“You know Goldie Maraschino?”
The detective thought for a moment. “Markie Santina’s girlfriend?”
“Ex-girlfriend. I just met with her, Markie’s got a new squeeze, and Goldie is a woman scorned. She wants to turn state’s evidence. She’s got diaries. Years of ‘em with names, dates, and I’ll bet all sorts of juicy tidbits.”
“Really? That’s fabulous! Where is she? Where’s the diaries?”
“I’m coming back here at 5:00 to pick up her and the diaries. She says she needs today to take care of some business with family.”
“Uh, you think that’s wise?” Wallace wondered.
“No. But that’s the price of the opportunity. Listen, you know her on sight, right?”
“She’s got a cute little ass that’s hard to miss.”
Corning looked around. “There’s a Denny’s over there that’s got a good view of the lobby door. I want you to hang out there and see if you can get an ID on her car: Make, color, license. I can’t get it from the hotel registry ‘cause we’ve got no jurisdiction here.”
“Let’s call some friends at the Jersey State Police,” the detective suggested.
“There’s no time. I got the impression she’ll be leaving very soon.”
“How do you know she’s coming out the lobby door?” Wallace asked.
“I don’t. But I gotta dosomethingto hedge my bet. She says if she sees she’s being followed, the deal’s off.”
“Why?”
“Probably because she doesn’t like cops and they’re about to be in her face for, gee—I don’t know—forever! Now get over to Denny’s. I’ve got to go see the DA, set up a safe house, and try to find out if Markie’s looking for her.”
“Okay, Captain. You got it.”
Wallace climbed out of the car and walked a short distance across the hotel’s front parking lot to Denny’s Restaurant. After Captain Corning had driven away and was out of sight, Wallace pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. After one ring, someone answered.
“Bruno? It’s Steve Wallace. I’ve got some inside information. Ask your boss if he wants to know where his old girlfriend is, and who she just had a meeting with.”
Thirty-Five
A WELL-THOUGHT-OUT PLAN
Goldie had spent her time at the Doubletree looking at things from every angle. She wasn’t surprised by anything Corning had shared, but she also knew that going into protective custody would be a mistake. The Lombardo family had connections in police precincts in all five New York boroughs, and while she knew Captain Corning was clean, she didn’t believe he could keep her safe. She also knew that once Markie learned of her betrayal, he’d seek permission to put a hit on her. So, she used her days in seclusion to carefully plan out her moves.
Within a half hour of Corning’s departure, Goldie used the second of her small mailing boxes. She packed up the diaries and left them at the front desk for the captain. To ensure that only Captain Corning received the box, she tipped the day manager five hundred dollars. Besides the diaries, she also included a letter. It had been written even before Corning arrived, explained that she wouldn’t be safe in protective custody, and said that the diaries themselves would have to be enough for a conviction of Markie. She did, however, leave a small opening for further participation by suggesting she might follow up with him on a burner phone at some point in the future. She also asked the captain to tell anyone on his team that he might’ve spoken to about their visit that she had decided not to turn over the diaries and was going into hiding. This would perhaps slow down Markie’s efforts to find her, and would therefore give her time to put distance between herself and New York. It would also buy Corning time to digest the diaries’ content and determine their worth, as well as ensure that only a small number of people in the DA’s office knew of their existence. In theory, this was a well-thought-out plan. But what Goldie hadn’t foreseen was Detective Wallace being on the take and accompanying Corning on his visit to her.
When Wallace called Bruno Carmichael, Bruno was over an hour away in Manhattan, but he had a friend in Clifton, the town where Goldie was, who did the occasional favor for the Lombardo family. By coincidence, he worked at an electronics store less than ten minutes away from the Doubletree Hotel. Since Bruno knew what kind of car Markie had gotten for Goldie, and that it still had dealer tags, he described the car to his friend, and a second tracking device with a longer range was placed on Goldie’s Ford Fusion a mere two minutes before she went out a hotel back door, hopped in her car, and headed for the Jersey Turnpike.
Although Wallace calling Bruno and him having a friend in Clifton was unfortunate for Goldie, she did catch a break. Markie had promised Kristen an entire uninterrupted day of Christmas shopping. This included looking at china patterns, linens, and furniture for their new home, which was important to Kristen. Markie promised she’d have his undivided attention until their day was over. So, he turned off his cell and went shopping without his usual two bodyguards. It wasn’t until nearly 6:30 p.m. that Bruno finally reached him. By then, two pieces of information had been conveyed to Bruno from Detective Wallace. The first was that Goldie intended to turn over her diaries to the police, and the second was the nullification of that decision, and that Goldie was on the lam. Captain Corning agreed with the logic in Goldie’s letter about the subterfuge of changing her mind, told Wallace about this reversal to cover all bases, and it had the desired effect. Instead of immediately seeing red and going into a rage, Markie decided to have Bruno follow Goldie to see where she was going. Perhaps, he thought, if she didn’t have the diaries with her, she was going to where they were.
Thirty-Six
FINISHING UP
“Yeah?” Markie said, answering his cell phone.
“Markie, it’s Bruno. How ya doin’?”
“So, where are ya now?”
“Outside of St. Louis. How long do I gotta keep followin’ Goldie? I mean, Jesus, I’d like to be back before Christmas, y’know?”
