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As she passed the talent agent’s table, he said, “Hey, baby, call me. I mean it. You are so hot, I’m on fire!”
A
“Damn it! You’re go
His date covered her mouth to hide her laughter.
Before the man could reach out to grab her, A
A
“Moscarelli?” the man said defiantly. “Who the hell are they?”
“They were the number three organized crime family in Vegas before the FBI ran them and everybody else out. Now they’ve gone back to doing what they do best: controlling the garbage unions in the Big Apple and Newark.” She squeezed his arm. “So if you have a problem with your wet pants, I’m sure Joey will take care of it.”
“You think I’m buying that crap?” the guy shot back.
“Well, if you don’t believe me, go over there and talk to him about it.”
The man looked over at the table again. Joey Junior was holding a steak knife in his beefy hand while one of the other men was attempting to keep him in his seat.
A
“No. No!” the alarmed man said as he tore his gaze from murderous Joey Junior and his steak knife. He added quietly, “I mean, it’s no big deal. Just a little water.” He sat back down and dabbed at his soaked crotch with a napkin.
A
The lady stopped laughing.
On the way out of the restaurant Leo said, “Wow, and here I was wasting my time reading Dale Carnegie when all I needed to do was hang around you.”
“Give it a rest, Leo.”
“Okay, okay, but the Moscarelli family? Come on. Who were they really?”
“Five accountants from Cinci
“You’re lucky they seemed pretty tough.”
“It wasn’t luck. I said I was practicing a scene from a movie with a friend of mine in public. I told them it happens all the time in L.A. I asked them to help out, that they were to look like the mob; you know, to give us the right atmosphere to deliver our lines. I told them if they did well enough, they might even get a part in the film. It’s probably the most excitement they’ve ever had.”
“Yeah, but how’d you know that jerk would collar you on the way out?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Leo, maybe it was that tent pole in his pants. Or did you think I just threw the water in his crotch for the hell of it?”
• • •
The next day A
“Usual sources. He’s young and doesn’t have much street experience, but his specialty is why I’m here.”
A
“What’s he like?”
“Very metrosexual.”
Leo looked at her quizzically. “Metrosexual? What the hell’s that? New kind of gay freak?”
“You really need to get out more, Leo, and work on your PC skills.”
A minute later A
“You here all by yourself today?” she asked him, looking around at the other well–heeled customers in the store. They’d have to be wealthy, she knew, since the shoes here started at a thousand bucks a pair, entitling the lucky owner to stumble around on four–inch golf tees until her Achilles snapped.
He nodded. “But I enjoy working the store. I’m very service–oriented.”
“I’m sure you are,” A
After waiting until the other customers had left the shop, A
“That’s a really neat toy you have there,” she said, eyeing the tiny machine the clerk had just swiped Leo’s card through.
“Ma’am, you’re not allowed behind the counter,” he said, frowning.
A
The clerk said firmly, “It’s an antifraud machine. It confirms that the card is valid. It checks encryption codes embedded in the plastic. We’ve had a lot of stolen credit cards come in here, so the owner instructed us to start using it. I try to do it as unobtrusively as possible so no one gets embarrassed. I’m sure you can understand.”
“Oh, I completely understand.” A
“Or more likely sell the numbers to a card ring that’ll do it,” Leo added. “That way you don’t have to get your metrosexual hands really dirty.”
Tony looked at both of them. “How do you know my name? You cops?”
“Oh, much better than that,” A
• • •
Two hours later A
“Damn, I’d forgotten how nice it was out here.”
“Beautiful weather and the best marks in the world,” A
“Are where the best cons are,” Leo finished for her.
She nodded. “Okay, that’s him, Freddy Driscoll, crown prince of bad paper.”
Leo stared ahead, squinting against the sun, and read the small sign over the outdoor kiosk. “Designer Heaven?”
“That’s right. Do it like I said.”
“What other way is there to do it but like you said?” Leo grumbled.
They reached the merchandise display where jeans, designer bags, watches and other accessories were neatly arranged. The older man next to the kiosk greeted them politely. He was small and plump with a pleasant face; tufts of white hair stuck out from underneath the straw hat he wore.
“Wow, these are great prices,” Leo commented as he looked over the items.
The man beamed proudly. “I don’t have the overhead of the fancy stores, just the sun, sand and ocean.”
They looked through the merchandise, selected a few items, and A