Finally, he said "What about those assholes, and the money they stole?"
I shrugged again, and told him 'You do business with crooks, you take the chance of getting cheated. I think you have other sources of income you can use to make it up. And them? They know they did you wrong. They know you won't be happy about it. Do you think they're going to be feeling safe and secure and comfortable in prison, knowing that you can get to them any time you want?"
With that thought, he cackled, and said "I think maybe I could learn to like you, mister tough guy. Yeah, I got 'other sources of income'.
This is gonna hurt me, but not so bad, maybe. Okay, you walk outta here, I forget about you – I got an organization to take care of, and I don't need any extra trouble. But you don't go causing me any more problems, right?"
"I got no beef with you, Mister Falcone. I just want me and my friends to be left alone."
He nodded, and said "Okay, that's how it is, then."
At this point, Jules spoke up, saying "Uncle Benny?"
"What is it, Jules?"
"Just to make sure there aren't any misunderstandings, maybe it would be a good idea if you let Vinnie and the other boys know that you were okay with this, and that you wouldn't like them bothering him?"
The old man nodded, and looked at me, saying "Any of my boys show up, it's them, not me. How you deal with them is up to you – I won't get involved."
I nodded, and told him "Fair enough, Mister Falcone. Thank you."
He looked me over again, and said "Yeah, I think I could like you.
You're nice and quiet and polite and all that, but you got*balls*. I think maybe Jules did us BOTH a favor, being here – now that I look closer, I can see that there's steel in you."
I just smiled at him, and said "It's been a pleasure meeting you, Mister Falcone".
He laughed, and waved his hand in dismissal; Jules walked with me as I headed for the door. Outside, we stood and talked for a little bit, him telling me that he'd gotten an architecture degree, and had his own office now. He laughed, and told me how upset the family had been when he'd turned away the clients they'd sent him – then been proud when he'd become a success without their help. We exchanged business cards as an easy way to contact each other, with promises to stay in touch.
Back outside the gate, Agent Hendricks got out of the car, and shielded me while I got the holster back in place. I had to admit to myself that it made me feel a little more secure having it there, and decided that carrying it after all this was over might not be a bad idea.
On the way back to the hotel, I told him how the conversation had gone. He had trouble believing that old Benito Francone had let somebody off the hook like that, but I just told him that his informants would verify it soon enough. I think my confidence did as much to convince him as what I'd told him. He wasn't going to let the detail off the hook until Agent Hawkes told him, too, though.
Back at the hotel, I found Lucy waiting for me. She gave me a terrific welcoming kiss, then another, saying "The second one was from Amy. She said to tell you 'thank you' again, too."
I smiled, and pulled Lucy into a tight embrace, kissing her for all I was worth. When it finally ended, she pulled back a little, and said "Whoosh! What brought that on? Not that I'm complaining, I just want to know how to make it happen again!"
I told her where I'd been – she got a frightened, indignant look that I hadn't told her before – but quickly cheered up when I told her how it had turned out. She was mildly disappointed that it would take a couple days for the FBI to get the message, but gratefully realized that they would be slower to leave us alone than they were to protect us in the first place.
I looked around, and asked her where the girls were. She told me that they'd gone swimming in the hotel pool – AFTER calling down to warn the agents, and give them time to prepare.
I made my own call, and Lucy and I went down to the pool to watch them, and give them the anticipated good news.
When we got to the pool, Lucy and I could both see that the girls were well-protected: there were a couple of female agents obviously watching out, as well as a few other people that didn't seem to be doing anything, even for laying around a pool. Watching, I did notice that a couple of the younger male agents would steal the occasional admiring glance at them.
Lucy and I got their things and sat down at a table, where the girls eventually noticed us. When they came over, we handed each of them their towel, and I told them a condensed and simplified version of what I'd told Lucy. Both seemed to know that there was more to it, but were too happy at the news to bother with it. The girls asked us to join them, and after looking at each other, we agreed. I gestured to one of the agents in suits, and he came over to ask what I needed.
I told him that Lucy and I would be joining the girls for a swim after we went up and changed. He thanked me, and promptly got on the radio. Lucy and I headed back to the room, changed, and came back down. As we were going into the pool area, I saw Lucy give a little smile before she whispered to me "There's as many of the female agents checking YOU out as there are guys checking ME out!"
I grinned at her, and whispered back "I think the guys are getting the better deal.", and she nudged me in the ribs. By that time, we were right next to the pool, so I just bumped her with my hip – sending her into the water. She shrieked, and every agent that wasn't watching us started for a weapon before they heard the splash, and knew what had happened.
Lucy came up spluttering, and made a try for my ankle to pull me in; I carefully danced away, and made a dive toward the deep end of the pool. Once underwater, I tucked and turned, so that I was headed back for where Lucy was. She didn't see me, and gave another little shriek when I slid by and 'goosed' her. Robyn and Sandra were watching, and decided to come to her aid. Feeling a little feisty, I decided to give them a run for their money. Even though I stayed in the pool and they didn't, it still took them nearly twenty minutes before they managed to corner me for a mass-tickling exercise. Not being particularly ticklish, they still had their hands full a I put up a 'fight' by tickling and groping them at every opportunity. I finally decided to call a truce when Sandra went underwater and started trying to pull my suit down.
When I looked around, I could see that every agent in there had a grin on their face – even the ones that weren't actually looking at us. I eased over to where a couple of them were laying in their suits, and quietly said "Folks, it's a little like living in a fishbowl, us in here and you out there. Any*good* reason you can't jump in here and have some fun with us?"
They looked at each other, and one of them discretely got on the radio, telling us a few moments later that there wasn't any reason at all. That settled, two of the younger female agents got up, along with a couple of the younger male agents. When Lucy and the girls saw that, all three of them grinned. The agents jumped in, and headed over to where I had rejoined the others, whispering in Robyn's ear.
She got a big grin, and when the agents got close enough, I told them "The game is Tag. No getting out of the pool, if you do, you're 'it'.
No drowning, but dunking is allowed – for*anybody*. Robyn is 'it' first."
With that, Robyn went underwater, and made a beeline for one of the female agents who made a valiant effort at escaping – without success. In the meantime, Sandra headed off in a different direction, then turned back to jump on one of the male agents, pushing him underwater. I went under, and pulled the feet out from under the other female agent before moving on. Lucy just stayed there, hanging on to the edge of the pool, laughing – until the female agent that was 'it' headed for her. After that, it was catch-as-catch-can: while keeping an eye out for whoever was 'it', the rest would swim around trying to find someone to dunk or pull underwater. Once they understood that I was serious about anybody being a target, all of the agents got into the spirit of the thing, and didn't hesitate to go after anyone they thought was vulnerable. Sandra and one of the female agents teamed up to get me; the other female and a male got Lucy. Robyn was kept busy staying away from the other male agent – 'it' – who proved to be almost as good a swimmer as she was.