“You can have six of my men for a year. That is not a problem. Pay them fifty per cent more than I do and you can buy their loyalty for every minute the money lasts. An upfront consideration of twenty thousand will be sufficient.”
“Even though I‘m saving you much more than that in wages alone, I accept those terms as a sign of good faith.”
“Agreed. Now tell me your plans.”
“I‘m looking for some enforcers because it is time to break new ground. Our gambling operations stretch across California, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey and Massachusetts. I want to use these locations to move into neighborhood prostitution and labor racketeering if possible. We would need to seize opportunities on a case-by-case basis and have fellas who can handle themselves for that. Ours are great but it never hurts to hold more baseball bats than the other guy.”
“I would love to have a piece of that action.”
“For a price. Your strength lies in your ability to find tough men, but my understanding is that your reach doesn‘t stretch much beyond the Tenderloin. A statement of fact and not a criticism.”
“No offense taken - yet.”
“Seems to me if we are a good fit together, success will follow for both of us.”
DESPITE HER PROTESTATIONS, Nikolay insisted on driving Alice back to her hotel - or rather his driver took them both. When the limo pulled in, they carried on talking until Alice thought it only polite to suggest they continued the conversation over a cocktail. Nikolay agreed in an instant.
“What would you like?”
“I insist. Let me buy you a drink.”
“Very kind. A cosmo is always welcome.”
Nikolay ordered the cocktail and a vodka tonic for himself. Once the drinks arrived, they moved to a table which had more comfortable seating and gave Alice a view of the bar area leading to the hotel lobby.
“You reckon we can pull this off?”
“With my brains and your brawn, we'll rule the world.”
“Your beauty and my experience, you mean.”
Nikolay squeezed Alice‘s knee under the table but removed it back onto his lap. A momentary invasion of her personal space, which raised a red flag in her head. For the rest of their time in the bar he did nothing else inappropriate and Alice relaxed again.
“It‘s been a great evening. And I think we‘ve made a lot of progress.”
“Certainly. Looks like we are a good fit as you were saying earlier.”
They were in the lobby by now and Alice halted. Nikolay stopped too but gave no sign he was ready to leave the hotel. Alice tried to think how to call it a night.
“Let‘s call it a night.”
Sometimes go with the obvious.
“The least I can do is to walk you to your door.”
“There is no need.”
“I insist.”
Alice shook her head, shrugged and headed to the elevator, followed by Nikolay. At her door, Alice unlocked it and turned round. Nikolay pushed past her and walked in. She sighed and followed.
“Now you‘ve seen me in, it‘s time for you to go.”
Nikolay walked up to her and picked off a piece of fluff from the front of her dress, just above her breast. She swallowed hard, grabbed his hand and put it by his side.
“Don‘t be like that. I thought we were getting on fine.”
“We have been: so far, but you‘re overstepping the mark.”
“No I haven‘t.”
With those words, Nikolay grabbed the front of Alice‘s dress and ripped it apart so the material above her waist fell away. Standing semi-naked, her knee instinctively traveled straight up to smash against his groin. Nikolay hit the ground clutching himself as Alice towered over him.
“If you think I‘d want your dick anywhere near me, you are delusional. Now get the fuck out of my room, little man, before I cut it off.”
JANUARY 1997
28
NIKOLAY‘S RESPONSE WAS more subtle than Alice could ever have imagined. Instead of coming back that night and slicing her open with a bolo knife, he put the squeeze on the Red Stocking and anyone associated with it. Bobby then instructed Naldo to pay a visit to the Bay City to find out why the Markov clan was getting fresh. He returned with bupkis so Bobby told him to take a bite out of their territory.
The next day, Naldo visited the B-Bang, a lap dancing club on the edge of the Tenderloin. There was nothing to distinguish it from any of the other clubs on the same drag once you got inside. The exterior comprised an ordinary facade with a ten feet high neon sign perched on the roof of the low-rise building. The lights depicted an animation showing blue panties lowering to reveal a red pubic triangle. No-one could claim they didn‘t know what to expect when they walked through the door.
Naldo scooted round the rear of the club and found a yard filled with garbage and three girls, coats over their shoulders, sat having a smoke before returning to the drudge of their work. In the meantime, they gossiped and laughed, ignoring the slight chill of the night. Naldo opened the metal gate and stepped inside. One girl, wearing yellow and black, noticed his arrival.
“Beat it, bud. This is for staff only.”
He ignored her instruction and ambled toward her.
“Go round the front if you want to watch. This area ain‘t for the likes of you.”
Naldo nodded but continued his journey to the girl, both hands in his jacket pockets. The other two stood up and formed an approximate line either side of Yellow-and-Black. He stopped when he was four feet away from the nearest skirt. None of them were over sixteen and Naldo closed his eyes for half a second.
“If you don‘t get out, I‘m gonna call the manager.”
As he opened his eyes, his right hand whipped out of his pocket to reveal a two inch blade and he swiped at Yellow-and-Black‘s face. A line of red appeared below her left eye and she screamed, clutching the side of her head. Naldo stepped a pace forward and swung at the other two. By the time his arm returned to rest by his hip, all three were cut and screaming. One headed to the backdoor and Naldo turned round, out the yard and vanished into the night. Although they didn‘t realize it, they were lucky. Under any other circumstances, Naldo would have slit their throats, but he was following strict instructions: give Markov a warning not an all-out assault.
The moment Bobby ordered the attack on the B-Bang, he knew his people in the Red Stocking were at risk. Sure enough, an hour after Naldo left the yard, a firebomb hit the front of the building. Then things got nasty and the field of battle spread way beyond the confines of the San Francisco city line.
Within a week, blood was spilled on both sides and operations halted or destroyed. What nobody in the Lagotti family factored into consideration was that Nikolay Markov was Russian. That meant he had connections far beyond his immediate reach in the Tenderloin in SF. And the fellas he knew had almost unlimited resources and not one inch of sentiment in their bodies.
MILTON SPENT ANOTHER night sleeping in a fuck-room in the Palace. Ever since the Markov trouble had spilled outside SF, his time had been occupied inside the Lagotti fortress, protected by extra armed guards, to keep him safe. Six men in three shifts were stationed at his family‘s home in Palm Springs and that made him feel better. He‘d been around the block long enough to remember the twins‘ kidnapping.
The one thing he missed was Elsie, with whom he‘d been having regular encounters for the past two years. He spotted her the day she started at the Palace: he was down in the reception area when she walked in and lit up the room for him. Before she got the chance to earn any money, he put her on his personal payroll and bought her clothes, trinkets and her own apartment.
A week without Elsie felt like a lifetime and that was too long for Milton. At first, he hadn‘t wanted her anywhere near the Palace because it might be too dangerous, but seven days later and his opinion had shifted.
“Baby. Pack yourself a bag and get your tail over to the Palace. Papa wants to have fun and he‘s been missing your loving.”
“I‘ll be right over. See you in thirty.”
Forty-five minutes later and Elsie had yet to appear, but Milton accepted that LA traffic was shit any time of the day or night. After an hour, he started pacing and tried to take his mind off the wait by watching footage from the peephole cameras. When ninety minutes had passed, he began to fret and two hours since the phone call, Milton flipped his lid, hopped in his car and headed over to Elsie‘s apartment.
When he got there, the door was an inch ajar. He pulled out his pistol and pushed the door open and walked inside, eyes darting left and right. Something was wrong. Intruders maybe. Through the hall and into the living room. The answer lay in a large pool of red on the rug by the couch: Elsie was naked and knife wounds punctured her torso, her legs, her groin.
Milton squatted and threw up. Once he‘d pulled himself back together, he thought he heard a creak from the master bedroom. He took two deep breathes, crept to the door and listened. Definitely a noise. He kicked the door open and pointed his gun forwards. A flash and a bang and everything turned black.
ALICE, BOBBY AND May Lou were in the summerhouse and ten men surrounded the perimeter, some with sniper rifles hidden in crow‘s nests in the trees. Irma popped her head round the door after knocking and said there was someone on the phone. She thought it might be Naldo, but as ever she hadn‘t asked. What she didn‘t know couldn‘t kill her. Bobby walked back to the house to take the call. When he returned two minutes later, he was ashen.
“They‘ve killed Milton. Put a bullet in his brains and dumped his body on the sidewalk outside the Palace.”
Alice‘s jaw dropped and Mary Lou looked on, stone-faced.
“IT‘S TIME FOR you to come home, son.”
“I‘m fine, Mama. Why d‘you need me on the other side of the country?”
“We have issues and I need you by my side.”
Frank lay in bed with one hand on his girlfriend‘s stomach and toyed with her belly button as he spoke. For Mama to place the call meant some heavy shit was going down. And the lack of information she was offering indicated to him she was concerned about ears on the line.
“I‘ll get over as soon as I can.”
Frank put the phone down and sent his fingers below the belly button.
“Come on, you and I are off on a little trip.”
“I don‘t think that‘s a good idea.”
“Nah, it‘ll be fine. My family is very accommodating of strangers. And you‘re not that strange at all.”
“Even so, I think I should stay here.”
“Nope. If what might have gone down has happened, you won‘t be safe. I won‘t be able to protect you.”
“Just remember I told you I shouldn‘t come along.“
“Duly noted. Now put your panties on so we can get going.”
She giggled then wriggled into her skirt, ignoring Frank‘s underwear instruction. He smiled and licked his lips.
“Dirty minx.”
FRANK AND HIS girlfriend arrived in Palm Springs and headed straight to Oakcrest Drive. Into the house and up to his old room, which was now a spare bedroom after all this time. They unpacked and lay on the bed for half an hour.
Eventually Frank had enough and went downstairs.
“I‘ve got a headache. I‘ll be down later.”
Frank shrugged and made his way to the living room. Empty. So he walked through the conservatory, out past the pool and into the summerhouse. Bobby and Mama sat talking and they both smiled at his arrival. Mama ran over, gave him a hug and tiptoed to kiss him on the forehead.
He suffered in silence - a grown man treated like a child - but when she messed with his hair, he brushed her away. Mary Lou laughed at him and sat back down. Frank slumped down on his own in an armchair to prevent further maternal attacks on his dignity.
“Where‘s Alice? I thought all ships were coming into the harbor.”
“She‘ll be along later. Right now she‘s under Naldo‘s protection in a safe house.”
“Why does she get special treatment? Can‘t she look after herself?”
“More than you‘ll ever know. We thought it best for her not to stay in her apartment as it‘s difficult to defend from attack.”
“Are we on some kind of lockdown?”
Bobby glanced at Mary Lou who stared at Frank. Neither of them felt the need to respond to him and he waited to find the answers to his questions.
“Was the flight okay?”
“Yeah, we had a smooth run and thanks for sending a car to pick us up.”
“De nada. We?”
“Yes, I brought someone with me. If lives are going to be threatened, I want to know she‘s safe too.”
“Who?”
“My girlfriend. She‘s taking a rest right now but you‘ll meet her later.”
“Does she have a name?”
“Sammy. I think I might be serious about her, but before you get too excited, it is still early days, so don‘t freak her out.”
“Bravo, boy. And well done to Sammy: the first woman ever to tame our little boy.”
“Leave me alone. All I ask is that you‘re nice to her and try not to make fools of yourselves around her.”
“We know how to behave. The question is whether you can keep it in your pants until you guys are in the privacy of your room.”
“Are you ever going to let that go? I was eighteen and you weren‘t supposed to be back until the following day. Jeez.”
“Both of you: stand down. We are facing a dangerous situation and the last thing we need is to lose focus and fight among ourselves. Please, people.”
AS IF ON cue, the summerhouse door opened and in came Alice with Naldo in tow. When he saw the whole clan was here, he nodded to Bobby and shut the door behind him as he left. The man knew not to intrude on family business.
Hugs for her Mama and Bobby, then Alice sat down next to Mama, a single glance at Frank, only acknowledgement of his existence she could muster.
“Is someone going to tell me what this is all about?”
“The Markov family has attacked a number of our west coast operations. Meth labs, heroin labs, prostitution. They've hit the casinos, but so far they haven‘t damaged the Queen of Sheba or Bakersfield Printing. We have to assume it is only a matter of time though.”
“And we‘ve just sat back and taken this insult?”
“Not at all. Under Naldo‘s stewardship, we have brought their call girl operation to its knees and cut their supply lines for cocaine, ecstasy, opium and meths. Blood has been shed: us and them.”
“So why am I hearing about this only now?”
“This may have been a disturbance to business, but we thought it was relatively contained. Until last night.”
Beat.
“They shot Milton in the face and cut off his dick. Stuffed it in his mouth and dumped his body on Sunset Boulevard.”
Frank fumed and Bobby was certain he saw steam seeping out of his ears. Alice inhaled deeply on her cigarette as she tried to keep it together, despite Milton‘s loss.
“What are we waiting for? Let‘s get all our men over to San Francisco and kill the motherfuckers.”
29
“BEFORE WE RUSH over to San Francisco, we need to have a plan - and know it‘ll succeed.”
“Kill them. Kill them all.”
“Not helpful, Frank. We‘ve tried direct violence and harassment and it hasn‘t worked. We have to find a different solution to this problem.”
He sat back in his chair and sulked. No-one was listening to what he had to say. Nothing in this family ever changed. Here he was skulking around his Mama‘s house when he was making real money out east and nobody seemed able to recognize he‘d done it alone.
“Is there anyone who might intercede on our behalf?”
“Pasquale has been out of the game too long. He‘s the only made man I‘ve ever known and trusted. Beyond him, we are on our own.”
“There‘s only one Nikolay Markov and three of us.”
“Four,” chimed in Mary Lou.
“Sorry, four of us. Let‘s call a peace conference and kill the fucker.”
“Let it go. We need a solution the whole Markov family will stand behind and mass murder is not the answer.”
If Frank had bothered to listen, he would have detected a definite edge to Bobby‘s voice. The man was tired of Frank‘s unhelpful repetitions. As for Alice‘s scowls, Frank always discounted her disapproving expressions.
The only person whose opinion mattered to him was Mama and she remained perfectly calm. Totally still - like these discussions didn‘t matter in the grand scheme of things. That response gave Frank the strength to believe she was on his side. Why else had she dragged him across the country? His methods were direct and blood-soaked. She‘d have nixed his idea if she really wanted to silence him.
ONE LONG HOUR later with everyone circling round the same problem and offering no useful fix, Irma popped in to warn them food was to be served in a handful of minutes. Frank left the summerhouse and inhaled fresh air. His family was doing his head in - how much more he could take? Sammy was still asleep when he got back into the room, so he blew in her ear to rouse her. First she flicked at her earlobe as though a fly was annoying her but persistence paid off and a minute later, she opened an eye.
“Time to eat.”
She tried to generate a half-smile but failed and only transformed her expression into a grimace. A sinking feeling hit the pit of her stomach. This meal was going to be painful, but she‘d known this day would come and had done nothing to prepare herself or Frank for its arrival.
“I need to change first.”
“Well, get a move on then,” he said as he placed his hands in her panties.”
She squirmed as Frank fooled around and gasped when matters got more serious.
“Now we can eat, right?”
Mama’s Gone Page 17
