Big Money (Austin Carr Mystery) Read online

  “Can I talk to the policeman, Mama Bones? Maybe I can straighten this out.”

  “Sure, smarty pants. That’s why I called. Here. It’s your friend, Jimmy Mallory.”

  I should have known. Branchtown Detective James Mallory and I coached our sons at T-ball together, and last year renewed our acquaintance when I got mixed up with a bad crowd, got my stockbroker’s license suspended.

  “Vic’s mom is not under arrest,” Mallory says on the phone. “I can’t make her understand. She has to come to the station with me, answer the charges, is all. Sign a paper, then she can go.”

  “What charges?”

  “Like she said, fixing the bingo game. Misdemeanor fraud for now. She answers the charges, we investigate.”

  “Jim, how the hell do you cheat at bingo?”

  “Arrange with the priest to draw certain numbers, split the pot with him.”

  Wow. I’ve heard Mama Bones can work you over better than the Notre Dame offensive line, but this manipulation truly ranks as awesome. She probably convinced the priest he was doing God’s work, keeping half for the church.

  “Ann Marie Talbot here.”

  “Austin Carr returning your call, Ms. Talbot. Carmela tells me you’ve finished your audit.”

  “Yes, and I have bad news.”

  “You’re coming again next month?”

  “No reason to be rude, Mr. Carr. Frankly, it’s the kind of thing you don’t need right now.”

  Ms. Schoolmarm’s cute looking. But the tone of her voice riles the back of my neck. The pitch grates my ass. “Why’s that?”

  “Our audit turned up three different instances where your clients’ cash balances were used to reduce your overnight broker loan. The money was only co-mingled for a day, possibly because your bank failed to follow instructions, but it’s still co-mingling.”

  The lights of Shore’s big sales room grow dim. I begin to breathe through my mouth. Co-mingling is an ugly word in the securities business. If the charge sticks, and the AASD holds one of their nasty, hero-AASD-saves-the-world-from-crooks press conferences, Shore Securities will be called thieves by every media outlet in New Jersey. Branchtown’s a long way from New York City, but even The Wall Street Journal might run a story.

  “Could we discuss this in person, Ms. Talbot? I mean before you turn in that report? Co-mingling is a very serious charge.”

  “I’m headed back to Philadelphia tonight,” she says. “I don’t see that there’s time.”

  My guts twist into a tight ball. Every night, Shore deposits whatever bonds, stocks and cash we’ve collected during the day into our New York clearing bank, along with very specific instructions about what goes where, i.e., our account or individual customer’s accounts.

  “I’m returning to Branchtown next week,” she says. “You can have input at that time.”

  The bank people make occasional mistakes, putting our customer’s money in with Shore’s, co-mingling client funds with ours. We don’t know it happens until the next day, until we see a printout of what the graveyard bank shift did the night before, but then everything gets sorted and corrected the next morning by phone.

  “If the mistakes are corrected immediately, how can you call it co-mingling?” I say. “I mean, you have to find out about a mistake before you can fix it, right?”

  “I’ll try to call you next week,” she says.

  FOUR

  I am surreptitiously posed in Mr. Vic’s mahogany-paneled private office, one hand on the boss’s previously locked and out-of-bounds liquor cabinet, the other paw on Vic’s unopened bottle of forty-year-old bourbon, when I hear Carmela scream.

  I have to say, honestly, my first thought is that Carmela has seen a mouse. The scream is high-pitched, squeaky and there could be a smile on my face as I reach Vic’s office doorway to check the sales floor.

  But that’s not a mouse chasing Carmela down the center aisle of Shore’s big telephone room. It’s a rat—Carmela’s old beaux and Shore’s ex-sales manager, Tom Ragsdale. The giant rodent Rags holds a steak knife, and he’s fast, too. Probably the only way to catch him is step on his tail.

  Spotting no other available appendages, I dive for his legs. I’m not really the hero type, but Rags’ small and demented brain seems focused completely on catching Carmela, and I personally owe this rat bastard plenty. Before he turned his life over to booze, drugs and gambling, Rags actually ran me down last year with his Jaguar.

  My lunge hits target, my shoulder making perfect contact with the back and side of his knee. It’s a classic tackle, and we tumble together into a ball of fists and elbows, a crashing jumble against Bobby Gee’s desk. Vince Lombardi would be proud.

  My ears await the rush of cheers and accolades from the dwindling, late Monday afternoon sales staff as I push up onto my hands and knees. But the only sound I hear are gasps.

  Wait. Did my pants fall down?

  Turning, I see—no—Rags has jumped up faster than me. While I was scrambling to my feet, Rags grabbed Carmela, ripped a bond calculator from the top of Bobby Gee’s desk and now wraps the machine’s electric cord around the poor woman’s neck.

  “Back off, sucker,” Rags says, “or I’m going to recalculate this bitch’s yield to maturity.”

  “Tony?”

  “Yeah?”

  I decided to call Brooklyn. It’s what Mr. Vic told me to do, and except for lining up left-to-right-breaking putts, and maybe right-to-left ones as well, Mr. Vic’s past advice has proven...well, not bad.

  “My name’s Austin Carr, Tony. My partner Vic Bonacelli said I should call you if his daughter’s jilted ex-husband came back and caused trouble.”

  “Jelly what?”

  “Jilted. Carmela’s ex-husband. He’s here.”

  “Vic’s in trouble?”

  This guy Tony sounds like a mental midget. Hope it’s just a bad first impression. “No, his daughter Carmela’s in trouble. Vic’s in Italy.”

  “Right. Uh...what exactly is going on?”

  I shake my head at the phone, then glance at Rags and Carmela inside the big glass conference room. He has the door locked, the cord still tight around Carmela’s neck. Maybe I should have called the police first, but Rags looks really scary. Beady, drug-zapped eyes. Oily sweaty skin. I’m afraid he could be too much for local law enforcement-types like Mallory. Besides, Mr. Vic told me to call Tony, not the cops.

  “Hey, Carr. I’m waiting here.”

  “Sorry, Tony. I was just taking a look. Right this second, Rags is holding Carmela hostage inside our conference room. He has an electric cord wrapped around her throat. I don’t know what to do.”

  “Did he say what he wants?” Tony says.

  “A hundred grand to pay off some gambling debt. Says it’s a loan against the stock in Shore he’s signing over to Carmela as part of their divorce settlement. The split’s not a done-deal yet, so he thinks he’s got leverage.”

  “Okay, that’s good. That’s very good. Tell him someone’s on the way with the hundred thousand.”

  “You seriously want me to tell him you’re going to give him the money?”

  “I’m always serious, Carr. Now get in there, tell him what I said, make sure he knows he doesn’t get the money if he hurts Carmela.”

  Tony’s confidence is not catching, but it does somewhat relieve my first impression. He sounds like he knows what he’s talking about.

  “How can I stall him for hours while you get the money, then drive down from Brooklyn?” I say.

  “Your call was transferred to my cell phone, sunshine. I’m at Clooney’s on the beach, having a drink. I’ll be with you in ten minutes. Don’t worry about the cash.”

  Handsome man, Tony Farascio. Six-foot plus. That Mediterranean-dusky look, onyx-black hair with a grizzly beard that probably sprouts a five o’clock shadow soon after breakfast. But Tony also sports delicate features, a chin, nose and cheekbones like a movie star’s. A pretty boy like George Clooney.

  Standing outside the
conference room, Tony shows my ex-sales manager Rags what’s inside his New York Giants sports bag, holding it up to the conference room glass. Must look like there’s a hundred grand inside because Rags pushes Carmela farther away, but steps closer himself to the door and reaches down to open up.

  Tony checks over his shoulder to make sure I’ve emptied the office of potential witnesses, then makes his move. Big Tony from Brooklyn is quicker than any rodent. As the door unlocks, Tony kicks the door in, knocking Rags back into Carmela. Tony’s inside slick as a snake, rips the calculator, then the cord from Rags’ hands.

  By the time I follow Tony inside the conference room, the skirmish is over. Tony has Rags pinned to the floor. Carmela cries, but she stands free, off in a neutral corner. Her previously neat hair sprouts black tufts the size of coffee mugs.

  Tony digs in his pocket. “Bring my car around back.” He flips me his keys. “It’s the dark blue Caddy at the curb in front.”

  Flat on his back, Rags twists an arm loose and swings at Tony’s face. Brooklyn Tony catches the flying fist and pops Rags hard with his other hand. Rags’ eyes roll up inside his head.

  “Don’t hurt him,” Carmela says.

  “Move,” Tony says to me. “Get my car.”

  “Right,” I say. “What are you going to do with him?”

  “Please don’t hurt him,” Carmela says.

  Tony stands up. His big smile shows us a movie star set of pearly caps. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll just relocate his ass. Like one of those dangerous New Jersey black bears.”

  FIVE

  One week later, I’m grabbing a stool at the bar of Luis’s Mexican Grill, anxious to eat a couple of Chef Umberto’s green chili burritos, when the world’s greatest bartender comes over and leans across the counter.

  “Do you know this man?” Luis whispers. His head tilts, indicating I should look in the direction of the corner booth nearest the kitchen.

  I follow Luis’s gaze. Looks like...it is, Joseph “Bluefish” Pepperman. Dining with two business-types, although now that I look a tad closer, both of his friends maybe a little too athletic and solid under the suits, ties and starched white collars. That could be a telling bulge against the one’s ribcage, too.

  Bluefish sees me eyeballing his table. He smiles and I turn away.

  “Anybody who bets in Branchtown knows Bluefish,” I say. “I’ve never seen him in here before, though. Have you?”

  Luis shakes his head, no. “He has never been here before this afternoon.”

  Luis wears his usual black slacks and white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to accentuate the muscles in his arms. My friend’s high forehead and aquiline nose tell of European descent, but his black penetrating eyes and high cheek bones give him a distinct Native American quality as well.

  “Did Bluefish speak to you?” I ask.

  “No. He frightened several of my customers into leaving, but I pointed him out because I believe he has an interest in you, does he not?”

  “What do you mean? Is he staring at me?”

  “Yes he is, and so are his men.”

  I turn to stare back at him. Funny name Bluefish. It’s a common fish on the Jersey Shore, in the tuna family, but oily like mackerel—too oily for me and many others. I used to think it must be Bluefish’s greasy appearance that earned the local bookie his nickname. The black silk shirts. The slicked back hair. The man definitely sports a slippery quality that seems to match the oily taste of the fish.

  The bookie nods in recognition. His head is long and narrow. But Bluefish’s nickname has nothing to do with oil or grease, I learned last year from my friend at the Newark Herald-Examiner.

  “Have you ever see Jersey Shore swimmers called out of the surf by the lifeguards over of a boiling mass of fish?” my friend said.

  “Yes, two summers ago. I heard somebody say it was a school of bluefish.”

  “I don’t know if the bluefish are in a frenzy because they’re eating something smaller or because they’re being eaten by something bigger,” my friend said. “Never asked because I figured it didn’t matter. It’s the way the school of fish acts that earned Bluefish his nickname.”

  “Violent, you mean?”

  “Out of control. Frenzied.”

  Glad I remembered that. And truly glad that except for the ponies once in a while, I don’t gamble. No debts to bookies, Bluefish or otherwise. This is good because Branchtown’s minor-league, too starched version of a Brooklyn goon squad, Mr. Joseph Bluefish Pepperman included, leaves their table and strolls around the bar in my direction. One good thing: I met Bluefish once at a restaurant in Spring Lake. Mr. Vic, who was taking me and some guys to dinner after a round of golf, told us that night that he knew Bluefish from high school.

  “Hey, Carr,” Bluefish says. He offers his hand.

  I’m surprised he remembers my name. There were four or five of us at the dinner table that night. The guy must have taken a Dale Carnegie class. I slide off my stool and shake. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Pepperman.”

  He slaps my shoulder like an old drinking buddy. “Call me Bluefish.”

  Luis saying, “It is not good for my business that you are here.” He leans across the dark horseshoe bar, staring at Bluefish, showing all of us that windy Halloween look in his eyes I’ve only seen once or twice before. He says, “I would like you and your friends to leave.”

  Uh, oh.

  Bluefish’s two sidekicks slide up quietly beside their bookie boss, creating a wall to screen us from most of the restaurant. Bluefish’s men unbutton their coats and show us pistols stuffed in their belts. Luis may have to reconsider his poor hospitality.

  Across the room, a young woman leads her table in sharp laughter. The TV behind the bar is blaring spring training baseball highlights. The restaurant’s familiar onion, cilantro and simmering chili smells seem suddenly sharp and pungent. My pulse is up. What the hell is it with me and guns? Suddenly, they’re a major part of my life.

  “Are you leaving?” Luis says. “Or will I call the police?”

  I grew up in the eastern, Mexican-American section of Los Angeles. Ever since grammar school I’ve admired the code of honor and fierce pride with which so many Hispanics are raised. Simply put, my favorite bartender is an hombre. You feel safe drinking at his bar, but I hope Luis doesn’t think the switchblade he carries in his back pocket matches him up with these two semi-automatics.

  “We’re happy to leave,” Bluefish says. “Your food looks like runny dog shit. But you’re coming with us. I think your big mouth has earned you a spot next to Carr. Get your ass out from behind the bar.”

  Luis’s face hardens into wood. “I have customers. I will not leave.”

  Bluefish glances at his two friends. The bookie’s pals draw their guns.

  SIX

  Bluefish’s black Chevy Suburban crunches gravel in Luis’s parking lot, then rolls quietly across the sidewalk into light traffic. Red dash lights cast a hellish glow on Bluefish and his doublewide driver, Max, who had big trouble squeezing inside the SUV. Max would have trouble squeezing inside a bus.

  Luis and I are tucked in the Suburban’s middle row behind Max and Bluefish. From the jump seat behind us, Bluefish’s two pals in business suits hold their semi-automatics directly behind our cerebellums.

  “Here’s the deal,” Bluefish says. “Tom Ragsdale is a degenerate gambler. No one will take his action. But then your asshole boss Vic tells me he’ll guarantee his son-in-law’s bets. Okay, I know Vic a long time. I take his word. But a few months go by, and now this hump Ragsdale is into me for eighty-nine gees.”

  “Rags and Vic’s daughter are getting divorced,” I say.

  “So?”

  “I’m just saying. But no matter what, why is this my problem?”

  Bluefish’s head turns back to the windshield. “Everybody tells me Vic’s coming back by the end of summer. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. In the meantime, I’m holding Shore as collateral, meaning you and you
r big mouth friend Poncho here are going to do me a couple of favors.”

  The Suburban turns off Broad Street at Newman Springs Road and heads toward the Garden State Parkway. Every other building is a gas station or a liquor store. The good people of Branchtown like to fuel up before any long ride.

  “Carr, you’re going to open an account for me at Shore Securities, help manage my money.”

  Luis raps his window with soft knuckles, listening at the glass. He silently tests the door handle. Locked. The driver must have switched on his override. Is my favorite bartender considering a bailout?

  “Sounds painless,” I say to Bluefish, “but a few months from now you’ll want Shore to accept bags of cash or stolen negotiable securities. I know how this crap works. It’s why Mr. Vic never opened an account for you all the time he’s known you.”

  Luis’s hand tests the door handle again. Hope to hell he doesn’t leave me. That driver Max gives me the creeps. His head’s the size of a jack-o-lantern, his back and shoulders like a rhino’s.

  “What favor do you ask of me?” Luis says.

  “Liquor distribution. I got a firm in Philly would like to supply your restaurant.”

  “No,” Luis says.

  Bluefish’s chin drops to his chest. Very expressive, this bookie. I should introduce him to Walter. “This ain’t a negotiation, Poncho...you and me going back and forth. Do what you’re fucking told or I’ll bury both of you in the pine barrens.”

  He nods out the window. We’re on the Parkway headed south now. Manicured lines of white pine, oak, and maple trees border both north and south lanes. Another twenty-five, thirty miles, the forest turns wilder. Nothing but scrub pine.

  “Perhaps there is a third choice,” Luis says. “A contest. Myself against your driver.”

  Bluefish grunts. “You want a piece of Max? That’s your solution?” Bluefish shakes his head. “You come across as smart, too, although maybe I was fooled ’cause you don’t talk much. But no, I see no benefit to me in that. I’ve got what I want right now.”