Page 31 of Made of Steele
“I’ll talk to Monty. See if he wants to speed things up. But remember we have to stay under the Fed’s ten grand radar so the deposits will be small.”
“No skin off my nose. We can do the work.”
“You mean I have to do it,” Aldo said. “Half the time you don’t even know where our money’s located.”
“Your skills don’t need supervision, unlike someone else.” Sal gave Vito a pointed look. “As long as the dough’s there when I need it—that’s all I need to know. And don’t let Vito get his hands on it.”
Yeah, Vito would be the one to press for information and flip on the others once Drew had these guys in handcuffs.
The minute Sal accepted cash that he believed came from Monty’s drug-trafficking business was the minute he would be legally cooked.
9
Teagan opened the door to Posh Nails, a salon frequented by wealthy clients. Drew had left her behind, telling her that dinner was her next job in the op. So what? That didn’t mean she couldn’t follow up on some of the information that Nick had discovered. She would never purposefully step on Drew’s toes and interfere in his undercover assignment. His life was far too important to do that. But she could begin unearthing details that might be helpful.
Starting with Chauncey Rossi’s wife. She was a frequent flyer at this salon, and Teagan used a bit of subterfuge to find out that the woman had an appointment at two o’clock. Teagan quickly booked her own appointment at the same time. Mani-pedi sessions were known to cause loose lips and provide lots of gossip.
Not that Teagan had participated in a session in a long time. She could already see the stink eye she would get when the technician took a look at Teagan’s hands. Cooking often dried them out because she washed so frequently.
She stepped into the swanky place and acrylic nail glue and polish odor hit her hard. She searched the expensive leather chairs and immediately recognized Lauralee Rossi from her social media pictures. The older woman had bleached blond hair worn long and straight and batted thick false lashes with caked-on black mascara. Her makeup seeped into the wrinkles on her face, making her appear older. She wore designer casual clothes in bright pink and black that seemed more fitting for a teenager than a woman over sixty.
Keeping eyes and ears open, Teagan registered and crossed the room to select a polish color at the array of colorful bottles in plastic racks on the wall. Lauralee chatted about clothing and moved on to discussing her high cork platform flip-flops. Nick’s dossier put the woman at sixty-two, and Teagan wondered how safe such shoes were for Lauralee to be wearing.
Teagan settled on a pale pink color that would go with everything and cupped the bottle, thankful that her hand wasn’t trembling during her little subterfuge.
“Teagan.” A cute Asian technician stood and waved a delicate hand.
“Here.” Teagan rushed down the aisle to the smiling girl, glad to see she’d scored the station right next to Chauncey’s wife.
Lauralee looked up. Teagan smiled and nodded as she took a seat in a soft leather chair. The older woman responded with a broad smile. She seemed a pleasant enough woman and very chatty. Could mean Teagan would gain valuable information.
“I’m Angie,” the technician said as she plunged both of Teagan’s hands into a small water bowl to soak. “Did you select a polish color?”
Teagan stifled a gasp at the pain in her injured finger, but wouldn’t draw attention to it and looked at Lauralee. “Honestly, I really like your color. Would you mind if I copied you?”
“Of course not.” The other woman flashed another smile, her even white teeth perfectly spaced. “When a young beauty like you wants to look like me, I have to be flattered.”
“You’re too kind.” Heat rose up Teagan’s neck and flushed into her face.
The technicians exchanged the nail polish information.
“Be right back.” Angie went to get another bottle of the color called Bubble Bath.
Teagan looked at Lauralee. “Are you getting a manicure for a special occasion?”
“Special? Hmm.” Lauralee’s perfectly plucked eyebrows drew together. “Could be, I suppose. It’s my birthday, and I’m getting something I’ve dreamed of my entire life.”
“Happy Birthday,” Teagan said with enthusiasm. “Sounds exciting.”
“It is.” Lauralee leaned closer as if she had a secret. “My husband owns his own business, and my oldest son, Oliver, is taking over. Ollie has a big, I mean huge, deal going down this month, and we will finally have enough money for me to buy the villa in Italy that I’ve been dreaming of since I was a little girl.”
“Oh, how wonderful.” Teagan didn’t have to pretend as itwouldbe wonderful to be able to afford such a thing, but who dreamed of a villa when they were a kid? Kind of odd. “What kind of business is he in?”
“International geological equipment sales.” She waved her hand with its freshly polished nails, the sparkly lacquer flashing in the overhead light. “Don’t ask me to tell you more than that. I have no idea of the business details. I stay as far away from them as I can, only getting involved if they need me to sign something. And then I put my name where they ask.”
“So you must own part of the company,” Teagan said.
“Some legal thing about shares or something like that.” Her gaze intensified. “Sounds like you’re interested in business.”
