by Joe Corso
Trenchie had been listening to the conversation and, when Red hung up the phone, he asked him, “Do you want me to take care of this? It’s only a short drive to Swifty’s house.”
Red smiled at his friend. “No, Trenchie, Moose can handle it. I’m calling Tarzan now and he’ll send guys out on tonight’s red eye. Moose will have plenty of help tomorrow.”
Moose and the boys stood in the lobby of Nixon’s office building, looking out the glass door, observing every car that pulled up to the building. A dark-colored Buick sedan slowly pulled up in front of Nixon’s law firm and four men stepped out of it, catching Moose’s attention. He reached under his jacket and unsnapped the button on his shoulder holster. He was armed, but the three fighters weren’t. Moose told the guys in a low voice that was almost a whisper, “Get ready.”
Swifty was standing alongside Moose as they stepped out of the door. He was the closest to the men with guns. On impulse, Swifty threw caution to the wind and surprised everyone by running full speed and then diving into the three men, who had just gotten out of their car and were standing in a cluster in front of their car. Swifty slammed into the trio with a diving block that knocked them off balance and shoved them against the side of their car, giving them no time to reach for their guns. Swifty’s crazy impulsive move gave Moose, Gonzo, and Henri the time they needed to rush over to help him. Moose slugged the guy closest to him on the head with the barrel of his gun as the guy tried to pull his gun from his shoulder holster. When the first gunman fell unconscious to the sidewalk, it was now mano á mano as the three fighters fought the three killers with a desperation born of knowing they were fighting for their lives. Realizing they could be shot at any moment, they didn’t give the gunmen any time to reach for their guns. They punched the killers with precision timing and accuracy that comes from constantly training for their next fight, using lefts and rights until the three men were disarmed and unconscious.
Nixon had no idea of the turmoil that was taking place outside of his office building. Moose took a look around and said, “Come on. We’re out of here.” He turned to leave, but stopped, reached over, and grabbed one of the thugs, who was leaning unsteadily against his car, by his jacket collar. “If you ever go after Nixon or his family again, we’ll kill all of you.” Moose pushed the guy to the ground and as the man leaned on one elbow trying to get to his feet, Moose slugged him again on the side of his head as a reminder not to return. Then, he and the boys raced to the parking lot, got in their car, eased onto the highway, and headed towards Swifty’s house.
Once in the house, Moose called Red to tell him what happened. Red listened and when he hung up, he was confused. Why would anyone want to kill the ex-vice president? He had lost the election to Jack Kennedy in 1960 and now he was just a lawyer practicing law. He couldn’t figure it out. Maybe there was more to the story that Marilyn hadn’t told him. She must know more, he thought. He found her sitting on a lounge, getting the sun by the pool and looking beautiful in a very revealing bathing suit. He walked over to her. “My men just broke up what might have been an attempt on Nixon’s life. Would you know why anyone would want him dead?”
Marilyn looked sheepishly up at him. “I might,” she said and hesitated before she continued telling him.
Red had to prod her a bit. “Talk, Marilyn. I have to know what I’m up against.”
She pursed her lips and wet them with her tongue, and then she began to explain what she did. “When Jack didn’t return my phone calls, I was desperate and wasn’t thinking clearly . . . and I threatened him. But I only did it to get his attention.” She offered him a weak smile after telling him that.
Red stared hard at her. “And you didn’t think that this was important enough to tell me?” Red was getting tired of Marilyn’s procrastinating explanations and as he was about to lose his patience, he said angrily, “Now fill me in. What exactly did you threaten him with?”
She hesitated for a moment and then decided to tell him everything. “Well, since Jack beat Nixon by such a close margin I told him I was going to tell Nixon that I knew how Sam Giancana rigged the votes in Chicago to get him elected.”
“You told him that?”
“Yes. And I also told him that I was going to tell Nixon about the Bay of Pigs Invasion and about the girls Jack had coming to the White House. I was going to hold a press conference and tell the media about the affair we were having and how he promised to divorce Jackie to marry me.”
“Christ, woman. No wonder he wants you neutralized. You can’t stick a pin in a tiger and not expect to be eaten by him. You’re a danger to him. He can’t afford to allow any of this to come out. It would not only destroy his presidency, but with Nikita Khrushchev’s finger on the nuclear button, that information could send a few atomic bombs our way. If what you know comes out, and if the commies sensed weakness in our president, it could destroy this country.”
CHAPTER 15
The sleek black car pulled into the driveway of a sprawling ranch house that overlooked the twinkling lights of Los Angeles. The view was breathtaking and Swifty had to pinch himself to be sure he wasn’t dreaming. It was all because Red felt sorry for him and took an interest in him. He thanked God for Big Red. A few years ago, he was fighting four-rounders for chump change. Now he was a big Hollywood movie star and a rising star in the boxing world. His next fight was for the Middleweight Championship of the World. Things couldn’t be going any better for him. When he thought about all the club fights he took when he needed money, he never dreamed he’d come this far in this lifetime and it was all thanks to Big Red. Moose shook Swifty out of his reverie. “Come on. Let’s get in the house. I feel exposed standing out here, like I got a target on my back.” Maria, their housekeeper, was waiting for them in the foyer and Moose asked her to put on a pot of coffee. She obediently turned and went to the kitchen to prepare it. As soon as she left the room, Moose, who was simmering, turned to Swifty and said sharply to him, “What the fuck is wrong with you? What were you thinking? I don’t ever want to see you do something so stupid again. Do you hear me?”
“What did I do that was stupid, Moose?” Swifty replied with a mischievous grin on his face. He knew exactly what Moose meant.
“You tackled those three guys all by yourself. You could’ve been killed, you jerk. Then what do I do when you’re shot full of holes, lying dead in the street? What do I tell Red? That you were shot because you forgot you were Swifty Card and thought you were Superman? If anybody was going to get shot, it should have been me. I was the one with the gun.”
“Moose, you’re getting ahead of yourself. Nobody was shot. We’re all alive and I’m fine. I didn’t get shot. I’m standing here listening to you talk about stupid things that never happened. We won, so get over it okay?”
“Stupid things. Yeah! Maybe. But I was worried about you. I don’t want anything to happen to you. You know, when we had the shootout at the Starlight Club I couldn’t do anything to help Jimmy the Hat when he was shot and killed, and I couldn’t help Red when Lonegan’s stooge shot him, but I could sure as hell make sure that nothing happens to you. Capice?”
Moose told the fighters to follow him into the dining room; he wanted to talk to them. When they were all seated, he said, “Look, guys. Red’s sending some of the boys out here to help me with this Nixon thing, but for the time being, you guys are elected to take their places until they get here.” He pointed at Swifty. “I don’t expect you guys to help me the way Nutso over there did this morning. Our job is to watch over the Nixon family and protect them without them knowing about it. I don’t know why anyone would want to kill Nixon, especially since he lost the election. But Red has his reasons and if he tells me to do something, then it must be important. He’s a real smart guy and he knows what he’s doing.”
Swifty interrupted. “We may have a problem.”
Moose got nervous. “What problem?”
Swifty pointed at Henri and Gonzo. “They have screen tests scheduled for to
morrow. How are we going to handle that?”
Moose relaxed, let out his breath, and sat back in his chair. “Don’t change a thing,” he said. “Let them keep their appointments and do the screen tests. You and me, we’ll handle the stakeout. Henri and Gonzo can catch up with us later if we need them. But I don’t think that will be necessary. Our men will be on tonight’s red eye and they’ll catch up to us in the morning. I’ll give Red a call to confirm the boys are on tonight’s flight.”
Red was busy questioning Marilyn to see if there were any other surprises he should know about. “I’ll bet you a dollar to a doughnut that Bobby thinks you told Nixon everything.”
Marilyn agreed with him. “You’re probably right. I’m sure he’s convinced that I’m a national security threat. I don’t know what I’m going to do about Cal Neva, though.”
“What about Cal Neva?” Red asked.
“I told Frank that I’d be there for the opening night. He’s spent a lot of money and made a lot of renovations to the place and I promised him I’d be there for the grand opening and besides, I’d like to see what he’s done to the place. Jack Kennedy was supposed to meet me there, but now I don’t think he’ll do that.”
Red looked at her and shook his head. “Marilyn,” he said. “Any man that doesn’t want to see you is not right in the head. And even though I never intended for any of this to happen, I have to tell you. Having met you, I think I’m the luckiest guy in the world. Don’t worry about Cal Neva ‘cause I’m going with you, and as long as I’m with you nothing is going to happen to you, and that’s a promise.” That made her feel better, and she physically relaxed and came to him with the sexiest walk he’d ever seen. She put her arms around him and kissed him hard on his lips. Then she took his hand and led him to her bed.
“I want to make you feel better than you’ve ever felt with any woman. I’m a little rusty making love to a man and I’d like to try different positions while I’m making love to you, and I would prefer that we’re not disturbed for the next hour. Can you arrange that for me?”
CHAPTER 16
“I’ve had to sit here in Washington wondering what was happening. I would have preferred to be with you on this last assignment, but unfortunately, last minute business came up that I had to take care of. Under the circumstances, I had no choice but to entrust you to complete this phase of the operation and you failed me yet again. Explain to me how this could have happened. Explain to me what went wrong this time, Emil. I want you to explain every word of it to me, so don’t leave anything out. Not one word, do you understand?” Bobby sat back in his chair, waiting for Reynolds to explain what happened.
“Yes, sir. I understand. To begin with, I didn’t want to hire any more gang members. I don’t trust them and they’re incompetent. I wanted professionals for this job so I contacted a firm we did business with in the past called Blackstone Security. We agreed to meet in a remote private airfield on the outskirts of Los Angeles to discuss what we required of them. They asked me if I was the one doing the hiring. I told them that I was just the messenger and there was someone much higher than I am that’s hiring you. They insisted on knowing who it was, but I wouldn’t tell them. They then asked me to explain what the job entailed. I informed them that due to national security concerns, I wasn’t at liberty to tell them. I told them they were being hired to take Richard Nixon into custody and bring him to us, and they would be paid well for the job. They balked when they heard who the target was, and were about to walk out of the meeting, insisting that they wanted nothing to do with this. They told me they didn’t need federal heat brought down on them. I explained that we were in possession of critical information given to us by a reliable source that Richard Nixon came into possession of some very sensitive, highly classified information concerning national security. We had to know what it was and who his contact was and we need to know how this information came into his possession. They softened a bit, but they were still suspicious. They asked me why I didn’t use the government’s resources. I told them that we tried setting up a meeting with Nixon, but he wouldn’t agree to the meeting and he refused to speak to us. Because of his refusal to cooperate, we have to take him in by force. I explained to them that it was imperative that we know what he knows. We don’t intend to hurt him; we just want to talk with him and we didn’t want it to appear to be partisan politics so we decided to use an outside source to get him. This way, he wouldn’t know it was us who kidnapped him. The boys from Blackstone didn’t like it, but at least this explanation gave them plausible deniability if they were caught in the act or after the fact. They agreed to do the job, but insisted on one million dollars up front and another half million after the job was done, which to their surprise, I agreed to. I paid them the first million yesterday along with the address to Nixon’s law firm. I also gave them his home address.”
“Then what happened?” Bobby asked impatiently, wishing the words would spill out of Emil’s mouth before he could speak them.
“Blackstone assigned three mercenaries for the job. They arrived at Nixon’s office building and were stepping out of their car when four men approached them”
“Yes! Yes! Go on, Go on.”
“Well, one of the men did the unexpected. He charged the Blackstone people and tackled them, taking them completely by surprise. He knocked the three of them off balance by slamming his body into them, causing them to fall hard against their car. Then the other three joined in and attacked the Blackstone men while they were trying to get their guns out. These men must have been trained in some sort of martial arts discipline because they made short work of those Blackstone men. And the Blackstone men sent on this job were all trained professionals.”
The attorney general rubbed his chin as he listened to his subordinate’s disappointing explanation. “It seems that whatever we do, they’re one step ahead of us.”
“The good news is the Blackstone men got away before the police came.”
“I have to give this latest mishap some thought. We’ve come too far now to fail.”
Shooter and Joey Bones sipped coffee in the Corona Gentlemen’s Club and brought Tarzan up to date on what they had discovered. Shooter took a bite of biscotti and said, “I’m pretty sure Reynolds’ office is on the seventh floor. I was quite a distance from the elevators, but I watched the hand on the floor indicator as the elevator rose. It stopped a notch after the six thirty position. Now if we put the guy Red hired on the roof of the building opposite the Federal Building, we might be able to use that gadget the feds are using, a parabolic mike, I think it’s called, to record their conversations. It would be nice to know what they’re saying. Or, if that’s a little too complicated, we could just grab the guy and take him to one of Red’s warehouses. What do ya think?”
“Have you followed Reynolds to his home yet?”
“Yeah, that was the easy part. He lives in Virginia, not too far from where Lonegan used to live. Seems all the feds live in that part of Virginia. It’s away from the congestion of Washington, yet close enough to get there quickly by car. It’s a short drive from where he lives. It’s a nice place to live if you work in Washington, which I’m glad I don’t.”
Trenchie thought a moment, and then said, “Let’s go with the parabolic mike and see what that brings us. My gut feeling is we’ll have to go with Plan B and grab Reynolds when he leaves his home, but first we’ll see what we pick up with the mike.”
Shooter interjected, “If we decide to go with Plan B, we’ll have to plan it carefully because he always has a car pick him up at his home in the morning. If we decide to grab him when he leaves for work, we’ll have to grab him and at least one or two of his men because sometimes there’s a second man in the car besides the driver.”
Trenchie made a call to Jeff, Red’s security expert, whom he kept on the payroll. Jeff’s main job was to keep the club free of listening devices. The guy was ex-military and he specialized in the latest in sophisticated surveillance equipment. H
e was the one who introduced Red to the Verican Surveillance system that the army used in 1944. Red had it installed in the Starlight Club. No one in the country had this system yet but the military. But Jeff knew where to get this sophisticated equipment, which was far more advanced than the average Joe had in their buildings. When Tarzan told Jeff what he wanted him to do, he just smiled. “Child’s play,” he murmured. “Give me something hard to do, something that’ll challenge my abilities.”
Trenchie was all business. “For now, do this for us. You can record what your mike picks up, right?”
“Sure. If my equipment picks up any conversation, my recorder will record it.”
“Excuse me,” Piss Clam said. “How does the damn thing work?”
“I have a friend of mine who’s the vice president and co-owner of Laser Tech, a firm located on Long Island. He’s working on a hush-hush device for the government. It’s advanced. There’s nothing like it on the market at present.”
Piss Clam persisted. “But how does it work?”
Jeff smiled. “Okay, you asked for it. If you want a detailed explanation, I’ll give it to you. Follow me on this and if you have any questions, stop me, and I’ll answer them for you.
“The Long-Range Laser Listening Device consists of three main components: laser transmitter, laser receiver, and amplifier unit with audio recorder. It operates by transmitting an invisible infrared beam to the window of the targeted room, in this case Reynolds’ office window. The Long-Range Laser Listening Device detects vibrations on the window glass that are caused by sound waves (speech) inside the room and it transmits them back to the receiver. The laser beam, bouncing off the target window, is then converted into electronic signals, filtered, amplified, and fed into a dedicated recording unit connected to its own amplifier with speaker and headphones. Real time audio monitoring and recording are possible simultaneously. You won’t find this stuff on any department store shelves. It’s not available to the public, but I grew up with the guy and while he won’t sell it to me because it’s numbered and scheduled for delivery to the government. He’ll lend it to me for a week while the other units are being built. That’ll be enough time for me to record what’s said during that time period.”
