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 22 

Watch Out For the Sneaky Ones!

This is Beau.

Becca and I drove back to the hotel.  We stopped at the reception desk to see if there were any messages.  While we were there, Becca wrote Ben and Grant a note to tell them that we would meet them in the coffee shop at 7:00 so we could plan the day.

When we opened the door to our suite, we saw the message light on the phone blinking.  Becca put the phone on speaker, “Hi Beau and Becca, Mick here.  I think it is a good thing that you are leaving Ithaca tomorrow.  By Thursday or Friday, the entire city will probably be in a state of confusion.  As usual, you two have poured gasoline on some smoldering embers. Talk to you later.”

The second message started, “Becca and Beau, this is Bill; thanks for the fax number.  The reports will be forwarded overnight to that number.  I am attaching a summary of the findings so far.  You might want to read these before you have anymore dealings with that weasel Petrillo.  More later.”

Becca looked at me, “Beau, call the guys’ room and tell them we have gone to bed and remind them that we will meet them for breakfast at seven just in case they don’t pick up the message we left at the desk.”

I smiled at Becca, “Yes, boss.”

This is Ben.

The twelve of us teenagers who Mrs. Dolan had sent for pizza had a great time at Gambino’s.  We had a little room to ourselves at the back of the restaurant.  We demolished three large pizzas.

I paid the bill and left a sizeable to tip.  We started to leave and Adam Cochran asked, “Ben and Grant, could Allan and I visit with you after we drop the ladies off?

Grant answered for us, “We’ll be in room 219 of the Statler in probably thirty minutes.  Better yet, why don’t we meet you in the hotel lobby so there won’t be any confusion?”

Grant and I dropped Maria and Inga at their dorm, and made plans to meet them at the union about 8:00 since they had class at 9:00.  We had just sat down in the lobby of the Statler when Adam and Allan arrived.  We stood and greeted them and moved to a table in the corner so we could visit without bothering anyone.  Grant took the initiative, “Adam and Allan, we were surprised when you wanted to meet with us.  How can we help you?”

Both guys seemed a little hesitant, but Allan finally started, “Please forgive us for being so blunt, but what is going on with you and Sammy?  He was a different person than he has been for the past six months.  He has seemed like he was in cocoon.   He even had that devilish look in his eyes again.  Why was he be spending the afternoon with you?”

Grant and I looked at each other and it was like our thought waves collided in mid air.  Grant nodded to me so I answered, “Adam and Allan, your father asked us to visit with Sammy because of a certain issue that Sammy raised with your parents.  He thought maybe we could be of some assistance to Sammy.”

Adam and Allan were getting a little hot because they started to get a little red in the face.  Adam questioned, “What issue?  Why didn’t Dad come to us?”

I answered without thinking, “Because we are gay and are together.”

Grant looked at me and sent me a signal, and I looked over my shoulder.  A gentleman was standing there and he had obviously been trying to listen to our conversation.  Both Grant and I stood, and Grant went on the offensive.  “Why were you eavesdropping to our conversation?  Are you one of Mr. Petrillo’s flunkies?”

The man was belligerent, “I am the house detective and I was trying to determine what four queer college students were doing sitting in our lobby.  I was just making sure that you didn’t do anything inappropriate.”

 

I was so angry, “For your information, we should have you arrested for invasion of privacy without due cause, as well as for slander.  Grant and I are paying guests of this hotel and these two gentlemen are visiting with us.  We were just having a nice friendly discussion, which you so rudely disrupted.  Now, I suggest you go sit on your dunce’s stool and be a good boy.”

The man raised his fist as if to punch me.  Grant grabbed it and twisted it behind the man’s back so hard that he was grimacing.  A well-dressed gentleman came from behind the desk, “Gentlemen, what seems to be the problem?”

Allan spoke up, “Sir, we were just sitting here getting acquainted and this man was eavesdropping on our conversation.  We were not drinking or smoking and we certainly were not being loud.  Grant and Ben thought it would be better to sit here and visit rather than go to their room so people could conjure up all sorts of evil thoughts.”

I added, “Grant brought up the interesting possibility that this gentleman might be a mole for Mr. Petrillo.  Otherwise, why would he be so interested in the four of us.”

 

The gentleman looked at the guy who had tried to hit me and said, “Mr. Gaglione, your employment here has been terminated.  You will leave the premises now, or I will call the local police and have them remove you bodily.”

The culprit snarled, “Wait till Giulio gets wind of what you have done.  You are really stupid dude, the Chief of Police is one of Giulio’s best buddies.  You will be driven out of town in a cattle car.”

Mr. Gaglione left, but he kicked two chairs over on the way to the front door.  I sure was glad that there weren’t any ladies around as he opened the door to exit.  The words that came out of his mouth were some of the most vulgar words that I had ever heard.  The five of us were standing and sitting there with frozen looks of amazement.

The stranger introduced himself, “I’m Dick Campbell, I’m the night manager.  I apologize for this incident.  May I offer you anything to drink from the bar?”

Grant spoke for the four of us, “Mr. Campbell, thank you for your offer, but we are all still teenagers and you could get in trouble if we accepted your offer.  Perhaps, you might have someone bring us some hot herbal tea that will help us relax after this encounter.  I hope you don’t mind if we sit here and visit for a few more minutes?”

Mr. Campbell left and Allan started, “Wow, I’ll say this for you two.  You sure do have some interesting friends.  But Adam and I have something that we probably need to share with you since you have been so open with us.  We have been having enjoying each others’ bodies since we were 15 and 16.  We have always shared a bedroom, and we still do even though we live in a fraternity house at Purdue.  We date and enjoy being with ladies very much.  I guess we could be best described as bisexual.  I am sure that our relationship will change when and if one of us meets the right person.”

A young man arrived with some hot tea and put it on the table.  Allan pulled out his wallet to pay the waiter, but the young man reminded us that the drinks were on the house.

After the young man left, Adam took over,  “Grant and Ben, we had no idea that Sammy was confused about his sexuality.  We have always kept what we did together in the bedroom and never told anyone about it.  I guess we should have been sharing our thoughts with Sammy.  I can’t believe he had the balls to openly tell our parents that he thought he was gay.  I can just see that throwing them for loop.”

When we finished our tea, I stood, “Guys, it was fun talking to you, but I am sure that my parents have plans for us bright and early in the morning.  We are meeting Maria and Inga at 8:00 for a sweet roll before they have to go to class.  Please, would the both of you visit with Sammy, so he doesn’t feel like he is on a deserted island?  After spending the entire afternoon with him today, I think he is a wonderful person. He reminds me of my brother, Brian, who is so straight that you could use him as a battering ram to break down the door of a castle.  Please don’t let Sammy get hurt.”

The Cochran guys left and we stopped at the desk to see if there were any messages.  I handed the note from my parents to Grant, “So much for sleeping late.  We had better get ready for bed.”

Grant and I finally were lying in bed, just holding each other.  After a goodnight kiss, Grant snuggled back against me.  The next thing I knew, the phone was ringing.  At first I thought it was my parents,  but it was the automated wakeup call that we had arranged for.  I lay back down beside Grant and he started to push back against me, “Ben, please make love to me.”

How could I resist such an offer?  We maneuvered so we could see each others face and I slowly made my way into the opening that he had offered me.  I don’t know what he was doing but it was like he was vibrating around my penis while I massaged his.  He erupted and it was like it started a chain reaction and I fill him as best as I could.

When we separated, Grant looked at me, “I didn’t ask you to go to the bathroom in me.  I will probably be leaking all day.”

I leaned forward and kissed him, “I was only doing what you requested. Why don’t you take your shower while I pack our bags?  I am positive that Dad and Mother will have us so busy this morning that we will be checking out of the hotel early.”

It must have been a miracle, because Grant and I were already in the Coffee Shop when Mother and Dad came in.  As we were eating, we told Dad and Mother about what had occurred last night.  They were laughing until we told them what Mr. Gaglione said about the Chief of Police being Mr. Petrillo’s biggest goon.  That caused Dad to scowl.

As we were finishing breakfast, Dad and Mother were outlining what was going to happen the rest of morning.  They wanted us to go to the lawyer’s office with them which we hadn’t really planned on, since we had arranged to meet Maria and Inga at 8:00 and had to meet with our advisor, Dr. Witherspoon, at 10:00.  We still didn’t know how Dr. Hubbell was going to get the results of Grant’s SAT testing to us.

Oh well, I guess we will just do what we can and meet Dad and Mother at the hotel as close to eleven as we can.

This is Becca. 

 When Ben and Grant left to meet the young ladies, Beau and I went back to our room.  Beau checked the computer for any last minute updates while I finished putting the last items in our suitcase.  We stopped at the desk with Beau carrying his computer over his shoulder and his briefcase.  “We will be leaving shortly after 11:00.  We would like to settle the bill now, and we will be picking up the bags as soon as our son and Mr. Garrison get back from their meetings at the University.”

When we arrived at Aunt Kate Dolan’s house, she handed us a cup of coffee and pointed to a stack of faxes that were sitting on the table in the kitchen. 

Mrs. Dolan looked at us, “I haven’t read any of the faxes, but you must have some very energetic people working for you to get this much information on such short notice.”

Beau quickly read through several of the pages and handed them to me.  I in turn read them and passed them to Mrs. Dolan.  We were interrupted when Grant and Ben arrived.  Beau put the papers in a briefcase and got us organized to go to meet Mr. Dolan, the lawyer.  We arrived promptly at nine. We were pleased that Harley and Gregg were already there and Sally arrived almost immediately after we did.

Kate’s brother-in law must have been an extremely handsome man in his youth.  He had a full head of silver hair that tended to curl.   His eyes, which appeared to be almost gray, seemed to sparkle, and he certainly had a firm handshake.

Beau didn’t waste anytime, “Mr. Dolan, we need your help; I have some faxes that I need to have copied.  Would it be possible for your staff to make five copies of each page and notarize them while we are visiting.  I will be leaving a copy with you to read until my wife and I return to Ithaca next week.  We may not need the information, but I would rather be prepared than to be ambushed.”

Mr. Dolan stood, “My name is Hank, I would appreciate if you would address me as such.”  He called one of his secretaries and told her what we need.

Mr. Dolan looked at the group, “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit.  It must be important to Kate, or I don’t think you would be here?”

Beau took a deep breath, “Uncle Hank, my son and I are looking to buy your sister-in-law’s house, and Mr. Garrison is thinking about buying the building on The Commons that Aunt Kate owns.   Sally is our realtor, but I would like you to make sure that we can purchase these properties without any legal problems.  Right now, we are more concerned about the property on The Commons than Mrs. Dolan’s house.  It seems that a Mr. Giulio Petrillo is trying to get his hands on the property on The Commons; I think that you will realize quickly after you read the faxes and some information which I have received on my computer, why we can’t let that happen.”

Beau set up his computer so everyone could read some of the information in the G.P.   Mr. Dolan stopped the proceedings,  “Sally, do you have contracts written for the two properties?”

Sally looked surprised but answered, “I took the liberty of writing the contracts this morning just in case.  I used the appraisal values that Bob Wainwright provided us last night.”

Mr. Dolan looked pleased, “People, if Bob did the appraisals then you can be sure that the properties are worth every penny that he appraised them for.  He is very fair.  What did he appraise the properties for?”

Aunt Kate looked at Beau and he answered, “The building on The Commons was appraised at $428,000.00 and the house on Hudson Street has an appraised value of $212.000.00.”

I thought Mr. Dolan’s teeth were going to fall out, “Quick Kate, lock the door.  Don’t let these farm boys get away.  Quite frankly, I am amazed.  I know what Hal and Kate originally paid for the two properties.  If almost anyone except Bob had made the appraisals, I would have my doubts.  Ladies and gentlemen, I would recommend that you go ahead and make a temporary contract contingent on a certified inspection of the properties.”

Beau didn’t waste anytime, “Ben, go ahead and sign the contract for Mrs. Dolan’s house and your mother will cosign since you are under twenty one.

You and Grant can live in the basement apartment, Inga and Maria could live in one of the rooms and people would think that you are shacking up.  Harley could use the den as the office to manage any Benson Consulting business and as the office for the Bed and Breakfast.  We will have to come up with a catchy name for the establishment.  Gregg, I know this is coming quick and fast, but I think it would be prudent to make a deposit on the building on The Commons; but the decision, of course, is yours.”

Gregg spoke for the first time, “I really would like to buy the property.  It is like an answer to a dream.  I could have my Toy Shoppe on the first floor.  I could rent out the two apartments on the second floor and the renters could use the outside entrance and perhaps Harley and I could live on the third floor after we get it fixed up.  I am a little hesitant, because this is happening so fast and who knows what that Petrillo snake might do.”

Kate started to laugh, “Gregg, probably after we meet with Mayor Hawthorne today, there will be a twenty four hour patrol around the building.  I have read some of the reports that Beau and Becca’s operatives have submitted, and I have a feeling that maybe Mr. Giulio Petrillo will be slipping out of town quietly to never return again or perhaps he will escorted to some facility like Fort Leavenworth or San Quentin.”

All eyes were on Gregg, “I still have reservations, but I will sign a tentative contract.”

Ben had been watching the clock, “May Grant and I be excused, please?  We need  to get back to campus so we can meet with our advisor, Dr. Witherspoon.”

That caught Mr. Dolan’s attention, “Is that Mr. Don Witherspoon?”

Ben had no idea why he was asked that question, “That is what Grandma Kate said last night.”

Mr. Dolan glared at Kate, “Kate, you had a hand in this didn’t you?  Donny promised me that he would not serve as an adviser to anymore students.  You know how he is; he gets so attached to them that he treats them like grandchildren.  Then he expects me to cook for them at least once a week.  We’re getting too old for this.  Now he will probably never retire when he meets these two beautiful young men.”

As Grant and Ben were walking toward the door, Grant caught everyone by surprise, “Grandpa Dolan, we had this conversation with Sammy Cochran yesterday.  Men are not beautiful.  Sammy decided that Ben and I were ruggedly handsome specimens of manhood.  We’ll be there when we get invited for dinner.”

Grant and Ben walked out the door and some of us were looking a little embarrassed, but Mrs. Dolan was laughing, “Okay Hank, you'd better warn your better half that he is about to meet his match.  Wait until you meet the two beautiful young ladies that these two men have hooked up with.  You may be cooking every night.  If everything else is finished here, I suggest we mosey to the building on The Commons, so we can meet Mayor Hawthorne and whoever.”

This is Beau.

Where did I loose control?   Aunt Kate is reminding me more and more of Grams Tillison.  I guess I should have expected as much, after she attached herself to the two young couples that first night at dinner.  I think poor Gregg and Harley are more in shock than the rest of us.

Mr. Dolan looked at us, “I think I had better accompany you to the building on The Commons.  I want to see the fireworks up close and personal.”

We drove to a parking garage and parked much too Harley’s chagrin.  It was an easy walk to the building that Gregg had just committed to buying if everything worked out right.  Bob Wainwright was waiting for us when we arrived.  Everyone knew each other so there was no need for introductions.

We had just entered the building when Mayor Hawthorne arrived with two well dressed men and two well dressed women.  After the introductions were completed, the Mayor suggested, “Perhaps you could show us this building that has everyone in such a turmoil.”

I looked at Gregg, “Mr. Garrison, why don’t we take the visitors on a tour?  I’ll lead them to the second floor while you and Mr. Gordon take Mayor Hawthorne to the second floor.  We’ll take the rest of the visitors by way of the stairs.  Becca and Aunt Kate, you might want to stay here in case Mr. Petrillo decides to visit, which I am sure he will.  Please keep him occupied until the rest of us finish the tour.”

We were completing the tour and Mayor Hawthorne had said nothing, so none of us knew what she might be thinking.  We were to find out when we were all on the first floor and sure enough, Mr. Petrillo was there with the Chief of Police.  The Mayor didn’t waste any time.  She looked at the people assembled and very calmly said, “The condemnation proceedings on this building are to stop immediately.”

I handed Mayor Hawthorne a copy of the faxes that had been certified and notarized by Mr. Dolan’s staff.  She started to read them and turned almost white.  She looked at her assembled staff and Mr. Petrillo.  “I will take these faxes back to the office and try to decipher how much wrong has been done and by whom.  There are a number of high level city employees who will be applying for unemployment benefits before this is over.  Mr. Petrillo, it appears to me that you have been stashing away a large cache, so I guess you won’t miss the funds that the FBI has frozen.”

My phone rang.  I looked to see who was calling.  “Good morning President Smith … The FBI and the state law enforcement people will be arriving at two. … Shucks, it would be fun to see the fireworks around here, but we are scheduled to depart at noon local time.  I am standing here with Mayor Hawthorne.  Would you like to speak to her?” … Here she is.”

I handed the phone to Mayor Hawthorne.

She was skeptical but started to talk.  “”This is Mary Hawthorne. …  Yes Mr. President, you think that I should request that the Bensons come and do a thorough inspection of the city offices? … I will check with them but they have already given me enough ammunition to remove half of the persons who are in the upper levels of the city government. … Oh you think I should at least ask them since they will want to make sure their son will be safe while he goes to school here. … Mr. President, did you just tell me that Mr. Petrillo’s biggest goon is our Chief of Police. … Thanks Mr. President, this is all starting to fall into place now.”   Before she was able to hand the phone back to me, Petrillo and the Chief of Police had slipped out of the building without anyone noticing, because everyone was so caught up in the Mayor’s conversation.

Mrs. Hawthorne was thinking out loud, “Beau and Becca, you mentioned last night that you were coming back next week to examine a company in Syracuse.  Could you possibly do a thorough inspection of our city government at the same time?”

Becca surprised me, “Madam Mayor, we will be glad to do that.  We’ll enlist the help of our two best operatives from our Kansas City office and the city staff will have no idea what happened to them.  Now if you will excuse us, we need to get back to the hotel and get our luggage and meet the guys.  Harley, we’ll meet you and Gregg at the airport.  Mary, we will let you know what our plans are for next week, but right now, we need to worry about our sons.  I’m afraid that Mr. Dolan’s partner is probably planning to abduct them.”

I had almost forgotten about Ben and Grant.  I suddenly became concerned.  Should I be?

To be continued...

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Editor’s Note:  This chapter really rocks.  The action is swift.  The characters are well drawn, and the love and respect the major characters have shown to each other is wonderful. Will B.

Posted: 01/25/08