“Is it?” I’m not giving him any clues that I know exactly where the necklace is. It’ll be interesting to see where he goes with this. “You sure?”
“It was in my locker yesterday morning with the file. I swear it was.”
I grab him by the collar and slap him across the face, hard enough to make my hand sting. “Where is it now, bozo?”
“I’ve no idea,” he replies, squirming in my grip. “I don’t even know how it got out. The locker’s secure. I’m the only one who knows the combination.”
“Maybe you left it on your desk with the file so anyone who wants it can take it? That sound about right? Or maybe you pawned it and kept the money for yourself? That’s what I’m thinking you might have done.”
“No, I swear, I’ve been keeping it safe like I promised. Like Pappy promised.”
I give him a smile that’s colder than the Arctic and then I drop him to the ground. I put the boot in, making him groan when it lands in his ample stomach.
“Please,” he spits out, twisting away from me. “I’m sorry, Enzo.”
“Not sorry enough. I’ll be informing Don Felici of your failure. And you know I can’t tell him news like this without him wanting to know if I made it clear how upset we are.”
I grab hold of him again, bringing my fist smacking into his nose. Blood sprays from the nostrils, running down his face, coating my hand.
I pull a handkerchief from my inside pocket, wiping my fingers while Walter groans on the floor. He’s holding his nose and groaning, his breathing labored.
Blood drips onto the floor as he slowly gets to his feet. “Just stop,” he says. “Please, you don’t have to do this. I’ll find it.”
I sweep his feet out from under him. As he goes down, I give him a couple more kicks, hard enough to stop his whining and make him retch while I talk. “I’ll find it. You had your shot.”
“Please, Enzo, you got to listen to me.”
“You and me go way back,” I talk across him. “Today is as good as it gets for you. After this, it only gets worse. Don Felici asked you to do one thing and you couldn’t do it. He warned you what might happen when you took over from your father. Warned you the deal still stood and you became custodian by default. You had one job. Keep the file and the necklace safe until we came for both.”
“I did. I kept them hidden. I lied to her only yesterday when she came to ask about the file. Told her it was missing. I’ve done everything you asked of me.”
“Except keep the necklace safe.”
“I’ll find it, I swear I will.”
“You know what happens to those who disappoint us.”
“Please, Enzo. I’ve got a son.”
“Fiona and David had a daughter. You know what happened to them, right? Your dad tell you that part of the story?”
“I’ll find it, all right. I’ll tear the town apart if I have to, but please, just promise you’ll keep this between you and me.”
I shake my head. “Don’s got to be informed. You know how it works. All you had to do was keep the necklace and the file locked away safe.”
“I got you the file. Please, at least give me some credit for that.”
“The file that’s sitting on your fucking desk right now where anyone could take it? That file, right? You call that locked away safe?” I raise my voice. “On your fucking desk!”
“No one will touch it there. I swear to you. Looks like all the rest. No one knows what’s in it.”
“You better pray you’re right. If I have to come back to town after today, you know what that means, right?”
“I’ll find it.” He’s on his knees, hands up in supplication, shuffling toward me, blood dripping down his front. “Please, you don’t have to do that. For the love of God, you’ve got to give me time to find it.”
“It’s up to Don Felici what happens next,” I tell him, shaking my head. “Not me. I just do the jobs I’m given. You better hope you find it soon, Walter. Your chance to get me in a good mood was over long ago, around the time I found out about you creaming off an extra percentage from the drug busts you bring in.”
“I told you, that was a mistake. Bad accounting, that’s all.”