Pinochle
by: E Walk

(© 2007 by the Author)
Editor: Will B
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 21 

The Evil Eye

This is Becca.

Beau and I walked into the hotel room and he put his arms around me. “Thanks for supporting me, Becca.  I think maybe we might have bitten off more than we can handle this time.”

I kissed Beau, “I am sure that we will be fine.  You always seem to make it so we land on our feet.”

I looked at the phone, and the message light was blinking.  “Beau, why don’t you check the messages while I get our swimsuits and other things we might need?”

Beau pushed the message retrieval button and put the phone on speaker.

The message started, “Beau and Becca, this is Bill Everett, you have really opened a bucket of worms this time.  I am sending a preliminary report of what we were able to find out so far to your computer.  I don’t think it would be wise to send it to through the fax facility at the hotel.  When you read the report you will see why.  Is there any other way we can fax the information to you privately?  We will be working around the clock to get more information tonight.  Keep checking your computer.”

Beau started to hook up the computer when a second message started. “Greeting to you both, this is Mick, I talked with the FBI, and the director informed me that they have already been investigating the activities of a Mr. Petrillo in Ithaca.  I had one of my staff people call the Mayor and suggest that she contact you.  I don’t know how you do it, but you always seem to smell out the rotten apple in a bucket of good apples.  Love to you both.  Georgia sends her love.”

Beau had just hung up the phone when it started to ring again.  “This is Beau Benson speaking.”

“Mr. Benson, this is Mary Hawthorne.  I am the Mayor of this quiet town of Ithaca.  I just received a call from The White House suggesting that I arrange to visit with you.”

Beau started to smile, “Madam Mayor, that should be easy to arrange since we are both going to be attending the same pool party as Mrs. Dolan’s guests tonight.”  Beau continued, “I am just now reading a report that I think might interest you, and it is a good thing we won’t be meeting in your office.  My wife and I will both be looking forward to visiting with you at the club.”

Beau and I finished reading what we had received from Bill Everett and Beau saved it to a new file that he labeled G.P.  Beau took the small bag with our swim gear and the computer and we stopped at the reception desk.  “We’ll be out for the evening.  Do you happen to know if my son and Mr. Garrison have left yet?”

The young man behind the desk looked up, “Mr. Benson, your son and Grant just left with two gorgeous ladies and a handsome young man about five minutes ago.  They were carrying bags.  I heard them say something about going swimming.  Oh by the way, there is a fax and a message for you.”

Beau showed me the fax, “Hi, Beau and Becca.  We haven’t been able to find anything yet.  Bill.”

I opened the message, ‘Benson, I would like to meet with you tomorrow about 9:00.  I’ll be expecting you in my office 9:00.  G.Petrillo.’

As we were walking to the car, Beau was seething, “That s. o. b. isn’t going to tell us what to do.”

I whispered, “Beau, relax, the prick is not worth having a stroke over.  You heard what Mickey said.  Now just relax, and let’s have fun this evening.  It seems like all we have done since we have been here is work and go to meetings.  I know that you are trying to make everything smooth for Benjamin and Grant, but they need to be contributing too.  Harley and Gregg are not our problem either.  They are both older than we are, and surely they can make intelligent decisions on their own.”
 

Beau was uncharacteristically quiet during the drive to Mrs. Dolan’s house.  Before we crawled out of the car, I reached over and kissed Beau, “Just relax; everything will work out.  It usually does.  You have pushed all of the buttons you can for now, so let the buttons do their work.”

Beau smiled at me with his green eyes, “Becca, now I know why I married you; you are not only beautiful and intelligent but you are a realist.  I guess I am just an Orwellian thinker.”

Beau parked the car in Mrs. Dolan’s driveway and we just walked in.  Ben, Grant, Maria, Inga and Sammy were visiting with Mrs. Dolan.  They were having a great time.  Ben looked up, “We were about ready to send out the mounted patrol to find you.   Mother and Dad, I’d like to introduce our new friend Sammy.  I am afraid that he is somewhat like Brian so you better be ready for anything.”

Sammy came and shook our hands.  I looked at him and thought, “If the other Cochran children look anything like Sammy, they must be really something.”

Mrs. Dolan looked at the clock, “I think we should be going so we can be at the club when the other guests arrive.  We can always get a drink there.  I don’t want any guff from you Benson, I am paying and that is not negotiable.”

I looked at Beau but he didn’t say anything.  I think he was seeing his Grandmother Tillison in Mrs. Dolan.

We drove to the club and the young host escorted us to a small area on the patio close to the pool.  It was like a separate patio. The young people started to look around after they put their backpacks down.  It was as if the guests all started to arrive at the same time and introductions were flying all over the place.  The Cochrans had brought their two college age sons who hugged Mrs. Dolan.  The Hubbells had brought their four teenage daughters.  We were to find out that they were two sets of twins.  The oldest two were 19 and the younger ones just happened to be 16.  Don’t tell me Aunt Kate hadn’t planned that! 

The last person to arrive was a very distinguished looking lady.  Mrs. Dolan went to meet her.   “Good evening Mary, I would like to introduce my friends Beau and Becca Benson.”

This is Beau. 

After we shook hands with Mayor Hawthorne, Mrs. Dolan did something that reminded me of Jeff Wilson.  She looked around, “Everyone, please find a seat so the waiters can take our drink orders.”  There were twelve seats at two tables.  The twelve young people migrated to one table.  Before Mrs. Dolan sat down, she announced, “We’re going to stand and tell a little about ourselves, so that everyone knows who we are.  We’ll have Ben start.”

Ben set the tone for the introductions.  He was concise and stated only the basics.  Maria stood and did the same.  I was paying attention to what everyone said after Grant and Inga had finished.  Here is a one sentence paraphrase of what each of the other eight people said:

“Hi, I’m Sammy Cochran.  I am the youngest child in my family.  I am going to turn 16 shortly and I am going to be a junior in high school.”

Sally’s nephew stood, “Hi, I’m Tony Lundgren.  My parents pawned me off on Aunt Sally for the summer.  I just turned sixteen and am going to be a junior in high school in Utica.”

The first of the Hubbell’s daughters stood, “I’m Deidre Hubbell, and I’m sixteen and will be a junior at Holy Ghost School in the fall.”

The next daughter stood, “I’m Darla Hubbell and ditto what Dee said.”

The oldest of the Cochran boys stood, “Hi, I’m Adam Cochran and I am going to be a junior at Purdue University this fall.”

The other Cochran son stood, “I’m Allan Cochran.  I too attend Purdue, but I am going to be a sophomore.”

I held up my hand, “Wait a minute, you’re going too fast.  I’ll never get my scorecard filled out properly.”

The two older Hubbell daughters went next.  Amy and Alison Hubbell were going to be sophomores at Notre Dame University.

Mrs. Dolan stood and put up a time out sign, “Let’s go through the buffet line and we can finish the introductions later.” 

As we were walking to the buffet tables, Mrs. Dolan punched me in the ribs, “Beau, look who is watching us like a hawk.  Me thinks he is afraid that his empire is about to come tumbling down.  Maybe we should go talk to him and help him to realize that he doesn’t control this town.”

I whispered, “Aunt Kate, he will find out tomorrow that he is going to be deep fried in fat.  We’ll talk more about this after we enjoy our meal and swim.”

Mr. Petrillo wasn’t about to let us out of his sight.  After we ate, the twelve young people went to change into their swim suits.  We were to find out more about that experience later.  I set up my computer and opened the file marked G.P.  I handed the computer to the Mayor, who was sitting next to Mrs. Dolan.  “Becca and I are going to join the young people in the pool while you read what information I have so far.  Who’s going to join us?”

The Hubbells and the Cochrans decided to join us.  That left Sally and Bob Wainwright and Harley and Gregg with Mrs. Dolan and Mayor Hawthorne.

When the adults got into the pool, it was ‘pick on the adults day.’  The twelve young people were splashing us and having a great time.  I climbed out of the pool and whistled.  Everyone at the club turned and looked at me.

I challenged, “I’ll take all of you young men on in four laps of the pool.  I’ll show you what a man can do.”

That was all it took.  The pool cleared and the swimmers made way for the race.  Ben rather knew what was happening, but he played along.  I looked at Mr. Petrillo.  “Giulio, why don’t you be the starter?  You have a mouth loud enough for us all to hear.”

Mr. Petrillo knew he had been put on the spot.  He stood at the starting line and yelled, “Ready … Set … Go.”

The six young guys and I dove into the pool.  On the fourth lap it was just Grant and me after the turn.  Grant looked at me and shook his head and he started to fade.  I was surprised to see that Sammy was gaining ground.  I slowed down and waited for him to get almost even and started to swim for all I was worth.

I climbed out of the pool and went to pull Sammy out.  I hugged him.  He looked up at me, “Mr. Benson, you are even worse than your son.  No old man can swim like that.”

“What did you just call me?  How dare you call me old?”

Sammy fell against me, “Mr. Benson, I was the state champion in the 100 meters freestyle, and here I am being bested by someone twice my age.  How would you feel?”

“If our roles were reversed, I would probably put my hands around you and pull you tight and say good job young man.”

Sammy started to laugh.  He put his arms around me and shouted, “Good job old man; I’ll get you next time.  Mr. Petrillo, I think you let this old man get away with a false start.”

Sammy dove back into the pool.  I went to Mr. Petrillo, “Sir, I’m sorry we won’t be able to meet with you at 9:00 in the morning.  Our entire morning is booked.  I’m afraid you will need to meet us at the airport and we can discuss any business you might wish to discuss before our plane takes off.  We’ll see you at the terminal at 11:45.”

Becca and I went back to those people who had chosen not to swim.  Mayor Hawthorne, looked at me, “Mr. Benson, this is rather damaging information.  How do I know that you didn’t fabricate it?”

Everyone looked at me, “Ms. Hawthorne, I never met Mr. Petrillo until this afternoon.  I did not have time to create this document.  I have a feeling that Mr. Petrillo has an informant at the hotel.  Mr. Everett was smart enough to realize that might be the case since he has many of the city employees on his payroll, including your secretary and the building inspector.  Mr. Everett sent this fax to me at the hotel.”

I looked at Mrs. Dolan, “Aunt Kate, do you have a fax machine at your house?”

“Of course.  The number is 607-661-5078.”

I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and punched Bill Everett’s personal number.  “Hey Bill, thanks for everything.  You were right about Petrillo.  It looks like he has some people at the hotel who are on his payroll.  Why don’t you fax us any formal reports to 607-661-5078?  We’ll be returning to Fremont at noon tomorrow.  Thanks for your help sir.”

I looked at Mrs. Dolan, “Aunt Kate, could we move the party back to your house?  I would feel very much more comfortable if we were in an environment that didn’t have so many ears listening.”

Mrs. Dolan rounded everyone up and the twenty four of us left for Mrs. Dolan’s house.  When everyone was assembled Mrs. Dolan practically ordered, “You young people can goof off in the family room.  Sammy, Adam and Allan know where it is and they know were the games and equipment are.”

I looked at Mr. Hubbell, “Clarke, were you able to get the results of the guys’ test?”

He nodded. “Yes, I have some of the results.  The complete results of Grant’s SATs won’t be available until about 10:30 tomorrow.”

“Let me get Grant and Ben so they can hear what you have to say.”

Grant and Ben returned to the parlor with me.  I indicated that Clarke should proceed.

Clarke was shaking his head, “Guys, I have no idea how you did it, but the results of your I.Q. tests were almost identical.  I checked and was informed that you were not even in the same room when the tests were administered.  The tests show that you have I.Q.s of about 150.  The results of your aptitude testing were also very similar and show that you will probably do very well in any field you decide to go into.  I talked with the gentleman who is going to be your advisor.  He recommends that you take general courses your freshman year, to determine where your major interests lie.”

“He would like to meet with you tomorrow at 10:00.  His name is Dr. Witherspoon and his office in Archer Hall, Room 102.”

Ben looked at me.  I nodded.  “Dr. Hubbell, we would very much like to visit with Dr. Witherspoon before we leave tomorrow.  We are leaving Saturday for London for a week and then we will be in Colorado for a week after that.”

Mrs. Dolan looked at the guys.  “You are very fortunate to have Don Witherspoon as your adviser.  He will be looking after you like you were his grandsons.”

Ben and Grant went to Dr. Hubbell and shook his hand, “Thank for your help sir.”

Clarke stood, “Now if you will excuse us, we need to be leaving.  I have an early flight to New York City in the morning.”

Bill Cochran looked at the Hubbells.  “If you will drop Jeanine and me off, we’ll leave the van for the guys.  The young people sound like they are having a great time.  Why not let them enjoy themselves if Mom Kate doesn’t mind.”

Aunt Kate smiled, “Heck, I am glad that they are having a good time.  We’ll make sure everyone gets home safely.”

When everyone settled down, Mrs. Dolan started.  “Mary, Bob is going to give his estimate of the value of the building on The Commons that Mr. Petrillo is trying to get condemned.  Mr. Garrison is interested in purchasing the building for a toy store and his living quarters.  Bob was doing his appraisal today, when his royal highest, Giulio, trespassed on my property.  He heard my call to you and he also heard Beau’s call to his Mr. Everett and to President Smith.  I’m sure that was why he was snooping around at the club tonight.”

Mrs. Dolan turned to Bob Wainwright, “Okay, lay the bad news on me, Bob.”

“Mrs. Dolan, I think you will be pleased.  Here is my formal appraisal of the building on The Commons, and here is the appraisal of this property.”  He handed her two folders.

Mrs. Dolan’s eyes lit up, “You’re kidding, right?”  She handed the appraisals to me.

I looked them over quickly, “This is just about what I expected.  I think these are very fair appraisals.”  I handed them to Becca and she nodded her head in agreement.

I handed the appraisal on the building on The Commons to Gregg, “Gregg, now it is up to you to decide if you want to put out this kind of money.  I personally think that it would be a very wise investment.”

Mayor Hawthorne looked confused, “How much is the building that has everyone in an uproar appraised at?”

Gregg handed the folder to Mary Hawthorne, “$428,000.00.”

The Mayor was shaking her head, “That doesn’t sound to me like it should be condemned.  Can you people meet me and some of the city employees at the building at 10:00 tomorrow?  I want to see the building for myself and see what shenanigans are going on.  I don’t think I am going to be very happy about what is happening.”

I looked around and everyone seemed to be indicating that they would be there.  “Ma’am we’ll be there.  I am guessing that Mr. Petrillo will be there also even though he wasn’t invited, because one of his paid watchdogs will report what is going on.”

Mayor Hawthorne stood, “I need to go.  My husband complains that I spend too much time on city business.  I must say this was one of the most interesting evenings that I have had in a long time.”

Bob Wainwright stood, “I’m going to be going too.  I’ll meet you at the building on The Commons in the morning.”

I shook Bob’s hand, “Thanks for your work.  I’ll have a check for you in the morning.”

Sally stood, “Bob, if you will give me a ride home, I’ll leave the keys to my car for Tony.”

I looked at Sally, “I think you should be with us when we meet with Mrs. Dolan’s brother-in-law at 9:00 in the morning.”

“I will be there.  His office is at 901 East State Street.  I have worked with him several times before.”

That left just Harley, Gregg, Mrs. Dolan, Becca and me with the twelve young people in the family room.  “Gregg, I think it would be good if you were there also.  Why doesn’t everyone meet at the hotel for breakfast at 7:30?”

Harley spoke first, “Beau and Becca, we will meet you at Mr. Dolan’s office at 9:00.  I still need to pack since you are dragging me half way across the country.  I will need to eat very light.  We’re going to leave now.  Thanks for the wonderful dinner Kate.”

The remaining three of us went to the family room.  The young people were playing an assortment of games.  There was no rhyme or reason as to how they were distributed.   When we entered, Ben looked up, “Is there a problem?”

I started to laugh, “We’re going to leave now.  We would appreciate if you would check in with us before you go to bed.  We need to plan our morning tomorrow.  It is going to be very busy.  Oh by the way, Adam, here are the keys to your parents’ vehicle.  The Hubbells took them home.  Tony, your Aunt Sally said you needed to be home early.  She left with Mr. Wainwright but she left her car keys for you”

Mrs. Dolan handed Ben some money, “Why don’t you all go to Gambino’s for some pizza to make sure you sleep well tonight.  I will expect a written report from the twelve of you about what happened in the morning.  Beau, why don’t you take the Towncar back to hotel and pick me up at 8:30 so we can have a cup of coffee and review any faxes that might arrive before we meet Hank?”

Becky and I left for the hotel as the young people were getting into three cars.  I was anxious about what new information might be on the computer.

To be continued...

 Feedback always welcome:     

Editor’s Note:  Ed, will probably never let me touch another one of his stories because <gasp> <choke> had to put a comma in.  But it was only one, just one, Ed.  Seriously, this story gets more and more interesting.  Will B.

Posted: 01/18/08