The Heart of an Assassin (10 page)

“I will, little sis, promise,” he
responded.

Having put their affairs in order, Tyler and
Eric returned to O’Malley’s office. The captain wrote down the
address and handed it over to them without saying a word, just in
case someone was listening. “Don’t trust anyone,” O’Malley said.
Both Tyler and Eric got up, staring at their captain and
nodded.

“Captain, I need a favor before
disappearing.”

“What is it, Tyler?” he asked.

“The victim of this morning’s shooting. I
promised to help out with the arrangements and funeral cost,” Tyler
said.

“No problem, Tyler, I’ll handle it and will
advise the family accordingly. You can see them after you’re done,”
the captain promised. “Tyler, we’ll get the punks who shot this
kid. I promise.”

“Thanks again, Captain,” Tyler responded.

May
28, 1984 (Giordano Estate, New Jersey)

Fabio Giordano met with his lieutenants on a
weekly basis. During these meetings they discussed various topics,
such as any significant changes that may be of interest to the
family. One of the items brought up this week was the arrest of
several soldiers on gambling charges.

For this meeting, Felicia chose not to
physically attend. Instead she decided she would only monitor it
from her study via closed-circuit TV. This was one of many steps
she had taken to distance herself from the day-to-day
responsibilities of running the organization, giving Fabio more
control.

Fabio informed John De Luca that the family
lawyer would be representing them, and that if things got really
bad, they would arrange for the case to be brought before one of
the judges they had on the payroll. “Well, as you know, Mr.
Giordano, we are down to only one since Judge Livingston is on
vacation,” De Luca replied.

Fabio stared at John De Luca for only a
second and went on, “Well, let’s see how things go. Make sure you
keep me informed.”

“Yes, sir,” responded De Luca.

After discussing several other items, the
meeting was adjourned and Fabio quickly returned to Felicia’s
study.“Felicia, has the judge ever taken time off without letting
us know first? Is this normal?” he asked his sister.

“Actually, I was wondering the same thing. I
don’t recall it ever happening before,” she finished. Felicia was
very proud of her brother. He was quick and did not take anything
for granted. Without any hesitation, Fabio left the room and began
to make some calls.

Within an hour, Fabio was back in Felicia’s
office. “Sis, I think we have a problem. In fact, I am sure we have
a problem,” Fabio said. Felicia listened intently to what Fabio had
to say.“It seems as if the judge went on vacation quite suddenly.
Actually, no one knows where he went. Attempts to contact him via
his beeper went unanswered. Lastly, they went on vacation before
the youngest kid, who attends NYU, finished her semester.”

“What about their son, the one who worked at
a local hardware store?” asked Felicia.

“I didn’t check on him since he didn’t live
with the judge. But I’ll find out.” Fabio told her as he left her
study.

Felicia sat there quietly thinking the matter
over, waiting for Fabio’s answer to her question. An hour and a
half later, Fabio returned. “It seems as if the judge’s son quit
his job suddenly and was gone. Something about having to go on
vacation with his family is what his boss said,” Fabio told
Felicia.

The two discussed the matter in great length,
trying to come up with a good reason why the judge would suddenly
leave on vacation. They mulled over the possibility of a death in
the family, which would explain the sudden departure. However, why
wouldn’t they have advised anyone about it? Why doesn’t anyone know
where they went? After all was said and done, the only possible
conclusion was that the judge had been compromised and had gone
underground, probably being protected somewhere by the FBI.

“Fabio, get a hold of the rest of the
lieutenants. We need to have an emergency meeting right away,”
Felicia ordered.

Within a few hours, all the lieutenants were
assembled; eight men and two women. Their responsibilities included
all aspects of overseeing the prostitution, gambling, extortion,
investments, and real estate operations. These lieutenants were the
best in their fields and were handsomely compensated for their
expertise. Today they had more than seven hundred soldiers in their
employ. In addition, the family was successful in infiltrating
select government agencies forming liaisons with individuals who
had a price. These contacts were well rewarded for keeping the
family informed of any changes or situations that might affect the
well-being of their organization. Nothing was left to chance.

Though Fabio headed the meeting, it was
Felicia’s attendance that gave urgency to the matter. “It seems as
if Judge Livingston has been compromised,” Fabio announced. “We
have failed in every attempt to reach him. Our lawyer, Mike
Angelino, was unable to provide us with any information on the
whereabouts of the judge, though he feels there is nothing to worry
about,” Fabio concluded.

There was silence in the room as each took in
what was being said. Felicia stared across the room at their faces
as if she was trying to read their minds. After a few minutes,
Adriana Romano, daughter of Erin Romano, spoke up. “Could our
attorney also be compromised?” she asked.

Both Fabio and Felicia smiled. “We think so,”
Fabio said. Again silence. From their faces, Felicia could see that
they all understood the gravity of the situation and what needed to
be done.

“We need to know where the judge is as soon
as possible. Simple as that. I don’t fuckin’ care if you have to
break arms and legs to get the information. Spare no expense. Am I
making myself clear to all of you?” asked Fabio.

Felicia stood up and walked to Fabio’s side.
“No matter what you hear, even if you think it isn’t worth
anything, let us know. We will decide if it’s important or not.
Getting us this information is your top priority. Do we all
understand?” Felicia asked as she met everyone’s eyes.

“Yes. Yes, we understand,” was the overall
response. With that said, the meeting was adjourned.

“Leo, hold up,” Fabio said. “Leo, we need you
to warn Mike Angelino. It is my understanding that there are
accidents occurring in New York City traffic all the time. Please
make sure that he is okay.”

Leo nodded and understood. “I’ll take care of
it.”

Felicia sat down on one of the chairs closest
to Fabio. “I need to make a call,” she said to him.

Staring at his sister, he nodded. “Yes, you
need to make a call,” he answered.

May
29, 1984 (San Francisco)

There was a cool breeze coming off San
Francisco Bay as Shannon Murphy and her daughter, Jamie, walked on
the beach, heading in a southwest direction. They shared fond
moments of the last twenty years with each other. Jamie, now
twenty-two, had just returned from attending Harvard Business
School. Her mother had been diagnosed with cancer, and Jamie
returned to help her through these trying times.

“It’s not serious, Jamie. So don’t start
making plans to sell my house or trade in my collectibles,” she
told her daughter, laughing.

“Mom, stop it. Don’t say those things.
Anyway, there is no money in your worthless collectibles, and as
far as the house is concerned I have two buyers standing by.
Believe me, I checked before coming out,” she responded. Shannon
stared at her daughter, and then they both burst out laughing as
Jamie gave her mother a hug. “Mom, you are going to outlive us all,
or I will be very upset with you,” Jamie added.

As they walked along the beach, a strange
feeling came over Shannon as she stared at a stranger now fast
approaching them. He looked so familiar, and yet she knew she
didn’t know him. As he came closer, their eyes met, and she felt a
chill run down her spine. It was a déjà vu moment. She stared after
him and so did Jamie.

“What’s the matter, Mom?” asked Jamie.

“I don’t know. I think I know that man,” she
responded.

Nick continued his jogging for another two
miles, ending up at the Golden Gate Bridge southeast parking lot
where he jumped into a Jeep Cherokee and drove to his ocean-side
home in Daly City.

In the last twenty years, Nick had traveled
out of the country twelve times. All of his ventures had proven
successful. As a result, he had earned quite a reputation, and
could now be selective in the jobs he took on. Along with his
success, however, came a deepening concern that over the years he
might have slipped up somewhere along the lines, and that someone
might be closing in on him.

Nick would sometimes wake up in the middle of
the night to sneak a peek out his window to assure himself no one
was watching. Once in a while, he would get up and actually go out
jogging simply to make sure there were no cars in the neighborhood
that didn’t belong there. He made it a point to know everyone who
lived within a half mile radius of his house, and his photographic
memory made this task a lot easier. Nick never turned down an
invitation to a barbecue or neighborhood gathering, as it was his
way of meeting his neighbors, though he himself had never hosted a
party at his own house. He seldom engaged in any lengthy
conversations and abruptly interrupted most by excusing himself to
get some punch, or to use the restroom.

Nick had an uncanny ability to size people up
by what he saw in their eyes and in the mannerisms they expressed
upon meeting him. People on the other hand, felt uneasy around
Nick. Though he was a handsome man, no one ever saw him smile, and
his eyes could bring a chill to the warmest of people. Rumor was
that he had lost his wife and children in an accident, and that he
was drained of all emotion. Well, that was the rumor anyway.
However, no one knew who started it.

After showering, Nick sat in front of the TV
and made his morning calls. Over the years, all of the numbers had
been changed. San Francisco was dropped from his list as it was too
close to home. He now had numbers in New York, Chicago, Florida,
Los Angeles, DC, as well as numbers in England, Sicily, and Italy.
Though he had bank accounts in most of these locations, they were
all under different names. ATMs made it easy for Nick to draw from
anywhere in the United States or abroad. Additionally, Nick always
disguised himself before using any ATM, never used the same machine
twice in a row, and always used them at odd times when very few
people were on the streets.

When he finished checking all of the numbers,
he was surprised to see that there were two US numbers that were
disconnected; one in Chicago and the other New York. Must be a sale
going on, he thought to himself, laughing.

Within fifteen minutes, he was on his way to
Middletown, California, approximately ninety-four miles from Daly
City. He had called ahead to the Twin Pine Casino and Hotel for
available rooms.

Upon checking into the hotel, he went
straight up to his room, made two calls, and left the room within
half an hour. The calls, which would automatically be charged to
his room, afforded him the luxury of not having to physically check
out the next day. Two hours later, he was back home planning his
trip to Chicago and New York.

As usual, he called David Spencer, letting
him know he would be out of town. Before leaving, he checked
through the apartment, ensuring a pristine atmosphere awaited his
return.

A Blast from the Past

June 12, 1984 (Chicago)

As downtown Chicago officers Gerard Simpson
and David Cassidy were finishing up their two to midnight shifts,
getting ready to return to the Twenty-First Precinct, a call of a
possible break in on East Sixteenth Street at South Michigan Avenue
came over the police radio. Just a few minutes away, they took the
call and rushed to the scene, shutting off their sirens a few
blocks away.

As they quietly cruised down the street, they
noticed a blue van parked near the back entrance of one of the
warehouses that lined South Michigan. Both officers had more than
eight years of experience, having been together for six of them.
This experience paid off as they continued on South Michigan as if
they hadn’t noticed the blue van. Once out of sight, they radioed
in for backup, advising all units to come in quietly. Within twenty
minutes, police officers were situated on both ends of Sixteenth
Street along South Michigan and South Indiana avenues.

To catch the occupant by surprise, they had a
plainclothes officer walk up Sixteenth Street pretending to be
drunk and approach the van from the back, while a male and a female
undercover officer drove in an unmarked car toward the van from the
front. As soon as the car went past the front of the van, the drunk
reached the driver’s side window, distracting the occupant long
enough for the female officer to jump out of the car and approach
from the passenger’s side with her gun drawn.

“Freeze!” was all the driver heard. Within
minutes, both the driver and the van were quickly removed from the
scene.

Quietly, most of the cruisers were positioned
toward the entrance of the warehouse while the rest covered the
back. Twenty minutes had passed when, finally, four suspects
carrying boxes walked out into an armada of police officers.

“Get your hands up!” echoed a police
mike.

The fourth man drew a gun and fired, grazing
one of the police officers, which resulted in a barrage of returned
gunfire. Another of the suspect’s quick thinking saved his life as
he hit the ground immediately when the gunfire started, shouting,
“I give up, I give up!”