“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Carlita lowered the blind. “We better give the guys a heads up to stay away until we have a chance to check it out.” She tapped out a message to Ricco and pressed send.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Mercedes said. “We make like we’re going somewhere and see if they follow us.”
Carlita stopped by to tell Brittney they were taking a short drive, but the bedroom lights were off. Not wanting to disturb her, they tiptoed out of the apartment, making sure they locked the doors behind them. “You think it’s safe to leave her alone?”
“We’ll only be gone a few minutes.” Carlita tossed the keys to Mercedes. “You drive. I’m done for today.”
On their way out, they passed by the sedan. It was impossible to see inside the tinted windows. The car didn’t follow them. Carlita’s cell phone beeped. It was Ricco. “Is the coast clear?”
Instead of texting a reply, she dialed his cell phone. “I don’t know. We drove right by the car, but they didn’t follow us.”
“Because they’re not lookin’ for you.”
“True.”
“There’s a party store over on Ninth and Greenway. Meet us there.”
“We’re on our way.” Carlita ended the call. “Ricco wants us to meet them over on Ninth and Greenway. You sure no one is following us?”
Mercedes checked the rearview mirror. “Positive.” It was a short drive to the other side of town and the twenty-four-hour convenience store. Ricco and Luigi were already there, waiting for them on the sidewalk.
“Anyone following you?” Luigi asked.
“No, but there’s a sedan parked catty-corner to the alley we didn’t recognize,” Mercedes said. “I think someone might be keeping an eye on our place.”
Ricco jabbed his finger at Carlita. “What was that all about?”
“What was what?”
“You showin’ up at Big Joe’s place. You almost ended up in the river.”
“We decided to check the place out. We made a wrong turn and got into a minor fender bender,” Carlita said. “Thanks for bailing us out.”
Luigi shook his head. “It coulda been bad.”
“I’m sorry. We realize that now.” Carlita quickly changed the subject. “Were you able to find anything out about Phil Duce or the Savannah Six?”
“As a matter of fact, you’re not gonna believe what we heard,” Luigi said.
Chapter 15
“Duce’s fall off the trolley was the tip of the iceberg,” Ricco said. “Somethin’ big is about to go down.”
“You think Duce’s men took Davis Rutger out and they’re about to clean house with the rest of the Savannah thugs?”
“Could be,” Ricco shrugged. “One of the guys started talkin’, musta realized he was sayin’ too much and clammed up.”
“I’m surprised they would tell you anything,” Mercedes said. “Complete strangers walking into a bar and start asking questions.”
“We’re not complete strangers. Vito and Vinnie stopped by there a few months back, talkin’ to some of the local business owners about possibly startin’ a side business in the back,” Luigi reminded them.
“Illegal gambling,” Carlita elaborated. “Which is why the Black Stallion got shut down in the first place.”
“Yep,” Ricco nodded. “Guess Duce and his family, as well as some of the other locals, aren’t giving up on the idea of a lucrative side business, if you know what I mean.”
“Ah.” Carlita lifted a brow. “You let Vito’s name slip, the locals at Big Joe’s warmed up to you, thinkin’ they might have found a new business partner and started talkin’.”
Luigi tapped his finger on the side of his forehead. “Me ‘n Ricco. We’re not as dumb as people think. Besides, Vito…he’s a savvy businessman. He told us Brittney was our number one priority, but while we was down here, we could do a little nosin’ around and find out what happened with the gambling venture.”
Carlita wrinkled her nose. “Is it really that active here in Savannah? Gambling, I mean.”
“Georgia’s a non-gambling state. Vito wants to get in at the ground floor level.” Luigi said Vito had put it on the backburner but decided to take a second look after hearing recent rumors.
“Then Brittney isn’t the real reason you’re here,” Carlita said.
“She is,” Ricco nodded his head. “Vito wants to keep Brittney safe. He figured while we were here, we could do some leg work for him.”
“Back to the Savannah Six and Duce’s men,” Mercedes said. “Do you have any idea when this ‘something big’ is going to take place? We could contact the authorities and give them a heads up.”
“That’s crazy talk,” Ricco grimaced. “Word gets back to our contacts, and our reputation is at stake.”
“And Vito’s.” Luigi nudged Ricco. “Besides, we don’t have cold, hard facts. Just rumors.”
“So, what’s up with this place?” Carlita eyed the rundown party store and noticed a couple of men standing off to the side watching them.
“We needed some smokes,” Ricco said.
“Cigarette smoking is a nasty habit,” Carlita lectured. “Besides, your cigarette smoke is a dead giveaway. One of you were puffin’ away the other night. I had to distract Detective Jackson so he wouldn’t come after you.”
“We got worse habits than smokin’ cigarettes,” Luigi said.
Carlita couldn’t argue the point. “I suppose.”
Luigi accompanied Carlita and Mercedes to their car and then joined Ricco inside the store. The women watched as he handed money to the clerk and then grabbed the cigarettes off the counter while Luigi waited by the door.
On their way out, the clerk must’ve said something. Ricco abruptly stopped. He slowly reached into his jacket pocket, the one Carlita was certain held his gun.
It was a tense few seconds with Ricco’s hand never leaving his pocket. Finally, the men strolled out onto the sidewalk and to the car, their expressions grim.
Carlita rolled down the window. “What was that all about?”
“We gotta get out of here. We’ll talk when we get
