sneaking around together for six months, and she’d been anxious for the last few weeks about Big Joe suspecting something. So why not give him Chandler? Penza had become a lovesick fool willing to humiliate himself to keep from losing a dish like Melanie. He wasn’t going to hurt her. All he really wanted was to be convinced that the cheating was over. If Gallo was wrong and Big Joe hurt Melanie, or worse, well that would be a shame. She might not have had as much meat on her as he usually liked, but she was a hot piece of ass and a lot of fun in the sack. He might have even developed feelings for her. But he wanted more than just her. He wanted everything Big Joe had, and piece by piece he was putting his plans in place so he could take it all.
Stanton came into the room shaking his head. The actor wasn’t hiding out there. Gallo took hold of the redhead’s delicate chin and turned it so she had to look at him.
“I’m going to ask you questions, and don’t lie to me, because if you do I’ll know it and it won’t be good for you. Do you understand me?”
“Yes.”
Gallo smiled thinly, seeing a spark of defiance in her eyes. She was tougher than she looked.
“When did you last see Ben Chandler?”
The question surprised her. “Over a week ago,” she said, her voice halting.
“How about texts or phone calls from him?”
Her eyes went distant as if she were giving the question intense thought. “The same,” she said.
Gallo snapped his fingers. “Your phone.”
“It’s on the countertop in the kitchen.”
Without Gallo having to ask, Stanton retrieved it while the woman stayed under Gallo’s watchful eye. After she unlocked the phone, Gallo scanned through the text messages and phone log. She had told him the truth. The last texts from the actor came nine days ago—a flurry of naked selfies that were sent between them. Once again, there was that glint of defiance in her eyes as he studied the text messages and photos. When he was done, he handed her back her phone.
“You don’t want to go to the cops or tell anyone about this visit,” he said. “If you do, I’ll find out about it and it won’t go well for you. You understand that, right?”
She bit her lip to keep from crying. Gallo wasn’t sure whether it was out of anger, fear, or relief. He touched her cheek and let his hand linger, enjoying the coolness of her skin and watching her struggle to keep from bolting away from him. A real shame. If he had time, he could have fun with her.
He signaled Stanton with a tilt of his head. Without another word the two men left the townhouse. Once they were back in Gallo’s Audi, he picked up Chandler’s little black book from where he’d left it on the center console, and after marking an X next to the redhead’s name he chose the next entry in the book for them to visit. This was a guy in West Hollywood who sold the actor coke. Maybe they’d find Chandler this way, or maybe he’d hear about the actor surfacing somewhere, and he’d get him then—even if he had to fly halfway around the world. He couldn’t afford for Chandler to live long enough to find his way to Big Joe.
Gallo gritted his teeth remembering how Big Joe had acted when he told him about Melanie and the pretty boy actor. He’d been sure that Big Joe would want the actor chopped up into fish bait and dumped into the Pacific. Instead, Big Joe wanted the actor found so he could talk with him. Gallo was embarrassed for the mob boss. If nothing else, it showed just how soft Penza had become, and how badly he needed to be replaced by someone with some balls on him.
But that was for later. For now Gallo had to make sure Penza never talked with that actor. Benjamin Chandler had to disappear from the planet. Gallo’s own life depended on it.
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