by David Nees
“Again, I’m sorry. This has been so stressful for you,” Marty responded.
“Can’t you stop it?” Sheila asked. “This kind of thing isn’t supposed to happen in neighborhoods like this.”
“Mrs. Salvatore,” Mike jumped into the conversation, “I’d like to help. You remember me? I want to help keep you and your family safe. Whoever is doing this is going to escalate and strike your family one day. It could be you, your husband, or God forbid, one of your daughters.”
Sheila started to cry again and looked fearfully at the men. Marty gave Mike a dirty look.
Mike put out his hand, gesturing for him to keep quiet. “Mrs. Salvatore, may I talk to you in private for a moment?”
Sheila nodded and headed for the kitchen with Mike following. Marty stared after them as they disappeared from view.
“What do you want, Mr. Warner? I probably shouldn’t be talking to you, my husband doesn’t like you.”
“Your husband is under a lot of pressure and doesn’t realize how I can help your family—”
“So, can you make this stop? Do you know who’s causing this?”
“I’m not exactly sure who’s causing this, but I can make it stop. Let me explain. I’m with the FBI, as you saw on my card. Right now, we think Vincent’s in a very bad position. His organization is coming apart, and Carmine Gianelli and Silvio Palma are getting nervous about him.”
“Vincent hasn’t done anything wrong. He runs a legitimate business, the restaurant and the trucking business.”
“We know about those as well as the trash business that he’s part owner of. Carmine and Silvio have ownership stakes in those businesses. But, Mrs. Salvatore, may I call you Sheila?” She nodded. “Thank you, call me Mike. It’s easier for our conversation…not being so formal. Anyway, we all know that these companies are covers for various crime enterprises. Enterprises that Vincent is directly involved in—”
Sheila gave him a suspicious look. “You don’t know that. You can’t prove that.”
“I can’t right now, but that’s not my point. If Silvio loses confidence in Vincent’s ability to control his crew, he will have to replace him. Sheila, I don’t think I have to spell out for you what that means. Vincent can’t just retire from this business. It doesn’t work like that.”
Now Sheila started crying again. Mike got up and grabbed a box of tissues from the counter and handed them to her.
“Vincent hasn’t done anything wrong. Carmine’s wife and I are good friends. He would never do anything to hurt Vincent and me,” she said between sobs.
“Sheila, I don’t want to upset you, but I have to be honest. Carmine’s wife will have no influence on what happens. When the organization decides someone has to go, they make it happen. It’s always that way. It could be Carmine’s people, or one of Vincent’s crew. It’s just business to them.”
“What can we do?” Her voice rose in panic.
“I can take you and your family away from here. Give you protection from anyone trying to kill Vincent.”
“You can?”
“Yes. I just need Vincent’s cooperation…before it’s too late.”
Just then Vincent charged into the kitchen.
“What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay out of my house,” he yelled at Mike.
Sheila jumped up and ran to her husband. “Oh Vincent, it was terrible, so much shooting. Did you see the car? That could have been me in my car. Why can’t you make this stop? One of us is going to get killed.”
Vincent put his arms around his wife as he glared at Mike. “You. Get out now. Don’t talk to my wife.”
Mike stood up. “Vincent, I’m in charge of this investigation, like I told you before, so I’m not leaving the house. This is a crime scene. I’m trying to help you stay alive—help your family stay alive.”
“We don’t need your help—”
“Vincent, maybe you should listen to him? He says he can protect us,” Sheila said.
“What are you talking about?”
“Mike says he can protect our whole family. He says that Carmine or Silvio might want to kill us. Is that true?”
Vincent glared at Mike. “Stop lying to my wife and trying to panic her, you piece of shit.” His voice held a tone of growing rage.
“Vincent, you know it’s true. They’re getting nervous because things are unraveling. And you know what happens when Silvio gets nervous.”
“You don’t know a fucking thing about what’s going on.” Vincent’s face turned a bright crimson.
“I may not know the details, but someone is coming for your crew, you, and your whole family. If Carmine or Silvio see this as you losing control, they lose confidence in you. So far no one has been able to stop what’s going on and it’s only a matter of time before someone in this family gets killed.”
“Vincent, listen to him. This has to stop,” Sheila shouted.
“Be quiet. He’s not telling the truth. He just wants to panic you. I’ll take care of this.”
“Well you haven’t so far.” She stomped out of the kitchen.
“You know I’m right,” Mike said after Sheila left. “They’ll come for you if this doesn’t end, and you and the police haven’t been able to stop whoever is doing this so far.”
“I can take care of myself and my family without your help.”
“Well I’m going to post a twenty-four hour police guard outside of your home. I don’t want to see your family harmed.”
“I don’t want a guard. I told you to get out and leave me alone!” Vincent was shouting now.
“You don’t have a choice. The neighborhood needs to be protected. Marty will go along with my suggestion. Now I’d like make you an offer of protection, for you and your family.”
“I’m not going into some protection program. I don’t need that.”
“I think you do need that. I’ll stay in touch.”
“Don’t bother.” Vincent walked out to find Sheila. Mike looked around. The kitchen was elaborate, much like the rest of the house. A fancy pseudo-estate, overly decorated with a grand entrance hall and stairway, an example of suburban excess. It was a poor interpretation of a European mansion set in the middle of a collection of one acre lots with each house trying for the same effect. As overdone as it was, it would take a lot of pressure to pry them loose from all of it.
Chapter 41
Carmine sat down with Silvio in his office near the docks in Brooklyn. They were alone. Silvio’s constant bodyguards were just outside the door. The older man was dressed in an expensive suit and tie, with a colorful handkerchief tucked into his chest pocket. Except for the tone being on the flamboyant side, he would be considered expensively well-dressed by any fashion critic. His gray hair was slicked straight back, accentuating his thin, angular face. The effect was that of an aging European aristocrat.
“What is going on with Vincent and his crew? It doesn’t look like he’s gotten things under control.” Silvio’s voice was raspy, cracked with age. It carried no warmth, nor did he intend for it to do so.
“No. We’re losing money and the Feds are now involved. They’ve turned up at his house a couple of times now.”
“Why the Feds?” Silvio asked. “What’s this got to do with them?”
“The word is that they consider some of what happened extortion, so they’re jumping in.”
“We don’t need that.” Silvio’s age and slight build masked how dangerous he was. He was not physically imposing but his manner expressed an absolute sense of being in command. He was known to be ruthless when dealing with competitors and threats. Even Carmine, his underboss, charged with enforcing his edicts, felt ill at ease when Silvio was upset. “What’re you doing about this?”
Carmine paused; his answer had to be correct. Whatever he proposed, Silvio would hang on him.
“No one has been able to get to this guy, Dan. But we gotta stop this. We’re losing money and control is slipping—”
“We know tha
t. What the hell are you going to do? And the Feds are involved? I don’t like that.”
“I’m wondering why they can’t find this guy. You’d think between the Feds and the local cops, they’d have flushed him out by now.”
“What are you thinking?” Silvio asked.
“Maybe they want pressure on Vincent…not find this guy too soon. Maybe they want him to disrupt the crew. Mess things up until we have to act.”
“So then they can get to us?”
Carmine nodded. “And if they can convince Vincent we’ve lost confidence in him he might think we’ll take him out.”
“You give Vincent any ideas like that?”
“No. But I’ve kept the pressure on him to get this under control. He ain’t getting it done.”
“This guy Dan, what’s he want?” Silvio asked.
“Revenge. One of Vincent’s crew torched his restaurant last year and killed his wife.”
“That’s not good. You talk to this guy?”
“Once. He’s after Joey Batone, the guy who torched the restaurant. But now he has bigger plans. He wants to be paid to leave us alone.”
“What?” Silvio almost smiled in surprise. “That’s bold. What’d you tell him?”
“That I’d think about it. I said we might consider if he did work for us. He’s good at what he does.”
“And?”
“No deal. He just wants to be paid to leave us alone. If the cops, or the Feds, or us can’t find him, it might make sense.”
Silvio stared at Carmine who began to worry whether he’d said too much. “Still, it would be your call.”
“Hmmm. So let’s give him Joey and get him out of our hair.”
“Not that easy, with all due respect. He thinks he can get Joey on his own and then he just wants to be paid to go away. I think he likes stealing our money.”
“How much does he want?”
“Five hundred grand a year.”
Silvio thought for a moment. He didn’t like making rash decisions, but this was a real crisis and he needed to get it shut down and under control quickly. “We’ll pay him for now. We got to shut this down. Whether or not we continue will depend on whether or not we can find him later.”
Silvio shifted in his chair, leaning forward towards Carmine. “And I want you to watch Vincent closely. If he gets cozy with the Feds, we have to do something.”
“Are you giving me the go-ahead on him?”
Silvio raised his hand. “No. Just watch him closely. And since the guy wants Joey, let’s give him Joey. Send him out to the lodge in the Berkshires. This guy Dan will probably follow him if we let slip where he’s hiding out.” Silvio leaned back. The conversation was over.
Carmine rose to leave. Silvio stood and gave him a hug. He held his shoulders and looked into his eyes. “One more thing. Make sure Joey doesn’t leave the lodge alive.”
Carmine nodded and Silvio released him.
Chapter 42
Jane called Mike the next day. All she told Mike was that she had information about Dan and wanted to talk to him privately. She arranged to meet him on the promenade along the waterfront near the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. When Mike showed up, Gilbert quickly wanded him to make sure he wasn’t wearing a wire.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“It’s just a precaution,” Jane replied. “We need to talk off the record, so no recordings allowed. My assistant is just ensuring we are having a private conversation.”
Gilbert nodded to Jane and then withdrew to a discreet distance so they could talk.
“So who are you?” Mike asked. “Most people don’t have access to wire detection equipment.”
“True enough,” she replied. I’m not a civilian.”
“Again, who are you with and how do you know Dan?”
“I’m with another government agency. It’s not important which one. All these robberies and killings happening to Vincent’s crew are unusual to say the least, especially for those who understand these things, as I know you do. This isn’t a turf war or gang vendetta. It’s something else.”
“We’ve figured that out already. You said you had information about Dan. What it is.”
“First of all, you know there is no evidence to link Dan to these incidents. Not one eye witness, not one scrap of hard evidence.”
“How do you know what evidence I’ve got?”
“If you had what you needed, you wouldn’t be asking Tommy and Doreen to get you in touch with Dan.”
“What do you know about that?” Mike was getting visibly angry. Jane could see his displeasure at talking to a woman who wouldn’t identify herself, but seemed to know what was going on. “If you don’t tell me who you are, I can’t waste my time with you.”
“Yes, you can. Let’s be frank, you use confidential information all the time.”
“So what do you have to help me? Just get to the point.”
“I know your end game is to put enough pressure on Vincent and get Silvio Palma to decide he’s a liability. Then you plan to turn him and whisk him away into the witness protection program. You’re out to take down Silvio’s whole operation, not just Vincent’s crew. If Dan is the source of all this action, you want to slow down your investigation to let him keep up the pressure on Vincent. It must be getting tough for his wife and daughters, and you’re betting Dan can make it tougher.”
Mike scowled at her. “You have a nice theory about what is going on, but I’m wondering where you gathered all your data. Or did you just dream it up? And, furthermore, why are you interested? Are you with some spy agency?”
“There are lots of agencies I might be with, but I assure you we are on the same side. I can also assure you that I am not interfering with your investigation—nor will I.”
“So how do you help me?”
“I’ve been in touch with Dan.”
Now Mike stepped up close to Jane. “That could be viewed as interfering with my investigation. You need to explain yourself.”
“I know you talked with Tommy and Doreen. Apparently Dan decided not to call you. However, he did call me—”
“And how did he know to call you?”
“I talked with Tommy and Doreen after they met with you. They’re very concerned about Dan’s future, even if no hard evidence points to him.”
“Cut the crap. We all know Dan’s behind this.”
“Knowing it and proving it are two different things. But for the sake of our conversation, we’ll assume Dan has some connection to events that could help your cause.”
“Bottom line. What can you give me? I don’t have all day to spar with you.”
“Dan may not be involved and he may just leave the area and disappear. I told him how helpful these events were to you in your plan to turn Vincent.”
“You what? I’ll see you in jail!” Mike was almost shouting now. “If that gets back to Vincent or Carmine, the plan won’t work.” His face turned red. Jane wondered if he was going to put his hands on her. His body tensed.
“Stay calm,” she said. “Dan doesn’t want to help Vincent. In fact he thought it was quite a nice side effect. But it requires Dan, if he’s the cause of these disruptions, to continue what he’s doing.”
Mike took a couple of deep breaths, and then stepped back. Jane could see his mind turning over how to neutralize her. She was on dangerous ground. All Mike had to do was to start making phone calls up his ladder and at some point she would get a call asking her if she was in New York and if she was, why. It could even result in being wired up to testify that she was not involved in any domestic operation. She would need some strong sweetener to get Mike to go along with her plan.
“Here’s the deal,” she said. “I have a job offer for Dan. He’s committed no crime that I am aware of. There is nothing to link him to what you are investigating. But if he takes my job offer, he’ll leave the area. What that will do to the pressure on Vincent, I don’t know. It may not change anything. But you and I both know that
Dan’s disappearing will make your task harder.”
“So you’re going to snatch him away, right out from under my nose? I’ll have your job if you do.”
“Mike, I can make him disappear… and I will. You may have my job, but you don’t get Vincent.”
Mike looked away across the harbor, and then up to the massive bridge. Jane sensed he was evaluating his options. She turned her gaze to the bridge. It was amazing how being near such a large structure tended to make one feel a little smaller, less important. It helped a person to think outside of themselves. Maybe in the greater scheme of things we weren’t all that important. We certainly wouldn’t be around for as long as this bridge.
“What are you offering?” he finally asked.
“I’m offering to have Dan stay around until you can nab Vincent. What I want, what Dan wants, in return, is that you don’t go after him when this is over. You have him disappear from any active investigation.”
“Just walk away from all this mayhem he’s caused?”
“First, you may not be able to prove he caused it. Second, you’ll have your victory with Vincent. That’s the plum for your career.”
“I’m not sure I can just close that part of the investigation out.”
“Sure you can. The killings could be written off to a disgruntled mob member—pick one, there’s a lot of them to go around. You could have just been feeding info to this disgruntled mobster so he would put the pressure on Vincent, exactly how it’s developed. You just switch an unnamed mobster for Dan.”
“There’s the local police—”
“Yes. And you’ve taken over their investigation. They’ll go along when you point out that they helped cover up the fire in Dan’s restaurant over a year ago. That crime was never solved and two innocent people died. In this situation, no innocent people are dying.”
“Two people died? I thought it was just Dan’s wife?”
“She was pregnant. We women think about that.”
“I can’t just sit by and let Dan kill more people.”
