a few kids he could see in his rearview mirror playing stickball at the far end of the block. Billy put the Walther in a small gym bag alongside his AGA Campolin stiletto before getting out of the car and heading back toward the girlfriend’s place.

He had brought the knife along with the rifle and the Walther because he didn’t have a sound suppressor. Billy figured it was best to stab whoever answered the door.

He was hoping to use the Walther on Albano but was prepared to take him out from a distance with the hunting rifle.

Now he held the knife inside the bag as he pressed the doorbell with his free hand. He released the blade when he heard footsteps behind the door. He held the screen door handle with his free hand and pulled on it as the front door opened.

“Yes?” the woman said a split second before Billy plunged the knife into her stomach.