Chapter Sixteen - Surveillance

Outside Benny's Fish Market - Eighty Eight Hours Missing

King Benny and Angie emerged from the back door of the fish market and blinked their eyes, taking a moment to adjust to the bright sunlight from the dark, duskiness of the fish market. Neither spoke. Enough words had been spoken.

From seemingly out of nowhere, a long silver Cadillac rounded the corner into the alleyway and pulled to a stop in front of them. One of King Benny's men, Fat Louie, got out of the driver's side and came around the car to open the door for the old man.

"Are we going for a ride?" Angie asked.

King Benny's face was stoic as he turned to her and said, "I am." Holding onto the window of the open car door, he continued, "You are going to work. Or to some other public place where you will be seen, in case anyone ever asks."

"Take me with you." Angie pleaded quietly.

"No." King Benny shook his head and got into the backseat of the Cadillac. "Go away."

"I..." Angie began to plead her case, but all she got for her trouble was the car door slammed in her face.

But Angie refused to move away from the curb and soon King Benny's tinted car window rolled down. He looked at her for a moment with that hard stare that she was certain had frightened many a gangster in their day, but then his face softened as he said, "When your mother took you back to that house, I was always sorry I couldn't do more for you and your brother."

Angie realized for the first time that the life her mother had chosen for them had even touched King Benny, piercing the protective nerve he had developed when it came to the three laughing children who made the back room of his fish market their own. It had made the hate he carried all the heavier.

"Go home, Mary Angelina." King Benny continued. "We are playing in my end of the field now, and it is no place for you." He paused for a moment and looked at her pointedly, saying, "You are a good girl, mi felicita italiano. You always were. No matter what happens with Eddie, don't let any of this change it."

King Benny pulled his sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on, looking straight ahead in a sure signal that their conversation was over. But before the car pulled away, Angie said, "I think she loved you, too." He turned again to face her, peering at her over the tops of his sunglasses. "My mother." Angie continued softly, "I think she loved you, too. In her own way."

Then without saying anything else, King Benny was gone. Angie watched the taillights of his car as it pulled out of the alley, hugging herself tightly. Closing her eyes, Angie leaned back against the wall of the fish market and thought about the last hour and a half of her life.

Suddenly feeling sick to her stomach, Angie turned around and threw up in the alley. The very idea of what she had been prepared to do had been causing her stomach to do nervous flip flops all night and now that it was over, her system could not stand the guilt anymore. Leaning on her forearm as she was doubled over in the alley, Angie was determined not to cry. It was too late for tears and they would do her no good anymore.

King Benny had saved her from becoming everything she had worked her whole life to avoid. And at the same time, he was going to get the answers she sought. She just hoped she was ready for what he would find out.

Popping a mint into her mouth, Angie straightened herself out and walked back out to the street.Stepping out onto 43rd Street, Angie turned to walk the sixteen blocks to the closest subway station. She was just wondering how long it would take until she heard from King Benny again when she was suddenly pulled off the street into another alley. Her assailant pulled her into a small alcove nearby and pressed her to the wall.

Pressing her hands against his chest, Angie tried to push him off. But Danny wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, trapping her arms between them. Her upturned face was furious, but he bent his head close to hers and said in a low voice, "Keep still. We're being watched."

She could indeed see, turning her head back to the street, the large man in a black leather jacket getting out of a car and looking toward Benny's Fish Market suspiciously. As Angie stopped struggling, Danny relaxed his grip. His arms now only encircling her like the lovers they were pretending to be, Danny enjoyed the feeling of her body against his. He could feel the tension of her body ease slowly, though she still kept her hands on his chest. Inhaling slowly, he caught her scent, a soft musky odor.

Too quickly, though, he saw Angie's pursuer turn in frustration, get back into his car, and drive away down the street. With some disappointment, he released Angie and peered around the alcove. The mobster, probably one of the Caruso crew, was driving away quickly, probably trying to catch up with King Benny. When he was sufficiently far away, Danny stepped out and Angie followed.

Fiercely, she demanded, "Were you following me?"

"Yes." he said, walking to his car, "And it's a damn good thing I was."

"How dare you follow me!" She shouted.

Furious, he turned around, "How dare you lie to me!"

She shot back, "I have not lied to you. In fact, I've told you more about me than I've ever told anyone."

"Oh yeah?" Danny took a few steps toward her and grabbed her arm. "That was a nice little performance you put on yesterday in our offices. But I am very good at my job, Angie, and I know damn well that you didn't tell us everything. You walked out of Theresa's room last night with a look on your face that scared me to death. And then you go and arrange a meeting with one of the most dangerous hit men to ever walk these streets..."

"King Benny is like family to me." Angie interrupted.

"Don't jerk me around, Angie." Danny warned her. Shaking his head, he asked, "What the hell are you thinking? As if finding out what happened to your brother wasn't hard enough, now you're going to start a mob war?"

"He wouldn't let me." Angie said.

"And that makes it ok? You came here to..."

"You have no idea why I came here." She said, turning to walk away from him.

"Whose fault is that?" He asked. "Be straight with me, Angie."

Angie stopped and looked at him. She wanted to tell him. She wanted him to hold her as she told him about the awful night her mother died. To make him understand the demons that drove her back to this place and into the safe arms of the most dangerous man in Hell's Kitchen. "Not here." She whispered, looking around. She could see King Benny's men peering at them out the front window of the fish market and knew they had to get out of there. "Aunt Mary is watching the kids this morning, but she has to get to the pub for the lunch rush."

"This way," was all he said and led her around the corner to where his car was parked.

Their ride across the bridge to Brooklyn was silent, until Angie finally broke it. "You could have just stood in front of me in the alley, you know," she said, annoyance in her voice.

"Now what kind of fun would that have been?" He asked, smiling to himself. She found him to be a source of immense frustration, he knew. But the immediate connection and chemistry between them was undeniable. Which was turning out to be both a blessing and a curse for this case. He couldn't put into words what it had done to him to see her disappear into the back of King Benny's fish market, not to mention all the scenarios that were playing out in his head while she spent the next hour in there.

Pulling up in front of her brownstone, she turned to him and said, "I'm not saying a word until the kids are down for their naps. Little Eddie is young, but he's not stupid. I'm not taking any chances of him overhearing us.

Danny smirked and opened his car door, saying, "I tell great bedtime stories."