Vice Cop Ch. 13

Roxella enjoyed the haute cuisine which she ate with gusto, the champagne, the carefree conversations and the Professor's good company. Inside, she was laughing, laughing at how happy life could be. Here she was among New York City's most elitist, affluent society, when just a month ago she had been taking off her clothes and dancing on a pole for money lusty men threw at her. Hudson was proud of her. He never let her out of his sight. As they ate at the buffet table beneath a grand chandelier, a handsome and well dressed man approached them.

"Hello there, I'm Jeff Jensen," he said, "host of Star Search. I have been keeping an eye on you, Miss. You are very beautiful and you look like you have talent."

"Oh, why thank you," Roxella said, "I do have a sort of talent."

She smiled and her sly comment was directed at Hudson who smiled back and kept himself from laughing. What a little sly vixen she was, Hudson thought. He liked that she had spirit.

"Would you like to audition for me tomorrow afternoon right here at the Plaza?" Jeff Jensen said, "I think you could qualify as a contestant. This time around, the contest will be held aboard a cruise that will take off the south Florida coast and sail into the Caribbean. The winners will be rewarded 50 thousand dollars."

The magic word. Roxella loved money.

"What do you think I should do, Hudson? Should I do it?" she asked him.

"It's up to you," he said.

"I gratefully accept," she said, "I think it will be a lot of fun."................

TWELVE

Alone with Lexa in their apartment, Mason finally spoke about what was on his mind. He did not, however, want to tell her about his secret investigative work with her father. He had a record playing, Lexa's favorite little piece of music, Floyd Cramer's piano piece "Last Date" which was followed by Henry Mancini's "Moon River".

He figured this would put her in a good mood. She had been in a bad mood after their quarrel. She had even threatened to leave him and to work as a detective for another precinct or by herself independently. Mason knew that it was an empty threat, born out of anger, but he never knew with Lexa. She could be very stubborn. Things were difficult between them.

"Lexa, I love you," he said to her, "I'm sorry I've upset you." "

Don't you have another record we can listen to? Moon River is lovely but sad."

Mason sighed. She was avoiding confrontation, which they needed badly. He complied and put on a different album, a compilation of 60's hits. Paul Anka's "Diana" blared in the living room. Lexa was smoking. She had not smoked in a long time so Mason knew that it was because she was upset. He also smoked when he was upset, though there were times when they had both smoked because they felt good. This was not one of those times.

"My mother's rehearsals are going well," Lexa said, "she's going to be singing in "Tosca". I want to go see her. You can come if you want."

"You know I will."

"She's glad she's going to be taking a break from her rehearsals when I go on Star Search. She hasn't been on a cruise since her youth when she was singing opera."

She had already told him about the cruise and that she was to sing in the Star Search contest. It had pleased Mason immensely and he had agreed to come see her too. Sometimes it felt to Lexa, that the relationship needed work and these little events were efforts to keep the relationship from falling apart. What she didn't bother to tell him was that she had always thought of Hudson and that she had feelings for him. She had only told her therapist about these feelings. Sometimes she wished she could just go to Hudson and tell him how she felt. She was sometimes almost ready to do just that. She didn't know how to feel about Mason. She loved him but she was not in love with him. She had never wanted to admit this and tried hard to be in love with him.

"Lexa, I want to tell you what's been weighing on my mind heavily," Mason said to her.

Lexa was all ears.

"It is about my book. I want you to know that the only reason I'm not including you in it is because the Mafia is a territory you're not familiar with. You know that. It's my territory. I have been after the Dinos for some time. They killed my first wife. You know that."

Lexa looked at the photograph, black in white, hanging on the wall over the fireplace. It was Katie, a sweet Kansas woman in a conservative dress surrounded by children, looking angelic and even more so now that she had been dead for years.

"I know," Lexa said, "and I can never be like her. She was a teacher, I'm a cop. She wouldn't hurt a fly. I'm always risking my life to save people like her."

"Lexa, I became your man because I like that you're a cop and I admire your courage and strength, not because I wanted to replace my first wife. Now, darling, let's not argue. I know what I'm doing. In fact, when we go on the cruise, I'll be promoting my first novel "Crime After Dark" and signing autographs. I'll also tell the public I'm working on an autobiography and I'll talk about my work in hunting down the Mafia."

"Well suit yourself," Lexa said, always avoiding her feelings.

* * * *

Gianni Dino was holding court in one of his homes located in New Jersey.

His head henchmen were gathered for what he called a very urgent purpose. For 1986, they were dressed in well-tailored suites that seemed more appropriate to Mafiosi from an earlier time, like the 1940's. They also wore dark sunglasses because it was hot and the glare of the sun was bright. They were in the back porch. Gianni was not married as he was a womanizer and lived alone. He had hired a maid who had no idea what he did for "work". The maid served the men coffee. They were talking under a cloud of smoke that came from their Cuban cigars.

"Alright boys," Gianni said, "I'll get to the point. It has come to my attention that a certain New York City Police Detective, Mason Anthony Holmes, is working with a retired cop, Emeric O'Neil on a Mafia hunt. These hunts come and go but sometimes they succeed. I was interested in this bit of news because this Emeric fellow is the same pig responsible for the capture and imprisonment of my old man Don Luigi. As you all know, he died at Sing-Sing. Now that same bastard is coming after me."

"This is bad news," said one of his men, coughing after smoking.

"It sure as hell is bad news," Gianni said, "but I'm not scared. No way is a 50 year old detective from Los Angeles and an old man going to put a stop to our business."

"Yeah? What do you propose we do about it, Gianni?" said another one of his men

"We're going to feed them to the fishes, boys. I'd love to see them just disappear. We'll kill them in expert style and dump their bodies in the Atlantic Ocean."

"Yeah but how are we going to do it?"

"It also came to my attention that this detective Holmes is going to be writing a book about his life and how he's been after the Mafia, by which I mean my family. If word gets out about our tactics, other detectives and pig cops will come after us and outnumber us. We can't let this book be published. He has to die. I hear he will be attending a Star Search contest aboard a cruise, the ship's called "The Siren" and it sails from Miami, Florida to the Caribbean. We are going to go on that same cruise, boys. We will find a way to kill that detective."

"Perfect. Everyone will be so busy having a good time or watching that damn contest to notice that we are going to kill him. What else do we know about him?"

"His live-in girlfriend is the daughter of that cop Emeric O'Neil who caught my dad."

"We gonna kill her too?"

"Do you need to ask that? Of course. That would really hurt the old man, to know that we got rid of his daughter. Perfect revenge. And the bitch is a female cop too I hear. Like father like daughter. The bitch's named Lexa O'Neil. Too many cops if you ask me. It will be a great thing to kill as many as we can."

They laughed and finished their coffee....

THIRTEEN

The cruise ship, The Siren, had taken off from the southernmost coast of Florida and haddrifted into the sea. Cuba was in sight at the end of the first day, as everyone aboard beganto settle in. It was a beautiful ship, large, impressive, like some elegant cigarette in the fingers of an elegant lady. There were three floors and decks, and the white-and-pinkcolor theme, along with the tropical Florida look, made this one an especially lustrous ship. There was also the theme of Atlantis and the magical world under the sea. Everywhere therewere kitschy ornaments like statues of mermaids, Poseidon the god of the sea holding hismighty triton, sea nymphs, classical Greek ruins, treasure chests, pearls-in-clams andall sorts of plants and tropical flowers. There was a Grand Ballroom and various show rooms. The main showroom was reserved for the bigger shows, and because episodes of Star Search would be televised from here, itwas decked as lavishly as possible.

Excitement was in the air and a sense of adventure.The passengers of the cruise were mostly couples and friends who liked to party at sea,wealthy and middle-class folk mingling together. It was a week long cruise to the Caribbeanwhere they would make a stop before returning to Florida.

For Lexa, Mason, Hudson and Roxella, the cruise meant different things.

To Lexa, the cruise was a break from her normal routine and work as detective. Her mother had convinced her to sing for Star Search and that it would be a nice sort of distraction. Lexa knew she needed it. She felt her relationship with Mason was waning and needed reviving and maybe this cruise was the answer. She wanted to succeed not only as a copbut also as Mason's partner. She knew that she had feelings for Hudson but she was sure that if she made a bigger effort to hold on to Mason, it might just work.

To Mason, the cruise was a way to save the relationship as well. He knew Lexa was having issues, some of which he didn't know about, but this get-away would be very rewarding. Also, he would have the chance to promote his writing and gain an audience. He had never felt more like a novelist than aboard this cruise.

For Hudson, it was a God-given vacation. He had just met Roxella Peters whom he had fallen head over heels for and she had won an opportunity to sing in Star Search aboard the ship. What more could he want? She was a beautiful young woman and he was certain she had a beautiful voice. She might even win that fifty thousand dollar prize. He wanted to spoil her, to love her, to let her know that he could give her everything she wanted and to top it all, he would treat her right, unlike Floyd and the other men in her former life.

For Roxella, it was a way to get famous. She loved money and craved attention. As a stripper, she had developed this attachment to material things and to the admiration from audiences, even if it was male audiences. She wanted to be recognized and she thought this contest was a perfect beginning. She wanted to jump for joy when she heard the event was to be televised. She would be appearing on TV! That was one step into the direction that headed to fame. Perhaps some agent or movie director would spot her, fall for her and she'd go to Hollywood! Never once did she think about what Hudson was seeing in it.

By pure coincidence, they were all assigned into hotel rooms in the same aisle and floor. This was due to the fact that both Lexa and Roxella were competing on Star Search, each without knowing the other. They weren't aware of this until the moment arrived when the host, Jeff Jensen, called all the contestants to a social meeting where they would introduce one another and get to know each other. It was in the Captain's quarters, which he liked to call "The Salon".

It was luxuriously furnished with gilded mirrors, high shelves filled with books, antique chairs and couches and lamps. The carpet was imported from India and there were Romantic Era landscape paintings on the walls. The Captain was a friend of Jeff Jensen, an older, white-bearded and chubby fellow. He was always well-dressed and boasted having enjoyed the company of noted celebrities from Winston Churchill, Aristotle Onassis, President John F Kennedy and Jackie, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Audrey Hepburn, Frank Sintra, Elvis, The Beatles and the Rockefellers and many others. He enjoyed good laughter and the jet set life.

"Alright, ladies," said Jeff, "we've separated you from our male contestants on purpose. There will be singing competitions between male singers and female singers. The talent portion of the show is for anyone who can play a musical instrument or can dance. You are all very beautiful and obviously very gifted young women. You will be given chances to prepare every morning and at night the contest will be on. You will be called into the dressing rooms behind the stage area of the main showroom."

With that Jeff Jensen began to talk to the girls individually and then, over drinks and food, allowed the girls to mingle among each other. Lexa, being naturally amicable, did not find it difficult to approach other women and was always smiling. However, she quickly discovered that her good spirits and hospitality, learnt from her Mississippi mother, did not sit well with the girls who were down-right catty, competitive, aggressive and unfriendly. None of the girls made friends with each other.

"You're a cop? You?" one of the girls said in disbelief, "how can you be a cop?"

Lexa smiled faintly. What was the big deal? Just because she wasn't a beauty queen, super model or aspiring actress like the rest of them were? She only smiled and made it appear as if she found it amusing. "

"I think that there are all kinds of women in America," said Lexa, "and cops are among them. Get used to it."

This always shut them up. The only girl who seemed genuinely and mysteriously interested in her was Roxella Peters. Lexa was eating salad at one corner of the room, completely alone, by a painting, when Roxella approached her, grinning. She was dressed in an backless orange dress and wearing a pendant, her hair in an up-do. Lexa thought she looked very beautiful and obviously a fancy dresser. Lexa did not feel the same about her own gown, which she had borrowed from her mother, a silver gala gown adorned simply with a jasmine in her hair.

"Miss Lexa O'Neil?" Roxella said to her, "Hello. I'm Roxella Peters."

"Nice to meet you."

"I have heard of you."

"You have? How do you mean?"

"I've just recently moved into New York City. You're a very well-known cop. Your exploits are very famous. I live in Brooklyn.....with an NYPD cop. His name is Hudson Banach."

Lexa was immediately surprised but she concealed it well and smiled awkwardly.

"You know him, right?"

"Office Banach? Why yes. We've been partners on various assignments."

"He speaks very highly of you as does everyone else on the force I hear. You amaze me, Miss O'Neil. How did you get to be on Star Search?"

"My mother, Katrina, was an opera singer for many years. She persuaded me to be on the show. I can sing and play piano. I thought it would be nice for everyone to see a whole different side of me."

"I'm sure you will do well. It will be an honor competing against you."

Lexa was not paying attention anymore but tried to look as if she was. Inside, she felt pangs. Hudson was with this young woman? When did that happen? How? She tried to think. Perhaps it was when he went to Florida on his overdue vacation. She was in shock. So soon, she thought. Jealousy was rearing its head, a feeling Lexa was unaccustomed to. She knew it was wrong and it was probably very pathetic to be jealous. She had always maintained a strong, independent persona. Still, she thought of Hudson and this fiery red-head sleeping together, and it hurt to think about it.

"My congratulations to you too, Miss Peters," Lexa said, "Hudson Banach is a wonderful cop."

"He's a wonderful everything. I have wanted to meet you and here we are. Good luck on the competition but I must tell you right away I have every intention of winning."

"Don't we all?" said Lexa, "I know I could use that money. I don't make that much as a cop. What do you do for a living, Miss Peters?"

Roxella had ignored her question when a gentleman had kissed her hand and began talking to her. How rude, thought Lexa. Somehow this is not a good woman, thought Lexa, she's going to be bad for Hudson. She could see how she relished in male attention and how she dressed to excite men and how devil-may-care she was. Still, she would have to accept her being with Hudson. She felt very sad. She had almost wanted to finally tell Hudson how she felt about him. Now she could not.....

* * * *

Gianni Dino had commandeered a cabin on the third floor of the ship. Because he had been in the casino business for all his young life, he had become acquainted with the Captain and many others who ran the ship. He had brought gambling into the cruise ship, a smash hit with the passengers. It was good for business. The Captain knew that Gianni was a Mafia Don's son and that this was a sordid business but he put up with it. It was working great. No one got hurt, money came rolling in and the casino room on the ship was The Siren's most alluring aspect. It was a luxurious, glittering casino. It was all golds and onyx, marble pillars, a fountain with a nude mermaid statue, impressive chandeliers and everything you would expect in a Las Vegas casino - roulette wheels, slot machines, card tables and even scantily-clad waitresses serving libations. Because Gianni was well known, he was allowed to take up a room almost as a residence. He was feeling especially powerful.

Immediately, he settled in. He had brought his most loyal henchmen, who happened to be family members, men who were used to discreet murders and getting rid of rivals, enemies and anyone that just rubbed Gianni the wrong way. Gianni was proud of his casino of the sea and he had informed his father before dying in Sing-Sing, of his success with it. It had made the old Mafia Don very proud of his son. Gianni finished his brandy and telephoned the Captain.

"I'd like to thank you for the cabin, Captain," he saod to him, "I'd like some room service if you don't mind."

"No problem, Mr. Dino," the Captain said, "the staff will provide you with anything you need. And...if you wish, a housekeeper here can be paid extra for a night with you. Would that please you?"

"It sure as hell would. Could you get her here right now?".........

FOURTEEN

The housekeeper was a Cuban lady who had been living in Miami since her family fled the Communist revolution lead by Fidel Castro. She was middle-aged, not very attractive, with dark hair and bronze skin and very short. She was told that she would be paid well not only for providing her cleaning services in the room of Don Gianni Dino, but if she had sex with him as well. She was dead inside, having lost her family when they were deported back to Cuba, having no husband and being very poor. The job she took as a hotel housekeeper on a cruise ship was all she knew. She would not like the sex but she wanted the money.

Gianni stared at her with a malicious grin as she entered his room.

"You are Mr. Dino?" she asked him.

"That's right," he replied, "what's your name?"

"Anita."

"Anita, I'm glad you didn't refuse the offer. I will pay you well for your services."

"Would you like me to clean the room now?"

"Yes. Go ahead. I'll watch."

She bowed her head and silently proceeded to do her work. She was dressed in a blue cleaning lady's outfit, which was light blue in color and the hem of the skirt reached to herknees. She had very nice legs, and a very nice build, even though Gianni didn't care for hervery ordinary looking face. Still, he watched with lustful anticipation as she moved about,bending over to empty the trash, to do the bed, to change the flowers on the vase. She had her back to him and did not look at him, though she was aware that he was staring at her. He was smoking his cigarette. He especially liked her round, firm buttocks. As she began to scrub the table which contained the telephone and a book listing the activities and dining options of the cruise, Gianni walked up to her from behind and put his hands around her waist, pressing himself against her.