The Venetian and the Rum Runner - L.A. Witt Page 0,63
happened to her? Lord, he’d just pulled open his own barely-healed wounds over the deaths of his brothers to tell Carmine those stories, and the thought of Carmine losing his sister the way he himself had lost Hugh and Robert? Because of Danny?
Even if she didn’t get hurt, what civility there was between him and Carmine would be dead and gone the instant Carmine found out his sister was involved with Danny’s crew.
Shaking his head, he said, “I can’t. I’m sorry.” He started past her. “Your brother will—”
She grabbed his arm and stepped in front of him. “Listen. I’m good at what I do. And I guarantee I know those waters and Long Island better than anyone in your crew. You want to make more money than my brother’s paying you know?” She tapped her own chest. “You need me.”
“And if you’re shot? Or you drown or freeze to death out there?” Danny shuddered. “Your brother will shoot me.”
“He won’t know,” she insisted. “All he’s gonna know is that he’s making money hand over fist from all the liquor you’re bringing in.” She arched an eyebrow. “And he’s got you hijacking shipments, doesn’t he? From other crews?”
Mute, Danny nodded. He supposed she knew from the previous crew she’d run with.
“All right, well.” She smiled broadly. “My boys and I stole from everyone out there. I know where to find it, how to get it, and how to keep from getting caught.”
He swallowed. “Is that right?”
“Uh-huh.” She folded her arms loosely across her chest. “So, one night last summer? The water was too rough. Going out to the ships…” She shook her head. “But I knew where one of Bill Dwyer’s crews liked to stash their scores so they didn’t get caught carrying all of it back to Manhattan.”
“How’d you find that out?”
She offered a coquettish smile, which only made her eyes—dark as her brother’s—look wicked. “Smile at a man and tell him how much you like hearing about his adventures, he’ll tell a girl anything.”
Danny laughed. A woman’s charms had never worked on him, but there were a few lads on the crew who could be won over that way.
Giulia went on. “The boys and I parked a truck partway across the only road that would get them to the stash. Then we opened up one of the tires, and I waited to flag down Dwyer’s boys while mine went to clean out the stash.”
“Did it work?”
She snorted. “Of course it worked. They couldn’t get around me, and they weren’t just going to leave a little lady all by herself out there with a flat tire, were they?”
With a laugh, Danny shook his head. “I suppose they wouldn’t.”
“And by the time they’d fixed the truck and sent me on my way, there wasn’t a drop to be found in their stash.”
Danny whistled. Lord. She did know what she was talking about. And he’d seen her under pressure. She also thought the way his crew did—wits and wiles over bullets and brute strength.
“My brother won’t know,” she pressed. “Just like all the crews we’re stealing from won’t know.” She stepped back and extended her hand. “So. Are we in business?”
He blinked, staring at her. “I’d… I’d have to ask my crew. Can’t promise they’ll—”
“Ask ‘em.” She shrugged flippantly, hand still extended between them. “If they say no to someone who knows how to get her hands on as much liquor as I do, well, then it’s your crew’s loss, ain’t it?”
He still stared at her for a moment, startled by everything about her. He didn’t like the idea of going behind Carmine’s back, especially with the way things were between them now. On the other hand, rum running was dangerous and took brains, and he’d already seen that Giulia could think fast even when he’d frozen in place.
So, hoping he wasn’t making a grave mistake, he shook her hand. “All right. I’ll speak to my crew.”
She beamed. “Perfect. Can’t wait to get back out there.”
He laughed halfheartedly. He agreed to telephone her the next day, and she wrote the number on the butcher paper wrapped around his crew’s money. Then she left, and he stood there in the empty alley, holding gangster money with a telephone number he shouldn’t have and wondering what in the world he was doing.
He was playing with fire and he knew it. Bringing Carmine’s own sister out on runs? That was dangerous. She could be invaluable to them, but if Carmine ever found out, Danny was