MURDER TAKES TIME

Chapter 51

 

Shattered Oath

 

Brooklyn—18 Months Ago

As Tony got up and started for the door, the waiter intercepted him with check in hand.  

“Mr. Sannullo—”

“Put it on the tab.”

He bumped a few customers, then burst through the front doors. Paulie was waiting. 

“What happened? Tito came out of there like he wanted to kill someone.”

“Just the normal shit.” 

“Hey, Tony, don’t give me that. What happened?”

Tony filled Paulie in on the details about Gina and how they had to hit her. He left out the part about hitting Nicky. 

“You mean Nicky was supposed to take her out? You telling me our Nicky is a shooter?”

“You heard it right. Problem is, he didn’t do the job. Now he’s screwed.”

“What are we gonna do? We can’t let anything happen to Nicky. I don’t give a shit about Tito. This is Nicky we’re talking about.”

Tony stared at him as if he were a two-year-old. “You don’t give a shit about Tito? Who the hell pays for your house? Who sends your kids to private school?” When Paulie didn’t say anything, Tony continued. “Don’t worry. I got a plan. If we get the girl, we can convince Tito to leave Nicky alone. I promise.” Tony patted Paulie’s arm then headed for his car. “Meet me at Bobby’s later.”

Paulie started to say something else, but Tony turned on him. “And listen, you ever bring up Angie again, and I’ll kick your ass.”

“What the hell? All I did was tell him to go see her.”

“Yeah, well, leave it alone. Nicky’s better off without her. Look what happens to him when he gets with girls. This one’s got him in trouble. Big trouble.”

Paulie got into the car, still shaking his head. 

#

Tony wondered all the way over how to go about this. He couldn’t come right out and ask Nicky, because he wasn’t supposed to know; besides, that would make Nicky suspicious. First thing he’d have to do is prove that Nicky didn’t kill her. Shouldn’t be too difficult. Tito said it was in the papers, but Tony knew how easy it was to get something planted. Usually, though, the paper ran a retraction a few days later to cover their asses, using the old honest-mistake argument if anyone questioned them. He’d bet anything Tito never checked for a retraction. He picked up his cell and dialed Tito’s number. 

“Yeah, who’s this?”

“Me.”

“What are you going to ruin my day with now?”

“Just a thought for you. Maybe have somebody check the papers where you read that first story. See if there were any retractions.”

“That it?”

“That’s it.” Tito hung up. 

Tony wouldn’t want to be Manny, or whoever verified that information.

#

Tito Martelli stormed into the house, slamming doors as he moved from room to room. When he finally settled in the kitchen, he called for Manny. 

Even before Manny got to the kitchen, Tito was screaming. “That frickin’ Nicky didn’t kill her, Manny. I thought you checked this out. I thought she was dead.”