She made her way to the parking lot and the sedan. The black tinted windows made it difficult to see inside. From what she could tell, the vehicle was empty. She started to walk away when she heard a faint humming noise. The rear passenger window lowered several inches.
Carlita crept closer. “Hello?”
“Were you lookin’ for us?” Luigi asked in a low voice.
“I came by to let you know that the downstairs apartment is empty, and you can move in anytime.”
“You hear that Ricco? We got a new place to hang out.”
“I’m ready.”
The rear doors flew open, and the men emerged. Ricco reached back inside and grabbed a briefcase while Luigi strode to the other side to join them.
Carlita pointed to the trunk. “Do you need to grab your things?”
“This is all we got.” Luigi tapped the top of the briefcase.
“Your clothes are in there?”
“Yes, ma’am. Me and Ricco packed light. Besides, there wasn’t much room for our stuff after Brittney loaded us up.”
“I’m sure. Follow me.” Carlita led the men inside and down the hall to the efficiency. She opened the door and handed the keys to Luigi. “The quarters are a little tight. There’s a full-size bed and the sofa is a sleeper sofa.”
“It’ll be fine, Mrs. Garlucci,” Luigi assured her.
“Like the Taj-Mahal compared to the back seat of the car,” Ricco added.
“It should be a little more comfortable. I’m sorry about the condition. Angelica wasn’t the tidiest, and it could use a decent cleaning.”
“No need to apologize,” Luigi said. “Believe me, this is a nice place compared to some of the places we’ve stayed in.”
“Vinnie and Tony have already explained you’ll have to keep a low profile for the next few days since one of the neighborhood surveillance cameras caught you heading toward the vicinity of the vacant lot last night.”
“Dummy us.” Luigi shook his head. “We knew about the cameras. We scoped all of them out when we arrived, but we figured a couple walk-bys and no one would think nothing of it.”
“And they wouldn’t have if not for Davis Rutger’s body being dumped across the street.”
“Me and Luigi was talkin’ about him. While we made ourselves scarce, we checked out one of the pool halls down by the river. Figured it wouldn’t hurt to listen in on the local buzz,” Ricco said.
“What did you hear?”
“Rutger was bad news. He and his group was causin’ all kinds of trouble. He was the ringleader.”
“I heard that, as well,” Carlita nodded.
“He got in over his head, ticking off the wrong people.”
“Like who?”
“That’s the part we don’t know,” Luigi said. “Us bein’ strangers, I think the locals in the bar was thinkin’ we were undercover cops or somethin’.”
“I would never get that impression,” Carlita blurted out. “No offense.”
“None taken, but you know,” Ricco said, “if you travel on the wrong side of the tracks, people are leery of strangers comin’ around askin’ questions. So we was askin’ one too many questions, and they clammed up.”
“Rutger made his own fair share of enemies,” Carlita said. “Probably even within the group of Savannah Six.”
“The man at the top is always a target,” Luigi agreed. “This Davis guy had trouble on the inside of his group and trouble with some of the people he messed with.”
“I would give anything to know who they were talking about,” Carlita murmured. “Where did you say you went?”
“It’s not a place most reputable ladies hang around,” Luigi replied.
“I’m not always reputable,” Carlita smiled.
“But you’re a lady,” Ricco said. “The name of the place was Big Joe’s Pool Hall.”
“Big Joe’s Pool Hall,” Carlita repeated.
“We can run back down there and do some more snoopin’ around,” Luigi offered.
“I may take you up on that. For now, for the rest of today and tonight, I suggest you both lay low.”
“Done.”
Carlita exited the apartment. Luigi followed behind. “When you get a chance, can you ask Brittney to stop by? We’re supposed to check in with her at least a coupla times a day to make sure she don’t need nothin’.”
“Will do.”
Luigi returned to their new hangout, and Carlita decided to swing by the pawnshop before heading home. She found Shelby standing behind the jewelry counter, helping a customer, while her son was near the weapon’s case.
Carlita caught his eye. “I would like to have a word with you when you have a minute.”
“Sure.” Tony finished helping the customer and joined his mother by the front window. “I’m guessing you’re here because of Luigi and Ricco. They didn’t take too kindly when I first told them they needed to lay low. Vinnie was another story. He was freakin’ out.”
“I talked to Vinnie, too, and basically laid out his choices. Luigi and Ricco could ignore our advice to lay low and risk getting picked up, return to Atlantic City or hole up in a hotel.”
Tony let out a low whistle. “I’m sure that went over like a lead balloon.”
“Vinnie doesn’t know the situation down here. We do. Finally, he saw our way of thinking. Vito might be another story.” Carlita had another thought. “About the surveillance camera footage. Have you had a chance to check it out?”
“I’m one step ahead of you, Ma. It’s all clean.”
“Including the restaurant’s camera footage?”
“All of it,” Tony nodded. “Vito and Luigi aren’t on any of the footage. I…”
Carlita motioned for him to stop. “I don’t want to know.”
“Gotcha. We’ll leave it at it’s okay for the investigators to check our cameras. The cops were by earlier. I was busy, so they’re gonna stop back.”
A customer entered the store, and Carlita patted her son’s arm. “Thanks, Son. That’s a
