Bo Jackson‘s office was just off from Reno’s suite of offices on the thirtieth floor. Bo was leaned against the front of his desk, with one of the front desk clerks standing beside him, when Reno walked in. The clerk, who was not accustomed to being in such close proximity to the head man at the PaLargio, was shaking in fear.
“That was quick,” Bo said.
“Where is it?” Reno asked.
Bo reached behind him and grabbed the note off of his desk. He handed it to Reno.
Reno opened it. Operation PaLargio. Be sure your sins will find you out, it read. Not in handwriting, but typed. Reno looked at Bo. “This all?”
“That’s it,” Bo said.
Reno looked at the clerk. “Somebody gave this to you?”
“No, sir,” the clerk responded nervously. “I came back from my break and saw it just sitting there on the reception counter. I figured somebody had left it, and was about to put it in the lost-and-found basket, when I saw your name on it. Reno Gabrini was on it. That’s when I alerted Security. But I didn’t see anybody or anything,” he added.
Reno moved away, toward the window.
“Okay, you can go,” Bo said to the clerk.
“I’m not in any trouble, am I?” the clerk asked him. “I only picked it up off the counter. That’s all I did.”
“We know. And you aren’t in any trouble at all. You did your job. We owe you a debt of gratitude. Thanks.”
The clerk felt much better. Bo just made his day. “You’re welcome, sir,” he said. He glanced at Reno. It would make his month if Reno Gabrini would give him some credit. But Reno was looking out the window and seemed a million miles away. The clerk left.
Bo walked over to his office window, and stood beside Reno.
“Did the cameras catch anything?” Reno asked.
“Nada,” Bo said. “Not a damn thing as usual. Whoever’s pulling this shit is masterful, Boss. And they leave the notes in so many different places that we can’t begin to hone in on any one place. They know what they’re doing.”
“Did Security scan for fingerprints when they got the note?”
“They scanned as soon as they got it,” Bo said, “the way they’ve been instructed to do since we got the first one. The clerk and security guard’s fingerprints were the only ones on it.”
“Check out both,” Reno said.
“The clerk and guard?” Bo asked.
“Yes,” Reno said. “I’ve been getting these notes for months and nothing has happened yet. We figure it’s a prank, but we check every angle and make sure there’s nothing we can track down. Now something has happened, and as if to confirm it, I get another one.”
“Something happened? What boss, you figure there’s a connection between this note and what happened to you and Mrs. Gabrini today with that drunk driver?”
“I don’t know if there’s a connection, but I don’t know if there isn’t one either. I don’t know shit at this point, and that’s what’s got my ass on edge.”
“But everybody’s saying it was a drunk driver. The news is even saying it.”
“The more those cops keep calling it a drunk driver incident, the less I believe it. Get Stef on the phone. Tell him I want increased Security on my wife and kids.”
“Including Jimmy?” Bo asked.
“He’s my kid, isn’t he? Of course including Jimmy! What are you sleepy or something? I said my wife and kids. I mean all of them!”
“Yes, sir,” Bo said, and just like that he lost that sense of superiority in Reno’s organization once again, and remembered his place. Reno had a way of lifting him up, and cutting him down to size.
He got Stef on the phone.
Theo Pizzano grabbed the head of the Pizzano crime family and slammed him against the wall. Milt Sharpton, called Sharp, felt the sting in his back. But he didn’t have time to react. Theo, fronted by Kray Russo and Balls McGarrett, was already in his face.
“What you try that stupid shit on Reno and his old lady for?” Theo yelled. “It didn’t work. A kid could have told you that wasn’t going to work! Now you’ve got our asses exposed!”
“Nothing’s exposed!” Sharp fired back. “The guy was desperate. He needed money and he needed it fast. He has no ties to any crime family. To any crime at all! He was going to do the hit, get paid, and get out. We tossed liquor all around his car, and all over him as a just in case. And it worked, Theo! The cops are calling it a drunk driving incident. It worked!”
But instead of congratulating Sharp, Theo was frowning. “What the fuck you mean it worked? Reno and his old lady are still alive and our point man is dead! That shit didn’t work!”
“But it can’t be traced to us. That’s what I mean. You don’t understand, Theo. I’ve been working on this for months.”
“For months?” Theo asked.
“Yes, for months! I’ve got shit in the works that’ll blow your mind!”
“My old man, my mother, and my sister were killed by that Gabrini motherfucker. I was in prison. I couldn’t do shit about it. But you were here. I didn’t object when the crew decided to make you the head of the family in my absence. You were my old man’s underboss. You were loyal. I said go ahead. But you didn’t do shit to avenge his death!”
“I did everything we could do, Theo,” Sharp pleaded. “You don’t understand. Reno is bigger than just Reno. Sal Gabrini, you remember that fucker? He’s got Reno’s back. Tommy Gabrini, Dapper Tom? He’s got Reno’s back. And don’t forget Mick Sinatra. Don’t forget that crazy fucker! How were we going to win a war against all of those forces?”
“The same way everybody wins a war,” Theo said. “You cut off the head of the snake first, and the rest dies a natural death!” Theo pressed his finger against Sharp’s forehead. “That’s how!” he yelled.
Then he exhaled. Sharp looked at Kray and Balls. Before Theo got out, they were totally loyal to him. Now they were Theo’s boys. They flipped just that fast. And if they could flip; if Sharp’s underbosses could flip, he knew he didn’t stand a chance with the rest of the family.
“You can tell me about grand schemes all you want,” Theo said. “And I’ll hear that shit. I’ll listen. But the fact still remains that you had years to avenge my old man’s death, and you did nothing. Now I get out and suddenly you come up with a grand plan. And it’s that shit? That drunk driving drive-by shit? I should kill your ass for stupidity alone!”
Sharp decided to get bold. The emperor wore no clothes, and he needed to expose that. “What’s your plan, Theo?” he asked him. “You can’t just go up on Reno Gabrini and think it’s as simple as that. What if your in-your-face plan doesn’t work? You think Sal Gabrini’s gonna let you get away with the attempt? And Backdoor Tommy? And Mick the Tick, that vicious motherfucker? Gotdamn, Theo! They’ll bury us alive!”
“He’s right, Theo,” Kray suddenly grew a pair and said.
Theo, who respected Kray, looked at him.
“We have to do this right,” Kray continued. “You’re the head of the family now. But if you want to keep that power and keep your organization upright, you’ve got to make sure you don’t blow it up just to get Reno. Sharp’s been working on some things like I told you. He’s got a plan in place. Yeah, maybe he should have done it years ago. But he was busy building back up after your old man was iced. He couldn’t go after Reno too. But now that you’re back, we can start implementing Sharp’s plans.”
“And if his shit don’t work?” Theo asked. “What then?”
Kray didn’t bat an eye. “Then you kill his ass, and we start from scratch.”
Sharp didn’t like that suggestion, and he gave Kray a look to make it clear he didn’t like it.
But Theo did. He smiled. “Okay, you got a point. I need to give it a chance. I’ll try it your way, Sharp, for now. But that shit better work. Because if it doesn’t, I’m going to take Kray suggestion. If it doesn’t work, your ass is dead.”
Sharp swallowed hard.
“Got it?” Theo asked him.
“Got it,” Sharp responded.
Then Theo grinned. “This power thing is a trip! I love it!” He began to leave, with Kray and Balls scrambling to keep up with him.
“Spread the word,” Theo said as he headed out. “Theo’s back! Theo’s the head of this fucking family now! And one way or another, Reno Gabrini is going to meet his fate the way my old man met his. There will be a reckoning day! I’m back, motherfuckers! I’m back!”
And Theo was laughing up a storm as he walked out.