Chapter 31

“What did you tell her?” demanded Avram, as he held the cell phone to his ear, pacing furiously back and forth in the living room of his townhouse in Boston.

“Nothing,” said Frank Martino. “She already knew the basic facts.”

“Like what?” he snarled.

“Public record stuff, like the listing price and the amount Holiday offered. I think she was wondering how your brother’s death affected the sale,” said Frank, quickly adding, “but don’t worry! I told her that you had full authority to accept the offer. Oh, I told her it was an exclusive listing, too,” said Frank.

You didn’t need to tell her anything, you fool, thought Avram.

“What else?”

“That’s all. Oh, yeah, she wanted to know how you got my name, but I told her I didn’t know. Really, that was it! She was only here five minutes and she was gone. I just thought you should know.”

“All right. Thank you for calling to tell me. Listen, why is this deal taking so long, Frank?” asked Avram.

“Holiday Cruise Line is a big outfit,” said Frank. “Their attorneys want to make sure that everything is in order. There won’t be any problem, I assure you. We should have a closing date in Miami sometime next week.”

“All right, then. Let me know as soon as you know when,” said Avram. “Goodbye.”

“Of course,” said Frank, “goodbye.”

Avram snapped the phone shut.

Well at least he wasn’t stupid enough to mention Guy Tambini.

I could have given this to anyone! I don’t need this connection! I should have hung up on this asshole when he called me looking for the listing.

Right.

Tell Guy Tambini’s nephew to go screw himself. That would have gone over big! thought Avram. It’s a pain in the ass dealing with these hoodlums.

Profitable, though…

A slight smile left Avram’s face as rapidly as it appeared.

I hope Guy doesn’t give me any shit when it’s time to get out. A couple more years, that’s all I need. Ten million. A nice round number. I don’t know; I may not be able to use the stores that long.

I need this mess over Marc to go away. It’s fucking Murphy’s Law.

His cell phone rang.

“Hello?”

Avram smiled, the mask automatically taking over his features.

“Oh, hi!” he said, cheerfully.

As he listened to the caller, the smile froze into a hard line.

“You know how important this is to me,” he said. “I know you don’t understand…but you promised me!”

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