"You're late," said Angelina Farino Ferrara as he came into the exercise area. "And out of uniform." He was still wearing his suit and trench coat.
"No exercise for me today." He handed her the box of chocolates. The Boys looked over curiously from where they had just finished their work in the weight room.
Angelina untied the ribbon, opened the heart-shaped box, and looked at the Compact Witness nestled under the few loose chocolates. "My favorite," she said, eating a pecan cluster and closing the lid. "Did you still want to do lunch?"
"Yes."
"You're sure that today's the right day?"
"Yes."
"But nothing dramatic is going to happen there, right?"
Kurtz remained silent.
"We'll talk about this out at my penthouse," said Angelina. "I have to change before lunch. You can ride out with
me. I'll have to introduce you to the Boys and anyone else who's interested. So far, you've just been the Man Hitting on Me at the Athletic Club. What did you say your name was?"
"Dr. Howard Conway."
Angelina raised an eyebrow and mopped her sweaty face. "Dr . Conway. How nice for you. Surgeon?"
"Dentist."
"Oh, too bad. I understand that dentists suffer from depression and suicide at an alarming rate. Are you armed today, Dr. Conway?"
"Yes."
"You know the Boys are going to relieve you of it as soon as we get in the car?"
"Yes."
Angelina Farino Ferrara's smile was predatory.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
"Why does a dentist need a gun?" asked Leo, slipping the S&W into his cashmere coat.
"I'm paranoid," said Kurtz.
"Aren't we all?" said Angelina.
Marina Towers rose twelve stories above an expanse of snowy lawn that overlooked the Buffalo Marina and the frozen Niagara River. From the parking garage beneath the complex, the four of them rode a private elevator to the eleventh floor, where the Boys livedKurtz caught a glimpse of desks, computers, teletypes, a few accountant types, and knew that this was where the Farino offices had been movedand then Angelina took him up the final flight on a separate elevator. They stepped out into a marble-lined foyer, where she produced a key and let them into her penthouse.
The series of open rooms ran the full length of the building and filled the entire floor so that Kurtz could look northeast to downtown Buffalo and southwest toward the marina and the river. Even with low clouds on a gray day, the view was impressive.
"Very nice" began Kurtz and stopped as he turned. Angelina was aiming the Compact Witness.45 at him and had pulled a second, larger automatic from a drawer.
"Can you think of any reason I shouldn't gut-shoot you right now, Joe Kurtz?"
Kurtz did not move his hands. "It might ruin your plan to surprise Mr. Gonzaga."
The woman's lips looked very thin and bloodless. "I can make other plans."
Kurtz had no argument for that.
"You humiliated me twice," said Angelina. "Threatened to kill me."
Kurtz could have mentioned the four men she had hired to kill him, but he didn't think that would be the best argument to make in these circumstances. If she shot him now, she'd earn points with her brother.
"Tell me why I shouldn't get rid of you and get someone else to go after Gonzaga," said Angelina Farino Ferrara. "Give me one good reason."
"I'm thinking I'm thinking," said Kurtz in his best Jack Benny voice.
Maybe Angelina was too young to get the joke. Her finger curled on the trigger. "Time's up."
"Can I reach slowly into my suit pocket?"
Angelina nodded. She was holding the larger.45 aimed steadily at his midsection and had set the Compact Witness on the maple table under a painting.
Kurtz took the cassette tape out of his pocket and tossed it to her.
"What is it?"
"Play it."
"I hate games," said Angelina, but she walked five paces to a stack of stereo components built into a bookcase, slipped the cassette in, and punched "Play."
Her voice came from the speakers. "Oh, but I did. I did. A boy. A beautiful baby boy with Emilio's fat, rubbery lips, lovely brown eyes, and the Gonzaga chin and forehead. I drowned him in the Belice River in Sicily." Her voice went on for a minute, explaining how hard it would be to get to Emilio Gonzaga in his compound, and men came Kurtz's voice: "How did you plan to kill him?"
"Well, I sort of hoped you'd take care of that detail for me now that you know what you know," came Angelina's voice.
Angelina shut off the player and pocketed the cassette. She was actually smiling. "You miserable son of a bitch. You were wired that night out in Williamsville."
Kurtz said nothing.
"So," said Angelina, "in the event of your disappearance here, who gets copies of me tape? Emilio, of course."
"And your brother," said Kurtz.
"Not the cops?"
Kurtz shrugged.
"I should shoot you just on general principles," said Angelina. But she put the.45 back in its drawer. Then she hefted the smaller Compact Witness. "You gave it back to me loaded?"
"Yeah."
"You take chances, Joe Kurtz. Stay here. There's fruit juice in the refrigerator over there, liquor at the bar. I'm going to shower again and get dressed. Emilio's car will be here to pick me up in thirty minutes. I hope to God you have a plan."