Present Day, FRIDAY - OCTOBER 31, 1986—10:10 AM
"So where the hell is he, Dom?" Investigator Paul Smith was sitting on a picnic table on the brown grass by the telephone booths at the Lombardi Service Area, smiling and nodding as if he were saying something else. You could see his breath. It was so chilly.
Dominick Edge was sitting next to him, smiling and gesturing. ''How the fuck do I know. Just keep smiling."
Dominick scanned the parking lot without making it obvious. It was a raw, cloudy day, and motorists were rushing from their cars to get in out of the cold.
He'd talked to Shifu yesterday and told him that he was going to be meeting the ''rich kid' here at ten o'clock. He said he was going to be giving the kid a sample of the cocaine he wanted to buy.
Dominick had suggested to Shifu that he come by to "eyeball" the kid so he'd know who he was supposed to kill when the time came. Shifu had agreed to come and take a look. He'd said he'd meet Dom after the kid left, inside by the men's room.
"I'm freezing my ass off out here, Dom." Paul Smith was still smiling. "He'd better fucking show up. I did a lot of research getting ready for this."
Dominick's eyes narrowed. "What research?"
"I asked Ronnie Donahue how I should play the rich kid, how I should act to be believable."
"Oh, yeah.? What'd he say.?"
"He told me to act like a dick."
"Oh....you mean he told you to 'act natural.' "
Smith pursed his lips and glared at Dominick. "That's exactly what he said. How'd you know that?"
"He told me."
They started laughing for real.
Neither of them looked directly at the green sedan parked thirty feet away where Investigator Ron Donahue was sitting behind the wheel, pretending to be reading a newspaper. Donahue had an earplug in his ear that kept him in contact with the three other backups planted around the service area.
A large wax paper soft drink cup sat on the dashboard in front of him. As soon as he heard that Shifu was spotted, he'd move the cup off the dashboard so Dominick and Paul would know the big guy was on his way.
"Don't make me laugh. Smith. I'm not supposed to like you that much."
"Why not.? I'm a rich kid. I'm your best customer. I'm gonna buy two goddamn keys off you. I might even buy three. But I gotta tell you, Dom, your price isn't that great. So don't get wise."
Dominick gave him an evil look. "Smith, I should've killed you when I had the chance."
Paul Smith had to pinch his nose to keep from bursting out loud.
''Hey, Dom, don't you think it looks a little strange that two guys are hanging around out here in the cold, laughing like a couple of nuts? Maybe we'd better just do it in case Shifu is out there somewhere in a different car looking at us."
Dominick scanned the lot. ''Yeah, maybe you're right." He reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out an envelope. Inside was a plastic Baggie containing an ounce of powdered sugar, the rich kid's 'coke' sample. He handed it to Paul Smith.
Smith peeked into the envelope and put it in his pocket. "Oh, thank you, sir, thank you."
"You know, Paul, I wouldn't be surprised if Shifu sent someone else to come take a look."
Smith rolled his eyes. "Get outta here."
"No, think about it. I wouldn't put it past the son of a bitch."
"Get out. Who would he send?"
"Maybe his buddy Tim, the guy from South Jersey."
"Why would he do that? If he brought somebody else into this, he'd have to give him a piece of the pie."
"Hey, I'm not a psychiatrist. I don't know how his mind works. All I know is that someone who'd kill with fucking cyanide is liable to do anything."
"Hmm….maybe." Smith wasn't smiling anymore.
Dominick glanced over at Ron Donahue's car. The cup was still on the dashboard.
"Do you really think he'd send Tim?" Smith asked.
Dominick shrugged. "Why not? We don't know what he looks like. He'd be perfect. He could be out there right now taking pictures of us."
"Pictures! Shit, I never thought of that. What if Shifu gets a picture of me? He could follow me to the mall or something. He could follow me home! What if he decides to do you a favor and kill me on his own."
"Calm down, Smith. Shifu doesn't give it away. He'll wait for the big score."
"Yeah….I guess." Smith didn't sound convinced.
The soft drink cup hadn't moved. "You know, Dom, I hate to say this, but I think Shifu's getting antsy."
"No, he's not."
"Dom, he told you he'd be here just to take a look. I don't think he'd send someone else. There's no risk in just looking. He should be here. He's definitely getting antsy, Dom. He is."
Dominick didn't answer.
The same thing had crossed his mind, but he didn't want to believe it. He'd seen bad guys suddenly get suspicious and start acting strange before. It was pretty common actually. But that wasn't the case with Shifu. He knew it; he could feel it with this guy. Shifu was cautious, very cautious, but he wasn't suspicious. At least not yet.
"We'd better wrap this up in case he is looking," Dominick finally said. "No sense hanging around."
"Right."
Dominick flashed his million-dollar smile and extended his hand to the 'rich kid'.
"Well, my friend, it's been nice. I hope to be doing business with you soon. Next time I'll bring my big friend with the nasal spray. He'll give you a nice little nose job."
"Wonderful, wonderful. I can't wait." Paul shook Dominick's hand and flashed his wise-ass grin. He started to turn away. "I'll catch you back in Fairfield, Dom."
"Yup."
"Bye-bye now."
''So long."
They split up and walked back to their cars. As Dominick moved past Ron Donahue's green sedan, he saw the paper cup on the dashboard. He hammered his fist against the driver's door out of frustration as he passed.
Ron didn't even flinch. He just turned the page of his newspaper.