2
Esteban shook his head. "She's out shopping."
"You're sure?" Jack said.
The two of them stood in the white marble lobby that was becoming familiar to Jack. Too familiar.
"Put her in the cab myself. Mrs. Roselli goes shopping every Saturday morning. She and Benno."
"She takes that big dog shopping?"
Esteban smiled. "Benno goes wherever Mrs. Roselli goes."
"And you gave her my message—about calling me?"
"Of course." He looked offended. "I not only told her, I wrote it down and handed her the note."
"Okay, well do it again. And this time tell her I have something she needs to see."
Esteban nodded. "Something she needs to see… I'll tell her."
Jack stepped onto the sidewalk and started walking back uptown. Frustration burned like a furnace in his belly.
Nothing was happening. Nothing.
Maybe he should just go with it for now. Kick back and hang with Gia and Vicks for the day and wait for something to break. But he knew he'd be lousy company, his attention constantly wandering elsewhere.
He had to do something.
Maybe go for a ride. To Jersey, perhaps. To a cement plant where they poured concrete into a strange mold.
It was a Saturday in mid-fall. The place might not even be open.
All the better.
He sighed. Probably a waste of time. Certainly nowhere near the fun of making fatso Cordova's life miserable. Jack almost wished he hadn't finished the blackmail fix so quickly.