“I know, that’s why I came. Maria would have explained it all to you, I’m sure, but I didn’t want you to be surprised.
Or unprepared.”
The older woman raised a hand and rubbed her forehead.
“I never thought . . .”
“Mrs. O’Hara, I know how worried you must be. You’ve already lost your daughter, and I don’t want you to lose your grandson, too,” Sarah said. “That’s why I came. I know it’s a lot to take in, but I’ll be happy to help in any way I can.”
“I never dreamed it’d be so hard,” she said.
“Taking care of a baby under the best of circumstances is difficult,” Sarah reminded her. “The sleepless nights, the diapers, keeping them safe. I’m sure you remember that from your own children.”
“I lost two others, too,” she admitted sadly. “I don’t like to remember them. One was stillborn, and the other . . . the other just died. We never knew why.”
Sarah felt the other woman’s grief like a lump in her own chest. “I’m sorry.” Then she waited, giving Mrs. O’Hara a chance to make the right decision.
The other woman stared at something only she could see for several minutes, and then her eyes hardened with resolution. “I love that baby, Mrs. Brandt. It would kill me if anything happened to him.”
Sarah nodded, holding her breath and silently praying.
“But those people got no right to him. He’s my flesh and blood, the only family I got left. I can’t leave him in that house, Mrs. Brandt, because somebody in that house killed my Nainsi.”
Sarah let out her breath on a sigh. She’d done her best, but she’d lost.
In all the years he’d been a cop, Frank had faced many dangerous situations, but none quite so dangerous as bearding Ugo Ruocco in his own den. He could feel the wave of hostility wash over them when he and Gino entered the saloon where Ugo held court. Every eye in the room turned toward them, all filled with hatred.
One of the men challenged them in Italian, and Gino replied in Italian, his tone polite but firm. Several of the men got up from their tables and walked slowly toward them, their expressions taunting as they formed a loose circle around them. The threat of violence was blatant, but Frank knew better than to show a trace of fear. He glared back at them, silently daring them to risk attacking the police. They might win this battle, but they would start a war that would bring down the wrath of the Irish and the police and the city government, too. Frank sincerely hoped they realized that.
After a long moment, an older man sitting at a table on the other side of the room stood up and gave a curt order.
He was short and round with graying hair and a well-worn face. The thugs fell back, opening a corridor between him and them. “You want to see the Padrone, Gino Donatelli?” he asked.
“Yes, we do,” Gino replied. Frank had to admire the way he refused to be intimidated. Maybe letting dagos on the force wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
“I will ask if he will see you,” the man said, his tone implying that he sincerely doubted that would happen. He turned and walked through a door at the back of the room, closing it softly behind him.
As they waited, Frank could hear the words “fool’s errand” echoing in his head. That’s what his mother would’ve said about him walking into a dago saloon. Frank carefully made eye contact with each of the men in the room, silently letting them know they didn’t scare him one bit.
Even if it was a lie.
After what seemed like an hour, the older man returned and motioned for them to follow him. Gino led the way. The thugs closed in a bit as they passed, letting Frank and Gino feel their presence without actually making any threatening moves. Frank figured ordinary citizens would be terrified.
Although the saloon itself looked exactly like every other saloon in the city—its furnishings plain, functional, and worn with hard usage—the back room was clearly the office of an important man. Velvet drapes hung at the windows and a handwoven carpet covered the floor. Gilt-framed pictures of European landscapes hung on the wallpapered walls, and Ugo Ruocco sat at a large round table with a bottle of wine and a half-empty glass before him.
Their escort held the door for them and then closed it behind him, standing with his back to it to observe their meeting and prevent interruption.
“Gino,” Ruocco said with apparent good cheer. “What brings you here? And who have you brought with you?”
Gino whipped off his hat and nodded slightly in greeting. “Good afternoon, Padrone,” he said with more respect that Frank would have shown. “Thank you for seeing us.”
“How could I turn you away? I would never know why you came, and I am very interested to know that. Please, sit down,” he said, waving magnanimously at the empty chairs at the table. “You, too, Detective,” he added less enthusiastically.
Gino exchanged a glance with Frank before taking one of the offered chairs. Frank took the one beside him. Frank sized up Ruocco across the expanse of tablecloth that separated them. He was a man supremely confident in his place in the world and the power he wielded. Someplace else, he might not be so confident, but here he was in total control of everything and everyone. Frank and Gino were suppli-cants come to beg a favor of the great man. The knowledge burned like gall in Frank’s mouth, but he knew better than to betray it.
“Padrone, Detective Sergeant Malloy has come because he has something important to discuss with you,” Gino said.
“I am sure it is about my family,” Ruocco said with a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“You probably know by now that Tammany is behind the riots,” Frank said.
Ruocco nodded once, his eyes hard and suspicious. “I have heard this, yes.”
“They want to show everybody that they can keep the Italians in their place.”
Ruocco’s smile disappeared. “Have you come only to tell me what I already know?”
“No, I came to ask you to put an end to the trouble.”
“I have men guarding the restaurant,” Ruocco reminded him impatiently. “They could not stop it.”
“Tammany Hall wants Nainsi’s mother to have the baby.
If that happens, the riots will stop.”
Ugo considered this for a moment. “One small baby to cause so much trouble,” he mused. “But we cannot trust them. They also say my family killed Nainsi to get the baby.
They will want the murderer, and they will not stop until they get him.”
“The police would like the murderer,” Gino said, completely violating his agreement with Frank to keep his mouth shut during this discussion.
“If we found the killer,” Frank clarified quickly, “then Tammany wouldn’t have any reason at all to cause more trouble.”
“Tammany will always cause trouble,” Ruocco corrected him bitterly.
“But they’d cause it for someone else’s family,” Frank said.
Ruocco saw the logic in this, but he was unmoved. “Poor Maria, I told her to give the baby to that woman, but she would not. If I take the boy now, her heart will break.”
Frank didn’t think Ruocco cared a whit for Maria’s broken heart. “The only other way to get them to call off their dogs is to punish the killer, then,” he said, knowing Ruocco would never agree to that.
“Yes,” Ruocco said wisely. “That is what we must do.”
Frank didn’t bother to hide his surprise, and Gino’s jaw actually dropped before he caught himself and snapped it shut again. Frank recovered first. “Are you telling us you know who killed Nainsi?”
Ruocco smiled. It wasn’t a pretty sight. “I will tell you what I know. I know my brother’s wife hated the girl. She made Antonio a fool. He married a whore and gave his name to her bastard child. The girl hurt one of Patrizia’s children, and Patrizia will do anything to protect her children.”