Page 48 of A Shared Mind

“Uh, let’s start at DeLuca’s on the Hill.”

Justin looked up the address on his phone and gave me directions to the restaurant. The place was open with a few cars in the parking lot. I checked my watch to see it was just after two on a Thursday afternoon. What could go wrong with us just asking a few questions?

As I parked us at the curb across the street, the door burst open and five guys hurried outside, two of them were busy scanning the area as though they were watching a tennis match, while two more guys dragged another guy between them who was fighting like a rabid dog.

“Shit. Hunker down,” I hissed at Justin.

He slid down in his seat, and I grabbed my phone from the cupholder, turning on the camera app and holding it up to film what was happening. When the cars screeched by my truck that was still idling at the curb, we both sat up.

“What the fuck do you think that was?”

Justin shook his head. “Nothing good. Let’s see if I can recognize anyone. I did a lot of research on this group before I drove Ramon down here.”

We both watched the video.

“Wait. Go back and let me make this bigger.”

I handed him my phone and he adjusted the screen and pointed. “That’s Marco Esposito. He’s the brother of one of the women Ramon had three children with. Uh, Marcy. Marcy was her name. Ramon’s son, Nico, and one of his daughters, Gina, work at the restaurant. It belonged to Johnny DeLuca, the head of the family, as it said on a St. Louis Mobster site I found. He’s dead now. Died not long after Ramon.

“The other guys I’m not sure about.” Justin restarted the video.

“Great. I thought this shit went out in the seventies. So, now what?”

“Let’s go inside. Maybe Nico is working and I can ask him some questions. Uh, I’ll tell him I’m writing a book on the history of organized crime in St. Louis. Maybe he’ll help me out.” Justin turned to look at me. “He might flirt with me. He wanted to take me out for a drink when I met him.”

I wanted to say, “Over his dead body,” but that wouldn’t look desperate at all. We were building trust, and I had to remember that.

“Well, I trust you. I think I can handle some guy flirting with my boyfriend.” I probably couldn’t, but I’d try my best.

Justin smirked. “I’ll be pissed if Nico flirts with you, but I trust you, too. Now, let’s go inside.”

We hopped out of the truck and crossed the street. When we got to the curb on the other side, I took Justin’s hand and stopped him. “I’ll let you talk to him and I’ll pretend to flip through my phone like I’m not paying attention. Just say I’m a friend who came with you on your research mission, okay?”

Justin nodded and opened the door. “Ramon told me their meatball subs are very good. It smells fantastic in here, but I didn’t eat here the last time I came by.”

We walked up to the host stand to see a lovely woman with dark brown hair tucked up in a bun. Justin smiled at her. “Good afternoon. Is Nico working today?”

The young woman sized us up for a moment. “What’s your name?”

“Teddy Banks. You must be Gina.”

The girl smiled. “Oh, you worked with Ana at Sephora, right? She didn’t remember you when Uncle Marco and Nico mentioned you. Aren’t you the guy who stood up Nico too? I can see why he was so pissed.

Justin gave a slow nod.

“You wanna eat? I’ll get you a table before I go get Nico. The soup of the day is Minestrone. The special appetizer is our house-made toasted ravioli, and today’s lunch special is chicken spiedini with your choice of a pasta side and a small house salad.”

Justin turned to me. “You wanna have lunch?”

“I could eat,” I said. I reached for my phone and followed Justin and the young lady to a table in the dining room.

“Your server is Ricardo. He’ll be with you in a moment.” Gina handed us menus and returned to the host stand.

A young man arrived at our table with a basket of warm bread and butter, while another guy filled our water glasses. “I’m Ricardo, your server. Can I get your something besides water to drink?”

“Uh, I’ll have an iced tea,” I said.

“I’m good with water, thank you.” Justin opened his menu as the young man walked away.