something.” I give him Alex’s name and phone number, and say, “I just left his house. I want to know if he makes any calls starting around five minutes ago, for the next couple of hours.” Sam has demonstrated that he can break into every computer in existence; accessing phone records is a piece of cake.
“You got his cell number?”
“No.”
“I’ll get it and check that also. You want me to come down and stake out his house?”
“No, Sam, no need for a stakeout at this point. Don’t buy any doughnuts yet.”
“There’s no substitute for boots on the ground, Andy.”
Boots on the ground? Sam can make New Jersey sound like Afghanistan. “Sam, when you don’t buy doughnuts, don’t buy boots either.”
Alex Solarno made the call as soon as Carpenter left.
He was unnerved; this was supposed to have been behind him years ago. But now it was back, and the danger to Alex was suddenly as real as it had ever been.
Alex hadn’t called the number in years, but had kept it in his desk drawer for situations just like this. He hoped the number was still good, and didn’t want to think about his next move if it wasn’t. It was unlikely there was a listing in the yellow pages for “Mob Bosses.”
A voice he didn’t recognize answered the phone with a simple, “Yeah?”
“I need to speak to Carmine Desimone,” Alex said.
“Yeah?”
“This is Alex Solarno. He gave me this number.”
“Hold on.”
Alex waited nervously for what seemed like half an hour but was really less than five minutes. Finally there was a click, and another voice came on the line.
“Hello.”
Solarno didn’t recognize the voice, though that didn’t mean it wasn’t Carmine, since he had only spoken to him once, a long time ago.
“Is this Carmine Desimone?”
“No.”
“Who am I speaking with?”
“Tommy Iurato.”
“I need to speak to Carmine.”
“You talk to me, you’re talking to Carmine.”
Iurato’s voice had an authority to it that intimidated Alex. “OK … yeah, sure. You know who I am?”
“I know who you are. And I know who just came to visit you.”
This was stunning to Alex, and left him with two conflicting reactions. On the one hand, it literally sent a cold chill through him that he was obviously being watched by these people; there was no other way they could have known Carpenter was there.
On the other hand, it was strangely comforting for him to know that they were actively on top of the situation. They had every reason to keep a lid on things, and they had the means to do so. No lawyer poking around was going to bring them down, and if they were safe, then so was Alex.
“He knows what’s going on. Not everything, but enough. And he’ll find out the rest. He’s smart.”
“What did he say?” Iurato asked.
“That Richard was the target, and that he was dealing arms.”
Iurato was surprised and a little concerned that Carpenter had already learned that the “illegal activities” Nicky Fats had told him about involved arms smuggling. “What else?”
“Nothing,” Alex said. “He was asking me to fill in the blanks.”
“And did you?”
“Of course not,” Alex said, quickly and defensively. “Are you kidding? Come on, Carmine knows me. He’ll tell you I can keep my mouth shut.”
“Then continue to do so.”
“Of course; I’m not the problem. Carpenter is.”
“Keep it that way,” Iurato said. “Call again if he contacts you.”
It was clear that Iurato was ending the call, but Alex wasn’t feeling secure about things yet. “So are you guys going to handle this?”
“We’ll handle it.”
“So I don’t have anything to worry about?”
“That will be up to you.”
Click.
Alex got off the phone thinking that if it really was up to him, then he had plenty to worry about.
Robby Divine has more money than I do, and I have a lot.
I have a total of about twenty-six million dollars at this point. It started as a little less, but Edna’s cousin
“You got his cell number?”
“No.”
“I’ll get it and check that also. You want me to come down and stake out his house?”
“No, Sam, no need for a stakeout at this point. Don’t buy any doughnuts yet.”
“There’s no substitute for boots on the ground, Andy.”
Boots on the ground? Sam can make New Jersey sound like Afghanistan. “Sam, when you don’t buy doughnuts, don’t buy boots either.”
Alex Solarno made the call as soon as Carpenter left.
He was unnerved; this was supposed to have been behind him years ago. But now it was back, and the danger to Alex was suddenly as real as it had ever been.
Alex hadn’t called the number in years, but had kept it in his desk drawer for situations just like this. He hoped the number was still good, and didn’t want to think about his next move if it wasn’t. It was unlikely there was a listing in the yellow pages for “Mob Bosses.”
A voice he didn’t recognize answered the phone with a simple, “Yeah?”
“I need to speak to Carmine Desimone,” Alex said.
“Yeah?”
“This is Alex Solarno. He gave me this number.”
“Hold on.”
Alex waited nervously for what seemed like half an hour but was really less than five minutes. Finally there was a click, and another voice came on the line.
“Hello.”
Solarno didn’t recognize the voice, though that didn’t mean it wasn’t Carmine, since he had only spoken to him once, a long time ago.
“Is this Carmine Desimone?”
“No.”
“Who am I speaking with?”
“Tommy Iurato.”
“I need to speak to Carmine.”
“You talk to me, you’re talking to Carmine.”
Iurato’s voice had an authority to it that intimidated Alex. “OK … yeah, sure. You know who I am?”
“I know who you are. And I know who just came to visit you.”
This was stunning to Alex, and left him with two conflicting reactions. On the one hand, it literally sent a cold chill through him that he was obviously being watched by these people; there was no other way they could have known Carpenter was there.
On the other hand, it was strangely comforting for him to know that they were actively on top of the situation. They had every reason to keep a lid on things, and they had the means to do so. No lawyer poking around was going to bring them down, and if they were safe, then so was Alex.
“He knows what’s going on. Not everything, but enough. And he’ll find out the rest. He’s smart.”
“What did he say?” Iurato asked.
“That Richard was the target, and that he was dealing arms.”
Iurato was surprised and a little concerned that Carpenter had already learned that the “illegal activities” Nicky Fats had told him about involved arms smuggling. “What else?”
“Nothing,” Alex said. “He was asking me to fill in the blanks.”
“And did you?”
“Of course not,” Alex said, quickly and defensively. “Are you kidding? Come on, Carmine knows me. He’ll tell you I can keep my mouth shut.”
“Then continue to do so.”
“Of course; I’m not the problem. Carpenter is.”
“Keep it that way,” Iurato said. “Call again if he contacts you.”
It was clear that Iurato was ending the call, but Alex wasn’t feeling secure about things yet. “So are you guys going to handle this?”
“We’ll handle it.”
“So I don’t have anything to worry about?”
“That will be up to you.”
Click.
Alex got off the phone thinking that if it really was up to him, then he had plenty to worry about.
Robby Divine has more money than I do, and I have a lot.
I have a total of about twenty-six million dollars at this point. It started as a little less, but Edna’s cousin
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