Chapter 5

Carlita marched through the restaurant to the front lobby area where the men she'd encountered earlier, the same ones who were caught on Elvira's surveillance recordings, stood chatting with the hostess.

"My restaurant manager told me you were looking for me."

The taller of the two spoke. "Carlita Garlucci?"

"Carlita Garlucci-Taylor," she corrected. "We had this conversation a few hours ago."

"Former Queens, New York resident and wife of Vincent Robert Garlucci?"

"My former husband is deceased. He died several years ago." Carlita suspected they were toying with her. She was in no mood for games. "And you are?"

"I'm Costanza. This is my associate Enzo."

"What do you want?" she bluntly asked.

"We're here to discuss a past debt you and your husband owed."

"Owed who?"

"The family. We've been sent here to negotiate a deal."

"I don't know who you are or where you're from, but I know nothing about a past debt. I'm going to ask you to leave. If not, I'm calling the police."

"I don't think you want to call the cops," Enzo said. "Things could get real ugly real fast. The boss has instructed us to try to reach an agreement."

"You're talking in circles. What debt did I and my former husband owe?" she demanded.

"He was a shylock," the man explained. "I'm not sure how much you know about that…end of the family business."

"I've heard the term."

"He collected money, but also owed some at the time of his death."

Carlita's mind whirled. She felt sick to her stomach. Vinnie had, once again, left her holding the bag. "How much money?"

"Two hundred and fifty thousand. With interest, the figure is closer to half a million."

Her jaw dropped. "Half a million dollars?" she gasped. "I don't have that kind of money lying around."

"You got a nice little setup here. Pawn shop. Popular restaurant. Apartment building. I'm sure it all brings in a tidy sum of money." The taller of the two men, the one with a toothpick sticking out of his mouth, began rolling it around.

Carlita watched him roll it…side to side, side to side. Using his tongue, he flipped it over. She thought he was going to choke on it. Instead, he spit it on her floor.

It took all her willpower not to demand he pick it up and throw it in the trash. "These businesses belong to me and my children. We've worked hard to get them up and running."

Both fear and anger coursed through Carlita's veins. If what these men were saying was true, the "boss" had sat back, all this time waiting for her to work her tail off building successful and profitable businesses, only to swoop in and try to take it from her.

"Our boss…he's a fair man. He figured you might not be open to paying this debt off right away. He's willing to strike a deal," Costanza said.

Her eyes narrowed. "What sort of deal?"

The man, the one who appeared to be in charge, pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. "I have two other names. Mercedes Garlucci and Anthony Garlucci."

"Those are my children. Both work at the family businesses."

"I see."

"Their names are also on the property deeds." Carlita suspected from the look on their faces they were already aware of the fact. "I don't make any decisions without my family's input."

"There's nothing to decide. You'll either accept the offer or not."

"And if I don't?" Carlita asked.

"It would be in your best interest not to reject it." Enzo shifted his feet.

She lifted her chin, defiantly meeting his gaze. "I won't know until you tell me what it is."

"You will. Tomorrow."

"What time tomorrow?"

Costanza rocked back on his heels. "In the morning. How about nine, right here?"

"How do I know you're legit?" Carlita asked. "I need proof Vinnie and I owed your…boss money."

"We'll have proof."

"And names. As in, who exactly we owed money to."

"Danny Lombardo."

"Danny Lombardo," Carlita repeated. "I've never heard the name in my life. I don't ever remember signing a loan agreement."

Enzo shrugged. "I believe he may have inherited the debt from another lender. You and your husband failed to hold up your end of the agreement. Thus, the reason for our visit."

"What other lender?"

"We're not privy to that information. The debt is legit."

"Fine. Bring proof tomorrow. I'll see you at nine."

"See you at nine."

"It will be my son, my daughter, and me."

Costanza looked as if he was going to say something, but didn't. "Suit yourself."

Carlita watched the men exit the restaurant. They passed by the front window and disappeared from sight.

"Is everything all right?"

She turned to find Arnie standing behind her. "It looked like you were having an intense conversation."

"We were."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Unfortunately, no." Carlita returned to the kitchen, grabbed the food, and trudged out into the back alley.

The pawn shop had closed. She could see Mercedes' living room lights were on and thought about stopping by to fill her in on what had happened, but didn't want to ruin her evening. She would wait until later, after she discussed the matter with Pete.

Back home, Carlita left the food on the counter and took Rambo for a walk while she waited for her husband, who sent a text to let her know he was on his way. During the stroll, she replayed the conversation. Had Vinnie and she owed an original lender and now Danny Lombardo money?

If so, why had he waited years to collect? To charge her outrageous interest? Had he been watching all along…waiting for the Garlucci family businesses to become profitable so he could swoop in and demand repayment?

The men had pretty much come right out and told her she would have to accept the offer. What would happen if she didn't? How would she know if the loan was legit? It could be bogus. It was possible the men were bluffing, attempting to get money from her through intimidation and deception.

A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. Something told her these men—and their boss—had no intention of going away. The fact they'd waited all this time to come forward was also a concern.

Her businesses were doing well…exceptionally well. In fact, Carlita had recently given each of her employees a raise.

Despite doing well, she didn't have half a million dollars sitting around. And even if she did, was she responsible for the debt…a debt she knew nothing about? Apparently, Danny Lombardo thought so.

She and Rambo made it all the way to the River Street steps before turning back. She was halfway there when Pete texted he was home.

Carlita hightailed it back to their apartment. She found him in the kitchen warming the dinner she'd dropped off earlier.

"Any news from Elvira and the archaeologist?"

"The woman is trying to rearrange her schedule. We should have news soon." Carlita hung Rambo's leash on the hook by the door and moped across the room.

Pete did a double take. "Are you okay? You look like you lost your best friend."

"I'm not sure. I'll know more by tomorrow morning."

"Does this involve Elvira?"

"I wish," she sighed.

Pete turned, giving his wife his full attention. "What's wrong?"

Carlita filled him in on what had transpired, starting with the men showing up at Ravello's during the lunch hour and ending with them telling her they'd be back the following day. "So tomorrow morning, Mercedes, Tony and I are going to meet with these two mafia goons to find out exactly what sort of deal this Danny Lombardo mobster wants."

"It sounds like a shakedown," Pete said.

"We take the deal or else. The ‘or else' is my concern."

"Have you talked to Mercedes or Tony about it?"

"No. I wanted to run it by you first."

"I want to be there with you."

"There's nothing you can do. Even if they are mobsters, they're not going to gun us down at the restaurant."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, I hope not." Carlita briefly closed her eyes. "I'm not getting a good feeling about this."

"Why don't you run it by Vinnie? He might know who this Lombardo character is."

"What a great idea. Why didn't I think of that?" Carlita snatched her cell phone off the counter and dialed her son's number.

She thought the call would go to voicemail, but then he picked up. "Hey, Ma."

"Hey, Son. You got a minute?"

"Sure."

Carlita could hear loud voices and laughter in the background.

"Can you hang on for a sec?"

"Sure."

His voice grew muffled, and Carlita knew he was on the move. It got quiet. For a second, she thought they'd been disconnected. "Are you still there?"

"I'm here. I'm in my office. What's up?"

"I had two visitors stop by Ravello's tonight. They claim your father and I owe money to their boss."

"Pops and you owe someone money?"

"To the tune of two hundred and fifty thousand. I'm not sure if they're pulling my leg, but they said the amount we owe is now over half a million with interest tacked on."

"Scumbags. The lender is obviously compounding the interest."

"Is this legal?" Carlita asked.

"Is anything the mafia does ever legal? What's the deal? I mean, what do they want?"

"I don't know yet. They're meeting with me, Tony, and Mercedes tomorrow morning."

"Because the properties are jointly titled," Vinnie said. "Do you think they're legit? I mean, do you think you owed someone money?"

"It's possible I signed for something blindly, having no idea what it was. I asked for proof. They said they would have it in the morning."

"I can put some feelers out," her eldest son said. "Try to figure out what's going on."

"I would appreciate it. The offer is basically a take it or leave it."

"Take it or you're gonna pay for it in some other way," Vinnie said.

"Right. The possibilities are cause for concern."

"Blowing your place up. Setting it on fire. Filling it full of bullets."

"Pete seems to think it's gonna be a shakedown."

"I have to agree. A good old-fashioned mafia shakedown."

Carlita could hear tapping on the other end.

"What time tomorrow morning?"

"Nine."

"There's no way I can make it there in time."

"You don't have to come down here. Besides, I'm not sure what you'll be able to do to help." Carlita suggested he hold off until they had more information.

"It's a deal. In the meantime, like I said, I can do a little digging around. Did they give you a name?"

"They did. Danny Lombardo. Does his name ring a bell?"

"Nope. I'll see what I can find out." Vinnie promised to call his mother back as soon as he had more information.

Carlita thanked him. She ended the call and waved her phone in the air. "Vinnie's going to try to figure out who Danny Lombardo is."

"Are you going to call Mercedes and Tony?"

"I might as well. There's no sense in prolonging it. Something tells me these two aren't leaving town until they give the Garlucci family a good, old-fashioned shakedown."