STONE LED HOLLY upstairs to his safe and opened it. “I’m not comfortable going after this guy with your Sig-Sauer and my Walther,” he said, rooting around in the safe. “They’re both.380s, and we need more stopping power.”
“What did you have in mind?” Holly asked.
Stone handed her a gun. “This is a Sig P239,” he said. “It’s a little larger than your P232, and it’s nine millimeter.”
“I own one. What are we using for ammo?”
He rooted around some more and came up with a magazine. “This is loaded with MagSafe ammo. You know about it?”
“Sounds familiar; remind me.”
“Instead of a lead slug, it’s epoxy with fairly large buckshot encapsulated. It will penetrate soft body armor, but the great thing is that even if it goes all the way through a body, it won’t ricochet, and it won’t kill some bystander. Makes a big wound in the original recipient, though.”
“Why doesn’t everybody use it all the time?”
“Because it costs something like three bucks a round. It’s best saved for special occasions.”
“And what are you carrying?”
Stone handed her a pistol. “It’s a Sig Pro. Guy I know sent it to me. Got a fifteen-round magazine.”
“I want this one,” she said, tucking it into the belt of her jeans.
“Oh, all right, I’ll take the P239.” He handed her the Pro’s magazine and closed the safe. “Let’s go.”
“Okay,” Dino said as they headed downtown at mid-morning, “here’s what Vito told me. You ready?”
“We’re ready,” Stone said.
“He’s luring Trini down to the store with a really good story.”
“What’s the story?”
“The story is, a truck is going to make a delivery to Vito’s grocery store, and half of the truck is given over to a compartment rigged up as a room. It’s air-conditioned, it has a bed and a chair and lights and a chemical toilet and a lot of dirty magazines. The truck actually exists, according to Vito.”
“What’s the truck got to do with this?” Holly asked.
“Vito has told Trini that they’re going to take him to Florida in the truck, two guys driving nonstop. He’s got food and water and the magazines in the back, and they’re there in twenty-four hours.”
“Trini wants to go back to Florida?”
“He says he can get lost among his homeboys down there, and then he’ll get a ship out somewhere. Anybody stops the truck, the rear part is stacked to the ceiling with cartons of Italian foodstuffs. Pretty slick, huh?”
“Pretty slick,” Holly admitted.
“So that’s how Vito knows for sure Trini will be there today?”
“Right. He’s due at noon.”
“And Vito is just going to hand Trini to me?”
“That’s the idea.”
“I don’t get it,” she said.
“What?”
“What’s in it for Vito?”
“He makes Eduardo happy.”
“Eduardo is still in this?” Stone asked.
“Up to his ears, apparently, and Vito always likes to make Eduardo happy. In his business, you make Eduardo happy, good things happen to you.”
“This is just crazy enough to work,” Holly said.
“Wait a minute,” Stone said.
“What?”
“Trini was behind Vito’s kidnapping us, right?”
“Right, I guess,” Dino said.
“Well, I’d like to know what Vito told him.”
“Why can’t you just relax and let this happen?”
“Oh, all right, I suppose Vito could tell him something.”
“You bet your ass he could.”
“What’s the plan when we get there?”
“Vito will tell us then.”
57
THE THREE WALKED into Vito Galeano’s grocery store at eleven sharp. The place was not terribly big-four rows of shelving running up and down the space, a counter at the rear, and, up half a flight of stairs, a loft office from which Vito had a view over half glasses of the entire store. It was old-fashioned and fragrant with hanging sausage and spices. Vito came down the stairs, checking each of the half-dozen customers in the place, and finally, checking out Stone, Dino, and Holly.
“Buon giorno,” he said to Dino.
“Buon giorno,” Dino replied.
“How you doin’?” he said to Stone and Holly.
“Good,” they replied simultaneously.
“This is Gino,” he said, nodding at the aproned man behind the counter, who nodded at them all.
Vito reached under the counter, pulled out an apron, and handed it to Dino. “Here’s how we’re going to do this,” he said. “Dino, you’re the only one who looks like he could work here, so you put on the apron and stand behind the counter with Gino. Pay attention to the way he works while we’re waiting, so you won’t look stupid when Trini comes in.”
“Right,” Dino said. He took off his jacket and tie, rolled up his sleeves, and put on the apron.
“You were born to this,” Stone said.
“Aw, shut up.”
“You two,” Gino said, nodding at Stone and Holly, “get over to one side of the store, so the shelves will hide you. Trini comes in, he’ll walk down the center aisle, like everybody. When that happens, Gino, Dino, one of you sing out, ‘Vito, gimme a price on a whole Genoa salami!’ That means Trini is in the store.” He looked out to the street. “Here comes the truck.”
They all turned to see a beautifully painted black truck pull up to the curb. Painted on the side was the legend “Gaetano Galeano amp; Sons, Premium Provisions” in a florid style.
“Beautiful truck,” Stone said.
“Thanks,” Vito replied. “My old man designed it before the Genoveses got to him on the bocce court at the coffeehouse.”
“Sorry about that,” Stone said.
Vito shrugged. “It’s our game,” he said. “Anyway, Trini comes down the center aisle, you hear the thing about the price of salami, and you two come around the shelves into the aisle behind Trini. You’re carryin’?”
They nodded.
“Don’t shoot nobody, okay? Except Trini, if you have to.”
They shook their heads.
“There’ll be a man up in my office with a shotgun. Dino and Gino are carryin’; Trini’s bracketed.” He looked at Holly. “You got cuffs?”
She nodded. “Three pair.”
“You frisk him and cuff him, then we hustle him over to the stairs.” He nodded to his right, where a door led to stairs to the basement.
Stone didn’t want to think about the basement. “Then what?”
“Then we talk.”
“What’s to talk about?” Holly asked.
Dino held up a hand. “You’ll talk.”
Holly shrugged. “We’ll talk.” She shot a glance at Stone that meant she didn’t like this.
Stone shook his head slightly; this was no time to argue.
“Is the truck real?” Holly asked.
“What, real?” Vito asked. “You never seen a truck?”
“I mean, does it really have the hidden compartment?”
“Comes in handy from time to time,” Vito replied. Then he looked at Dino. “You already forgot this, right?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Dino said.
“Anybody hungry?” He took a tray of sliced salami and olives from under the counter. “We got free samples.”
Everybody took something to be polite, except Stone, who took it because he was hungry.
“Okay, spread out, and let’s do this,” Vito said.
Dino hopped over the counter and took up his position. Stone and Holly moved to where they had been told. They couldn’t see the store entrance.
“What’s your plan?” Stone asked.
“What Vito said,” Holly replied.
“I mean after we’ve taken him. What are you going to do with him?”
“I haven’t given it much thought,” she said, taking the Sig Pro from her purse and pumping a round into the chamber.
“It’s time you did,” Stone said. “In a few minutes you’re going to have a dangerous criminal on your hands, and you’d better figure out how you’re going to handle him.”