Lisa Scottoline - Lady Killer

“Oh, man.” Paul’s features went suddenly soft under his illustrated exterior. “What a shame, huh? I couldn’t sleep last night after I saw it on the TV.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s a cryin’ shame, is what it is. Bobby, man.” Paul exhaled, looking away.

“I’m trying to find Trish Gambone.”

“I read about that, I know.” Paul’s ripped shoulders fell. “I couldn’t believe it. I knew they were having problems, he told me that, but it sounds like he just lost it.”

“You two stayed in touch, huh?”

“Yeah, more or less. We saw each other maybe every couple months or so.”

Mary considered it. An odd alliance, a drug dealer and a former addict. “Do you know where Trish could be? Where he could have taken her?”

“No idea.”

Mary tried not to get discouraged. She felt so close to something. “Did you know he was planning anything like that?”

“No, not at all.” Paul looked puzzled. “Far as I knew, they were fine.”

“Did he tell you he was going to ask her to marry him?”

“No, not really. We used to talk about me, with my sobriety and all, and I was on him about his drinking. Either that, or we talked sports.”

“Did he tell you that he used to yell at her, threaten her?”

“No, but it doesn’t surprise me. When Bobby drank, he lost it, even in high school. We used to drink together, him and me, but I been clean and sober for five years now.” Paul cocked his shorn head. “How did you know him, again?”

“I used to tutor him in Latin.” Mary couldn’t give up. “I really need your help. I know he bought a house. Do you have any idea where that house might be?”

“Nah. Didn’t even know he had a house. I thought they lived together.”

“They did, but I think he had another house he kept a secret. Did he tell you about that?”

“No. He mighta told Scuzzy, but he passed.”

“But he confided in you.”

“Yeah.”

Mary switched tacks. “Did you know he was in the Mob?”

Paul checked behind him, but no tattoos appeared to be listening. “Look, it got him dead, and I don’t wanna speak ill. He was my friend. He stuck by me through some hard times, and when I got the job here, he’d drop by.”

Mary was starting to panic. If she learned nothing here, she was out of leads. “Paul, I’m trying to find that house. Trish could still be alive.”

“I don’t know anything.” Paul edged back from the counter, and the other tattoo artist looked over.

“Do you know if he was close to anybody in the Mob?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did he ever bring anybody from the Mob here?”

“No.”

“Did he ever mention anybody, any names?”

“We didn’t talk about that.” Paul chuckled. “Do I look stupid?”

“Did he ever mention anybody named Cadillac?”

“No.”

“Did he ever get picked up or dropped off by someone driving a Cadillac?”

“No, he drove the new BMW. He loved that car.” Paul hesitated, then frowned, thinking. “I heard him on the cell, a few times. He used to get calls, you know, and he’d go outside to take them. He’s not gonna take a call like that in front of me.”

“So do you remember any of the names?”

“Yeah. One.” Paul leaned closer, over the counter. “I’ll tell you, but you didn’t hear it from me, right?”

“Right.”

Paul looked uncertain.

“Please, I swear.”

“Okay.” Paul sighed. “He used to get calls from a guy named Eyes. I remember that name more than the others.”

Mary felt her pulse quicken. “Eyes. A nickname, obviously.”

“Yeah. That was Bobby, with the nicknames.” Paul looked over when the door opened behind them, and a gaggle of young women entered, chattering and laughing. He acknowledged them with a wave. “Be right with you, ladies.”

“You know anything else about Eyes?”

“No, just what I told you.”

Mary handed him a business card she had ready in her coat pocket. “If you remember anything, or think of anything that might help, will you call me?”

“Sure.” Paul slipped the card in his jeans and smiled at the girls. “What’ll it be, ladies?”

“Butterflies!” they answered.

And Mary took off.

T he press mobbed the parking lot in front of the Roundhouse, and Mary parked in the public lot next door, to ease her escape later. She had tried to reach Brinkley to tell him about Eyes, but his cell phone wasn’t taking any more messages, so she’d come to the Roundhouse to tell him. She knew he’d said he didn’t want her here, but she had to let him know what she’d found out. And she’d promised she wouldn’t follow up on any Mob leads, so she wanted credit for being a good girl.

Also she was a big chicken.

She parked and got out of the car, and though the sky had gone gray, slipped on sunglasses to avoid being recognized by the press. The Donchess kidnapping was still in the news, the baby fighting the Mob for space above the fold. She kept her head down and hurried to the entrance of the Roundhouse, barreling past microphones and cameras. She entered a lobby bustling with uniformed cops, staff, and lawyers, and suddenly she heard somebody call her name. She turned, and a delighted Giulia was steaming toward her with Mean Girls in her wake, trailing their red, white, and blue extensions like an American flag on a speedboat.

“Yo, girlfriend!” Giulia wrapped Mary in a warm embrace. “I called your cell, did you get the message? Can you believe they killed Bobby? And they still can’t find T? Her mom’s freaked!”

“I bet.” Mary extricated herself, feeling oddly happy to see her. “What are you doing here? You’re not bothering Brinkley, are you?”

“Nah, we’re tryin’ to see the dude from Missing Persons. I left him a buncha messages but he won’t return them, so we’re waitin’ for him to come down.”

Missy added, “He’s gotta leave, sooner or later.”

Yolanda cracked her gum. “There’s only one way out. We checked.”

“Why’re you here?” Giulia was blocking the elevator, so Mary moved her out of the way and the two other Mean Girls followed like shavings to a cartoon magnet.

“I’m going up to talk to Brinkley.”

“Good.” Giulia grinned. “I knew you’d be on it. I knew you wouldn’t desert us. We been outta our minds. We wanna help but we don’t know how.”

“I do,” Mary said, getting an idea. “Bobby was friendly with a mobster named Eyes. Does that nickname mean anything to you?”

“Eyes?” Giulia repeated, frowning in thought. “No, not off the top a my head.”

“Me either.” Yolanda popped her gum. “I know One Eye Petrone, but that ain’t the same thing.”

Missy nodded. “I know Bobby The Nose and Chicken Neck Timmy. That’s it for body parts.”

Mary felt discouraged, and Giulia must have read her expression because she touched her arm. “Don’t stress, Mare,” she said. “We don’t know all the wiseguys, only the ones we slep’ with. How about we ask around the neighborhood who Eyes is?”

“I don’t know,” Mary answered. “It could be dangerous. Forget it. I’ll tell Brinkley. The cops can follow up.”

“Are you for real?” Giulia scoffed. “Nobody in the neighborhood’s gonna talk to the cops about that. Let us do it.”

“Us, they’ll talk to.” Missy nodded.

“Okay,” Mary said, reluctantly, “but you have to promise me one thing, crazy. Don’t go asking the actual guys in the Mob. Only ask normal people, neighborhood people. I don’t want you dead unless I kill you myself.”

“No problem.” Giulia jigged with happiness, drawing admiring glances from more than a few cops. “Now will you write down the questions for me, like before?”