Page 47 of Now or Never

“Do you give happy endings?” Jug asked.

“Not anymore,” Lula said. “I gave that up. We let Vinnie take care of the ending now. Sometimes Connie.”

“Connie would be okay,” Jug said.

Lou rolled his eyes and the other guys looked like they were trying not to laugh.

“This isn’t gonna take long, is it?” Lou asked me. “You goteverything set up? We walk into the court, get the papers signed, and we’re out of there, right?”

“Right.”

“And there better be something at the end that makes Bruno happy. Cupcakes or something.”

“Absolutely,” I said. “Primo cupcakes.”

They got Bruno dressed in his jacket, asked him if he had to use the little boys’ room, and escorted him down the hall and down the stairs.

“Lula and I can take it from here,” I said to Lou.

“Not gonna happen,” Lou said. “We all go.”

“All five of you?”

“Yeah. We’re going out the back way. We’ll take our car.”

“That isn’t necessary,” I said. “This is a simple procedure.”

“It’s necessary,” Lou said. “This is the way we do things. You’re going with us.”

“Their car is probably more comfortable anyway,” Lula said to me. “I bet it’s an Escalade. That’s the gangster car of choice. And we don’t have to worry about driving through any bad neighborhoods because they’re all carrying.”

We followed Lou to the loading dock, where two cars were waiting. Both cars had drivers. One of the cars was a big Mercedes sedan. Lou got in the front and Lula and I got in the back with Jug between us. The four remaining men got into an Escalade.

“I told you they’d have an Escalade,” Lula said. “They always have an Escalade in the movies.”

We moved out through the Jug Produce gate, with the Escalade following. I called Connie and told her we were on our way, and she needed to bring cupcakes with her when she came to bond out Jug.

“I’m not bonding him out,” Connie said. “Remember I told you there’s a feud going between Harry and Bruno? Vinnie wasn’t supposed to bond him out the first time.”

I lowered my voice. “I’m with five armed soldiers who are going to be very unhappy to hear this.”

“Maybe it’ll be enough if I bring the cupcakes,” Connie said.

“They better be damn good cupcakes.”

I hung up and smiled at Lula.

“Everything good?” Lula asked.

“Yup,” I said. “It’s all good.”

“Where are we going?” Jug asked.

“We’re going to the courthouse to get your court date rescheduled.”

“And then I get to have a happy ending?”

“Yep,” I said. “Connie will be there and she’s bringing cupcakes.”

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