Chapter 30

"Here's the plan." Carlita pressed her hand to her forehead. "I go over to Ziffra's place and lure him to the Morton Street property."

"And we'll take care of the rest," Tony added.

"Do you know for sure if he's working? Never mind." Mercedes waved dismissively. "I can call and find out."

Vinnie glanced at his watch. "He should be opening for business."

Using her cell phone, Mercedes tracked down the website and clicked on the telephone number. It rang several times. She was getting ready to hang up when someone finally answered.

"EZ Check Cashing. Barnie speaking."

"I-I'm sorry. I must have the wrong number." Mercedes ended the call and waved her phone in the air. "He's there. He answered."

"Let's get this show on the road."

Carlita drove separately while Tony, Vinnie and Luigi followed behind in Tony's car. Reaching Morton Street, they parted ways when her son turned into the alley directly behind the building.

Quickly climbing out of the car, Carlita darted inside. Less than a minute later, her sons and Luigi stepped inside via the back alley entrance, not visible to the buildings on the opposite side of the street.

"You ready for this, Ma?" Vinnie asked.

"Yeah." Carlita sucked in a breath. "I have everything we talked about down pat. No worries. I'll get him over here as soon as I can."

"And we'll be waiting," Luigi promised. "Don't worry, Mrs. T. After today, Lombardo will be off your back and Costanza's killer will be behind bars."

Despite the nagging feeling something was going to go terribly wrong, Carlita mustered up a brave face. "I'm counting on it."

"We'll be right here watching it go down," Vinnie said. "Stay near the front window so we can keep an eye on you."

"Will do." Carlita gave them a snappy salute and hurried out of the building. With a quick check for traffic, she crossed the street and entered Barnie Ziffra's business.

Light filtered in through the grimy windows. The smell of stale cigarettes lingered in the air. Near the front window was a set of brown plastic chairs. In between was a small coffee table with an array of magazines spread out across the top. A large cactus plant sat next to them.

No more than ten steps ahead was a long, low laminate counter. Behind it stood a man, in his sixties, if Carlita had to guess. Bald on top with long sideburns and a moustache.

He wasn't tall, wasn't short, but was what she would consider average. Slightly overweight with a paunchy gut, the material of his plaid short-sleeve, button-down shirt stretched taut to cover his bulge.

From where she stood, Carlita noticed a gold loop earring dangling from his left ear.

"Hello. Welcome to EZ Check Cashing."

"Hello."

"How can I help you today?"

"I'm looking for Barnie Ziffra."

"And you are?"

"Carlita Garlucci-Taylor."

A flicker of something, not necessarily fear. Maybe it was surprise, flitted across his face. "I'm Barnie Ziffra."

"My deceased husband, Vincent Garlucci, owned the property across the street. He died several years ago, and I recently found out about it. While I was doing some research, I discovered your business and remembered your name. Vinnie had mentioned it to me," she fibbed.

"I don't remember your husband."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. No clue," Ziffra said.

"Interesting." She tightened her grip on her purse. "I met with a Mr. Enzo and Mr. Costanza about the property. Do either of those names ring a bell?"

"The cops were here asking about them. One of the guys was found dead in your building." Ziffra's eyes narrowed. "You working with the police?"

"No, and for you, it's a good thing," Carlita said. "Do you have a minute? I would like to show you something."

"Show me what?"

"It's over at my property."

"I'm not going over there." Ziffra began shaking his head.

"I think you should," Carlita said. "I have proof you killed Mr. Enzo."

She watched the color drain from his face. "You're lying."

"Am I?" She arched a brow. "As I said, I've done my research. You run a very successful business."

"A business that took me a long time to build."

"I'm sure it did. It would be a shame for you to end up behind bars and lose it all." Carlita was expecting, was anticipating Ziffra coming after her.

"What the…" Ziffra growled.

Carlita spun around and ran out of the building. Move, move, move. She resisted the urge to look back. Instead, she jogged across the street, praying the man was following her.

Moving at a rapid pace, she stepped into her building.

Ziffra, a look of pure fury etched on his face, and breathing heavily, appeared. She lingered long enough to make sure he saw her and slipped around the corner.

"You have no proof I killed Enzo."

"Costanza, who is in hiding for reasons of his own, claims otherwise," Carlita said. "We have proof."

"Show me," he demanded. "Stop with the games. Otherwise, I'm going to call the police myself."

Carlita stepped back into view. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glint and a slight movement. "Let's go back to the beginning when my husband, Vinnie, purchased this property. You came over here to find out what was going on. Vinnie told you he planned to open a business and loan money himself, which would put you in direct competition, maybe even put you out of business."

She continued. "You did some digging around and discovered he planned to do just that. You firebombed this place to stop him. Unfortunately, Vinnie died before he could prove it was you."

"You presented a nice fairytale lady," Ziffra smirked. "Try selling it to someone else."

Carlita ignored him. "Fast forward to a few days ago. Mr. Enzo and Mr. Costanza show up. Again, you're protecting your investment, so you come over here to see what's up. You get in their faces, argue. Costanza and Enzo even mention they might follow through with Vinnie's plan to open a legit business. You finally leave. Costanza takes off to run an errand. You come back here, argue with Enzo a second time and then shoot him. For good measure, you break a few of his bones."

"Prove it," Ziffra taunted. "You got nothing on me, lady. You're grasping at straws."

Vinnie stepped out of the shadows, gun in hand, and pointed it directly at Ziffra. "Is she? Maybe it's time for a confession."

Ziffra made a choking sound and stumbled back.

"This is my son, Vinnie," Carlita said. "He's here to help convince you to tell the truth."

"You can't shoot me." Ziffra nervously cleared his throat. "Two bodies in the same building in one week? The cops are gonna throw you in jail."

"You're right. Maybe we don't want to shoot you. We have other ways to make you talk."

In the blink of an eye, Luigi came out of nowhere. He lunged at Ziffra and shoved him to the ground. "Got it." He grabbed the man's gun and slid it across the floor. Not releasing his grip, he finished frisking him. "He's clean."

Tony appeared. In a single swift move, he grabbed hold of Ziffra's arm and yanked him to his feet.

"How many people you got ganging up on me?" he huffed.

"Two of my sons and a former mobster," Carlita said.

"Who thoroughly enjoys coercing confessions from the guilty party." Luigi began cracking his knuckles.

Carlita thought for a second Ziffra was going to pass out. Instead, he stood his ground, summoning up his best poker face. "I have nothing to hide and nothing to say."

"Meaning you have no idea how this building got firebombed?" Carlita arched a brow. "You're lying."

Luigi punched him in the gut.

"Oof." He doubled over, the wind knocked out of him from the force of the blow.

Carlita winced when Luigi landed the second blow.

"Okay. Okay," he gasped. "I might've tossed a couple of explosives into the building. It was a dump before your husband ever bought the place. It wasn't much of a downgrade."

"What about Enzo? Did you kill Enzo?" Vinnie demanded.

"No. I…"

Luigi doubled up his fist, preparing for a third powerful blow, this one to Ziffra's face.

"Hang on. The man was a weasel. I did you a favor. Tell you what. I'll give you a nice tidy chunk of cash and we'll pretend this never happened."

"Meanwhile, I'm on the hook for Enzo's death," Carlita said. "I don't think so."

"Then, I'll deny it," Ziffra said.

Luigi pulled back his fist.

Carlita stopped him. "Don't bother. We're going to turn Mr. Ziffra over to the authorities. All four of us heard him confess. It's the best we can do."

"You're wrong." June Cleary's voice echoed from the doorway. "I heard the entire thing. I have video surveillance showing Barnie coming into this building around the time Mr. Enzo was murdered."

"June, shut your mouth!" Barnie roared.

"You've been the bully on the block for far too long. And now to find out you're a murderer. Shame on you Barnie Ziffra," she scolded. "Your mother must be turning over in her grave."

"Y-you have proof Barnie was in this building?" Carlita stammered.

"I sure do. Barnie begged me not to show it to the cops. He said he was afraid because of his past record that they would throw him in the slammer. I'm all for second chances. I guess I didn't want to believe he was capable of murdering another person."

"Thank you, June," Carlita said sincerely. "Between all of us hearing him confess and your video surveillance, I'm hoping the authorities will be able to wrap this up pretty quickly."

"I like you, Carlita Garlucci-Taylor. You remind me of myself, filled with spunk and determination." June gave Vinnie googly eyes. "And that handsome son of yours? I would hate to see his mother go to prison for a crime she didn't commit."

Tony eased in next to his mother.

June's eyes lit. "Another one? Oh, my stars. Two hotties from the same family. This must be my lucky day."

"And because of you, it's my lucky day too," Carlita said.