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 Keen called in while he was waiting for you to pick him up.
 Ah. Um, yes. I ride a motorcycle.
He wore a look of wonder.  And you helped with this& escape?
 It was nothing. All I did was put a car in gear, really. Anybody could do that.
 I always miss all the action, he complained.  I m so sick of being inside here. All I ve
learned about here is cigars and dance steps and sex. Maybe you could teach me. At my intake of
breath, he chuckled, then gave me a lusty grin.  To ride a motorcycle. I d like to get my license.
He leaned closer, as if vying for a kiss.
 Oh! I took a drink, turning my head aside.  No, I m afraid I won t be here that long. I m
only visiting for a couple of weeks, tops.
 I could pay you. As I made to get up, he blocked me with his arm.  I could pay you a lot.
I tried to duck under the arm and he said,  In many rewarding ways.
Much to my relief, the door clicked open.  Tino! said that voice I knew from the hallway.
 Please do not make fool of yourself with Keen s lady friend. Was that sarcasm in his tone when
he said lady?
Tino straightened away from me and managed to flush red beneath his dark skin tone.
 So. Señorita Drew. Tonight you help to save two of my men. Carefully hitching up his
expensive suit pants, the tall, almost painfully thin Rico took a seat in the armchair across from us,
one leg crossed over the other. Was that smile he wore for real? I tried to remember The Godfather.
Didn t the Italians smile at people right before having them capped? Was Tino a capper?  For that,
I must thank you. Muchas gracias.
 Um. You re& welcome? Feeling suddenly inspired,  De nada.
104 Trouble Under Venus
His smile faded.  For the other&  He snapped his fingers, but apparently came up empty
handed.  & thing. Tonight, you pay, how you say false money in my bar.
False money. Fake?  Counterfeit? Me? No I did not! Counterfeit money was a federal
offense. No way would I go near that.
 Yes, Rico hissed,  you deed!
 I didn t! I jumped to my feet, prepared to argue to the death, which may not be far off.
Rico, unfortunately, followed suit. And though I might have outweighed him, he was taller than
me by about a foot.
Seeing the confrontation escalate must have spurred Tino to try and intervene. The questions
he asked in rapid Spanish, Rico answered in angry bursts. At some point, I became aware of
 Ramón bouncing round in their words, as well as mojito, and rather a lot of  Papi s, coming from
Tino. No wonder he was cosseted and stuck inside running Conga instead of out on the streets!
 Dru, he said to me, making the pouty kiss-face,  my father believes you paid Ramón with
a fake twenty dollar bill earlier today.
 If I had, I said, crossing my arms over my chest,  how would Ramón know it was me? Are
you telling me I m the only customer who paid with a twenty today?
Rico, apparently too angry to facilitate any of his English at all, rattled off something to me.
The only word I caught was some derivative of  baja .
 It was on the bottom? I rephrased.  So. Can it not be possible another person paid with a
twenty later on, which got stuck on the bottom of the stack?
Mimicking my stance, Rico crossed his arms too. And stood there breathing heavily in my
face. Or rather, above my face. I staunchly stared at his bony wrists. Mob boss or no, he wasn t
going to falsely accuse me and get away with it.
 You, he said at last, aiming a long finger at my nose, then more Spanish which Tino
interpreted as,  are very wise or very foolish. He failed to relay the last part of Rico s message,
which I d heard on the streets enough times to know meant  Don t fuck with me.
I had indeed fucked with Rico. I d foiled his plan to use Mitch as his scapegoat, maintained
Mitch s status as an undercover FBI agent, manufactured an affair with Rico s top guy, and spent
the evening leading his son around by the nose. I should, by all rights, be scared out of my platform
shoes. Instead, I got a huge adrenaline rush. Somehow, fate was giving me some vengeance. Rico
Romero had stolen my father from me before I had a chance to win him over with my babyish
charm. And in turn, I was going to fuck with him in every way possible.
 Miguel will need a new bike, I said. Feeling a surge of weightlessness like that first second
or two of a bungee jump, I asked,  I assume since he lost his in the line of duty, you ll replace it
for him? Breathless, I waited for gravity to take hold and slam me for my boldness.
One corner of Rico s mouth lifted in a genuine-looking smile.  Juevos. Sí, señorita. One for
you, tambien?
Behind me, Tino chuckled.
Autumn Piper 105 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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