“Sorry.”
“Anybody else?”
“Couple of morons moving a stove.”
Bug nodded. “The Delaney brothers. Not exactly upstanding citizens.”
“I know them a little. Maybe one of them shot Julius?”
“Not likely. Jimmy was the one who called 911 when they heard shots.”
“They see anybody else?”
“You and Nooch.” Bug went back to studying the paper. “Except Vincent thought you were some kind of city inspector.” He glanced up. “You didn’t disabuse him of that idea, did you?”
Roxy smiled, remembering the twenty bucks she’d scored. “Nope. You gonna bust me for taking a bribe?”
“Split it with me?”
“Sure.” Smiling.
Bug said, “They also saw some other people. Hyde’s youngest brother, for one. Thomas the third.”
She nodded. “He goes by Trey. I didn’t see him there.”
“You know him? Wow, Rox, you get around better than ever, don’t you?”
She shrugged. “Julius paid me to dispose of some stuff when he tore down part of the old carriage house last February. Two gargoyles. I sold ’em to a company in New York—and I made some real money on them. Just in time to pay Sage’s spring tuition, thank heaven. Trey was in town at the time and thought his big brother should have gotten a piece of the profit, though, and the three of us had an argument. Eventually, they saw it my way. Nothing unusual in my business.”
“Which business is that, exactly?” Bug asked in a different tone.
“Salvage,” Roxy said evenly. “I buy and sell stuff from old buildings.”
Bug let a pause fill the space between them before he said, “And what about your family business? The Abruzzos have had their fingers in a lot of pies over the years. Heck, Carmine was making book back when we were in school.”
“He probably still does,” Roxy said.
Most everybody in the old neighborhood knew a little about Roxy’s uncle Carmine and his crime organization—or they pretended they knew all about it—and certainly all of the cops in the city kept pictures of Carmine and his crew handy.
Roxy said calmly, “I don’t know what Carmine’s doing these days, except getting old.”
“I hear he’s sick.”
“News to me.”
“Okay,” Bug said. “What about you? With Nooch as your knee breaker, you got anything else going on?”
Roxy had grown up fielding questions about her family. Carmine’s operations were loosely connected to the larger, more complex Abruzzo family activities in New Jersey and New York. Locally, Uncle Carmine was smart enough to stay out of jail, but his various employees had done time for loan-sharking, illegal gambling, fencing stolen goods, and other, even less savory offenses.
Most of the time, Roxy had kept her distance from the Abruzzo family businesses. With Sage to protect and Nooch to keep out of trouble, she’d found her own path, which didn’t stray into Carmine’s territory unless she could keep her involvement completely quiet. The cops came nosing around with questions now and then, though.
Roxy looked him dead in the eye. “You’re fishing, Bug. If you had something on either one of us, you’d have come here with more backup than your lady driver.”
Bug said, “With Carmine sick, everybody’s wondering what happens to his empire.”
“Empire? You mean some old video poker machines and a restaurant that serves lousy spaghetti? C’mon, Bug, I’d make a better living if I sold burgers out of a drive-up window.”
He smiled again and shrugged. “I figured I have nothing to lose by asking. As far as I know, no Abruzzo ever killed anybody in this city.”
“As far as you know?”
Easily, Bug switched topics. “So you know Trey Hyde, too?”
“I know him a little. He isn’t part of the family company—Hyde Communications, or whatever it’s called. You talk about organized crime, that cable TV business is a license to print money. But Trey pays for those deep-sea exploration things—ships that go looking for old
“Anybody else?”
“Couple of morons moving a stove.”
Bug nodded. “The Delaney brothers. Not exactly upstanding citizens.”
“I know them a little. Maybe one of them shot Julius?”
“Not likely. Jimmy was the one who called 911 when they heard shots.”
“They see anybody else?”
“You and Nooch.” Bug went back to studying the paper. “Except Vincent thought you were some kind of city inspector.” He glanced up. “You didn’t disabuse him of that idea, did you?”
Roxy smiled, remembering the twenty bucks she’d scored. “Nope. You gonna bust me for taking a bribe?”
“Split it with me?”
“Sure.” Smiling.
Bug said, “They also saw some other people. Hyde’s youngest brother, for one. Thomas the third.”
She nodded. “He goes by Trey. I didn’t see him there.”
“You know him? Wow, Rox, you get around better than ever, don’t you?”
She shrugged. “Julius paid me to dispose of some stuff when he tore down part of the old carriage house last February. Two gargoyles. I sold ’em to a company in New York—and I made some real money on them. Just in time to pay Sage’s spring tuition, thank heaven. Trey was in town at the time and thought his big brother should have gotten a piece of the profit, though, and the three of us had an argument. Eventually, they saw it my way. Nothing unusual in my business.”
“Which business is that, exactly?” Bug asked in a different tone.
“Salvage,” Roxy said evenly. “I buy and sell stuff from old buildings.”
Bug let a pause fill the space between them before he said, “And what about your family business? The Abruzzos have had their fingers in a lot of pies over the years. Heck, Carmine was making book back when we were in school.”
“He probably still does,” Roxy said.
Most everybody in the old neighborhood knew a little about Roxy’s uncle Carmine and his crime organization—or they pretended they knew all about it—and certainly all of the cops in the city kept pictures of Carmine and his crew handy.
Roxy said calmly, “I don’t know what Carmine’s doing these days, except getting old.”
“I hear he’s sick.”
“News to me.”
“Okay,” Bug said. “What about you? With Nooch as your knee breaker, you got anything else going on?”
Roxy had grown up fielding questions about her family. Carmine’s operations were loosely connected to the larger, more complex Abruzzo family activities in New Jersey and New York. Locally, Uncle Carmine was smart enough to stay out of jail, but his various employees had done time for loan-sharking, illegal gambling, fencing stolen goods, and other, even less savory offenses.
Most of the time, Roxy had kept her distance from the Abruzzo family businesses. With Sage to protect and Nooch to keep out of trouble, she’d found her own path, which didn’t stray into Carmine’s territory unless she could keep her involvement completely quiet. The cops came nosing around with questions now and then, though.
Roxy looked him dead in the eye. “You’re fishing, Bug. If you had something on either one of us, you’d have come here with more backup than your lady driver.”
Bug said, “With Carmine sick, everybody’s wondering what happens to his empire.”
“Empire? You mean some old video poker machines and a restaurant that serves lousy spaghetti? C’mon, Bug, I’d make a better living if I sold burgers out of a drive-up window.”
He smiled again and shrugged. “I figured I have nothing to lose by asking. As far as I know, no Abruzzo ever killed anybody in this city.”
“As far as you know?”
Easily, Bug switched topics. “So you know Trey Hyde, too?”
“I know him a little. He isn’t part of the family company—Hyde Communications, or whatever it’s called. You talk about organized crime, that cable TV business is a license to print money. But Trey pays for those deep-sea exploration things—ships that go looking for old
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