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“It’s a tacky Irish pub called Barney O’Toole’s Pub and Grille. I doubt an actual Irish person has ever set foot in there,” I say as I nervously fidget with the strap on my purse. Bailey nods, and uncovers the phone.
“Yo, Johnny. Still there?... Yeah, she went to O’Toole’s… Oh, yeah. I know exactly what that means. But is there anything you can do it about it?... Seventy-five large… Man, I don’t know, hold on.”
I can see that Bailey is starting to get annoyed at his associate’s questions, and I’m getting more and more nervous with each passing moment. “How much time did they give you when this Danny guy gave you the last ultimatum?”
“A month.”
Bailey looks impressed. “A month? Wow, they must like you.” He turns back to the phone. “She said a month… No, she can’t get the money. Why do you think she’s here?... Uh-huh… Yeah… Okay… Really?... All right man, well, thanks for your time. The next time I’m in Mexico, we’ll get some margaritas.” Bailey hangs up the phone and turns to me.
“Johnny says you’re fucked.”
I drop my head on the desk with a thud. “What the hell man?” I mumble into the wood.
“Well, you managed to get involved with the one loan sharking operation in the city run by Sebastian ‘Angel’ Cannizzo. That would be Sonny Cannizzo’s son. I’m sure you know who Sonny Cannizzo is?”
I groan as I picture the man dubbed by the papers as “The Last Great Mafioso,” being lead off to prison with a giant grin on his face and a cigar between his lips.
Bailey pats my head awkwardly with a giant hand. “Hey, listen. It will be okay. I might have another idea.”
I look up with a groan. “What possible other solution could there be? I can barely afford the medications that are keeping me from getting sick again. I owe the hospital more money than I owe the son of a mob boss. I guess I could revisit my Brooklyn Bridge idea…”
Bailey grabs a handful of my hair and gently lifts my head up so he can look me in the eye. “Don’t you talk like that, you hear me? No matter how bleak things seem, they can always get better. And we’re going to find a way to make things better. So, since you had me hand off your little girl to the Cochran family, I’ve been keeping an eye on things, from a distance mind you, just to be sure they’re doing right by her.”
Tears well up in my eyes. “Thank you,” I squeak out.
He waves a hand at me. “None of that. They may have money but that doesn’t always guarantee they’re good people, you know? Anyway, I got word through a few back channels that Pierce is looking for a nanny for Chloe. And maybe, just maybe… you could take a crack at applying for the job.”
I almost laugh, except it’s not quite as funny as it should be. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, Roger, and I can give you about fifteen different reasons why. First, I’m Pierce’s ex-girlfriend. He’s never going to hire me to work for him. Second, I’m Chloe’s mother. It hasn’t been that long. She will remember me. The last thing I want after all of this is for these criminals to know I have a daughter, after I all I went through to make sure she was hidden from them. Third…”
“Jeez, enough!” Bailey says with an exaggerated eye roll. “Do I have to think of everything? You tell Cochran you’re desperately in need of a job, and you’re counting on him as an old friend to help you out. I bet you dollars-to-donuts he won’t turn you away. And even if Chloe recognizes you, you can play it off as your skill as a caregiver. The last I heard, she hadn’t started talking yet. So, you might have caught a break there.”
My breath catches in my throat. “She’s still not talking? Why?”
“Search me. I don’t know everything happening in that high-rise. He’s taking interviews now. Just go. It will be a safe place for you to hide out until I figure a way out of this mess, or you find the money to pay off Cannizzo. If, in a month, neither of us has come up with an answer, then we’ll get you out of town.”
I groan again. “Danny said they’d find me if I tried to run.”
“Hogwash. If you skip the country, they aren’t going to chase you over $75,000. In the end, they’ve got bigger fish to fry. But, that certainly won’t stop them from killing you over it if you stay. Listen, I have to ask, before we move forward with this… nanny plan. Is there any chance you can just ask Cochran for the money and then pay him back? I don’t think he’s going to kill you if you take a few years to return on the loan.”
My stomach is in knots at even the thought. “Absolutely not. I refuse to end up in another situation where I owe someone money I can’t pay back. Maybe Pierce won’t bludgeon me in an alley, but spending the rest of my life in debt to people who could buy and sell my whole family ten times over is no way to live.”
“Cannizzo won’t bludgeon you in an alley either. He’ll just shoot you.”
I realize Bailey isn’t being cruel, just matter-of-fact, but it’s doesn’t make me feel better. I must make a face because he sighs and runs his hands through what remains of his hair.
“Sorry, I’ve just been doing this job for far too long. I don’t always think before I open my fat yap. Alright, Arie. Let’s try my plan. Go straight to the Cochran building in Midtown. Pierce and Chloe l
ive in the penthouse on the top floor. I think this is the perfect opportunity for a little reunion, wouldn’t you say?”
I don’t know if Bailey is right, or if this plan is as batshit insane as I think it is, but at the end of the day…
What other choice do I have?
Pierce
“Have any of the appointments I set up for you arrived yet?” my mother asks me over Skype. I can just see her perfectly made-up face from where I am standing in the kitchen, as she shouts at me from the computer in my makeshift office off the living room. I am trying to feed Chloe as I scramble an egg for myself, but I can already smell it burning and I know there is zero chance I will eat this morning.
“Mom, I don’t have time for this. Can you reschedule these nanny interviews? Chloe has an appointment with the speech therapist, I need to go to CSL and schedule out meetings with those security firms visiting from Yemen. There is just way too much going on today for me to worry about trying to find someone who meshes with me and the baby,” I say as I dodge a spoonful of rice cereal that Chloe flings in my direction. I may not be the world’s best father yet, but I have become a damn ninja when it comes to avoiding things being thrown at me.
