Beano closed his eyes at that, then went on. “Okay, so then you know what I’m looking for. Anything like that in the file?”
“Yeah,” she said, and looked over at him, determined to make him ask. She didn’t like his loose, breezy manner; he was way too cocky for her taste, and if she was going to have to spend any time with him, she would need to bring him down a few notches.
“So let’s go. Let’s hear it … or do I gotta get on my knees here?”
“I thought con men were supposed to be charming,” she sneered. “You’re just rude.”
“You do want me to beg.”
“I want you to stop coming on like you own the show. I’m not going to just blindly follow you around. If I ask you a question, I expect a straight answer. I’m not some table-dancer you picked up in a bar; I’m a prosecutor with a pretty good analytical mind.”
“Ex-prosecutor. And here’s a dp, it’s never very effective to do your own commercials. Always get a singer to do them for you … works much better,” he said.
She continued on, “If I like what I hear, then I’ll cut loose some information.”
“Turn around,” he said dully.
“Huh?”
“This isn’t gonna work. This is nuts. I musta been smoking something. Just take me back to Trenton. I’ll find out what I need somewhere else.”
“You can’t just dump me.”
“Turn the car around. This was the worst idea I’ve had since I tried to cheat Joe Rina at cards.”
“You cut me loose, I’ll turn you in to the cops. Tell ‘em you’re getting set to scam the Rinas.”
“I thought you cared about Carol. I’m doing this for her.”
“I do care about Carol. I just don’t trust you.” She kept driving and he sat there, sulking like a child. Roger-the-Dodger was looking back and forth at them like a spectator at a tennis match.
It had been close, but Victoria felt she had won that point.
She let him cool down before finally giving him what he’d asked for. “Tommy and Joseph Rina are the silent owners of a chain of retail jewelry stores called Rings ‘n’ Things.” That brought Beano’s head around. “Rings ‘n’ Things is owned by a parent company called Precious Metals, Inc., also owned by the Rinas. Precious Metals is a company that buys silver, gold, and platinum and sells them to jewelry manufacturers. When I found that out, I figured it might be a laundry because Precious Metals sends gold and silver shipments all over the world, and Rings ‘n’ Things has a store in Geneva, Switzerland, which, as you probably know, is the end of the line for cash in a well-conceived laundry. Rings ‘n’ Things also has stores in hot-ticket towns like Vegas, Reno, and Atlantic City. All big gambling centers.”
“Finally, you give me something other than attitude.”
“How are we gonna hit his jewelry stores … buy ski masks and come in waving guns?”
“You think I’m a cowboy, but I’m not. When I hit, if they know it in less than twelve hours, then I’ve screwed up.”
“So whatta you gonna do?” she asked.
“I’ll figure something out, Vicky. I just heard about it. Give me a minute or two, will you?” He slumped down into the seat. They rode in silence as Beano was lost in thought. She made the turnoff onto the Atlantic City Expressway and it started to drizzle. The wipers metronomed, slapping the mist off the windshield.
“Okay,” he said fifteen minutes later, “got it.” Then he put his head back on the seat and closed his eyes.
“So what are we going to do?” she insisted.
“Gonna sell Joe and Tommy a pearl,” Beano said without opening his eyes, and that was all he would tell her.
The Shady Rest Trailer Park on the outskirts of Atlantic City was about as run-down as the Health Department would allow. There was a pile of garbage rotting by the road out front. Black and green flies performed aerial combat over the reeking mess. The office was under a bare deciduous elm tree. Victoria pulled her Nissan in and Beano found his ‘95 blue and white Winnebago parked under a dying cherry tree, next to a power and water hookup. There was a canvas tarp lashed over the top of the rig to hold down roofing equipment stored up there. Beano didn’t do roofing scams anymore, but there was something about the tradition that was ingrained deep inside him. To him, the Winnebago was