‘Sure,’ Raggio said, ‘you go ahead.’
‘Mr Gianelli. . I’m glad you’re OK. Again, I’m sorry about the smokes-’
‘Never mind,’ I said. ‘You have my thanks.’
As he left I sipped some water somebody had gotten for me. My throat was sore from losing my lunch. I wished I had a cup of hot coffee.
‘Mr Gianelli,’ Raggio said, ‘is there anything else going on in your life that might explain this? So that we might — and no offense — look past it?’
‘I’ve been thinking about that,’ I said. Considering what their message had been — not to mess with anyone’s business — I figured the only person whose business I had affected was Barney Irwin. Because of me, his photo studio was closed. ‘I think so. I had some-’
Raggio held up his hands and said, ‘I don’t need to know what it is, especially if it’s not in my jurisdiction. I just need to know that this incident has nothing to do with the kidnapping.’
‘I’m fairly certain it doesn’t.’
‘Good.’ Raggio and Rudin exchanged a look. ‘Then we’ll leave you to recover.’
‘Yeah, thanks.’
They left the room, leaving me alone with Entratter and Rizzo.
‘Jealous husband?’ Jilly asked.
‘No.’
‘Then what?’ Jack asked.
‘I think this is a holdover of that Abby Dalton thing.’
‘Ah. . I don’t know all the facts about that,’ Jack said.
‘Believe me, you don’t need to,’ I said. ‘I’ll take care of this when we get back to Vegas.’
‘So you really don’t think this is connected to the kidnapping?’ Jilly asked.
‘No, I don’t.’
‘OK, then,’ Jilly said. ‘I’m gonna go back and sit with Frank.’
‘We’ll be along in a while,’ Jack said.
When we were alone, Jack sat on the bed next to me. The mattress sagged significantly.
‘You on the level about this?’
‘Oh, yeah,’ I said. ‘They never said a word about the kidnapping, and when I mentioned it they looked confused.’
‘You mentioned it?’
‘I said the word “kidnapping”. That’s all. I never mentioned Frank or Frankie.’
‘Were they gonna kill you?’
‘No,’ I said, ‘at least, I don’t think so. Why lie about a message, and needing to hurt me, if they were plannin’ to kill me?’
‘And you know who’s behind this?’
‘I think so,’ I said. ‘It’s a guy who’s afraid of Jerry, but apparently not so scared of me.’
‘OK,’ Jack said, ‘OK. I’m glad Agent Kent was on your ass.’
‘I wish he’d been a little closer,’ I said, rubbing my stomach. ‘The worst thing was tasting that spaghetti again.’
‘I know,’ Jack said. ‘That was pretty bad going down. Maybe later we can get a couple of steaks upstairs.’
‘I hope their steaks are better than their Italian.’
‘The Sky Room is supposed to be pretty good.’
‘I hope so.’
‘I’m gonna check in with Frank.’
‘I’m going to make some calls,’ I said. ‘I’ll see you later.’
He put his hand on my shoulder, squeezed it once, then left. I immediately picked up the phone and dialed Danny’s number in Vegas.
FORTY-ONE
‘Gorillas?’ Danny asked.
‘Two of ’em,’ I said. ‘Big, not smart.’
‘Eddie, you just described every hood in the book.’
‘From the way they operated I assume they work together all the time,’ I said.
‘And they look alike?’
‘They could wear each other’s clothes,’ I said. ‘In fact. .’
‘What?’
I had just realized, so I said it out loud to see how it sounded.
‘. . they could be brothers.’
‘Ah, brothers who work together all the time,’ he said. ‘That should narrow the field.’
‘And they’re probably on their way back to Vegas right now.’
‘I’ll alert both airports,’ Danny said. ‘Unless they drove, they should be spotted going or coming.’
‘Remember,’ I said, ‘I don’t want revenge. I just want to know who they work for.’
‘Yeah, but we both figure it’s Irwin,’ Danny said, ‘so what we need to do is follow them.’
‘Right,’ I said, ‘don’t brace them. . alone.’
‘What? No, I’m not about to brace two gorillas on my own. Mike Hammer I ain’t.’
‘OK, good.’
‘Now you want to tell me why you’re in Reno and what’s goin’ on?’
‘I can tell you,’ I said, ‘but you can’t tell anyone else.’
‘You’ve got my word.’
I told him about Frankie being snatched.
‘No demand for cash yet?’ he asked.
‘No.’
‘Sounds like amateur hour,’ he said. ‘The longer they wait, the more chance there is something can go wrong.’
‘I was thinking the same thing!’ I said. ‘It sounds messy, right?’
‘Definitely. Are you sure you want to make the drop?’ he asked.
‘Why not?’ I said. ‘They’re amateurs, I’m an amateur.’
‘Come on, you’re practically a card-carrying private eye’s assistant.’
‘Thanks.’
‘You called Jerry, right?’
‘I don’t call Jerry everytime I get in trou. . yeah, I called him.’
‘Good. The big guy will keep you safe. Stay in touch. Let me know where you are.’
‘What are you, my fuckin’ father?’
He was laughing when I hung up. I wondered if we had time to get Jerry to Reno before the kidnappers called with their demands? That’s when Jack stuck his head in.
‘They called.’
FORTY-TWO
When I got to Frank’s room the gang was all there. Only the FBI men remained in the hall. Frank was pale and had a stricken look on his face.
‘They wouldn’t let me talk to him,’ he kept saying. ‘They wouldn’t. .’
Raggio looked at me and said, ‘They insisted that Frank Jr. is fine.’
‘Did they say how much they want?’
‘Yes,’ Raggio said, ‘and we don’t understand it.’
‘Why?’
‘They asked for two hundred and forty thousand dollars.’
‘What? That’s all?’
‘They could have asked for millions,’ Jilly Rizzo said. ‘Frank would have paid it.’
‘That’s hard to understand,’ Jack Entratter said.
‘What about the location?’ I asked.
‘All they said was,’ Raggio said, ‘they wanted Mr Sinatra to go to LA.’
‘OK,’ I said, ‘at least we know that much.’
‘He’s going to fly back tomorrow,’ Entratter said to me. ‘You can go with him.’
‘Fine. I’ll call Jerry. He can fly to LA and meet us at the airport.’
‘Work it out with him,’ Jack said. ‘I’ll make sure the two pilots are coordinated.’
‘OK.’
‘Go,’ Jack said, ‘make the call, and then come back. Frank’ll be able to talk then.’
I backed out of the room, went to mine and made the call.
I made the arrangements with Jerry to fly to LA in the morning.
‘You can join us at the airport,’ I said. ‘I’m not sure where we’ll go from there. Frank will have to decide where he wants to stay.’
‘I’ll be there, Mr G.’
‘And since you’ll be flying on Frank’s private plane,’ I said, ‘bring your gun, Jerry.’
‘I hear ya.’
‘Let me fill you in on something else.’ I went on to tell him about the two hoods who had attacked me on the street.
‘They musta followed you there, Mr G., intendin’ to deliver that message.’
‘Pretty nervy,’ I said, ‘or pretty dumb, with the FBI around.’
‘Well,’ he said, ‘you did put yourself out there, didn’t ya?’
‘I did, yeah,’ I admitted. ‘Luckily, one of the feds followed me, or who knows what would’ve happened. They might have beaten me to death.’
‘I don’t think they woulda killed you, Mr G.,’ Jerry said, disagreeing with me. ‘They probably woulda just messed ya up some.’
‘Unless they’re the same ones who killed Wayne in Vegas.’
‘Well, I agree with you that it probably had nothin’ to do with the kidnappin’. Maybe we’ll have to go back to Vegas and find that Irwin guy. I’ll have to make an even bigger impression on him.’
‘First things first, Jerry,’ I said. ‘We’ve got to get Frankie back.’