Calamity Jena (Invertary 4)

As Matt sat down, Harry looked up from his keyboard and seemed surprised to find his cousin in the room. “Hey,” he said again.

Matt rolled his eyes. “What have you got?”

Harry turned his lean body away from the desk he was working at and faced the other men. “Frank Di Marco is in it up to his neck.” He stretched his long, jean-clad legs out in front of him and crossed his arms over a Big Bang Theory T-shirt.

“Meaning?” Matt prompted before the laptop stole Harry’s attention again. Sometimes his genius cousin forgot the people around him couldn’t read his mind.

“He might be telling people he owns the strip club, but he only owns about twenty percent of it. The other eighty is owned by the Rizzoni family. I found some mumbling about what Frank did for the Rizzonis to get their backing—no one gave details, but it looks like he was involved in a couple of things. The most serious being a bank heist and a money-laundering scheme. He’s also been linked to the disappearance of a guy called Tony Markam.” Harry ran his fingers through his overly long hair. “I think it’s safe to say the disappearance is of the indefinite kind.”

Matt felt the blood leave his face. “He killed a guy?”

Harry shrugged. It was Lake who spoke. “We don’t know for sure. We don’t think so. He’s not known for being violent. All we know right now is he’s involved.”

“Very involved. As in up to his neck involved,” Harry added.

Lake nodded. “It’s possible he was dragged along as a witness to the act. It’s a standard way to gain loyalty. And to intimidate. There’s no doubt he’s in deeper with the mob than we first thought.”

Matt rubbed a hand over his face. He leaned forward and put his arms on the table.

“If he’s in that deep with the New Jersey mob, what’s he doing chasing down an ex-girlfriend in Scotland?”

Harry’s eyes went hard. “The rumour is the Rizzonis aren’t happy about the way Frank is running the club. Frank promised to turn the place around. Instead, after a year in charge, the club is losing more money than it was before Frank took over. He spent more time screwing the dancers than he did working. He’s on a deadline. As far as I can see, they need the club to be a huge success—there are rumours of commitments from the family to launder money through the club for partners elsewhere. If Frank can’t make it work, they’ll find someone who will.”

Lake cleared his throat. “If they don’t have a use for Frank, then they don’t need him around. He knows too much and he isn’t a family mem

ber. He’s a liability.”

“We think this is a do-or-die situation,” Harry said. “Literally.”

Matt spread his hands wide in exasperation. “Again, what has this to do with Jena? Shouldn’t Frank be in the States dealing with his problems?”

“He’s dealing with them here. He needs Jena to save the club,” Harry said. “If she dances, the crowds will come.” He thought about it. “Hopefully not literally, because that’s gross.”

Matt felt his eyes go wide. “She’s a stripper?” He knew she was a dancer of some sort, but hadn’t given it much thought.

“Nope, she isn’t stripper. She’s a go-go dancer. She’s famous in Atlantic City, a bit of an institution. She’s known nationally too. But that’s for her pole dancing. She’s won lots of competitions.” Harry blushed at the thought. “Not erotic pole dancing. I don’t think they have competitions for that. Do they?” He looked to Lake, who shook his head slowly, as if questioning Harry’s sanity.

Matt gave Lake a pleading look. “Help me out here. I’m missing something. I don’t see a connection, unless Frank plans to hold dance competitions.”

“Go-go dancers are hired by normal clubs to get the crowd going,” Harry said. “They get really popular, like DJs. They have their own following. Some of the more popular ones have fans and websites. Jena was huge. She was in demand. Made a bomb. Which, as far as we can gather, she spent propping up Frank. Strip clubs have been after Jena for years. The demand to see her dance while stripping is high. Any venue that has Jena stripping would be sold out. It would save Frank’s club to have her headline there. Probably save his life as well.”

There was silence for a minute.

“He can’t force her to leave with him,” Matt said.

“Physically removing her from Scotland is nigh impossible. But we don’t know what else he might try.” Lake folded his arms. He stood army straight, taking up more space than he should reasonably take. “Threaten her. Blackmail. Intimidate. Seduce. If I were in his position, I’d use it all. He needs Jena. He’s already told his partners he’s bringing her back to save the business. His reputation is on the line. He’s desperate. Desperate men are unpredictable.”

“Plus the guy isn’t known for his brain,” Harry said. “This is probably the only plan he’s come up with. All of his eggs are in one basket.”

“Jena,” Matt said on a sigh.

“Aye,” Harry said. “Jena.”

“We need to step up security at the hardware store.” Matt looked at Lake. “Gordon’s a great guy, but he’s hitting retirement and I don’t think he’d be much use against Frank and his two goons.”

“I called a guy. He’s on his way,” Lake said.

“I’ll stay with her until your guy gets here. I should probably tell her what Frank has in mind while I’m at it.”