Chapter 6 Little Italy

Sarah awoke with blur vision and a throbbing headache. She was in a jail cell alone, lying on a single bed. The jail was an old-fashioned, windowless, bleak cell. She tried to get up but was unstable, her head spun fast. Sarah sat down and rested her back against the wall, she realized that her left hand was cuffed to the iron of the bed. There were no sounds from the passage. She had no clue as to where she was and why she was in jail. She waited.

Finally, the cell door is opened. Agent west entered and sat down on the bed opposite Sarah, he extended a file to her.

"You don't know who you are messing with," she said with contempt. She takes the file and opened it. The contents of the file were Sarah's criminal records. While going through the file, a page from the new york times fell on the floor. Sarah reached for it and sees a picture of her self a year ago coming out of a courtroom with reporters trying to get an interview, she had been convicted of arson, in disguise of a mental health issue and was sent to the mental institution to avoid persecution after the big guy had threatened the judge by exposing his extramarital affair to the public.

She stared blankly at him. She knew his history. He was born October 2, 1949, to a father of Irish descent and a mother of American origin. In 1963, his family emigrated to New York City and settled in Washington Heights, Manhattan. His father worked with the mob to put food on the table. At 20, his father took a bullet while on assignment for the mob on a job that went South. At 22, he joined the New York police department as a police trainee to fight against the criminal activities that killed his father. Then he changed his name from Liam to peter. At 24, he was assigned to the 44th precinct in the Bronx and was later enlisted into the criminal investigative division. She makes it her business to know the information of people that threaten the big guy's operations. Sarah laughed softly.

The agent was on a path that would get him killed. She thought

"I need your help," he said

"On what grounds am I here?" She asked frowning

"Sorry for kidnapping you," he said

"You know I can get you suspended for this" Sarah said proudly

"I just need you to answer some questions of the book and you can be on your way," he said as he gestured to the cell door. "What do you know about the death of Felix wright?"

"Nothing," she said

"What about a flash drive?" He said

Sarah was surprised. She questioned herself as to how the agent found out about the flash drive. Someone must have snitched on them. A man hastily walked in and brought out a key from his pocket to unlock the cuffs but was stopped by agent west

"What are you doing, I still got time," he said

"I'm sorry but a call just came in from your supervisor requesting to see you," the man said as he unlocked the cuffs. Sarah got up and smirked, she never doubted that the big guy would come to her rescue. Agent west and Sarah exchanged scornful looks.

" You are quite lucky today is a special day to me. You would get a knife in your gut the next time I get taken" she said, emphasizing each word. Agent west angrily stamped his feet on the floor watching Sarah walk away.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Kate stared at the Whitestone bridge from the closed window of her mom's mahogany-clad home office. A woman in her mid 20's walked into the office wearing an orange fitted gown and a pair of black stiletto heels that made her legs appear longer and leaner, holding a white folder that contained Kate's appointments. Kate inhaled deeply. The scent of the woman appealed to her. She goes to her desk, sits down, and waved her hands for the woman, who seemed anxious to proceed.

"Just as you commanded, I told everyone that you are sick and will be working from home. The creative team sent new furniture ideas for you to look at. She dropped the folder on the desk. Also in there is the date for the launching of the new showroom".

Kate nodded and listened patiently while looking at the door that led to the backyard patio. The woman sighed "you have an appointment with the dentist and don Vincent wants to see you". Kate shifted her gaze to the woman

"They don?" said Kate

"Yes, his assistant called the office today requesting an appointment with you". The woman moved towards the door

"Claudia tell the driver to get ready we are going to Little Italy," said Kate

"Yes ma," Claudia said as she closed the door.

With Kate in the back seat and Claudia in the front seat, the black Cadillac CT4 left the driveway. At the sight of Mrs. Ferdinand a middle-aged woman, who had previously worked for her mom as the cook before she became one of Patricia's employees, Kate told the driver to slow down the car. The window rolled down and she made a slight bow at Mrs. Ferdinand before the car sped off. In less than an hour, the car turned onto Mulberry street and finally pulled to a stop at a horse racetrack in little Italy. Don Vincent's assistant, a plain, lean, and wiry man, who introduced himself as Victor was standing by to welcome Kate since the don had ordered him to treat her with love. Kate ignored his pleasantries and enquired about the don. He leads them to a Skye terrace dining room and ushered Kate to her seat while the secretary and the driver sit down with him a distance away from Kate. Kate never really liked horse racing but she loved the fact that she was up here with the best view and not down with the crowd. And that to her was fancy. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard a voice that spoke in Italian

"Hello beautiful"

Don Vincent was a black-haired big man with thick arms and a strong look. He was a man that thought hard before speaking and he wasn't easily scared. He knew he had almost everything under his control, no groundbreaking deal or major event passed under his nose without him sniffing it. A mustache Pete mob boss that ran one of the largest families among the big five families in New York City. Wearing a blue three-piece suit and holding an already lit Línea 1935 Cuban cigar, he sat down next to Kate. Kate and the don fixed their gaze at the race track.

"This is the moment we have been waiting for. And they are all lined up. All the team ponies and they are off. West Ham takes the lead with Liverpool in the middle of the race keeping up the pace followed by Manchester United running hard. Chelsea is coming out fourth" said the race caller.

"Roberto Russo a developer friend of mine recently got involved with developing a prestigious, organization eco-friendly Coorg luxury resort near the Karnataka island but has not been able to finish it due to some financial issues," said the don. He spoke in English with a slight trace of an Italian accent after he had taken a puff of his cigar.

"As they move for the first turn. Everton is in the back with Brentford fifth and sixth, Brentford is ahead by a leg. Bayern münchen is taking a stroll at the back. And here comes arsenal from outside putting on the pressure. She's making a break for it, neck to neck with West Ham, Liverpool, and Chelsea. Ohhh I can hear the cheering of the audience"

"So what's my part in all this?" said kate in a dry tone.

"I want you to salvage the resort, act as an arbiter, make a few phone calls to those shareholders of yours and you will get a nice slice of cake as the fee. Patricia said you owe her a favor".

"Hmmm, Manchester United is having a hard time keeping up with the quadruplet. What's going on! Arsenal appears to be going off track, riding away. Can someone tell this horse to get back on track people's dreams depend on it"?

"I think Liverpool will win," said Kate.

"Nah, it's all staged," said the don.

"Oh no! She's gone, she's disappeared with people's trips to Dubai. And West Ham is falling back leaving Chelsea and Liverpool at close range with Manchester city coming behind and Chelsea! takes the lead winning the race"

"Ok I will but I need to see some files and you need to throw in a little extra"

"Good, Patricia is with the files. what do you want as your extra?"

"Get rid of Edward"

"Your father" the don chuckled "this is what happens when children aren't raised in the Italian way. ok I will".

"It should be only secret"

The don laughed out loud "you are truly the daughter of Felicia Richardson".

"What an astounding race ladies and gentlemen"

Kate sighed as she gets up slowly "it was nice meeting you, I have to take my leave". Kate walked out of the room with the secretary and the driver following behind.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sarah sat at the bar counter of the RG club with a glass of whiskey in hand. Seconds ago Sarah had glanced at the pole dancer twisting herself in a snake-like manner. Edward comes in with his sugar baby hand in hand, giggling and caressing each other. Sarah slowly turned her head to see who was causing the ruckus behind her. She sees her father and his sugar baby. She stared at them. Edward sited Sarah and threw his hands up in the air joyfully

"My wildflower, oh how nice of you to come here. You came to see your daddy didn't you" said Edward as he beckoned to the girl to accompany him to meet Sarah. Sarah ignored them. The girl played with Edward's cowboy hat and her mouth pouted to give

him an airy kiss.

"My wildflower! I have found the girl of my dreams and I'm going to marry her!" He said in a groggy manner. The girl flaunts the engagement ring on her finger but Sarah continued to look away. Edward whispered into Sarah's ear

"So um what do you think?"

With her eyes still fixed on the bar shelf

" what am I supposed to call her?. Stepmom?. I came here to get free drinks and to have peace of mind. I did not know you were in charge of this branch. I wouldn't have stepped in here" she emptied the glass and signaled to the bartender for a refill. Edward introduced the girl to Sarah as vee. Vee extended her hands to Sarah for a shake but got the cold shoulder from her. Sarah didn't care about her father and vee, the fact that no one remembered today was her birthday proved just how alone she was.

"Alright! My wildflower I'm coming back. Just have to escort this pretty damsel out" said Edward while he tongue kissed vee. Edward goes out into the street with vee by his side. He lit his cigarette and inhaled the smoke. Suddenly there is a gunshot and vee screamed in fear. Inside the club, Sarah hears the gunshot and rushed out just in time to see a black car drive off and Edward on the ground with his lit cigarette in a pool of blood.