Geek Mafia: Mile Zero | Page 4

resist The Party two nights in a row."
"And it's just not the same without you there."
"Nothing's the same without me there, Paul."
"Don't I know it," he replied as he made a show of looking Sandee up and down. "Rrrrow! You look amazing. I'm always impressed."
Sandee gave him a playful shove. "You big tease. You better be careful, talking to me like that. I'll tell Chloe."
"Like she doesn't already know. She probably had Bee bug this place too," he joked. He looked around the bar again. "Actually, that's not a bad idea..."
"You crazy kids and your little spy toys. I swear! You won't be satisfied until there's a camera on every corner and a bug in every bar. But not Pete's, ok? He's got enough of the real live bugs already."
"Good point," said Paul, taking another sip of his drink. "But there's no stopping Bee once she gets an idea in her head."
"There's no stopping any of you three when you get an idea in your heads."
"Another good point." He finished his drink and smiled at Sandee. "But back to my question. Where is The Party tonight?"
"Have you really lost track of it? It's your party."
"I know, I know, but I lost control of it long ago. Giancarlo said that we couldn't have upstairs at Vesuvio, but he said you had something lined up instead of the normal backup."
"As a matter of fact, I do." Sandee smiled with pride. "I finagled us the house on Eaton."
"The Crawford place?" asked Paul, surprised.
"The very same."
"That's great! God, I love it when we can get that place. How long?"
"Thirty-six for sure, maybe as long as fifty."
"Perfect. Who've you told?" asked Paul, standing up.
"My kids. Jesse of course. I haven't hit the girls yet."
"I was heading over there anyway. I'll tell them."
Sandee winked. "I bet you will. Chloe trusts you more than I would."
"Chloe trusts me with you, doesn't she? She's obviously not risk averse."
"I'll bet no one ever accused her of that," said Sandee.
"No one that's lived to tell the tale," Paul agreed. He caught the bartender's eye and waved, signaling him to put the drinks on his tab. The bartender smiled and nodded back at him. "I gotta get going then, make sure everything's set."
"There is one more thing," said Sandee. "New place, new money."
"New money?" asked Paul, surprised. He'd thought there was plenty in the party fund to cover anything Sandee might need for tonight. "Why..."
"We had to pay for damages at Max's, and then there was the whole sordid affair with The Gringo. We're tapped out."
Paul sighed and dug into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "I've only got $600 on me," he said as he leafed through the bills. "That was going to be my bribe money for the night."
"If you can spare it, it'd help. I've already doled out all my cash on hand to secure the place and get the liquor. But we still need..."
"I know, I know," said Paul, handing the money to Sandee. "Let's just try and make tonight kick ass so we can earn that back as quick as possible."
"We should be flush by dawn, my dear," Sandee assured him. "Just you wait."
"That's the plan anyway. But would you explain that to Chloe for me?"
"What is Chloe doing tonight, anyway?" Sandee asked. "I was hoping to get her to come out with me and check out the new help at the Hyatt."
"She's busy getting everything set up for our visitors. She's kind of freaking out about all the little details."
"Oh my, are they coming in tonight? I thought that was next week."
"Nope, it's tonight."
"Well, I guess I won't be seeing too much of you three anytime soon."
"We'll see," said Paul. "I'll try and swing things and introduce you around. It's still kind of a big mystery as to why they're coming here in the first place, so we'll have to wait and see how things play out."
"I understand, sweetie. And hey, if you can, bring some of them by The Party. I'll show them a good time."
Paul leaned forward and gave Sandee a quick kiss on the cheek. "Ok, I'll let you know. Have fun."
"You too," replied Sandee. "But not too much fun unless I'm there."
"We'll see," said Paul.
Sandee looked past Paul's shoulder and grinned. "Look who's back."
Paul turned to see a squat, bald man in his early 60s bearing down on him. He gave Paul a crooked smile full of yellow teeth as he slapped him on the back. "What's up, friend. Long time no see!"
"Bernie!" said Paul, turning to the old man and shaking his hand. "Where the fuck have you been? I heard Miami PD picked you up!"
"Nah, nah, nothing that dramatic," Bernie said, shaking his had. "I just had some family shit to take care of up in Coral Gables.