Necessary Decisions, A Gino Cataldi Mystery
NECESSARY
DECISIONS
A Redemption Novel
Giacomo Giammatteo
INFERNO PUBLISHING COMPANY
Fiction Books:
Friendship & Honor Series:
MURDER TAKES TIME, Friendship & Honor, Book I
MURDER HAS CONSEQUENCES, Friendship & Honor, Book II
Blood Flows South Series:
A BULLET FOR CARLOS, Blood Flows South, Book I
Finding Family, Blood Flows South, the Beginning (A Novella)
Non-Fiction Books:
No Mistakes Careers
No Mistakes Resumes, Book One of No Mistakes Careers
No Mistakes Interviews, Book Two of No Mistakes Careers (early 2014)
© Copyright 2013 Giacomo Giammatteo
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
INFERNO PUBLISHING COMPANY
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Print ISBN 978-1-940313-03-0
Electronic ISBN 978-1-940313-02-3
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events herein are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Note to Readers:
Welcome to the Redemption Series, featuring Detective Gino Cataldi and his partner, Hector “Ribs” Delgado. This is not the first book in the series. The first book, Old Wounds, was supposed to be out earlier in the year, but I didn’t like the way some of the plot played out, so I am re-writing the whole thing. The good news is that the Redemption Series is not a continuing storyline, so you don’t need to read them in order.
This book is also written differently than my other books. I think it starts out a little slower. I realized this as I wrote, but it was necessary to have the effect I wanted. Stick with it, and I think you’ll find it is well worth your time. If you don’t think it’s worth your time, let me know. I guarantee all of my books.
Giacomo
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: High Stakes
Chapter 2: Hard Times
Chapter 3: The Prom
Chapter 4: The Real World
Chapter 5: Desperate Times
Chapter 6: Easy Pickings
Chapter 7: New Case File
Chapter 8: The Sun Shines in Texas
Chapter 9: A New Line of Work
Chapter 10: A Wonderful Life
Chapter 11: Dreams of the Rich
Chapter 12: Gino Gets a Partner
Chapter 13: New Plans
Chapter 14: Where’s the Connection
Chapter 15: The Grab
Chapter 16: Early-Morning Call
Chapter 17: A New Assignment
Chapter 18: Countdown Begins
Chapter 19: What Do the Neighbors Know
Chapter 20: Logic
Chapter 21: Searching For a Victim
Chapter 22: Where Is Jada
Chapter 23: A Fair Trade
Chapter 24: My Daughter Is Missing
Chapter 25: Watchers
Chapter 26: Money and Kids
Chapter 27: A Long Night
Chapter 28: Early Morning
Chapter 29: Answer the Phone
Chapter 30: Analyze the Call
Chapter 31: Surveillance
Chapter 32: One Last Chance
Chapter 33: Replay the Tape
Chapter 34: Uncle Eddy
Chapter 35: Now’s the Time
Chapter 36: Bad News
Chapter 37: The Drop
Chapter 38: Motels
Chapter 39: Terminal C
Chapter 40: Naked and Scared
Chapter 41: Consequences
Chapter 42: A Little Bit of Justice
Chapter 43: Help, Daddy!
Chapter 44: Like Father, Like Son
Chapter 45: The Call
Chapter 46: Another Long Night
Chapter 47: Who Knew What
Chapter 48: Gino Makes a Chart
Chapter 49: Keeping Busy
Chapter 50: The Money
Chapter 51: In the Nick of Time
Chapter 52: The Drop
Chapter 53: Bust Down the Door
Chapter 54: A Slight Interruption
Chapter 55: Everyone Has a Plan
Chapter 56: Not Everything Is Roses
Chapter 57: Logic
Chapter 58: Time to Own Up
Chapter 59: The Last Witness
Chapter 60: No Witnesses
Chapter 61: The Pieces Don’t Fit
Chapter 62: Last Room on the Left
Chapter 63: Charred Evidence
Chapter 64: Wrapping It Up
Chapter 65: Just a Few Questions
Chapter 66: Just Rewards
Chapter 67: One Last Night
Chapter 68: Where Is Number Two
Epilogue
Lines are meant to be crossed. Laws are meant to be broken.
– Gino Cataldi
Chapter 1
High Stakes
While the dealer shuffled the cards, I checked the gun tucked in my waistband—a Beretta with a full clip. A snub-nosed .38 was strapped to my leg. My stakeout partner sat at another table across from me with a good view of the front door.
I squeezed the cards and stared at a pair of lovely ladies. Not a bad hand to start with, especially when the guy to my right, a notorious bluffer, just raised two hundred dollars. I was considering how much to raise when I heard a ruckus at the door.
“Nobody move! Stay calm. No one will get hurt if you stay calm.”
I thought about going for my gun but couldn’t see what was behind me. I looked over to my partner, Ribs Delgado. He shook his head. I wondered if he just wanted me to play it safe or if—
The feel of a gun against my head answered the question.
“Money and valuables,” a voice said.
The barrel of the gun pressed into my temple. I could damn near tell the caliber.
“Money and valuables.” The phrase was repeated by another guy at the table where Ribs sat. An instinctive analysis told me this was not a group of hopped-up druggies. I pulled out my wallet, showed him it was empty then laid my money clip and cash on the table.
“What else?”
“Nothing.” I still hadn’t even seen this guy, but I caught a glimpse of the guy going through the same process at Delgado’s table. That one wore latex gloves and a mask.
“Your watch,” the guy behind me said.
I looked at it—a plain black face with only a second hand showing. A button on the side lit the minute and hour hands. It wasn’t valuable in terms of money, but Mary had given me this the Christmas before she died. “It’s not worth anything. It was a gift from my wife.”
“I’ll decide that.”
“You’re not getting the watch,” I said, and turned toward him.
The right side of my head felt as if it exploded. Blood ran down my neck and face. When I tried talking it ran into my mouth. He hit me again. The barrel of the gun opened another gash in my head, and the force of the blow knocked me off the chair. Sometime between chair and floor I heard som
eone yell, “Number Three,” and then I passed out. The last thing I remember was grabbing my watch.
***
Number Three stooped to get Gino’s watch. He found the gun in Gino’s waistband then the badge in his pocket, and the second gun in a leg holster. Number Three stood, holding the badge. “Look what we’ve got here. Who’s the partner?”
When he got no response, he pulled out a switchblade and slipped the tip under the upper lip of the man seated at the table in front of him. “I’m going to start cutting with him. I’ll keep cutting until the other cop steps forward.”
Delgado stood slowly, his hands in the air. “I’m his partner.”
As Number Three reached for Delgado, a voice rang out from across the room.
“Number Three!”
He turned, glaring. “Yes, Boss?”
“There has been enough violence.”
The man Number Three referred to as Boss went to Delgado, hand extended. “Guns and badge.”
Delgado gave him what they wanted. “I need to look after my partner.”
Boss looked at his watch. “You have five minutes.”
Delgado got bandages from the guy who ran the game. He patched Gino up with a few gauze pads and a couple of Band-Aids. Within five minutes, Boss returned to him, having stripped the others of their valuables. It took another ten minutes to duct-tape everyone. Boss set the guns and badges on the kitchen table, and bowed as he exited the front door. “I thank you, gentlemen. It has been my pleasure.”
***
I woke up feeling as if I’d been shot. My hands and feet were bound with duct tape. All of us were gagged. The pool of blood on the floor made me wonder how bad I’d been hurt. Delgado nudged me and managed to give the “okay” sign with his thumb. Guess I’d live.
It took almost two hours before our boss, Captain Gladys Cooper, suspected something was wrong. She sent a half dozen units to investigate. Damn embarrassing is what it was—Delgado and I robbed and tied up. We found our guns and badges in the kitchen, but not the watch.
Delgado took me to the emergency room, where a doctor fixed me up.
“Take good care of him,” Delgado said. “He’s my cuz.”
“Only by marriage,” I said, smiling at the doctor. She smiled back then put 18 stitches in my head and sent me home with a couple of pain pills. I’d have rather had a kiss on the cheek. Wasn’t much for pain pills.
Instead of going home, I had Delgado drive me back to the station. Captain Cooper had a lot of questions; we had no answers. And the guys who hit the game had taken over 20 grand. And my watch.
“This is the third game they’ve hit in six weeks,” Coop said. “Neither of the others turned violent. Why did this one?” She directed the question at me.
“They wanted my watch. I wouldn’t give it to them.”
She raised her eyebrows and gave Delgado one of those I-knew-it-was-him type looks.
“Mary gave me that watch, Captain. No way was I giving it up.”
“But they got it, didn’t they?”
I turned my head.
“Didn’t they?”
“For now.”
“You should have given up the watch, Gino.”
“I’ll get it back.”
Coop eyed me the way only she could, and then she turned to Delgado. “Leave us alone for a minute.”
Delgado left with a confused expression. It matched the one I wore.
“We need to get clear on one thing,” Coop said. “I don’t want any repeats of Rico Moreno.”
So that’s what this is about. She’s afraid I’ll go after this guy.
I swallowed hard. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
She stared at me for about ten seconds. “Whenever you or your ex-partner tell me not to worry, it scares me.” She held her gaze a few seconds more. “I don’t give second chances, Gino. Don’t fuck this up.”
I offered Coop my best smile. “I won’t.”
“All right. Get out of here. Go home and rest.”
I turned to leave but Coop said, “You know that watch will be gone by tomorrow. If they can get a few dollars for it, it’ll be in a pawn shop by the end of the week. If not, you’ll have to go dumpster diving.”
I gritted my teeth but said nothing. The watch wasn’t worth anything more than memories. I nodded. “I know.”
Delgado offered to drive me home, but I told him I was good. The swelling had gone all the way to my eye, which hurt like hell, and my head throbbed so bad I wanted to just hold it and squeeze, but I was okay to drive.
As I drove home, I thought about a lot of things, but all I could focus on was the guy who hit me. Number Three. No matter what Coop said, I’d get Mary’s watch back.
Chapter 2
Hard Times
Lonny Hackett grew up poor. Hard-working poor. The kind of poor that made a man proud because he’d worked all day and his muscles ached. The kind of poor that made him smart from scrimping to pay bills and haggling over prices.
Like most poor people, Lonny dreamed about getting rich. He didn’t want a lot. Just enough to let him buy Lucia a new dress now and then. Or a new pair of shoes. Take her out to dinner on Friday nights. The kids too, if they’d go. Enough so he didn’t have to pray every single night that his old truck would start in the morning and get him to work. Enough to stay home when he got real sick.
He dreamed about it a lot, especially during the winter months when construction was slow and Lucia had to take on extra work to help with food. His mama had always told him that money ruined everything. When he was young, he figured she was right. He still believed in what she said, that money could ruin him…but he wanted to try it out sometime.
Maybe in the next life.
Lonny quit daydreaming then finished striking the joints on the brick facing for a drilling rig company. It was the first nice job they’d had in months. Thank God for the oil industry.
As he moved to the spots exposed to the afternoon sun, he put away his iron striker and used a smooth, wooden one he’d made out of hickory. Wood wouldn’t burn joints—an important consideration in Houston’s climate—and hickory was hard enough to polish joints instead of stripping them.
Lonny stepped back and smiled. He might be down to half of his hours, but that was no reason to slack off or do shoddy work. He wiped sweat from the corner of his eye then got his coarse brush and cleaned the mortar off the brick. Occasionally he used the wooden handle to scrape dried cement from the edges. When he finished, he placed his tools in his canvas bag, slipped his level through the handles, slung it over his shoulder, and climbed down the scaffold to the parking lot.
Mr. Mattusek, the boss, stood off to the side, talking to one of the concrete crew. “See you tomorrow, Mr. Mattusek.” Lonny waved as he headed to his truck.
When he was almost there, he heard his name called.
“Lonny, you got a minute?”
He tossed the tools in the back of the pick-up—a ten-year-old blue Chevy with a metal toolbox fastened to the bed—grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler then headed over to Mattusek. If he was lucky, he’d get more work out of this.
“You need something done, Mr. Mattusek? You know I need the work.”
Mattusek turned his head to the side. “I hate this shit.”
Lonny’s gut lurched. He felt as if he might throw up.
“I’ve got to let you go,” Mattusek said. “I don’t know for how long, but I promise you’ll be the first one I call back.”
Lonny’s voice cracked when he spoke. “What about the restaurant we were supposed to get? And the—”
Mattusek was shaking his head. “We didn’t get the contract for either. The financing fell through on the restaurant, and we lost the bid on the other. Somebody undercut us.”
Unable to talk at first, Lonny managed to keep his dignity. He shook Mattusek’s hand and thanked him for the years they worked together. “Call me if you get anything. I mean anything.”
“
I will,” Mattusek said. “Promise.”
Lonny got in his truck and headed for home. How am I gonna tell Lucia?
As he thought that, the phone rang. It was her. “Hey, baby,” he said. “I hope you have a few filets on the grill topped with my favorite mushrooms.”
“How’d you know, old man? And just in case your dreams come true, stop and pick up some real milk to go with those imaginary steaks.”
“You got it. See you soon.” Lonny felt like running, getting on the freeway, and heading west, or south into Mexico. Anywhere to get away from his responsibilities. If it weren’t for Lucia and the kids, he’d pack up and leave. Instead, he pulled into the corner store and slowly walked inside. He checked the price on a gallon of milk then counted his money. He grabbed a Hershey’s milk chocolate bar for Lucia, a Heath Bar for Jada, and a bag of crunchy Cheetos for Mars.
May as well make them happy with my last few bucks.
Lonny set everything on the counter and yanked the crumpled bills from his pocket. “Dave, how’s it going today?”
“Not bad. Business is slow, though.”
“About to get slower, I imagine.”
Dave rang up the order. It left Lonny with $1.08. “I’ll tell you what, give me one of those Texas Lotto tickets. What’s it up to?”
“Thirty-nine million.”
“Thirty-nine million…I could use that.”
“Cash option?”
“Regular’s fine. I get the cash option, I’d spend it all at once.”
Dave handed Lonny the ticket. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.” Lonny clutched the ticket in his hand.
Come through for us, Lord. My family needs this.
Chapter 3
The Prom
Jada Hackett walked down the long hall, her head hung low. It was the beginning of May, and no one had asked her to the prom. If it didn’t happen soon, it wouldn’t happen at all.
Alexa was cramming books into her locker when Jada approached.
“Well?” Alexa asked.
Jada sighed. “Nobody. Not even Kenny, though I’m kinda glad he didn’t ask. I might have been tempted to say yes.”