Texas Tango: A Flint Rock Novel (8 page)

Flint and Ava glanced at each other.
 
"And they want to kill me," Flint said, "in case Ava mentioned something to me that Fred told her?"

Gina looked at Flint.
 
"It is their modus operandi to leave no one alive who might cause them trouble."
 
Then she added, "
it
is possible that they have confused you with Freddy."

Ava asked, "
why
did they wait years to become concerned about Freddy and me?"

"The angel trumpet society has very recently had a change of leadership.
 
The newly enthroned capo—captain— has used the excuse that his predecessor was careless in ignoring you and Frederico.
 
This allows him to designate a hit squad for the two of you.
 
The new capo has reportedly assigned three men who opposed his selection.
 
After you are dead, he will likely allow the hit squad members to be captured by police.
 
They will go to prison or even more likely they will die while being arrested.
 
He will in that way eliminate three of his detractors while not seeming to do so."

Gina turned to Murphy who was wide awake.
 
"I hope, Mr. Murphy," she said, "that you can keep a secret."

"You mean the one you have just told us," he asked, "or is there another one you are about to share?"

"There is another," Gina conceded.
 
"In fact there are two more secrets you need to know.
 
One is that the American FBI has a file on me that you don't know about.
 
After the assassinations of my lover and my son, I started a rumor that I had engineered their deaths so I could take control of their criminal businesses.
 
In time that got me an invitation to join the Società Angeli Trombà.
 
That is how I know what I know.
 
I joined them so I could avenge the deaths of two people whom I valued.
 
I have not yet done that, but I will."
 
She paused.
 
"Unless fate does it for me.
 
And I can tell you that I do not intend to let two
more,
or three more including Flint, or four more including Mr. Murphy, become casualties.
 
But that means I need your help Mr. Murphy, and I need your silence.
 
May I trust you to see that what I have revealed will not show up in your CIA's filing system?"

Bill Murphy didn't think it over.
 
He had already decided.
 
"Yes.
 
If you are telling the truth, and if I am still alive to create a new file, what goes in it won't be something you object to."

Gina resumed eating and so did the others.
 
Even Murphy got a few bites swallowed.
 
With dinner finished, Gina suggested that Ava, Freddy, and Murphy stay the night at her house.
 
She thought Flint and Mary should go back to the Bristol.
 
Everyone agreed.

Gina called Flint aside and took him into the library.
 
She unlocked a large wooden cabinet, pulled out a dark gray Sig Sauer pistol with a Crimson Trace Laser sight on the top right grip of the handle.
 
She gave it to Flint along with two spare magazines with seven .38 caliber rounds in each.
 
"A little insurance," she said.
 
"It was my son's.
 
He should have taken it to New Jersey and he would still be alive."
 
She added, "
it
isn't registered so if you need to toss it aside it won't be traced back here."

Flint said thanks and slipped it into his jacket side pocket.
 
The extra clips went into his jacket on the other side.
 
"And thanks for dinner," he added.
 
"It was delicious."

Gina called a taxi for Flint and Mary, showed photos in three newspapers of angel trumpet assassins to each of them.
 
The angel trumpet society was not referred to in the picture captions.
 
Mary and Flint hugged Ava, shook hands with Murphy, Freddy, and Gina, went with the guard to be put into a taxi at the
iron gate
.

At the Bristol Flint suggested they both sleep in Ava’s room because it had a bedroom and a sitting area that was separate.
 
He did not want to risk an incursion by the angel trumpet assassins into Mary’s room without his being able to offer some protection.

At the front desk, Mary asked for her own room key and for Ava's, explaining that Ava had gone on to the door of her room because of something heavy that she was carrying—a gift.
 
Flint took his key.
 
After stopping at his room to turn the light on and leave it on, he tapped quietly on Ava's room door.
 

Mary let him in.
 
They decided that Mary would sleep in the large bed and Flint would take a long sofa in the sitting room.
 
Mary wanted to ask Flint questions, but the long flight and demanding evening had her so tired that she fell asleep immediately.
 
It was early.
 
Flint was awake, thinking about Gina and everything she had said.
 
His mobile phone signaled a call.
 
Laura spoke a cheerful hello.

Chapter 8

As Flint said hello back to Laura, his watch told him it would soon be 11:00
P.M.
in Sorrento.
 
So it was nearly 4:00 Sunday afternoon in Austin.
 
Shana
Street,
nursed her Shiner bock beer.
 
She had initially ordered a gin and tonic because she liked hearing herself say, "I'll have a G & T please."
 
She had cancelled that, switched to a longneck, but her cashmere skirt and matching sweater said G & T as in Bombay Sapphire Gin with Fever Tree tonic water.
 
She sat alone at a table for two in the Driskill Hotel Bar in downtown Austin.
 

Sometimes, on a Sunday afternoon, Shana dressed in her nicest outfit and went to an expensive bar for one drink.
 
The warm leather, crackling fireplace, muted colors,
 
well framed mirrors, and polished hard woods made her feel like more than a nearly penniless actress waiting to be found by Mr. Right.
 
Today was different.
 
She was meeting Laura Syms who wanted to buy her a drink.
 

Shana was early; Laura was late by ten minutes.
 
She had parked her 2009 Honda sporty convertible on the street two and a half blocks from the hotel.
 
She hung up with Flint as she strode comfortably through the huge, two-leveled lobby of the Driskill.
 
Laura had a Perrier with a twist.
 
Shana took another Shiner longneck.
 
Laura's highly developed small talk skills weren't needed for Shana.
 
Instead, she pulled from her purse the phone found in Flint's car, laid it on the small table between them.

"The Texas Rangers found this in Flint Rock's wrecked auto.
 
I think you put it there."

Shana looked down, averted her eyes,
stayed
quiet.

"You might as well tell me," Laura continued.
 
"The Rangers will haul you in now if I make a phone call.
 
They don't know where you are or where you live.
 
I do."

Shana breathed a defeated sigh.
 
"Damn.
 
I knew it was too good to be true."
 
She paused.
 
"Look, will you help me if I tell you?
 
I don't want any police trouble."

Laura watched Shana scrunch her shoulders, which made her look smaller.
 
Laura said, "
if
I can, I will.
 
I already know that you have a police record in Nevada under the name Margaret Alice Cavendish.
 
Your birth certificate from Pittsburgh gives your name as Margaret Alison Conch.
 
Now tell me about the phone."

Shana looked like she was about to run.
 
Laura slipped the phone back into her purse, pulled out her own smart phone, started to dial.

"Don't do that, don't do that," Shana blurted.
 
"I'm going to tell you.
 
It was a guy I met in Vegas.
 
I was working in a casino there till a few months ago and this guy caught me stealing two $50 chips.
 
I needed it for my rent.
 
I ran.
 
I hitched a ride with a trucker who ended up dropping his load of computers in San Antonio.
 
I got a job at the Menger Bar.
 
That was four months ago.
 
I was doin okay, but this guy, Steve is his name, showed up two days ago, Friday afternoon.
 
He said I had a choice of going under arrest or he pointed out the man you were sitting with.
 
Said he would pay me $1000 to find a way to put the cell phone in his pocket or in his car and that would be it.
 
He'd forget about the chips I took."

"So," Laura said, "you lucked out when I asked you to take that card to Flint."

"I guess.
 
All of a sudden he was gone while I was talking to Steve.
 
I wasn't sure I would be able to find him.
 
I saw how you looked at him.
 
I didn't think you'd let him leave."

"Did you get Steve's thousand?"

"No.
 
I was afraid he'd double cross me.
 
Now I don't have a job, and the Menger didn't pay me for last week
cause
I'm afraid to go back.
 
Please don't tell the cops. I had to tell the Menger my address.
 
Like an idiot I gave them the real address.
 
I figured Steve would get the address from the bar tender.
 
Your friend gave me a ride back to the Menger, but I was scared so I ran.
 
I grabbed my little suit case and a few toiletries and hitched a ride to Austin.

"Laura looked around them at the well appointed bar.
 
"You picked a stylish place to stay."

"You crazy?
 
I'm not staying here.
 
Friday night a nice looking guy in his twenties gave me a ride in his pickup, bought me supper on 6
^th
Street and let me stay with him.
 
He lives in Austin."

"So you moved in with him?"

"Oh, no.
 
I left while he was still asleep this morning.
 
He told me that this is the most high class hotel in town.
 
I came down here to sort of eyeball the place, see if maybe I could get a job here."

"Did you?"

"I didn't ask yet.
 
I'm not sure if I am more afraid that I might get the job or that I won't.
 
I'm wearing the only nice outfit I have."

"Where will you sleep tonight?" Laura asked.

"No idea.
 
Maybe I will get a job here and the bartender might get me a key to an unused room just for one night."

"You
ever done
that?'

"Once, when I was eighteen.
 
The night clerk in a nice hotel in Pittsburg let me use an empty room.
 
Turned out he wanted me to earn it, you know, with sex."

"Was it worth it?" Laura wondered.

"Yeah.
 
Not very satisfying, but it didn't take long and I did have a place to sleep."

"You have two arrests for prostitution on your Vegas rap sheet.
 
What about that," Laura inquired.

"No convictions.
 
The cops like to roust new girls in town.
 
There are always young babes, like I was, running from somewhere and dreaming of rolling in money.
 
The pay's not that great.
 
Casinos don't want girls distracting guys; they want guys playing till they lose it all.
 
Depressed broke guys aren't worth much to a girl."