The Lagotti Family Series

by Leopold Borstinski

  “So does California sound the best option then?”

  “Does to me.”

  “Me too.”

  Mary Lou reached out her hand and Frank squeezed it, briefly. They were far from reconciled but there was still enough connection between them to carry on together. At least for a while.

  “But there’s a problem with the money, isn't there?”

  “We’re stuck with dirty money and we have no idea how much we've got.”

  “Do you think Paul and Luigi got greedy or were they following Uncle Frankie’s orders?”

  “Good question and right now I don't know. He’s always been kind to me even though there’s no blood tie between us.”

  Mary Lou bit her tongue. There was more to Frankie than a benign step uncle.

  “Should we go over to Frankie and sort things out?”

  “Any other day, I'd say yes. But if he did call a hit on us then we shouldn't be going into the lion’s den. Besides, we need to get out of Baltimore. We need to be out of Maryland as soon as.”

  “Where can we launder the money instead if we’re not touching Uncle Frankie?”

  “We’ll need to make a detour.”

  “Huh?”

  “Vegas. I know a guy who knows a guy out there. And worse case, we can hit the wheels.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “I've got some connections out there. It’ll be fine.”

  “And after Vegas, on to California?”

  “For now but we can decide for sure later. Depending on how much heat is after us, we might have to head over the border - north or south - before coming back later or leaving forever.”

  “But we don't have to worry about that right now.”

  “Not at all, Mary Lou. Without laundered money, we might as well make a break for Canada now because at the moment all we have in those black bags are bunches of paper. They are useless to us. If we pass any of those notes over, the cops’ll be all over us within thirty minutes. Make no mistake: we can't do anything with those notes until we’ve got them washed and dried.”

  “I understand, Frank.”

  Lucy came over and refilled the mugs which killed the conversation at the table.

  “No need to stop just ‘cause I came around. I heard just about everything over the years in this diner. There’s nothing that’d embarrass me.”

  “We were just trying to decide where to go on vacation. Which do you prefer: Mexico or Canada?”

  “I've never been to either. Never left the States. I reckon the heat of Mexico’d lead to some sexy nights for a woman and a man like you two.”

  “What are we like?”

  “Young. In love. You know.”

  “Do we look like we’re in love?”

  “Sure do, hon’. Are you married?”

  Mary Lou glanced at Frank.

  “No, we’re not.”

  “Oh kids. If you love each other then do it right. I've been hitched twice but I'm single at the present.”

  “No guy to keep your bed warm?”

  Lucy chuckled.

  “No, hon’ but I do have a man aiming to heat my mattress tonight.”

  Now it was Mary Lou's turn to chuckle; Frank didn't respond.

  “Can we have the check?”

  “Sure thing, babe.”

  Lucy pulled out a pad from her apron and wrote out the total on the bottom of the chit. She placed it face down in front of Frank and went away.

  “Why did you encourage her so much?”

  “Just being nice.”

  “But you've basically told her where we’re thinking of going.”

  “Sorry, I didn't think.”

  “You said it. Think before you talk next time, okay? We can't afford any slip ups.”

  6

  FRANK LAGOTTI SENIOR switched the radio off just before ten. No news for ages and the music annoyed him. He returned to his office, sat down behind his desk and took his mind off the bank robbery by focusing on his favorite pastime.

  He pulled open the top right drawer of his bureau, picked out a girlie magazine and opened it. Leaned back in his chair and stared at the pictures. This was his morning routine and the heist had disrupted it.

  Frankie told himself the robbery was a win-win for him. On one side of the coin was step-nephew Frank. He’d funded the boy and his crew, knowing the place would be fat with cash and was ripe for picking.

  The other side was a deal Frankie’d made with one of the bank employees who’d run up a hefty gambling debt whose marker Frankie had acquired. He gave the schmuck a choice: spend the rest of his life paying back his debt or take the money out of the safe.

  Frankie set Carter up to grab the greens the morning of the heist. He told himself the only way he could lose was if the coin landed on its edge. And what're the chances of that? Whatever the probability, he sent out Paul and Luigi to extract the take from Frank and head back to his auto repair shop.

  The fact the radio announced the robbery meant Carter owed him forty thousand dollars and a huge explanation. Frankie would deal with the mook later; there was more than enough time. He had told Frank he’d need a couple of weeks to launder the take, which wasn't exactly true. An arrangement had already been reached with a connection and within twenty four hours the cash would be returned. Frankie intended to use the rest of the time to invest the money and make a little on the side.

  What concerned him was the time Paul and Luigi had been gone. Their primary orders were to bring the money back at whatever cost. If Frank bought it that was an acceptable loss, he’d said to Paul. With the guy toast, he could keep the whole take for himself as none of the rest of his crew would come after him. Apart from Pete the Wheels who was a homicidal maniac. If his two did for Frank, Pete was a dead man walking. He’d cap the crazy fucker; great driver but a sociopath for sure.

  If Paul had misinterpreted his words, who knows how Frank might react. He could be volatile at times. One thing was certain: Luigi would do whatever Paul told him to do because he was a fine bodyguard but not one of Nature’s natural thinkers. A natural soldier though.

  Frankie’s concentration was distracted by a particular image of a naked body stretched out before him on the page. He turned the publication sideways to not strain his neck. A true connoisseur of free artistic expression, Frankie liked the shape of her tits.

  Of an evening, Frankie would pursue his artistic interests at the Kitkatt Club, a venue he acquired as a result of a different failed attempt to pay off a gambling debt by some other degenerate. This strip joint did good business thanks to its location near the expressway. It also served as a great place for Frankie’s R&R - he never paid as he was the owner.

  His mind drifted even further as he thought about the girls he’d banged there. Some wild nights. Mrs. Lagotti made him breakfast but asked no questions where he’d been. They had been happily married for decades and the source of their happiness was Frankie’s porn collection and titty bar. He and his wife hadn't been intimate with each other for over fifteen years and that was how they both liked it.

  Frank Senior preferred younger flesh. Much younger. And the Kitkatt Club was a feast of fresh naïve pussy ripe for plucking. Those girls made a lot of money and earned every dime. It was the American way.

  A foot fell off his bureau and this knocked Frankie out of his reverie. Despite himself, Frank Senior jolted upright and his mag fell on the floor. He threw it back into the desk drawer and stormed into his anteroom. There was only one person there: Anthony, who was sitting forward in his chair playing cards, chewing a matchstick. Always with a matchstick.

  “Any word, Anthony?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Why’s the radio off? How do you know what is happening?”

  “You switched it off, so I reckoned you didn't want me flipping it on the minute your back was turned.”

  Anthony was right. That boy was brighter than Paul and could handle himself better than Luigi, who was an aggressive fighter who’d give
no quarter ever.

  “Okay. Put it back on, we might learn something about the heist and if they got away with it.”

  Very disappointing about Carter. Next week Anthony will pay him a visit. Until then Frankie wanted to get his hands on that money. He looked at the clock and he gave up on waiting.

  “Anthony. You got two reliable guys you can call on now?”

  “Guess so... yes.”

  “Bring them over to the rendezvous. You and them. As soon as you can paint a picture, find a payphone and tell me."

  “Right boss.”

  Anthony made two calls and promised Frankie he’d phone with information about the money. Paul and Luigi could wait until later.

  “Sure thing, boss.”

  Anthony put his playing cards back in their cardboard packaging and placed them neatly in a drawer. Then he stood up and left the auto repair in search of the take.

  7

  AFTER ANTHONY LEFT the premises, Frankie returned to his office and spent some time examining the visual poetry of his girlie magazine. He made a mental note to pop over to the Kitkatt Club on his way home tonight. He needed the relief on offer from one of the girls.

  Frankie settled into his chair and time passed uneventfully. The place was quiet: no vehicle had been in for repair since the day he took over the auto shop. Visitors came and went but none had any car business. An hour later and a knock at his door.

  “Enter!”

  Anthony walked in and stood waiting. Frankie always forced everyone to wait at least a minute when they came into his room. It was his way of reminding you of the power he held over you. Tedious.

  “So?”

  “We found the barn but we couldn't get too close.”

  “Why not?”

  “The place was ablaze. Flames forty feet in the air. Too many fire trucks and blue-and-whites for us to get near the joint.”

  “Okay. You've told me what you don't know. Got anything more useful for me?”

  “We talked with the rescue servicemen and there were several cars set alight. They reckoned that was the cause.”

  “Did they say how many vehicles had been torched?”

  “Three cars and a van, they said.”

  “Any bodies?”

  “Yes. They found some incinerated remains in the vehicle but they aren’t too sure exactly how many. The inside was like a crematorium.”

  “Jeez.”

  “Three or four corpses for sure but they need to sift through the bones to count up accurately.”

  “Do you think Paul and Luigi got themselves cremated?”

  “They ain’t nowhere to be seen and there are bodies turning to ash in that van. I reckon two will be Luigi and Paul.”

  “Rest in peace. Let’s get some flowers sent over to their widows.”

  “Right, boss.”

  “If our two bought it that means the money is still out there and that step nephew and his skirt are on the lam.”

  “We asked about but no-one had heard or seen anybody else. A cop remembered seeing the van and a couple of cars on the road before the barn burned. And they mentioned passing a blue Falcon.”

  “That’s them. Frank went into way too much detail for me and listed all the vehicles Pete had acquired for them to use.”

  “What now?”

  “Wait outside. I need to make a few calls. Are the people you've brought in reliable?”

  “I trust them.”

  “With your life?”

  “Well, I'd trust them with my money overnight. There's no-one I'd trust my life to.”

  “Trusting them with money speaks volumes and is good enough for me. I’ll call you when I’m ready.”

  Anthony shut the door behind him and Frankie sat at his desk seething. Looked like that step nephew of his skipped town, possibly with his girlfriend in tow - depending how many bodies were in that van. The other possibility was that she had survived and the rest of them were goners. Either way, he and his men would find the survivor and extract the take from them - whoever they were. And a bonus if they wind up dead.

  Carter let him down and Frankie would have smiled had he known the man was fighting for his life in hospital suffering from gunshot wounds to the groin - administered by Frank after he took the cash off him and before he left the bank.

  Instead, the Shylock was planning his own revenge for the gambler which involved a workshop vice and a lot of pain. This train of thought only increased his anger because he was dealing with the loss of his money and two doses of betrayal on top.

  Frankie's sister remarried after her husband met an unexpected end when a mechanical digger crushed his stationary car with him in the driver’s seat. Her second fella played poker with Frankie before they were hitched and, to his regret, he felt like he had introduced them to each other.

  The problem with Giuseppe was five-card stud. He had a series of tells you could read a mile off and many did. This meant him a loser and like gamblers before and after when he lost he often would double up hoping to turn things around. When the deadbeat had borrowed to the max from everyone else, the only person left to get cash from was his brother-in-law.

  So Frank Senior spent ten years keeping this guy afloat to ensure his sister lived in the lap of luxury she deserved. That annoyed the moneylender on a daily basis but what hurt him more was Giuseppe’s son from his previous marriage.

  The schnook was short of brains and long on mistakes. Frequently Frankie had organized work for him - a variety of crews hitting different venues - but he got caught more times than was good for a professional.

  And the boy had the family name. How? Maria had reverted to the Lagotti moniker after the car crush and then refused to change it when she remarried. Frankie regretted the age in which he lived and the bra-burning feminists who inhabited it.

  Then his step nephew decided he preferred his step mother’s name to his own and used that instead. Frankie ground his molars as the memory of these events raised his blood pressure even more. He hoped Frank’s body was on the funeral pyre and that Mary Lou had survived. He could have some more fun with her if Anthony caught her alive.

  The money became his main focus again. That and an amazing ass which appeared in his field of vision as he flipped through more of the pages of his magazine.

  What annoyed Frankie most was he had no handle on the size of the take. The radio DJ had been vague at the start and then his update implied there was a big haul. Frankie knew the heist was large because they’d planned it that way. In his mind, he imagined a pile of notes and counted them out. His fear was that the news was exaggerating the size to beef up the story.

  While the accuracy of the radio broadcast was not Frankie’s primary concern, the fact there was talk of a six figure sum was very important to him. And if he could listen to the radio, so could his boss back in New York - and that built up expectations he couldn't meet. When New York wasn't happy then bloody retribution often ensued.

  THE BEST THING was for Frankie to place a call to New York. He didn't need to look up the number as it was tattooed to the inside of his eyelids.

  “Is Charlie available?”

  Beat.

  “It's Frank Lagotti ... Sure.”

  Charles Pentangelo was a made man for the Bonanno Family, who controlled much of the significant criminal activity in the Five Boroughs.

  Frankie was left holding the receiver for several minutes. The six minute wait stretched to eternity.

  “Charlie! How’s that wife of yours and your wonderful children?”

  “All fine, thanks Frankie. And how is Mrs. Lagotti?”

  “She’s cooking me up a storm.”

  “Great news. What can I do for you?”

  “Wanted to give you an update on a matter I mentioned to you a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Oh yes, how is that proceeding?”

  “Good and bad, hence the call.”

  An audible sigh.

  “Talk Frankie.”

  “Can we s
peak on this line?”

  “Sure thing.”

  “They got the money out. That’s the good news.”

  “And the bad?”

  “I sent my people out to collect the take but something went wrong. My people are dead and the holders of our money appear to have flown the coop. That is most definitely the bad news.”

  “How big is the take?”

  “That’s not well defined right now. We were waiting for a large haul but the only count I have comes from the radio so it’s not reliable.”

  “What do you intend to do about it.”

  “I will send a different crew to chase after the cash. So far what’s left of the gang have been careful. They’ve burned evidence and kept under the police radar.”

  “Are they smart?”

  “I wouldn't have said so. My step nephew is not the sharpest tool in the box.”

  “But he’s been clever enough to steal the money from a bank, wipe out your people in a puff of smoke and still evade capture.”

  “Yes.”

  “So perhaps you should have the decency to give him the respect he deserves.”

  “Yep, it’s the trouble with family - from the wrong side. It’s a bad business but I shouldn’t let it cloud my judgment. My apologies.”

  “Accepted, Frankie, of course.”

  Beat.

  “How reliable is this second crew you are planning to send after them?”

  “They are fine. I trust them - with my money if not my life.”

  Charlie laughed and Frankie was pleased to steal Anthony’s words and turn them into a joke to lighten the mood.

  “Do you trust them with my money? That is the question, isn't it?”

  “Of course.”

  “Just messing with you, Frankie. We all have a vested interest in your success. Any help required, say.”

  “Thanks, Charlie. Right now, I wanted you to know what was happening. We are still only a handful of hours since they took the bank, so it’s early days.”