Memphis laid Delaney down on the bed.
She groaned as pain washed over her. “Dayum boss, that hurts a lot.”
“Getting blown up usually does, young lady,” Grave Digger chided. “What the hell were you thinking?”
Delaney shook her head and winced as the movement caused more pain. “My flashbangs aren’t that strong usually.”
“But when you set them off in an enclosed area, they are ten times more lethal.” Memphis growled.
“Thanks for the warning but I guess I figured that out on my own,” she said.
Now Grave Digger was probing the cut on her head.
”Ouch, watch it buster!” she exclaimed.
“You’re lucky you aren’t dead,” Grave Digger muttered. “Two of the three men down there, never made it up the ladder. And I don’t think the third one will either.”
“Cry me a river doc.” She growled. “They wouldn’t have hesitated to cut your throat if they’d gotten in here.”
“And you, my dear, need to have more faith in the guys that live here,” Grave Digger commented. “At least the flash bang opened up a place for you to hide in, that was what saved your life today.”
Delaney shook her head. “It was a doorway to another room but the room never got finished. I ducked in there before I pressed the remote to set off the flash bang.”
Grave Digger looked over his shoulder at Memphis and Zeus.
This was news to them all.
Just then, Diabolus joined them and spoke to Zeus, “Leon’s trucks are here. They are loading the gold up now.”
Zeus nodded then looked at Memphis. “You wait here with her. I need to know how he plans to get the gold away from here and to his plane safely. I need him to know that once the gold leaves here, it’s his problem.”
Memphis nodded.
Alfredo moved toward the bed to see for himself that his granddaughter was ok. “You doing okay, tesoro?” he asked her quietly.
Delaney frowned as Grave Digger poked some more. “Watch it doc.” She growled then looked at her grandfather. “I’m doing grandpa. Won’t be doing that again, however.”
“I hope not, child. You damn near got blowed up too.” He shook his head. “What were you thinking?”
“What was I thinking?” She repeated his question in exasperation. “I was thinking I wasn’t gonna let my brothers win. I was thinking I was protecting you from them. I was thinking I’ve had all I’m gonna damn well take from my brothers and my dad. I was pissed and I guess I wasn’t thinking at all.” She laid back on the pillow and closed her eyes. A tear ran down her cheek.
Alfredo moved closer and sat down on the bed beside her. He took her hand in his, raised it to his lips and gently kissed it. “Well, thank you baby girl for thinking of me, but you know I should be taking care of you, not the other way around. I hate that I’m an old man now and can’t take care of myself anymore. I hate that you feel the need to stand up for me.”
Delaney opened her eyes and raised her other hand to cup his cheek. “Oh grandpa, you aren’t that old and you have never been a weak man. You may not be as spry as you once were but there is nothing wrong with your mind. You probably know more than any man here about this place.”
Alfredo smiled. “Bene child, I might have a trick or two or three up my sleeve yet. Your dad and brothers aren’t gonna get inside this place and even as we speak, Leon is loading the gold in the trucks and will take it out of here soon.”
Delaney closed her eyes again and nodded. “Good. At least we won’t have to worry about that anymore. I hope I can see dad’s face when he realizes it’s too late to collect on that. He’s got nothing left to come here for.”
“Oh, I didn’t say that.” Alfredo shook his head. “My dad had a few surprises left up his sleeve.”
Delaney opened her eyes and stared at him. “No, grandpa. Don’t say such a thing. What else could he have done?” she then paused and huffed.” What am I saying, the man was imbroglione…a freakin’ trickster.”
Alfredo rubbed the lobe of his ear and shook his head. “I have to agree he was certainly that. Bene, your dad and Carlos used to listen to his stories a lot when they were young then your brothers did too. I warned them all that the old man liked to tell stories and that what he said might not be the whole truth. I thought they would remember that but then he told them about the gold and that turned out to be true, they might think the rest of it is true as well.”
“Get on with it old man,” Memphis urged as he glared at him. “What else might they take as truth?”
Alfredo sighed hard. “My Papa often told the boys about a jewel robbery that happened in Chicago back in the thirties. He told them the robbery was huge and the stones had never been recovered. The insurance company had to pay the store over three million dollars. Now back then, three millions dollars was worth a fortune. But in today’s markets, it would roughly pan out to about twenty billion.” He shrugged. “As far as I know, the stones have never been found, but you never know if my dad’s stories were real or not. He told plenty of whoppers in his time.”
“Do you know what kind of stones we’re talking about here, hypothetically?” Diabolus wanted to know.
Leon joined them just as he asked that question and he snarled, “Not that maledetta merda again.”
Memphis looked over at the mafia don and he could see Leon was pissed. “Do you know about this story?”
“Si, I know about it. Alfonzo assured us it was just that, a story.” Leon growled.
Alfredo nodded. “Bene, he told a lot of people it was just a story, and maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up here today but he told my sons and grandsons about it. So his second in command might have written about it in the book his grandson passed down to Vincent. Rucker Hayes might not have heard the stories about the gems but if Vincent read it in the book then he might think about the other stories my father told them.”
“Do you know if the stories were real or not?” Leon demanded of Alfredo.
“I cannot say there are or aren’t.” Alfredo shook his head. “I see now that many of those tales have turned out to be true though. So my son and grandsons might believe they are all real.”
“That’s not an answer.” Leon growled at him then turned and left the room.
Alfredo glanced over at Delaney and shook his head, swearing in Italian, “Dannazione all’inferno. It is maybe a good thing my father is long in his grave, that man would probably shoot him if he were standing here.”
Delaney nodded. “Yes, I think he would be designated for a Vincinti bullet.” She looked up at Grave Digger. “Are you done here?”
Grave Digger nodded then asked, “Why? You got somewhere else to be? Maybe a free fall from a skyscraper?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I feel like I just walked out of a dirt grave. So I want a shower and clean clothes. The shower, I can take care of myself.”
“We should be able to find you something clean to wear.” Memphis grunted.
“Just be careful wonder woman, you just got blown up,” Grave Digger told her.
“I’ll help her,” Memphis volunteered.
Delaney frowned. “I can shower alone. I’ve been doing it most of my life now. All grown up here, see?” She waved her dirty hands to herself.
Memphis stared at her as he raised a brow. “You do look like a fully grown woman, but you act like a smart mouthed brat most of the time.”
Alfredo chuckled at the angry look on her face as he tried to diffuse this argument, “Tesoro, just let it be and let him help you,” he suggested.
Memphis stepped forward and held out his hand.
Delaney pouted and grumbled under her breath as she glared at him and put her hand in his.
He gently tugged her to her feet and then she followed him out of the room.
Alfredo shook his head and looked over at Grave Digger. “He is a good man?”
Grave Digger nodded. “One of the best I know. He won’t take advantage of her.”
Alfredo grunted. “She will not let him take advantage of her. Believe me, she can and will protect herself. I ask if he is a good man because I believe Delaney wants to get to know him better.”
“How do you figure that?” Grave Digger asked. “She’s barely looked at him. And they seem to argue more than anything.”
Alfredo snorted. “Oh, she’s looked. I know her as well as anyone and she has looked.”
Grave Digger shook his head. “Yeah, Memphis is a good man. He won’t hurt her.”
Alfredo looked over at Diabolus and said, “I need you and your boss to check something out with me, maybe Leon should come along as well.”
“What are we checking out?” Diabolus wanted to know then he raised his hand up at him. “No wait, don’t tell me. Under this house, is an amusement park right? Only instead of normal rides, you are given a treasure map and could win prizes like gold, money, and old weapons.”
Alfredo snorted. “No…I remembered something about what my dad said about the stones and I want to see once and for all if it was true.” Was all the old man would tell him.
“You’re just full of good news today, aren’t you?” Diabolus grumbled.
“There is something you boys don’t know about those stones, Leon and I know but you do not.” Alfredo shook his head.
“And just what would that be?” Grave Digger asked.
“The factions always paid the Famigila for their good fortune, call it a tax of sorts. My father didn’t think the Family needed their share so he never paid them. Back in the thirties that would have been a lot of money. Now of course, it’s even more. My father never told the truth when a lie would work. I found that out over the years. I learned never to trust anything he said. But I also found that there was a grain of truth in his claims of grandeur. Today, I happened to remember something from when I was a kid and I wanted to see if it was true.”
Diabolus nodded. “I’ll get them.” He turned and left the room.
Grave Digger was busy putting his medical supplies away as he said, “So you’re saying there are more than just dead bodies, old bills, shine, and gold lying around here?”
Alfredo simply shrugged.
Grave Digger grunted, as he looked disgusted. “That old man of yours was a real peach wasn’t he?”
“That… among other things, si.” Alfredo nodded. “Some called him the Joker, others admired his cleverness. Many thought he was just a crazy old coot toward the end. But I have learned that he never told an outright lie, just embellished truths. He knew how to phrase whatever he said so that it was like a puzzle. He seemed to think if you were as crafty as him and could figure it out you deserved the riches he hid.” He scoffed. “Me? I didn’t wanna play, I never did. My son and grandsons? Not clever nor very bright. But sneaky and greedy? Si…They will now believe every word he ever uttered.”
Diabolus, Zeus, and Leon had arrived and they had been listening.
“Di cosa si tratta adesso?” Leon asked as he glared at Alfredo.
“As you know, my dad liked his games, he played them with your dad then with you, but he also played with everyone else too. I had forgotten about the jewels until now. He always told my boys and his great grandsons about his adventures. He always embellished his stories too, but there was also just enough of the truth in his tales that you couldn’t just dismiss them.”
“So if he did rob the jewelry store, would he have brought the diamonds here?” Zeus asked.
“Si, I think he did.” Alfredo nodded.
“Would they still be here after all this time?” Leon wanted to know.
“Si if he did this, they would still be here. He couldn’t possibly cash them in. Your father would have demanded his cut and rightfully so. And my father liked to flaunt the rules. He might have left them behind for the next generation to lay claim to them.”
“Bene, old man, where do you think he would have left them?” Leon asked.
Alfred stood from the chair he’d been sitting in. “They would be in his bedroom. He enjoyed leaving things out in plain sight. Like the bricks in the fireplace for instance. And the diamonds, well he would want them close to him, wouldn’t he?”
“I suppose he would but with that man anything is fucking possible. Show us,” Leon ordered.
Using his cane, Alfredo walked to the door and led them down the hall. He stopped in front of Zeus’s bedroom door and then opened it. Going into the room, he looked around. He saw his father’s old sleigh bed and shook his head. “I’m surprised to see you still using this old bed.”
“Do you have any idea how heavy that fucking bed is?” Zeus exclaimed. “It’s like a tank. We couldn’t move it out, so I decided to just use it.”
Alfredo nodded then moved closer to the bed. “My Papa liked to live like a king and he had the piece custom made and once he moved it into place, he left it alone. He moved to the head of the bed and pointed at the finial. “This one, I think.”
“This one what?” Leon asked as he motioned to the wooden spires on the bed.
Alfredo reached inside his pocket and pulled out a key ring. “These are my father’s keys. He carried them every day and when he died, they came to me. I’ve found the lock for every key on the ring except for this one.” He showed it to Zeus and Leon. “This key I never found the lock for but I have a feeling it will fit into that hole.” He motioned to a small hole in the finial near the base of the bed itself.
Zeus took the key, fit it into the hole, and found that it indeed did fit. He turned the key and they could all hear the tumblers open. Then the finial came loose and he was able to lift it the entire finial off the post. He moved the finial to the top of the bed and looked into the base where he saw there was something stuff up inside. “Well fuck,” he muttered as he pushed his fingers inside the hole and began dragging a velvet pouch out of the finial. He looked around the room and then opened the pouch. “Holy shit,” Zeus swore. Turning to Leon, he grabbed his hand and began pouring the contents of the bag into the older man’s hand.
Leon stared down at his hand and found a small mound of sparkling diamonds sitting there. Leon looked over at Alfredo and swore in Italian, “Cazzo era lui? Your father is lucky he’s not still alive. For this, I would put a bullet into his head without question.”
Alfredo nodded but didn’t say a word.
