Here's another chapter of this story. Thanks for reading and for all of your comments.
Chapter 166.
"Why haven't Petey, Hadley and Bev called?" Jess frowned. She stirred her coffee twice clockwise and twice counterclockwise.
"Maybe you should call Bertoli again," Wilson suggested. "Find out what he did to the thugs who were holding them."
For once he made some sense. Bertoli's phone rang three times before he answered. "What happened?" I barked, putting my phone on speaker.
"I just got off the phone with Locarno." He sounded calm. "His people grapped the four men shooting at the sisters' offices and holding my daughter and the others. Bev, Petey and Dr. Hadley will be brought here."
Now that the crisis was over we could focus on something else. "What about the food?" I smiled at Jess.
"I understand it's still in Dr. Hadley's trunk."
"It's ruined!" Nina cried.
Jess shook her head. "Not if it's packed in dry ice the way they said they'd send it." She stood and started for the door of the coffee shop. "We need to get it into the freezers right away."
I followed her, still talking to Bertoli. "We'll need the keys to that trunk."
"I'll bring them over myself."
When we reached the catering office, the former hostages were waiting with Bertoli. I'd called Edgar on our way over to let him know what was happening and tell him to be ready to help us move the freezers back where they belonged. Jess let us all back in but after one look at his pale face, I ordered him to sit down again. There were enough other people that we didn't need him.
Petey helped Thirteen bring the food in from her trunk, and Nina and Jess put it in the freezers as everyone helped get the trays ready. My job was to watch and boss everyone around, of course.
"Greg, you're not helping," Jess said at one point, so I decided it was time to look at Edgar's wounds.
"What do we do next?" the big man asked as I removed the bandage from his leg. It was no longer bleeding, but he winced when I touched it. I applied some more antiseptic ointment and rebandaged it.
"I'll leave it up to Locarno to take care of the guys who grabbed those three." I pointed my chin at Petey, Bev and Thirteen. I called to Bev, "What was the meeting about this morning?"
She put down the napkins she was artfully folding and came over. "Giordano is planning a big opening for his restaurant. He said some bigwig from Sicily would be there and he instructed us how to treat him. When he sent everyone else on their way, he asked me to stay." She grimaced. "I was afraid he'd found out about my connection to my father and to Marcello, but he had another assignment for me." She stressed the word assignment. "He wanted me to entertainMolino, even away from the restaurant. I couldn't very well tell him that I know Molino quite well already, and I had no desire to see him again. "
I squinted at her. "What did you tell him?"
She sighed. "That I'd be honored. And then I came to tell you about it and was captured by those men who had Petey and Remy." She sighed. "I'm afraid my covers blown."
"Not necessarily."
"House, those men were in constant contact with him, reporting their every move."
"With Giordano? Not Bernini?"
"Both. They described the people they were holding hostage, including me."
"But that doesn't indicate that you're working with us, and certainly not the connections you have."
"Well, no. Still, I think it might make Giordano suspicious."
I nodded. "It was only a description, right? There are tons of women out there your height with dark hair and eyes. Are you willing to go back to Giordano's and pretend nothing happened to you?" Normally, I would demand it, rather than ask, but I guess I had a soft spot for Bev. Besides, her father was standing not four feet away.
She glanced at him, then back to me. "You want me to go ahead with what he wants, flirt with Molino? What happens when he shows up and recognizes me?"
"I'm not going to tell you not to do it," Bertoli said. "But I think you're playing with fire."
I scowled at him, even though I knew he was right.
"Will you and Locarno be able to clean up this mess before Carlo arrives?" Bev asked her father.
He shook his head. "I can't promise we'll be able to."
Her gaze took in all of us as her lips pressed together. "He's not coming here for about a week. I'll continue to work for Giordano and try to find out more before then, come up with a way that I can avoid meeting Carlo until you do."
"What about me?" Petey piped up. "How can I go back to my job with Bernini after this?"
"Did you recognize any of the people who grabbed you?" I asked.
He shook his head. "I don't know where they came from, but none of them were drivers for the fruit company."
"But if they described Petey to our father, wouldn't he realize who he was?" Jess asked.
"Your father doesn't know he's been driving for Bernini."
"Bernini knows there's someone named Giordano on his payroll. If he questions why one of his drivers was delivering food to us, that would be a problem."
I grimaced. "I guess that means we've lost our inside guy at the produce company."
"If Petey leaves, they'll be looking for another driver, right?" Edgar looked at each of us in turn. "I can apply for the job."
"Then who's going to guard us?"
"Greg, I think Edgar's idea is perfect. They're not going to come after us again so soon, and meanwhile he'll find out all he can at Bernini so we know when Molino will arrive." She turned her hand to indicate Bertoli's daughter. "Bev won't have to go back to work for my father."
Bev stopped arranging pastries on a platter. "What excuse do I give to quit?"
"You can tell him you don't want to have to entertain a man you don't know." Jess shrugged. "He'll buy it."
"So that's our new plan?" Thirteen asked.
After a few more arguments, and with a modification or two, we all agreed.
"Okay. Now let's get back to work. We have a little more than an hour before we have to load the vehicles and drive to the venue for the party."
Once more I sat on the sidelines while everyone else worked with the sisters. I would have gotten in the way. Soon, Ellie and the other employees arrived and the process sped up.
The most anyone said to me was, "You're in the way" and "Hand me those tongs."
Periodically, I snatched an hors d'oeuvre from a tray. When Nina cast a disapproving glance my way, outdoing any Wilson ever tried, I said, "All this food is making me hungry."
By five thirty, everything was ready. With the help of all present, yes, even me, we loaded the van Nina and Jess bought at a used car lot when I wasn't looking, and everyone headed to the party place. True to his word to her, Edgar stopped for his girlfriend and brought her over too.
Once there, the loading process reversed and we had everything set up for the Goldmans and their guests when Brianna Goldman and her parents arrived. The birthday girl and her mother gushed over all of the food, even though it was what they ordered and eaten in the past.
Bri's friends arrived in groups of two and three, all decked out in what passed for party clothes among the well-to-do teen set.
I filled a plate with food and sat out of the way while Jess and Nina kept the tables full. Edgar and Cheryl sat with me. "This is so good!" she said between bites.
A DJ played a mix of pop, rock and hip-hop tunes. The kids danced with more energy than grace and seemed to be having a wonderful time.
Petey walked around with tray after tray of food, all traces of his ordeal that afternoon, completely gone.
Three large tables were set up to one side of the room. The music stopped when the hors d'oeuvres were all gone, and the kids found their places. Then Petey, Ellie and the others served the real meal.
Mr. and Mrs. Goldman sat at a smaller table and asked Wilson, Edgar, Cheryl and me to join them.
"I don't think I can eat another bite!" Cheryl said, but of course she did.
Ellie came by to take our orders. The choices were blackened prime rib with a Bernaise sauce, chicken cordon bleu, and lasagne Francaise. The beef and chicken were served with pommes frites and ratatouile, and the lasagne with just the vegetables.
"What's that last one? Is it like the lasagne I make?" Cheryl ask Edgar in a stage whisper.
"I think it's vegetarian, with lots of vegetables in it," Edgar answered.
She wrinkled her nose. "Yuk! No meat at all?"
Edgar shook his head.
Cheryl looked up at Ellie. "I'll have the chicken."
The rest of us ordered, and Ellie went off to let Jess and Nina know what she needed for our table.
"I don't think we were properly introduced." Mrs. Goldman sat at Edgar's right, so much shorter than he that she had to tilt her blond head up.
"Edgar Allen," he said. "And this is my girlfriend, Cheryl."
"He's my bodyguard," I added.
Mrs. Goldman frowned at me. "Why would a doctor need a bodyguard?"
"It's a long story. But don't worry. We're all safe here."
She didn't press me, but here eyes were on me and Edgar throughout the meal.
Ellie returned with a full tray and carefully placed our plates in front of each of us. "Dr. House, take a bite and let me know whether your meat is rare enough."
Not only was it, but the flavor was superb. "Perfect," I said.
She made sure we were all satisfied with our food before moving on to check the nearby table where Bri sat with several of her friends.
Wilson looked up from his plate long enough to say, "I think Ellie's found her calling."
I thought back to what I knew about her life in Dorsey. She was still a waitress, but her life was so much better here in Princeton, and so was her son's life.