Worth Dying For Read Free Page B

other end.
    “Damn it to hell, Alice! What’ve I told you about calling me on the job?” he yelled. “I don’t care what your reason is. You don’t call me at work.” He brought his foot back and kicked one of the bathroom stall doors. “Are you drunk? Of course, you are. Why I would think otherwise is beyond me. You’re going to put us in the poor house. Do you hear me? Do you hear me, Alice?”
    The hard expression on his face softened. “Now don’t cry. You know I hate it when you cry. I’ll be home in a couple hours. We can talk then, okay?” He slammed the lid shut on the phone and clipped it back on his belt. He looked up with a startled expression when Stevens stepped out of the last stall. “I’m sorry, Carl. I thought I was alone,” he said with a nervous laugh.  
    Stevens walked over to the sink and washed his hands. “It’s all right, Artie, no big deal,” he said as he ripped a towel off the roll.
    Artie leaned against the sink and shook his head.
    “Are you okay?” Stevens asked.
    Artie continued to shake his head. “It’s Alice. I don’t know what to do about her.”
    “What’ya mean?”
    “Come on. You heard the conversation. I just don’t know how much more I can take.”
    Stevens laid his hand on Artie’s shoulder, giving him an affectionate squeeze. “Is there anything I can do?”
    “I don’t think so, but thanks.”
    “Are you sure?”
    Artie nodded. “Just do me a favor and please keep this to yourself. I don’t want Edwards or the others knowing about my problems.”
    Stevens looked at him thoughtfully. “Artie, we’ve been friends for how long—fifteen, twenty years?”
    “Yeah, something like that.”
    “Then you should know by now that I won’t say anything to anyone. Your business is just that—yours.”
    “Thanks, I really appreciate it.”
    Stevens opened the bathroom door. “Come on now, we don’t wanna be late.”

    ###

    Edwards glanced around the room. His eyes stopped at the two empty seats. “Does anyone know where—” Before he could finish, the door opened and Stevens, followed by Artie, walked into the room. Edwards gave them a disapproving look. “It’s nice of you two to grace us with your presence.”
      “Sorry, bathroom emergency,” Stevens said and sat down in the seat next to Laura. Artie took the seat opposite Rheyna.
    “I assume everyone knows each other?” Edwards asked. Without waiting for an answer, he flipped off the lights. “Then let’s get down to business.”
    It took several minutes for Rheyna’s eyes to adjust to the darkness. She looked at the photos up on the screen positioned near the far end of the room and felt excitement racing through her veins. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest, she was sure the others in the room could hear it. She still couldn’t believe she was sitting with her new team in the Strategic Information Operations Center command room, commonly referred to as Sigh-ock.  
    She turned her attention to the next image on screen. They were looking at a detailed outline of the Massino Crime Family tree. The tree had so many branch shoot-offs, it took up the entire length of the document. Sitting at the top of the tree was the big boss himself, Carlos Massino, followed by the name and title of every known member of his family.
    Edwards cleared his throat and displayed a picture of Johnny Scala on the screen. “Until last week, Johnny Scala had been a Castrucci foot soldier.”
    He used a handheld remote to bring up two more photos. The first showed a car with the trunk lid open, the second showed a close up view inside the trunk where Johnny Scala laid dead, his body curled in the fetal position, his hands tied behind his back.
    “As you can see, his body was discovered in the trunk of his car in the Danco Steel parking lot.” He paused to take a drink of water. “He took a bullet to the head, and the coroner found his tongue in his pocket. Normally, we would chalk this one up to the