Going for the Juggler
1
Keeping My Balls in the Air
“MY MOTHER IS TRAPPED on an alien world. Do something!” Cadence demanded. We stood in the wardrobe in my bedroom, which refused to move us to Crossroads.
Well, shit, yes. What am I supposed to do? Lisa had chosen to stay on Chaos so I could come back unencumbered to do battle with her husband—my brother, Wilson—and rescue Cadence. No one expected Wilson to try to destroy the wardrobe with an axe and instead damage our portal. What was I supposed to do?
“Lincoln,” Cadence moaned. She collapsed into my arms and sobbed. I retrieved our hotel room key from the bedside table and pulled her with me to the back door. In front, I saw a car cruise slowly past.
“We need to get out of here, love,” I said. “We’ll go back to the hotel and put a plan together. Right now, we need to stay safe from Wilson.” She nodded and I looked out the door. There was a shadow moving in the alley behind the house. Shit! We needed to get out of here. I dragged Cadence to the break in the hedge and we slipped up to Mrs. Smith’s back door. I didn’t dare knock for fear of attracting one of the watchers. I tried the door and it was unlatched. I breathed a sigh of relief and pushed Cadence through the door.
I heard the bolt of an old-fashioned shotgun engage.
“Take one more step and I’ll blow you to Kingdom Come,” Mrs. Smith growled.
“Mrs. Smith!” I whisper-shouted. “It’s us! Cadence and Lincoln.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so?” she demanded. “Get in here.”
“Why don’t you have any lights on?” Cadence asked. “We thought you weren’t home.”
“There are prowlers around. I don’t want them to know I’m here.”
“I don’t blame you,” I said. “I think it’s Wilson’s people. Why wasn’t your door locked?”
“That door? The lock on that door hasn’t worked in thirty years,” she laughed.
We slept in shifts with one of us always watching out the windows. It was a drama fit for Chaos. We’d see a shadow moving in the alley and a police car out front. Then a dark car would slowly creep past and a police cruiser would come down the alley. The timing was perfect. No one intersected with anyone else. I suspected the lawyer who was handling the will might have had someone out watching as well.
“How do we get out of here?” Cadence asked over breakfast.
“Oh, that’s easy, dearie,” Mrs. Smith said. “Where do you want to go?”
“We should go back to the hotel,” I said. “Our lawyer has bodyguards watching for us there. We can order room service. And… the box is there.”
“How can you get us there, Mrs. Smith?” Cadence asked sweetly.
“We’ll take Christopher. He’s in the garage.” Mrs. Smith opened the door from the kitchen to the garage and swept her hand toward a canvas-covered vehicle.
“You have a car? I thought you took taxis everywhere,” Cadence said.
“Neither Cadence nor I have our drivers’ licenses with us,” I said.
“Oh, I have mine. You don’t want to be seen. You should lie down in back. I’ll drive.” I was a little doubtful of the frail old lady, but we didn’t have many choices. I went over to pull the canvas off the car while Cadence and Mrs. Smith busied themselves moving boxes and cans from between the car and the garage door. I uncovered a perfectly mint condition, navy blue, boxy little car.
“This is beautiful,” Cadence said. “What is it?”
“1966 Corvair Monza,” Mrs. Smith said proudly. “Only driven by a little old lady to church on Sundays. Air cooled, rear engine. Six cylinders and all the pickup and go it had fifty years ago. The only hump in the backseat is what you do when you’re back there.”
“Isn’t this the car Ralph Nader wrote about in Unsafe at Any Speed?” I asked.
“You’re so cute, Lincoln,” Mrs. Smith said as she pinched my cheek. “When I’m driving all cars are unsafe at any speed. Get in and hide on the floor in back. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Which means have lots of sex. That’s what I did in the backseat when I was your age.”
We did as she said. Sort of. If she had lots of sex in this back seat, she must have been dating midgets. Crowding as tightly as we could, we could still barely get below the level of the windows.
The car started right up and Mrs. Smith raised the garage door.
It was a good thing Cadence and I were packed in so tightly. We’d have been lying on the pavement someplace otherwise. ‘Unsafe at any speed’ did not apply to the car! We stayed low for our own safety until Mrs. Smith pulled into the hotel parking garage. This was one of those hotels that had a conference center and meeting rooms on the second floor, so we took the elevator from the garage to the second floor and switched elevators to the penthouse from there.
A guy was standing outside our door and turned to look at us, puzzled. We rushed him.
“Wait! I’m a good guy!”
Shit! How were we supposed to tell? Everybody wore black suits. I was thinking I needed to buy one so I’d blend in.
“Who are you?” I demanded as I lifted him off the floor by his neck. Adrenalin was pouring through my body and my strength surprised even me. Cadence already had the guy’s pistol out of the shoulder holster. I don’t think she knew how to use it. She was just waving it around.
“Gino sent me to watch out for you. I thought you were inside. Honest!”
“Who is Gino? Was he following us around my house last night?”
“Gino is Big Al’s Consigliere. I don’t know who was following you since we thought you were inside. Everybody is on edge. Please put my gun down. I won’t touch it until you get inside, but you’re making me nervous.” Cadence was making me nervous, too, but she laid the gun gently on the carpet on the other side of the hall. The adrenalin was washing out of my body and I relaxed my grip on the bodyguard. “You two are fast. Thank you for not killing me.”
“We’re going to order room service,” I said. Cadence and I unlocked the door and went into our room, closing the bodyguard in the hall.
“First you are going to service me!” Cadence said. “As soon as the adrenalin started wearing off, my pussy started dripping. Is it like this on Chaos?”
“All the time, honey.”
“I’m gonna get fucked so often, I’ll be begging Mom to spell me,” she sighed. Her clothes came off and I was on top of her, in her. If the bodyguard was listening, he might have thought we were being attacked.
“Room service.”
I opened the door and let the guy pushing the cart into the room. I knew immediately this was no hotel employee. He wasn’t even trying to disguise it. He was wearing a black suit like the lawyers and bodyguards did. Apparently, it was the uniform of the day on Earth.
He was an older guy and I could see the bulge under his jacket before he reached into his pocket. I slammed the door shut behind him and slipped one of my canes between his legs and twisted. He stumbled forward and Cadence caught him by one arm. With a quick twist he was on his stomach on the floor with Cadence sitting on him. He didn’t move. Didn’t even struggle.
“All right. Who are you?” I demanded.
“If you already knew I wasn’t the room service guy, why did you bother opening the door?” he laughed. Laughed?
“We need some information. We’ve been waiting to capture someone. Now you are going to give us answers,” I said.
“Maybe. Depends on if she’s who they say she is,” he said.
“Who do they say?” Cadence asked. She had a cord stretched between her hands ready to slip it under his neck. Where the hell did she get that?
“They say you are Cosimo Pesciano’s daughter, Al Pesciano’s granddaughter.”
“That’s what my birth certificate says. Are you here to try to get me out of the way of my stepfather?”
“Wilson? That piece of shit? If you are truly Cadence Pesciano, I’m here to help you.” I nodded at Cadence and she flipped over to the right, pulling two knives out of her belt. She was ready to throw them if he moved wrong.
“Have a seat and tell us a story,” I said, nudging him with my cane.
He rolled over slowly and levered himself into a seated position leaning against the sofa.
“I’m getting too damned old for this,” he moaned. “I brought dinner. For three. How about a nice civilized meal and a little talk?”
“How about you lay your gun over on the table by the door, very slowly, first,” Cadence said.
“This?” he said, opening his jacket. “I left it outside with Paolo. He wouldn’t let me come in armed.” His shoulder holster was there, but there was nothing in it. “May I serve dinner now?”
“Sure,” I said. “Just to keep it interesting, though, who are you?”
“I am Gino. I am or was Al Pesciano’s consigliere. I was also Cosimo Pesciano’s best friend. I’m very happy to see his daughter has such skill as a fighter. And you…” he said, pointing at me. “His son-in-law?”
“To be,” I answered. “Unfortunately, I have the stench of being Wilson’s brother on me as well.”
“I’d heard you were crippled,” Gino said. “I’m glad to see you are well. You don’t really need those canes, do you?”
“They are handy and will travel with me to places more conventional weapons cannot.” I glanced at Cadence, looking for the garrote she’d had in her hand. Wherever she concealed it, it was gone now.
“Good. Good. Let me get the food on the table.” He set up our table quickly, opened a bottle of wine, and sat at one side. Cadence and I sat on the other. The chicken cacciatore smelled delicious. That wasn’t what we’d ordered from room service. “I was bringing dinner with me from Al’s kitchen when I encountered the delivery boy. I gave what you ordered to Paolo. He’ll eat anything.”
“So, you know our bodyguard outside?” Cadence said as she bit into the delicious food. “Mmm.”
“I’m his boss. The lawyer called and said he sent you here. I put a crew on you right away.”
“So, you’ve been following us?” I said.
“Not me personally. And not following you. Following Wilson and his soldiers. Following the cops. I have thirty men and women on the job. I just needed to come personally and confirm that it was true. I can see in your eyes, Miss Cadence, you are his daughter,” Gino sighed, shoveled a mouthful of food, and washed it down with wine. “Try the vino. This was Al’s favorite.” I took a sip. It was so dry you almost needed a drink of water afterward to wet your mouth. “Sagrantino di Montefalco,” Gino said. “Al despised the wines of Tuscany as having been over commercialized. I think it was all just a part of his native Umbrian pride,” he laughed. “God, I loved that man.”
“We found out about Big Al’s death on Sunday night,” I said. “Two guys brought a letter for Lisa, Cadence’s mother. The next morning, she sent Cadence away on a kind of treasure hunt that would keep her away from the house for a day or two. That night, I found Wilson beating Lisa and trying to kill her. I… got her out of the house to where she can recover. But Wilson has kept up his search for Cadence. What Lisa put on Cadence’s treasure hunt was the things she needed to present to the lawyer when Al’s will is read on Monday. When we went back to the house last night, we discovered Wilson had destroyed our… some important things and we were still being followed. We got away again,” I said simply. I couldn’t tell him I took Lisa to Chaos or that Wilson had destroyed our portal.
“You have it? What you need for Monday?” he asked.
“Birth certificate, will, and high school diploma,” Cadence responded.
“Perfect. Then all we need to do is keep you alive until you can take over,” Gino said.
“That sounds ominous.”
“Here is the simple story,” Gino said. “When Cosimo died, it almost destroyed Al. I was thankful he… brought me back. Our little family business here is not connected to any of the big families. Our town is not big enough to concern them and for all the power that Al wielded here, we’re still only a business. He divested himself of nearly all the illegal or shady things to make sure that what you inherited would be pure. Your… stepfather, who Al fired two years ago, has been reopening all those businesses and wants the rest of Al’s legitimate businesses to hide them. We are on the brink of a war.”
“How can Cadence prevent it?” I asked.
“There are three camps. Wilson drives the dirty side. His people just want the power and the money and he won’t stop until he gets it,” Gino said.
“He’s an idiot,” I said flatly.
“That is one of the reasons neither of the other two sides wants him to succeed. But those two sides only agree on that one thing. It isn’t because the business is dirty. It’s because Wilson is not Italian that he’s unacceptable. Both his enemies agree that there has to be blood on the throne.”
“And Cadence has the blood,” I said.
“Which makes her acceptable to one of the other two sides. To the other side, forgive me, it is unthinkable to let a woman take over the business. So, you see, there is contention.”
“And where do you sit in this battle, Uncle Gino?” Cadence asked softly. He smiled at her.
“Cosimo Pesciano was my best friend—my boyhood partner—my brother in arms. He married my sister, so, in fact, I am your uncle in a way. I also have more than a little sway with the soldiers. They all know me as Consigliere. The largest of the three groups will follow me. And I will follow Cadence Pesciano.”
“That helps,” Cadence said.
“Yes,” he answered. “Unfortunately, though, the largest group is not the majority. We have others to win over. And there will be a test that you might not be able to pass.”
“If I’m supposed to impregnate somebody’s daughter, then I’m toast,” Cadence laughed. “Otherwise, bring it.” Gino looked at her intently.
“I hope it does not come to that,” he said.
I held Cadence in my arms as she clutched me in bed Sunday night. It was the first night since I’d recovered the use of my lower extremities nine months ago that she hadn’t wanted to make love.
“Are you frightened about tomorrow?” I asked softly.
“No. Yes. A little. It’s just going to an office and hearing the lawyer give me my grandfather’s estate. Piece of cake,” she said.
“I hope so. Gino made it sound like there would be some less official meetings held, too.”
“He scares me a little. I have my own gangster army. Crap!”
“He said that Al had cleaned out all the illegal businesses. It’s only my brother who has a gangster army,” I laughed.
“Right. I have a corporate security force. It’s just organized like a mob family and half my businesses are run by men who would rather report to a non-Italian than to a woman. While those who do support me do so because Wilson rates only slightly higher on their race and sexism scale than a Mexican. They figure they can at least control a woman and their clean businesses won’t get muddied up with Wilson’s underworld activity again. Can’t we just go to Chaos where we can kill the bad guys and rescue the damsel?”
“That’s really the problem, isn’t it?” I asked.
“I want my mommy,” Cadence cried. “She’s supposed to be here with me. I’m not supposed to have to do this alone.”
“You aren’t alone, darling. And as soon as we get this taken care of, I have an idea that will let us go get Lisa.”
“What? Lincoln, how can we go get her without a portal? Why haven’t we done it already?” she demanded.
“Gently, love. I’ve been studying it the past couple days when Gino wasn’t bringing us reports. Or you weren’t jumping my bones. In that old Heroes’ Rulebook there are instructions for building a portal. As soon as it is safe to go back to the house, we have an example of the proper layering of the seven metals and insulating them. I have no idea what gold, platinum, and electrum film cost, but if what Gino says about your impending wealth is true, you can afford them. We’ll repair it or build a new portal and go back,” I said confidently. I wished I felt as confident as I sounded.
“We can do that? Oh, Lincoln. We have to get through tomorrow and get our portal built. Anything could be happening to mother on Chaos. We have to go rescue her.”
“That’s going to be interesting. We have to rescue a damsel and a caretaker. I hope Sephie is up to planning this expedition.”
Monday at ten o’clock our escort arrived. Gino told us he couldn’t be seen with us, but Paolo, our assigned bodyguard, had a small army around us. They wanted to take no chances that Wilson could get a shot at Cadence or kidnap her.
I knew Cadence was armed. I seldom had less than a couple of knives and ceramic shuriken on me. And wherever she kept that garrote. Shit! Gino had an idea, but none of the soldiers surrounding us realized how dangerous she was. Of course, I looked like a weakling, dressed in a baggy black suit with my two canes. Gino had insisted that I appear to simply be her aide and blend in with the other soldiers. So, our charade was not only for Chaos.
Cadence had chosen red. Gino had suggested that she might want something that played down her obvious feminine traits rather than the tight-fitting leathers she had constructed for her image as a warrior, but Cadence was determined to show strength and pride. Gino shook his head and muttered, “Just like your father.”
The lawyer’s office looked like a fortress. There were more black suits there than I’d ever seen gathered in one place before. Cadence stood out like a beacon in her red leathers. We were escorted to a conference room and were allowed in. Only the two of us. The lawyer and another man were sitting at the head of the table. Gino sat at the foot. In each of the four corners of the room, a guy in a black suit stood watching the proceedings. Gino motioned to the chairs at the right and Cadence and I sat waiting.
“I need your identification, please,” the lawyer said. We each handed him our driver’s license and he recorded the information, showing it to the man on his right. He handed them back. “Yours, too, Gino.” Gino handed him his license. There was a bit of a commotion at the door and Wilson was admitted.
“There’s the bitch,” he growled. “This isn’t over, daughter.” Cadence grimaced at him.
“Please don’t use that pejorative term when referring to me, stepfather,” she growled.
The lawyer handed Gino’s license back to him and turned to Wilson and his lieutenant, who sat opposite us. “Identification.”
“You know who the hell we are,” Wilson barked.
“You will be removed if we do not have your identification,” the lawyer said calmly. “Just follow the procedures, Wilson. There will be time enough for you to act like a peacock later.” Wilson and his lieutenant handed him their licenses. While the lawyer was entering the information and confirming it with the guy to his right, Wilson scrutinized me.
“When did you get out of the wheelchair, kid?” he asked. “Or was that all a fake to get the insurance and house?”
“There’s only one member of the family who has ever practiced fraud,” I said. “Look in a mirror. I got some advanced medical treatment a few months ago and have been in physical therapy ever since. It’s working.” The licenses were given back and the lawyer started the meeting.
“As this is a contentious meeting during which we will read the Last Will and Testament of Alfonso Pesciano, I have asked the judge to sit in and verify the terms and identities of the beneficiaries and to validate the will. Judge.”
“In my hand is a certified will filed with the courthouse on May seventh. Does anyone have a will attested at a later date?” the judge asked. Wilson and Cadence both slid envelopes to the judge. He examined both. He tossed the first one back to Wilson. “This will is ruled invalid. Witnessing signatures are dated May fifteen. The testator’s signature could not have been witnessed after his death.”
“Big Al died on the sixteenth,” Wilson protested.
“That was the date released to the newspapers,” the lawyer responded. “His death certificate was signed May fourteen.” He pushed a copy of the death certificate over to Wilson.
“You lying sons of bitches,” Wilson growled. “This is all a set-up.”
“This is the reading of Al Pesciano’s wishes for the disposition of his estate,” the judge said. “The certified copy that Cadence Reynolds has given me is identical to the copy on file with the court. We deem this will to be valid.” The judge gave the will to the lawyer and the lawyer began to read.
“Last Will and Testament of Alfonso Pesciano. I, Alfonso Pesciano, declare that this is my last will and testament. I revoke all prior Wills and Codicils. I am not married, having lost my wife over forty years ago. I have no living children on this Earth, my son having died suddenly seventeen years ago. I have one grandchild on this Earth, Cadence Reynolds, the biological offspring of my son, Cosimo Pesciano, and his lover Lisa Fiore Reynolds. I declare said granddaughter to be my heir, provided she has attained the age of eighteen years and that she has graduated from high school. If she has not fulfilled these two requirements at the reading of this will then her assumed father, Wilson Reynolds, will become my heir and hold my assets in trust for my granddaughter.”
“Ha!” Wilson exploded. “Too smart for his own good. You didn’t graduate. I was there on Sunday to watch my little girl receive her diploma and she didn’t show up. Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of your assets.”
“In your continued brilliance as a father and a businessperson, you have overlooked the fact that commencement is not the same as graduation,” Cadence said calmly. “Here is a copy of my official diploma. I am a high school graduate.”
“Son of a bitch,” Wilson swore. The lawyer handed both Cadence’s diploma and birth certificate to the judge.
“Having reviewed these documents, including the birth certificate that lists Cosimo Pesciano as father and the official diploma issued by the high school, I find Cadence Reynolds Pesciano meets the terms of this will and is affirmed as the primary beneficiary,” the judge said.
“To continue with the will,” the lawyer said. “I appoint Gino Todi, my trusted advisor and consigliere, as the Executor of this my Will. No bond or other security of any kind will be required of any Executor appointed in this my Will.”
There followed nearly half an hour of reading the listing of Big Al’s assets and the affirmation that each one was to become the property of Cadence when appropriate taxes and debts had been discharged. The list was impressive and cited exactly what rights and responsibilities Gino had in managing the estate through probate. There was a final Codicil and Wilson perked up.
If any beneficiary under this Will contests in any court any of the provisions of this Will, then each and all such persons shall not be entitled to any devices, legacies, bequests, or benefits under this Will or any Codicil hereto and such interest or share in my estate shall be disposed of as if that contesting beneficiary had not survived me. However, while ownership of my assets shall be the undisputed right of my one heir, I acknowledge that management of that business may not be within her capability at this time.
Therefore, the beneficiaries of this Will shall meet in my office under the guidance of my consigliere and the Executor of this my Will, in the presence of the capi of the various businesses described herein to be tested according to instructions I have left in my safe deposit box, the key to which is in the hands of my Executor. Whichever of the beneficiaries is able to pass the test will become the manager of my businesses until such time that the board of directors deems it appropriate to replace him or her. Failing either of the beneficiaries passing the test, my capi will proceed in order of seniority to attempt the test as well. Be it known that the one who passes this test is my choice to run all my enterprises and will have authority to direct all my private security to enforce my choice.
Wilson gleamed at that. It was a little depressing. What did Cadence know about actually running Big Al’s businesses? Wilson was the obvious choice and he knew it. I was pretty certain that once he had control, Cadence would see no benefit from her inheritance. What a convoluted bunch of crap the old man had put together.
The reading concluded with each of the three witnesses being called to confirm that they had witnessed this document and it was their signatures on the page.
“I declare the matter of probate to now reside in the hands of Gino Todi, Executor of the Will of Alfonso Pesciano,” the judge said. “Protests and contests of this Will must be filed in my office within thirty days. As in all probate proceedings in this state, beneficiaries must survive the decedent by thirty days. Mr. Todi.”
“I will proceed to the bank tomorrow morning at nine o’clock to retrieve Big Al’s instructions,” Gino said. “Each beneficiary may have a witness accompany me. We will gather in Big Al’s office at noon with the capi of the businesses to witness the opening of the envelope and to conduct the test.”
The meeting was adjourned. Cadence and I stayed in our seats while everyone else left except Gino. He wanted the office cleared before we left to make sure there were no confrontations.
“I advise that you stay in the hotel again tonight and not return to your home. I don’t trust Wilson any more than you do. I’m afraid Big Al did not do you any favors with the test tomorrow. It is not multiple choice. It killed your father, Cadence. In some ways, you are better equipped to pass the test than Wilson from what I’ve witnessed so far. If you let him go first, maybe it will kill him and you can pass. Unfortunately, I don’t think either of you will get that far and I’ll have to go through the list of the capi. If you do succeed, though, you might want to consider ditching the old Italian order and adopting today’s business terms for the positions like president of a corporation,” he laughed.
“What do I know about running a business?” Cadence sighed. “I don’t stand a chance.”
“You’ll have time to learn. Probate on an estate this size will take a couple of years. Go to school. You’ll be able to afford to. Insurance policies don’t go through probate. Neither do retirement funds that have a beneficiary statement. They are simply transferred to you. Even if you hadn’t become the beneficiary in Al’s will, he made sure you would be taken care of. Paolo has his team ready to take you back. He has instructions to take you to a very good restaurant for a late lunch before you go back to the hotel. If there is anything you need, you can go shopping. I think the bone Al threw to Wilson will keep him away from you for now, so as long as you have Paolo and a couple of the boys with you, you can relax this afternoon.”
“Thanks, Gino. Should I accompany you to the bank tomorrow morning?” I asked.
“That would be best. Cadence, you should come to the office before Lincoln and I go to the bank. That way Paolo can stay with you where it is safe until we return.”
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