The Brothers Botticelli

  

PRESENT TIME

Frank Sacheli, a slimeball in his mid-thirties, lay on the bed in a sleazy motel in the east end of Toronto. He was watching TV and flipping the channel because he was restless. He got up and paced around the room a bit. On the bedside table, there was a 9 mm pistol.

Sacheli sat back down on the bed and started flipping the channels again. Finally, he found something that grabbed his interest. 

Suddenly the door burst open and, two very angry men entered. They were both carrying small shotguns. They quickly sized up the situation and moved to the bed. The larger man, Tiny, grabbed Sacheli from behind. 

“Who the fuck are you?” Sacheli said, just before the other man knocked him into the headboard of the bed. 

“We could be the last people you ever see, Frankie,” said the smaller man, Joseph, as he took Sacheli’s gun and tucked it into the back of his pants.

“Yeah, Frank, you should have never come back to town.” the other guy, Tiny, said as grabbed Sacheli’s hands, wrenched them behind his back and fastened them together with a set of thick plastic cuffs, and pulled them just tight enough to secure him without cutting off the circulation to his hands.

“Here’s the deal, Frank. And listen carefully, ‘cause I don’t like repeating myself.’ Joseph said “The cops are on the way here. How they take you out of this room is completely up to you.”

“What do you want?”

“A few years ago, you took down a liquor store on Gerrard Street. You and Danny Violino. You remember that?”

“Yeah. Yeah.”

“You also remember that you conned Harry Botticelli into driving you to that liquor store.”

“Yeah, so what?”

“Well after you screwed off to Mexico or wherever, Harry caught a nickel for his involvement, ‘cause some observant citizen made his plate.”

“That’s rough.”

“It is because he didn’t have you to kiss it better. So he’s been in the slam for almost two years for a crime that you did, and he knew nothing about. You see where this is going?” 

Joseph shoved the shotgun tight up to Sacheli’s throat, making him feel like he wanted to barf. “Yeah. I see it.”

“So here’s your choice. The cops find you right here and ready to do the right thing by Harry. Or they just find a Sloppy Joe that used to be you.” Joseph said as Tiny cocked the shotgun.“You’ve got three seconds to decide.”

“One…”

“Whoa, wait a minute. Wait a minute.”

“Two…”

“Alright…alright!” Sacheli screamed.

“You sure? I mean absolutely sure?”

“Yeah, I’m fuckin’ sure! I’ll tell’em everything!”

“Good.” With that, Joseph flipped the shotgun around and with the stock whacked Sacheli on the forehead. His head banged hard off the headboard and he crumpled.

Tiny cut the restraints and the two men left the room. As they opened the door, they could hear the sounds of sirens getting louder. They got in their car and parked it on the street where they could see the door to Sacheli’s room, as the cops arrived.

THREE MONTHS  LATER

Angelo Botticelli was sitting on a stool in front of a microphone on an elevated stage. He was in the open area of a large shipping warehouse. There was a single spotlight on him. He was wearing a suit jacket with a collarless shirt undone. His hair was long and dark and wavy. His voice was powerful and smokey. He was sitting alone with an acoustic guitar.

“This is a song that Harry and I wrote. I’m sure Pop would have loved it.  Because it’s about the human spirit, and he was never short in that department.”

Angelo then started to sing and play the guitar. 

There are times in the lives of everyone

When the going gets tough

When love no matter how strong or true

Never seems to be enough

It’s only then that you realize

Just how hard you have to try

To stay afloat on this raging sea

And swim against the rising tide

The people in the audience were quiet. It was a large crowd, a mix of family friends and employees of Angelo’s father Tino, who were all there to celebrate his life. 

At the head table sat the Tino’s family. Constance, a lovely-looking woman about 60 years old, Angelo’s younger brother Luigi, or Lou, as he was better known, his older brother, Harry, his younger sister Catarina, but everybody called her Cat and Angelo’s uncle Frederico. Behind Frederico sat Joseph and Tiny, Frederico’s bodyguards, with bulges under their jackets. They were watching the room like they were born to the job. At the other tables sat a number of friends and relatives.

The world is changing faster

Than anybody ever thought it would

It’s tearin’ down everything we know

And who can say if it’s bad or good

There’s so little holdin’ us together

It’s only courage and stubborn pride

That keeps us from bein’ swept away

As we swim against the rising tide

But one day soon the tide will turn

And the sun will shine again

Until then we have to stay afloat

And burn our candles at both ends

And if we pull together

Our common ground will be our guide

And we will conquer that raging sea

And stem the rising tide

Angelo finished the song. The crowd on the floor applauded energetically. When the applause died down, Angelo spoke from the stand-up microphone. 

“Thank you. You’re very kind. And thank you for coming to this memorial celebration for our father. And now, please, enjoy the meal that Giovanni Catering has prepared. Drink some wine. Tell some jokes. Dance a little tarantella later on…Believe it or not, this party was written in his will. So he’s footin’ the bill.”

The lights in the room came up. Out of the back room, several white-jacketed waiters spewed forth carrying trays of antipasto and bottles of red wine.

TWO MONTHS EARLIER

 

Tino Botticelli, a well-dressed middle-aged man with a bit of a paunch came out of a bar in Little Italy called C-Spot. Two men followed him out. He went to his Cadillac elDorado in the parking lot out back. The men continued to follow. He turned back and talked to the men for a moment. They reluctantly went back into the bar. Tino got into his car and drove off. 

About twenty minutes later, Tino pulled into the driveway of a small two-storey frame house on the east side of Toronto. Using a key from his keychain, he entered through the back door. He was greeted by a beautiful olive-skinned twenty-three-year-old brunette.

Tino and the young woman headed upstairs and began undressing. 

Fifteen minutes later, at the rear door, a pair of gloved hands started to tape one of the small panes of glass in the door with black duct tape. Upstairs, Tino and the young woman had turned on some music and have fallen into bed.

The gloved hand skillfully punched the pane, making hardly any sound. The gloved hand reached in and unlocked the door. A darkly clad intruder entered the dark kitchen. Two hands quietly opened the oven door, extinguished the stove’s pilot light and turned on all the gas jets and the oven. A slight hissing sound was all that was heard. 

The Intruder then moved to the front of the house without making a sound. Near the base of the stairway by the front door, the intruder placed small fat candle and lit it. The intruder then returned to the kitchen and left by the back door.

Upstairs, about twenty minutes later. Tino and the woman had finished making love. Tino laid back on the bed, and closed his eyes. The woman snuggled with him.

The candle on the floor below flickered for a brief second and then the entire first floor exploded so violently, it causing the second floor to collapse and engulfing Tino and the girl, now unconscious, in flames.

PRESENT TIME

~ 1 ~

Early in the afternoon on the day after the wake for Tino Botticelli, two vehicles pulled into the driveway of the Botticelli family home in Scarborough. Angelo was in a Mustang GT. His older brother, Harry was on a vintage Harley.

The Botticelli family home was large enough to have raised four kids. Two of them, in fact, were still living there with their mom. Harry was the older of the four, nearly thirty, slim and muscular with short dark hair. Harry and Angelo walked around back and entered the large kitchen. Lou, the youngest brother, was sitting at the counter, eating a sandwich. Harry and Angelo entered and gave Lou a hug. Harry pulled a couple of beers out of the fridge, along with some cold homemade pizza slices. He and Angelo sat down with Lou at the counter.

“How’s mom?” Harry asked.

“She’s upstairs sittin’ on the bed. We’re kinda leaving her alone, at her request. She only comes down to cook.”

“So?” Harry said to Lou. “What was in your safe deposit box?”

“Probably the same thing that was in yours.” Lou said.

 “There was a hell of a lot of money in mine. Stock certificates and jewelry. Couple million at least.” Harry said.

“Me too.” Angelo said. “Bearer bonds. Buncha cash. Goddamn brick of gold bullion.”

“Ditto.” Lou said.” Some rare coins. A little bag of diamonds, and a ton of cash…and this.” He lifted up a digital video disk.

“What’s that…some porn?” Angelo asked.

“I dunno. I’ve been waiting for you guys. Thought we’d play it together and see what’s what. Actually, that’s what it says on the cover. From dad.”

Angelo pulled his MacBook out of his bag and opened it up, setting it on the counter, where everybody could see.  He stuck the disk in and pressed play. After a few seconds, their dad, Tino, appeared, looking a bit uncomfortable. 

“Hello boys. If you’re watching this video, then they musta finally nailed me. I’m pushin’ up daisies somewhere no doubt. By now you will have gotten a peek into your safety deposit boxes. Now I don’t want you to go all nuts with that money, hear me? Use it to finance something legit. No mooks. No money laundering. No drugs. No crooked cops with their grubby hands in your pocket. No asshole politicians to feed. Nobody to put away. Nobody who wants to do the same to you. 

Boys, I want to apologize for all the times I should have been there and wasn’t. All the times I shouted at you when I should have been cooler. Let’s face it, we didn’t have an ordinary life, but I’ll tell you one thing… If you are lookin’ at this, I didn’t have no ordinary death either. So boys...you be good. Take care of your mother and you make sure that Cat goes to art college like she wants to do. And one last thing…you find out who did this to me and you do to him the same goddamn thing. Then our family will be avenged and you boys can get on with it. Don’t leave this all up to your uncle Freddie and his people.

OK, I’ve said my piece. You have a good life. Take care of the women. Stay legit. And find the son of a bitch who did this to me and pop a cap on him, and that’ll be that. Goodbye boys. I love you.”

The camera cuts off. The three men sat staring at the blank screen. 

“Pop a cap? Isn’t that some banger thing?” Lou said.

“Naw, it could be a twenties thing. Tino loved Capone and all that old gangster crap.” Angelo replied.

“I’m pretty sure it’s a banger thing.” Lou said.

You may be right. I don’t have any theories to put forward on the nomenclature of it.” Harry said.

“Nomenclature? What’d you, run the prison library?” Angelo asked.

“As a matter of fact, I did.”

“We’re getting’ off track here,” Angelo said. “How are we gonna find the puta who did this thing? Last time I looked none of us was a private eye.”

“Private eye. Now that’s a Twenties thing.” Lou said.

“It’s a forties thing.” Harry chimed in.

“What’s that mean?” Angelo asked.

“You know The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep. Hardboiled detective stuff. Dad loved that shit too.”

“Whatever. Listen, why don’t we hire a private eye to nose around a bit.” Lou said.

“You heard pop. It’s up to us.” Angelo replied.

“Come on. What do we know about that?” Lou asked.

“We know nothing. But Uncle Fred knows a lot.” Harry said.

“Come on Harry. You’re three weeks out of prison and here you are gettin’ involved in some murder vendetta.” Lou said.

“And your problem is…?"

“Lou’s right, Harry.’ Angelo said. “You may have had your decision reversed, but you’re still on their radar, just on account of who you are.”

“I know. But I’m not gonna live lookin’ over my shoulder.” Harry said.

“Look,” Angelo said. “Let’s see if we can’t find the guy first, and then figure out how to deal with it?”

“Right. Good thinkin’”, Harry said. “Look, Angelo, you cover Tony Taglia. He’s investigating the case. See what he knows. Lou, you’re the hacker, you need to get on the Internet and see if you can find any kind of news stories about somebody getting killed the same way as Pop.  Don’t just stick to Toronto. If it was a hit, the guy could be from New York or Chicago, anywhere. I’ll talk to Uncle Fred, see what I can get outta him.”

“Alright.” Angelo said. “Now we’re thinkin’ smart.”

“Look, I gotta tell you guys, Harry said. “I’d just as soon take my money and screw off to Tahiti. But I think we gotta do this thing for Pop. Let’s just keep it simple. We find the guy, we get Uncle Fred to order up a hit, we’re clear, and on with our lives.”

“Sounds good to me.” Lou said, getting to his feet. “I gotta go. Got a podcast to listen to. When are we gonna hook up again?”

“Coupla days.” Angelo said. “We’ll stay in touch by phone.”

Lou scooted out of the kitchen and into the study at the front of the house. Angelo got up and walked to the counter. He poured himself another cup of coffee. He turned to Harry, proffering the mug. Harry shook his head. 

Angelo sat back down. He ejected the DVD from the player and put it back in the case. “Well, it’s been a hell of a month, but we’re all rich little Botticellis.”

“Yeah. I guess we are.”

Before they left, Harry and Angelo then headed upstairs to say hi to their mom. They found her sitting on the big bed in the master bedroom, she was staring out the window at nothing in particular. 

They sat down beside her, and each of them gave her a hug. 

“I know you’re feeling pretty low right now.” Harry said. “But Lou, Ang, and I, we’re gonna get to the bottom of this.”

“You do that, boys.” Constance said. And then she went back to staring out the window.

Harry and Angelo knew better than to try and talk her out of her funk. Grieving was something everybody had to do alone.

When they got back downstairs, Harry headed for the back door. “I’m gonna go for a ride and think this thing through, Ang.”

He picked up his bag, then stopped and pulled out a thick binder.

“Shit, Ang. I almost forgot to give you this.” He handed Angelo the binder. There were more than two hundred pages in it.

Angelo hefted the binder. “What’s this?”

“You ever think about getting the band back together again, Ang?”

“I think about it all the time. Don’t mean it’s gonna happen.”

“Why not? You got the money. Or maybe you just wanna keep on running the grocery warehouse all your life.”

“What’s this about Harry?”

Harry taps the binder. “These are some lyrics I wrote in prison. As it turned out, it was a great way to pass the time. I thought maybe you could have a look, and tell me if they’re any good.”

Angelo opened the book and fanned the pages.

“Holy shit, Harry. That’s a lot of stuff.”

“Yeah...it saved my sanity, Ang. Even in the country club where I was, it was still crazy. Thank God I was a Botticelli.”

“Let me read these and we’ll see what’s what.”

“I gotta go. I’ll call you.”

“Yeah, I’ll talk to Tony.”

Harry headed out the back door, leaving Angelo at the table with his coffee and the lyrics.

 ~ 2 ~

The Winnebago was parked close to the water next to a deserted cottage on the bank of a good sized lake about fifty miles north and a bit east of the city. On one side, with a view of the long roadway in, there were two folding chairs and a small table. In one of the chairs sat Joey Pintaleone, Joey Pinto for short, a small but handsome man in his early sixties. He was drinking wine in a plastic cup, from a bottle on the table. Beside the bottle sat a cell phone and an egg timer. The phone rang. He flipped the egg timer and then picked up the phone.

“Hey. I saw the news.”

“Yeah…it went pretty cleanly. Cops have no leads.”

“So one down and one to go.”

“This one is a little tougher. He’s got a couple of heavies with him all the time.”

“You’ll figure it out.” 

“Yeah I will. We’ll talk soon.”

“Caio.”

Pinto disconnected and looked at the egg timer. He nodded and then put the timer down and took another sip of wine. 

  ~ 3 ~

In the master bedroom on the second floor of the Botticelli house, Constance Botticelli was still sitting on the bed. She held a picture of her husband in her hand. Constance was in her late fifties, with dark skin and eyes. Middle age had been kind to her, but her eyes were ringed with dark circles. She was cried out.

Behind her, Catarina appeared in the doorway. She was the youngest, just nineteen. She had her mother’s dark skin, eyes and hair, which was dark brown and tied back in a ponytail  She walked over to the bed and sat down beside her mother.

“You know what?” Cat said. “I think we should seriously consider re-doing this room. We could turn it into a home gym. If you’re gonna spend all your time here, you might as well get some exercise too.”

Constance took Cat’s hand and squeezed it. “Honey, I’m alright, really.”

“Yeah, well you could convince me of that if you would just come and have a cup of tea with me.”

“In a while, sweetie.”

“Look. I’ve got the most beautiful mother in the world and I can’t for the life of me figure out what my father was thinking.”

“Your father was a good man. He left you more than two million dollars. Your brothers too.”

Cat got up and walked to the window. “It’s not that, mom. It’s the thing we won’t talk about. I think it’s the thing we need to talk about.”

“Your father was a Sicilian man. He was a made man. This…this is how they all behave. You think your Aunt Theresa didn’t go through the same thing with your Uncle Fred?”

“OK. So isn’t it time to move on? Momma, I love you and I can’t stand to see you all cooped up like this. Come on, let’s go do some shopping or something. Help me spend some of my inheritance. I need a new wardrobe for school in the fall.”

“Soon, honey. I promise.”

Cat leaned over and kissed her mother on the cheek. She knew better than to argue anymore.

Downstairs, in the study, Lou was sitting at a state-of-the-art iMac tapping on the keys. Cat walked by the study and noticed Lou at the computer.

“Stealing secrets from the government?”

“That was last week.”

Cat walked over to the computer. “What is this?” she asked as she squinted at the screen. “Arson Crimes Database.”

“Yeah. We’re trying to find out who killed pop.”

“Who killed pop was a gas explosion in an old house.”

“Yeah, right.”

“You think someone murdered him?”

“I don’t know. I just think there’s more questions than answers.”

“But the cops are saying…"

Lou cut her off. “Cat, I’m a couple of years older than you, so let me give you some advice. Anything that starts with the words, ‘but the cops are saying’, is almost guaranteed to be bullshit, ‘cause they don’t know.”

“So what? The Botticelli brothers are gonna come to the rescue and solve the crime?”

“Something like that.”

“So you had a meeting with Angie and Harry and decided to become private eyes.”

“As a matter of fact, we did.”

“That’s rich. Ex-con, ex-rock and roller and computer geek. Now that’s a crew and a half.”

“Yeah well don’t get too stuck up about it. You never know when we’ll need a sketch artist.”

Lou turned his attention back to his computer. Cat shook her head and walked away mumbling something about freaks and geeks.

~ 4 ~

It was a beautiful day on the boardwalk in Toronto’s east end. Harry was sitting on a bench near the Woodbine pool and scribbling in a small notebook. 

Across the way, a black Lincoln Town Car pulled up and two guys in suits, Tiny and Joseph, got out. They headed off slowly in different directions, checking things out carefully. Then Tiny went back to the car and opened the rear door. Uncle Fred got out. He was wearing a garish, but expensive suit and a fedora. He looked more like a riverboat gambler than a grocery wholesaler. 

Harry shook his head and smiled, tucked away his notebook and got to his feet. He and Fred embraced. They started to walk along the boardwalk, with Tiny and Joseph a few paces behind and extremely attentive. 

“You know, your father admired the hell out of you, the way you did your time, no squawkin’, no bitchin’. You’re a standup guy, Harry. I’m proud to call you my nephew.”

“Thanks, Uncle Fred. That’s good to hear. And I want to thank you for the manpower you donated to rounding up Frank Sacheli.”

“Not a problem. I only wish we coulda found the scumbag sooner.”

“Well, I’m very grateful.”

They walked along and said nothing for a bit. 

“You know Tino and I used to walk down here all the time, whenever we had something important to talk about.” Fred said.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Harry, I know why you asked me to meet you here.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, you wanna know was there any bullshit between me and your dad and anybody else. The kind of stuff that might want to have him taken out of the picture.

“OK, so was there?”

“Naaa. I looked high and low.” 

“But you’ve got the big job now.” Harry said, just floating it out there.

Fred laughed. “I didn’t want his job. You know in this business, everybody says they wanna be the boss, but nobody really does. I was fine dealing with the Italian companies. You want the job, Harry? Be my guest. It’s a pain in the ass, this job. I’d give it up in a minute. But you’re next in line and you don’t want it. Hell, you don’t even want your old job back.”

“No, I don’t. Actually, all I want is to find out who killed Tino, ‘Cause I’m having a lot of trouble believing that that house he was killed in just picked that moment to blow up. Houses don’t choose moments like that...people do. So what can you tell me that will get me closer to the truth?”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Harry. Things were going just fine. The businesses are almost completely legit. No territorial wars with the Rinaldis or the DiVincenzos. I got guys nosin’ around on the street, throwin’ money at it. So far...nada. The cops have diddly. The Fire Department has nothin’ that they’re talkin’ about. Nobody knows nothing. It’s a genuine mystery.”

Harry thought about this for a minute. “What about the girl?”

“The girl was just a piece of ass. She worked in the office...a bookkeeper. She’d been comin’ on to Tino for months. Very ambitious. Tryin’ to screw her way to the top. She was nothin’ special. Good lookin’ you know, but at the end of the day, she was just a piece of ass. Tino wanted a taste. It’s not like it was some big time affair.”

“This piece of ass have a name?”

Fred turned around and looked at one of the bodyguards for a moment.

“Her name was Christina Ricci. You know, like the actress.” Joseph the bodyguard said.

Harry turned back and looked at Joseph. “Was she connected?”

“Naa…Like your uncle says. Just a piece.” Joseph replied.

“And she never worked for the DeVincenzos or the Rinaldis?”

“I think we caught her fresh outta college.” Joseph said. “She’s from somewhere up north. Sudbury, North Bay. A real white bread guinea.”

Harry took a deep breath. They walked along for a while then turned around. Harry knew that Uncle Fred had given him all the information he had. When they got back to the car, Fred gave Harry a hug.

“It’s good to have you back on the outside. You need anything at all, Harry, my door is open.”

“We’re gonna find out who did this, Uncle Fred. And when we do, maybe I could use some help..”

“Not a problem. It’ll be my treat. You can borrow Joseph. You understand I can’t get directly involved. I only wish Tino had lived long enough to see this through. That was his big dream, takin’ everything legit.”

The two men embraced again. Harry could sense Fred’s sincerity. “Thanks Uncle Fred.”

Fred climbed into the car. Harry wandered back to the bench and sat down. He looked out over the lake for a while then he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and punched in a number. 

“Lou, it’s me... I got a name for you…Christina Ricci. Yeah like the actress. It was her house. Check it out. I want to know who owned that house. I want to know who she talked to on the phone, everything you can grab on her…OK…bye.”

Harry disconnected, took a deep breath and lost himself in thought.

~ 5 ~

At the Toast of Bombay restaurant on the east side of the city, Angelo sat at an outside table, a couple tables away from everybody else having lunch. He was sipping a coffee and looking at Harry’s lyrics. He sang a little riff to himself, then made a note on the page. 

A few minutes later, Inspector Tony Taglia walked into the restaurant. Just barely regulation height, thin and wiry with a crop of dark curly hair and bright eyes. He was wearing a dark suit with a white shirt and tie. When Angelo spotted him, he closed the lyric book and got up from his chair. The two men embraced, then walked into the restaurant and grabbed some buffet. On the way, Angelo ordered a couple of beers.”

A few minutes later they were sitting back down at the table.

“Angelo, it’s good to see you, man.”

“Same here, Ton. So how’s it goin’?”

“Same old same old. Sorry about Tino.”

“He was doin’ his best to clean things up.”

“Yeah, he was. Guess he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“I see on the news, you caught the case. But you’re homicide and all the TV reports say it was an accident.”

“Yeah, we’re not ruling anything out, on account of who Tino was and all.”

“So this Christina Ricci chick that he was with. Anything pop on her?”

Tony smiled. “Come on, Ang. I can’t comment on an active case.” 

The waiter brought their beers. They clinked bottles like the old days. 

“I can understand it,” Tony said. “Rich, powerful guy like your dad. Lots of responsibility. You need a little recreation. I think it was just an unfortunate accident.”

“Accident...is that the official department position?”

“At the moment. We’re still checking things out.”

“What about your opinion, Tony? Can you stop bein’ a cop for a minute and tell me the truth.”

Angelo took a slug of his beer and put down the bottle quietly.

“Look Ang...we go back a long way and we been through a lot, with the El Dorados, even the Ultratones. I would never lie to you.”

“But?”

“But you gotta understand, I can’t tell you everything I know about this case.”

“Why not? Sounds like it’s closed to me.”

“Maybe it’s not.”

“Well, that tells me a lot right there.”

“Like what?”

“Like you don’t think it was a fuckin’ accident.”

“I can’t say.”

“You just did, Ton.”

“Noooo! Noooo! Don’t paint me into that corner.”

“So why is the case still open?”

Tony took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Let’s just say there are some…irregularities in a piece of evidence we found. We got some questions need answering. I don’t know if it’s anything. It’s just barely enough to keep the case open. And I’m doin’ it for you and your family.”

“Yeah?”

“I can’t tell you any more than that, Angelo.”

“Can you tell me if you think it was a hit?”

“I honestly don’t know. But there’s a couple of things just don’t line up.”

“Like what?”

Tony shook his head. “That’s all you get Ang. But listen to me, don’t you go gettin’ all ambitious on me. I’m your friend and will be for life. But if you start goofin’ around and gettin’ in my face…”.

“You’re gonna bust me for looking into my own father’s killing. That’s harsh, Tony.”

“Whatever. Just stay back behind the police tape. Let me take care of it. I got your best interest at heart. You know that.”

Angelo stared at Tony for a moment, measuring the cop’s words.

“Tony. Tell me this, as a friend, not as a cop. Is there any possibility that this was a murder? That’s’ all I need to know.”

“As a friend. Yeah. Maybe. There’s always a maybe so don’t go getting all excited about it. As a cop, you didn’t hear that from me, know what I’m sayin’?”

“Yeah, I know.”

Angelo had been absently fondling the binder of Harry’s songs. Tony noticed and he spun the binder round so he could look at it. He opened it up and started to look at some of the titles.

“Some great titles here? Where’d you get this?” 

“You won’t believe it when I tell you.”

“Try me.”

“Harry.”

“Harry? Your brother Harry?”

Yeah. He wrote’ em in prison.”

Tony flipped through the pages. “Your brother Harry? Get outta here. I’m blown away. Are they any good?”

“Most of them are very good. A few of them, fuckin’ brilliant.”

“So you gonna work some of them up?”

“I think so…You know, Tony, when my dad passed, I came into some pretty serious money. I was thinking about buying this building down on Eastern Avenue and opening a club. I always wanted a club. Then maybe putting El Dorados back together…use some of this material to kick it into gear.”

“You need a drummer, I’m there.” 

“I'll take it under advisement.”

Tony and Angelo shot the shit about the old days while they ate their Indian food and finished off their beers

Tony looked at his watch. “Hey. I gotta get to court.”

“The two men got to their feet and embraced.”

“Thanks for the info, Ton.”

“What info? I believe we were talking about putting the band back together.”

“I’ll call you.”

Tony left the restaurant. Angelo continued to thumb through the material. He picked up his cell phone and tapped a number. 

“Rocco please...thank you…Roc, Angelo Botticelli…Yeah... yeah...I’m good. Hey Rocco, you know that building at 540 Eastern Avenue. You still the agent on that?”

~ 6 ~

Christina Ricci’s house was a two-storey small brick and frame house in an area called East York. It was surrounded by pylons joined together with yellow police tape. Harry pulled up in front of the house on his Harley. Angelo was leaning on the hood of his car waiting for him. Harry took off his helmet, put it on the saddle and walked over to Angelo.

“I’ve been reading your lyrics.” Angelo said. “Pretty tasty stuff.” 

“Oh yeah…you like’em?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Well, that’s great. Can you use’em?”

“You bet your ass.”

Harry smiled and slapped his brother on the shoulder. “So what did you find out from Tony?”

“Only one thing, and that’s that the investigation is not closed.”

“Hmmm.”

The two men walked across the lawn and down the driveway. The house was nothing more than a shell of charred brick. When they got to the rear of the house they simply stared at it. The entire second floor was collapsed into the first floor. Only the chimney remained standing.

“Did Tony say why they’re keeping the investigation open?”

“Something about a piece of evidence that doesn’t make sense. That’s all I got out of him.”

“Figures. Tony’s a good cop. He’s not gonna tell you squat.”

“I thought he told me a lot.”

Harry moved to the back door. The top half of the door consisted of what used to be nine panes of glass. They were blown completely out by the explosion. But one, the bottom left still had small shards of glass in it. Harry moved in for a closer look.

“You see something?” Angelo asked.

“Yeah. Look at this door. You got all these panes blown out clean. Then you got this jagged one.”

“So?”

“So why wasn’t it blown out clean like the rest of them?”

“Well…”

“Because maybe somebody broke this one before the explosion.”

“Oh...Oh! So maybe that’s the piece of evidence that Tony was talking about.”

“Maybe. If it isn’t then his forensics people are out to lunch.”

Harry moved around to the front of the house and Angelo followed. The front door was blown right out. They stared into it There was nothing but scorched rubble inside. 

They walked back to the curb and leaned on Angelo’s Mustang.

“So, “Angelo said,  ”Did you talk to Uncle Fred?”

“Yeah. I drew a blank there. Everything business-wise was cool, according to him.”

“Yeah, that figures. Too bad about that partnership agreement, we could have put him out to pasture.”

“What partnership agreement?”

“It’s why dad never left us the business. There’s an agreement between dad and Uncle Fred that gives one partner complete control of the business if something should happen to the other.”

“When did this happen?”

“Maybe a year ago. You were still inside. I thought sure dad would have told you about it.”

“No, he didn’t. Man, this is getting complex. I didn’t know they had anything like that on paper.”

“Dad was the one who suggested it. If he didn’t tell you about it, then maybe he saw it as a way to keep you from gettin’ into the business.”

“He already knew I didn’t want that.” Harry said.

“You didn’t want it before you got popped. Maybe it’s a lot more tempting when you’re out and don’t have quite so many options.”

“Maybe. He couldn’t have known I was gonna get released.”

“You sure about that?”

“I’m not sure about anything except that this fucking house didn’t just blow up on its own.”

Harry put on his helmet and climbed onto his bike. Angelo reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper with an address on it. He handed it to Harry. “I want you to meet me tomorrow at 1:00...this address. I wanna show you something.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Alright, Ang, one o’clock.”

Harry took off on the bike. Angelo walked back to his car. He looked back at the house and shook his head.

~ 7 ~

That evening Harry was sitting at the bar of the Stone Lion Pub in the Beaches watching a baseball game. He had a beer in front of him and some peanuts. He also had his small notebook open on the counter. He was diagramming the information he had so far. 

He stared at the page for a while and didn’t notice when a casually dressed woman took a seat at the bar two stools down. She had long auburn hair, and was, by any standard, a good-looking woman. But there was just a slight hardness to her like the world knew her a little too well. She ordered a beer and took a slug right out of the bottle, then looked over at Harry. 

“All work and no play.” the woman said to Harry.

Harry looked up in the direction of the words. He saw the woman smiling at him.

“I’m sorry.”

I said ‘All work and no play’, you know, ‘makes Jack a dull boy’.”

“It’s Harry. Harry said, “As in all work and no play makes Harry a dull boy.”

“Are you a dull boy, Harry?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. What’s your name?”

“Phoebe.”

“Bullshit. You don’t look like a Phoebe.”

“Eleanor?”

“Come on, you can do better than that.”

The lady laughs. “Okay, Harry. You got me. It’s Diane. Diane Holloway.”

“That’s more like it.”

“What are you working on?”

“You really want to know?”

“I asked, didn’t I?”

“I’m trying to figure out who killed my father.”

“You’re kidding. Somebody killed your father?”

“Yeah. A week ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Me too, because they made it look like an accident and they did it so well that everybody’s stumped.”

“You’re bullshitting me, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know, am I?”

“Well, I hope so, ‘cause it all sounds kinda creepy to me.”

“Well, I was just kidding. Actually, it’s just a story I’m working on.”

“You’re a writer?”

“Tryin’ hard.”

“Had anything published?”

“Not yet. But like I said, tryin’ real hard.”

Diane took another long slug of her beer.

“Can I buy you another one, Diane?”

“Sure, that would be nice.”

Harry moved to the stool next to Diane. 

They spent a couple of hours talking each other into bed, which they accomplished at Diane’s flat in a house on Leuty Street. It had been a long time for Harry, but Diane was gentle and skillful with him. When they were done, Harry rolled over and stared up at the ceiling.

“I’ve got a confession to make.” Diane said, “I know who you are. I saw your picture on the news.”

“Not a good picture of me, as I recall.”

“It intrigued me.”

“Enough to come and find me and pick me up at a bar?”

“No, that was an accident. A happy accident, as it turns out.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“I was curious about one thing?”

“Yeah?”

“When your father…died, was he like a don or something?”

“He didn’t have a title. And his business interests were mostly legit.”

“But what happens to his business? Did he leave that to you? I mean you are the oldest son, right?”

“You really have done your research. No, my uncle, my mother’s brother, was my dad’s partner. He takes it all over.”

“So where does that leave you?”

“I don’t know. I was only marginally involved with the business anyway. I found stores and small food companies, mostly in Italy, for dad and Uncle Fred.”

“Tell me about your uncle Fred.”

Suddenly, Harry realized that he was actually being interrogated, It put him on edge. “Why?”

“No reason. I’m just interested.”

“Yeah…but why?”

“Am I getting too personal? I mean, I don’t have any ulterior motive.”

Harry relaxed a bit. “Sorry…of course you don’t.” He took a deep breath. “It’s just that families like mine…well, we’re not used to talking about ourselves, especially to people we just met.”

“I’m sorry, Harry. I didn’t mean to pry. I’m just a curious person by nature.”

“You’re also a very sexy person, by nature.” Harry said. But way in the back of his mind, he was thinking. What does this chick really want?

Slowly they started to make love again.

~ 8 ~

Early the next morning, Harry slipped silently out of bed, leaving Diane asleep. He walked out into the living room with his clothes and put them on. He saw Diane’s purse on a hutch by the door. He took it and entered the bathroom, quietly locking the door. He opened the purse and systematically rummaged through her stuff. Tucked into the jacket of her address book he saw a blank business card with the initials JP, and a phone number. With a ballpoint pen stuck in the spine of the address book, he wrote the letters and number on the inside of his wrist. He carefully replaced everything and left the bathroom. He returned the purse and walked to the bedroom door, opened it slightly and saw Diane was still sleeping soundly. He closed the door and left the flat.

Harry headed to the Sunset Grill on Queen Street for breakfast. While he was eating he called Lou and left a message.

“Lou. It’s Harry. I want you to check out a number for me. 702 853-1817. I’ll call you later.”

~ 9 ~

At the Botticelli house, the kitchen was empty. Lou came in carrying a laptop. He started to make some coffee. Cat entered next. She moved to the cupboard and started to get out dishes and glasses to set the table. 

Cat and Lou were moving around the kitchen getting breakfast ready when Constance entered the kitchen.

“Ma...good morning.” Cat said with genuine surprise and delight in her voice.

“Good morning Cat. Morning, Lou.”

“Hi ma. You want some coffee? I just made it.” Lou asked.

“That would be nice. And maybe a piece of toast.”

“One coffee, one toast comin’ up. Ma, go sit down, I’ll bring it.” Lou said.

Constance took her usual seat at the table. She looked frail and unsure of herself. She watched her children all busy in the kitchen and it lightened her spirit. Cat brought her coffee over and gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek. 

“Nice to have you back, ma.”

“It’s nice to be back.”

“You want some jam for your toast, ma?” Lou asked.

“Okay.”

Lou brought the jam and the toast and set it down in front of Constance. Then he sat down opposite her.

“I don’t know if you’ve talked to Harry or Ang about anything, but dad left us some pretty clear instructions, so we’re workin’ on finding out who did this.” 

“That’s good Lou. I kind of expected that would be the case. Just don’t get yourselves into any trouble.”

“Don’t worry ma. Anything we find out goes right to Tony Taglia.”

“Tony’s a good boy. He’ll do the right thing.”

“So, ma,” Cat said as she sat down at the table. “I think we need to start working on the house like we talked about. I‘ve got the whole summer to help you.”

“That’s sweet honey. But I’m all right. I called Olivia today, and we’re gonna go downtown, have lunch and do some shopping. I’m not gonna be one of those Italian widows who wears black and dies before their time.”

“That’s the spirit, ma,” Lou said. “Put your head down and go forward.”

“That’s right. I’m sure it’s what your father would want for all of us.” Constance said.

~ 10 ~

Angelo and Rocco, the real estate agent, were leaning on Angelo’s car talking. They were in front of a large building on The Esplanade near Parliament Street. Harry pulled up on his motorcycle. Angelo introduced him to Rocco. Once the introductions were out of the way, Rocco led Harry and Angelo to the front door of the building.

The three men entered the first floor of the building. It was a beautifully appointed space, with tables, a stage at one end, a dance floor, several small rooms off to the side and a long bar. Behind the bar was a spotless state-of-the-art restaurant kitchen and all the appliances. He showed them the washrooms which were all pristine and fairly large.

“The people who owned this building wanted to do just what Angelo wants to do with it.” Rocco said. 

“So what happened?” Harry asked.

“Who knows for sure?” Rocco said. “Rumour has it that their principal source of capital was Peruvian marching powder. Well, one thing led to another, a bad deal here, a major bust there, and what you end up with is a power of attorney fire sale, to help these assholes pay their legal fees.”

“It’s a steal Harry. Come on upstairs.” Angelo said.

They walked to the end of the room and then up a wide flight of stairs. At the top, which was two flights up because of the high ceiling of the main floor, they discovered a suite of offices, all fully furnished, and tastefully so. Harry was impressed. Rocco took them through the nuts and bolts of the place, including property tax rates, and water and power costs.

“Rocco, give us a few minutes.” Harry said.

“I’ll be downstairs making some calls.” Rocco said.

Harry and Angelo walked through the offices. 

“There’s room for you and me and Lou with room to spare.” Angelo said. “We could set up and run the whole investigation from here. It’s all wired and everything. We can take possession almost immediately. All we have to do is move in. I’ll move my equipment in and build a small studio to make demos, maybe even get a signed to a label. Or we could just sell music online. Lou knows all about that shit, Harry.”

“This is nice, Ang. Very nice. But you think you can make a go of it as a club?”

“Worst case scenario, we just rent the hall and do the catering for the events. I already talked to Rino Scarletti about the whole operation. He’s got all kinds of ideas for generating revenue.”

“How much for the building? 

Nine fifty. All in. It’s down from the original asking of one point one million. Rocco’s got an exclusive on this property and he’s shaving a couple points off his commission because it’s been around for six months and business space is movin’ slow these days.” 

“Hmmmm. OK. Go nine hundred. I’ll go in with you 50/50, providing you can get Rino to run the club. We both put in seven hundred grand to buy the property and cover the startup expenses

“Rino’s a lock.” Angelo said.

“Then let’s do it.”

“You don’t wanna sleep on it?”

“Angelo, look at this place. It’s fuckin’ beautiful. Christ, even if we never open, it’s still a deal even just for the office space. You know how to pick ‘em Ang.” Harry said, as he slapped his brother on the back.

The two men headed down the stairs. They worked out a deal for $940,000, which really was a steal. Harry knew about stuff like this because he had done real estate investment analysis for his dad and Uncle Fred for about five years. He also knew the owners must be in some serious shit, because this place was worth at least three times what they were asking.

He felt really good about this idea. It could turn into a few different things but it would be his and Angelo’s and he trusted his brothers more than anyone on the planet.

Rocco said he would expedite the sale, but that it could all take about one business week to get all done, then they could move in. Rocco gave Angelo a set of keys and told him that they should feel free to do whatever space planning and hiring they needed to do while the final sale went through.

~ 11 ~

Three days later Harry, Angelo & Lou were sitting in the backyard of the Botticelli house. Angelo had just gotten a call from Rocco that the deal had gone through. Apparently, the money was needed ASAP.  So they could move in any time. They cracked open a bottle of champagne and toasted the launch of their club.

“Here’s to the success of ‘Botticell’. If and when it ever opens.” Angelo said.

Harry and Lou raised their glasses. 

“Salut,” They said in unison and drained their glasses.

Harry looked over at Lou. “What about the phone number I gave you?”

“Oh yeah. It’s a cell phone. Traces to a guy named Joseph Pintaleoni. I tried a routine search for him and came up blank.”

“Fuck.” Harry said. “Joey Pinto! A guy named Joey Pinto worked for dad back in the day. I heard Uncle Fred and dad talking about him a couple times.”

“What’d he do?” Angelo asked.

“Don’t know. I suspect he was some kind of enforcer or bag man.”

“How long ago?”

“Had to have been around the time I was born.” Harry said and then turned to Lou. “Dig around a little deeper if you can, Lou. See what you can find out about him.” 

Lou nodded .

“So this chick Diane, who picked you up that night, she had Joey Pinto’s number?” Angelo asked. “What does this mean?”

“I’m not sure, Ang. Just another piece of the puzzle right now.”

“You think this Diane had something to do with Pop’s death?

“Could be. But I don’t know what the connection to Joey Pinto is about.”

“You gonna see her again?” Angelo said

“Oh yeah. But I need to talk to Uncle Fred too, see what he says.”

“We could bug her phone.” Lou said. “I just got some really good bugs in the other day. State-of-the-art black market CIA issue. I could program them to my computer.”

“You’re kidding me.” Harry said. “Where do you get a line on shit like that?”

Lou just chuckled. “It’s called the dark web, Harry. You can get anything you want there if you know how to go about it.”

“Madone. How many of these bugs you got?” Harry asked.

“Three. Maybe we could bug Uncle Fred at the same time.” Lou said. “I’ll go have coffee with Aunt Theresa tomorrow, and put one on his home phone.”

“Harry?” Anglo said, “Do you really think Uncle Fred’s got anything to do with this?”

“I don’t know. That’s what we’re gonna find out.” Harry said. “Lou, what about this Christina Ricci?”

Lou opened a folder that was sitting in front of him. “Far as I can tell she’s just a good lookin’ Gina from North Bay. Dad’s a contractor, the kind that builds stuff. She took business admin at Western in London. Came to Toronto. No record of what she did the first year she was here. Pop hired her a year ago.”

“Who owns the house?”

“Her uncle. He’s a construction manager. Specializes in renovations. Buys grubby little houses, guts them, re-finishes them and sells them to empty nesters who want to stay in the city but don’t want to live in a condo apartment.”

“He make any money doin’ that?”

“Sure. Maybe 60 to 70 Gs a pop, after expenses.” He currently owns thirteen properties. He buys and sells about eight a year. Lives in one, ummm, yeah rents another one to his darling niece, Christina. Gave her a good deal too. Only $400 a month.”

“Good work Lou.” Harry said. “Give me the tap and show me how to do it, then I’m gonna take a couple days and tail this Diane chick…see where she goes and who she knows. You check her out on the computer. Diane Holloway. Let’s find out who she really is.”

“Got it.” Lou said.

Angelo poured another glass of champagne for everybody “Then I declare this first meeting of the Botticelli Brothers Gumshoe Agency officially done.” The three men raise their glasses.

That night Harry showed up at Diane’s door. He was carrying a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of wine.

Diane answered the door and smiled as she led Harry into the flat.

An hour or so later they were lying on the bed, quite pooped from a whole lot of pretty amazing sex.

“I’m glad you showed up. I was sure I’d seen the last of you.”

“You underestimate your appeal.” Harry said.

“Yeah. That’s what I’ve been told.”

“By who?”

“Mostly guys who, as it turned out, were really horny.”

“I hope you don’t lump me in with all of those guys.”

“I will if you don’t offer to take me out to dinner.”

“It would be my pleasure.”

Diane sat up on the side of the bed.

“Give me fifteen minutes to shower and get dressed.”

“No hurry.”

Diane slipped off the bed and went into the bathroom. When he heard the shower running, Harry got out of bed and pulled his pants on. He wandered out into the open area of the flat. He pulled the small bug out of his pocket, peeled the back off and stuck it to the bottom of a cordless phone hanging on the kitchen wall. It looked nearly invisible. He then pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, picked up the phone and dialled a number on the paper. He heard a buzzing sound on the other end of the line. Harry then punched in three more digits. The small bug blinked once and then went dark. Harry hung up the phone and walked to the fridge. He pulled out a beer and sat down at the table.

~ 12 ~

Once the real estate deal went through, Rino Scarletti came on board and started getting the place organized. Harry and Cat got together and Cat designed a beautiful logo for the club. Once that was approved, Cat started to work with Rino and Lou, creating flyers and online advertising.  

Lou moved his computer equipment in once it was set up all he had to do was install a server and activate it. He gave everybody passwords to get connected, then he worked with Cat to design a website for the club and open a Facebook page. Angelo and Rino built a sound system for the stage that could accommodate either a small band or a DJ. 

Harry took an office upstairs and decided that Rino needed an associate who could manage personnel as they bulked up with people. So he ran an ad on the Eye magazine website. And on the club’s Facebook page. 

His first candidate from a post on the club’s Facebook page was sitting on the other side of Harry’s desk in the form of a tall, extremely good-looking woman dressed in a stylish business suit that was quite revealing. Her name was Vanessa King. She reached into her purse and pulled out a single-sheet resume. Harry looked at it and then up at Vanessa.

“OK, Miss King I’m impressed with your desire to work here.”

“Vanessa. Please call me Vanessa, Mr. Botticelli.”

“Only if you’ll call me Harry.”

“Deal.”

“But I still don’t understand what it is you think qualifies you to help run this kind of business.”

“Well, I know I’d be good at it. I’ve worked in clubs all my adult life. I’ve also got a business degree from McGill University. I’ve managed my own business all that time.”

“But you were an exotic dancer.”

“Yeah. Well as a woman in business I gotta tell you, it’s far and away the best way to make good money and stay in shape. I totally managed myself, and was able to maximize my income, by being smart, fair-minded and shrewd. Strip club owners are, if nothing else, extremely devious people.”

“OK, but if the strip club business was so lucrative, why would you want to leave it?”

“The half-life of a good stripper is eight to ten years. I stayed in really good shape and got twelve years out of it. I’m done. If you don’t hire me someone else will. There are a lot of clubs in this city. But you strike me as a stand-up guy. And believe me, I can spot a slimeball from a mile away.”

Harry thought about all that for the better part of a minute. Vanessa sat quietly and respected his thinking process.

“Okay,” Harry finally said. “That makes sense to me. You’ve got job if you want it, and if Rino approves, ‘cause you’ll be working with him.”

“Oh, I want it. And Rino and I have already had a chat.”

“Okay. I just have to say one thing…I assume you know who our father was.” 

Vanessa nodded. “I was sorry to hear what happened to him.”

“My brothers and I are doing everything we can to find out who killed him.”

“And so you should.”

“Well, it means that you may hear some things that don’t exactly mesh with your moral code.”

“I’m sure you’re smart enough to keep family business safely inside your family. Besides which, I sign on here, I’m part of the family. Your secrets are mine to keep.”

Harry got up and extended his hand to her. She shook it lightly. “Well, welcome aboard then. When can you start?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“Whoa, that’s great. Okay, then well…”

“Coffee?”

“Coffee?”

“How do you like it?”

“A little milk. You do coffee?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“I read somewhere that women think getting coffee is demeaning.”
       “What’s demeaning are women who are arrogant and stupid.”

“You know, I think you’re gonna do just fine, Vanessa.”

“Me too, Harry.”

Vanessa got up to leave. Harry sat back down and watched her perfect body sashay out the door. Then he smiled to himself and got back to work, as a young man in his mid-twenties walked in to be interviewed for the chef’s job. 

~ 13 ~

Three days later, Lou was sitting at his computer. He had just finished setting everything up and was now checking on the two bugs that he and Harry had installed. He was organizing his newly placed taps into a single-screen program.

As he was working away Vanessa came in with a plate of muffins and a carafe of coffee. 

“Have a muffin, Lou. You look like you could use one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? That I’m underweight or that I’m constipated?”

“How about hungry?”

Vanessa peered over Lou’s shoulder at the computer screen. 

“What’s that?”

“Nothing.”

“Doesn’t look like nothing. It looks like you’re recording telephone conversations.”

“Look, haven’t you got any work to do?”

“Come on, spill it. I’m an employee. I won’t tell anybody.”

Lou just shrugged. “We’re just buggin’ some lines to try and find out who killed my dad.”

“Isn’t that illegal?”

“Only if you get caught. Besides, I got a huge firewall and the phone feeds are being shunted pretty much around the world, through fifteen relays, so the chances of getting spotted and traced are virtually non-existent.”

“So you’re all set up now?”

“Pretty much.”

“Good, then you got no excuse. Eat your muffin.”

Vanessa left the room. Lou absently picked up a muffin and bit into it.

Two days later, the office and the club were set up. Angelo was busy building his studio space upstairs and had corked three of the four walls. He also bought a new 16-track console, so they could record the band’s rehearsals as well as demos of the new songs Angelo was writing from Harry’s lyrics.

The next day, Harry and Angelo were sitting together in the studio. Angelo was playing an acoustic guitar, a brand new Martin that he was totally in love with.

Vanessa came through the doorway with coffees for both guys. As she was leaving, Angelo started to play the chords he had figured out for one of Harry’s lyrics called In A Moment of Madness. Vanessa closed the door from the inside and leaned against the wall, as Angelo kept playing the chord progression. 

“Harry,” Angelo said, “A lot of these lyrics reflect the way I feel about things myself. The only problem I’m having, man, is deciding what to do first. He then flipped on the recorder and started playing the chord in progression earnest.

In a moment of madness

I shook my fist at the sky

Then I turned to you

And told you we were living a lie

In a moment of madness

I undid all that we were meant to be

So afraid that the power of love

Was overpowering me

He then changed to a different chord structure.

In a moment of madness

I lost a love so real

Behind a wall of sadness

I feel the pain you feel

It’s getting harder to live

With the price I had to pay

‘Cause in a moment of madness

I let you slip away

Yeah in a moment of madness

 I let you slip away

Angelo wound down his strumming. He smiles at Harry. “What do you think?”

“Man, it’s really something. I never imagined it could sound that good, Ang.”

“Oh, it can sound a hell of a better. And it will. Speaking of which, the boys are coming in for a rehearsal.”

“So it’s happening?”

“Everybody was chompin’ at the bit when I told them.”

“Wow.”

“Harry, you may consider yourself the official 5^th El Dorado.”

Harry laughed. Over by the door Vanessa just stared at these two Botticellis, and thought, this is how brotherhood works.

“Angie, I’ll be happy just to hear you guys play one song one time.”

“Oh, you’ll hear that alright. Angelo lifted up his coffee cup “Here’s to Botticelli Brothers Music Publishing, a division of Botticelli Brothers Entertainment.”

~ 14 ~

A few minutes later, Harry was sitting beside Lou at his computer. Harry had a set of headphones on. He was listening to something Lou was playing for him on his computer. Harry took off the headphones.

“It’s all Greek to me.”

“Actually it’s Italian.” Lou said. “I don’t have any idea what she’s talking about. But she’s definitely talking to Pinto.”

“Funny, you know. When she speaks English, there’s not even a hint of an accent.”

“She sounds like a real deal Italian there.” Lou said.

“Make me a copy. I’ll find someone to translate it. We got a whole club full of guineas. Should be somebody.”

Lou emailed the audio file to Harry’s address.

“Thanks Lou. Listen, don’t bother Angelo with any of this right now. He’s putting the band back together, to be our house band downstairs. Let him focus on that.” Harry got up to leave.

 “Sure.” Lou said. “Hey Harry, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you ask me if I wanted to invest in the club? I know you and Ang put up the money together. But you never asked me.”

Harry took a deep breath. He sat back down. “Luigi, when all my troubles started, you were like seventeen, eighteen. You’re what now, almost twenty-two. I guess I just kept on thinking of you as this…kid. I’m sorry about that.”

“No big deal. I just wanted to know. Now I know.”

“What would you have said if I asked?” Harry asked.

“I don’t know. Probably would have thought it was too far out of my comfort zone. I know what I am Harry. He pointed to his array. “I live in this machinery, and I like it there.”

“So everybody’s getting what they want. You keep takin’ care of Uncle Fred’s businesses, and ours. You’ll do OK. Just know that you’re an integral part of this operation and always will be.”

Harry gave Lou an affectionate slap on the cheek and left his office.

In the space outside Harry’s office, Vanessa sat working on her computer. Harry came up to her desk and checked out what she was working on. Vanessa didn’t look up.

“Come on around here, you can get a better look down my blouse.”

Harry laughs. “You sensed my interest.”

“People have been looking at my boobs for twelve years. They are not small.” 

“Are they real?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Are they keeping you busy?”

“That Rino’s a damn slave driver. But he’s very good. You lucked out there.”

“I’m beginnin’ to think we lucked out in a lot of ways.”

“That wouldn’t by any chance be some sort of compliment?”

“I dunno. Would it?”

“One of these nights, Harry, we’re gonna find out a little more about each other.”

“Oh yeah? That wouldn’t be a come-on, now would it?

“I don’t know, would it?”

~ 15 ~

The band was rehearsing on stage. Rino was perched on a stool at the end of the bar, talking on his cell phone. Harry walked over to him. Rino put the phone down when he was done with his call.

“Rino. Talk to me. Are you spending our money wisely?”

“We’re in good shape, Harry. Next Thursday night, we’ll find out how good.”

“How’s the band?”

“They’ll be ready, no sweat. They kick ass just like they used to. I hear Tony got his shift moved to nights so he could come to rehearsals during the day. Also, I’ve been getting a lot of calls from some pretty well-known groups looking for a smaller venue. I’m gonna do the math on concert nights. The PR from that alone could keep us busy for quite a while. I’ve already talked to a couple of record labels for launch parties too. I talked it over with Ang. They could back up the solo acts and get nights off when other bands come in. And I haven’t even started to investigate the Italian party market. This is a beautiful space. We can make it the go-to place without even breakin’ a sweat. ”

“If anybody can it’s you Rino.” Harry said and gave him an Italian guy hug.

The band stopped rehearsing and took a break. Angelo walked over to Harry and Rino. 

“Sounding good, Ang.” Harry said. “Tony say anything about the investigation?”

“Talk to him before he splits.” Angelo said.

“Good idea.” He turned to Rino. “Otherwise, everything OK?” 

“It’s gonna be fine, Harry.” Rino said. “Our first ads are going online on Friday. Lou’s up there adding to the Facebook page, getting the SEO goin’. I got a couple of crews comin’ in from CITY TV and CTV entertainment to do a piece on the place. They can interview Ang about it. We’ll be packin’ em in before you know it.”

“I’m sure we will.”

Harry patted Rino on the shoulder, as he walked away. “You the man, Rino.”

Harry walked over to Tony Taglia who had just grabbed a Coke from a cooler by the stage. They both walked out of the building together and plopped down in a couple of chairs outside the back door. Tony lit a cigarette.

“So Harry. How’s it goin’?” Tony asked

“A lot better than it was a couple months ago.”

“I’ll drink to that.”

“You guys sound great. Really tight.” Harry said.

“To tell the truth, it’s just like ridin’ a bike. Plus it’s only been a couple of years. We’da never broken up at all if it wasn’t for Sammy DiPietro and all the bullshit he created. Plus the fact that he wrote all the lyrics.”

“It’s a crazy business.”

“Angie played us bits of half a dozen of the songs he’s workin’ on with your lyrics. You’re a good writer, Harry. You got the touch.”

“Thanks, Tony.”

“Yeah, I think this band’s gonna get back on track. We been talking about a lot of other ideas as well.”

“If it does click, you’d actually quit the force to play full-time?”

“In a New York minute. There’s nothing like this life. Bein’ a cop is interesting. But the lowlifes and the senseless violence…it all gets to you after a while. Even if you’re just battin’ cleanup like me.”

“You know I always wondered how you got to be an Inspector in just…what was it…eighteen months?”

“Believe it or not, it was because I was taking Internet courses in criminology all the time I was in the band. I got a degree. I joined the force. I spent a year in a cruiser. Then aced the Inspectors’ exam. Badda boom…Badda bing. I’m a detective. I mean Inspector.”

“That’s very cool, Tony. So is there anything shakin’ on my dad’s case?”

“Could be. I’ve been talking to forensics and arson. They’re makin’ some headway. But you know I can’t tell you anything right?”

“Just so long as the case is still open. I’d hate to see this written off as an accident when you and I both know that ain’t true.”

Tony nodded then, looked at his watch. “Gotta go, Harry.” Then he got to his feet.

“Take care, Tony.”

Tony walked back into the club then he turned around. “Harry, you know what the downside of being a cop is?”

“Besides the salary?”

He chuckled. “Besides that…the downside is that we can’t do a goddamn thing without evidence.”

“I understand. But it doesn’t change the reality of the situation.”

“No. No it doesn’t. I’ll see you Harry. You be good.”

Tony grabbed his stuff and hurried out of the club. Harry looked at his watch. He got up to leave too.

~ 16 ~

Harry entered the family house with his key. It was late in the afternoon and pretty hot outside. He walked to the kitchen and got himself a beer. He walked into the study where Cat was sitting on the sofa, watching some insipid dating show.

“Catarina.”

Cat jumped up and gave him a hug. “Hi Harry.”

“Whatca watching?”

“Ahhh who knows.”

Harry looked at the screen. “Oh, yeah. We used to watch this in…”

“The slammer?”

“Yeah, in the slammer.”

Harry flopped down on the couch beside Cat. She grabbed his hand and held it.

“So, how are things at the club?” she asked.

“Good. Good. Comin’ together nicely. You did some nice work on the signage and the web stuff.”

“Thanks. I met Vanessa the other day.”

“Oh yeah, she’s a piece of work, isn’t she? But her and Rino make a good team.”

“So, you keeping out of trouble?” Cat asked.

“Let’s just say I’m doin’ my best to avoid it.”

“Nothing wrong with that.”

“Where’s mom?”

“She went to Aunt Theresa’s. They’re going out for dinner.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Yep…just got in the car and went.”

“Well, that’s encouraging. What about you, Cat?”

“It’s summer, Harry I’m goofin’ off. I did get into art college. Got my acceptance letter yesterday.”

“That’s great. So why don’t we go out and celebrate? I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

“You don’t have any plans?”

“Yeah, my plan was to take the two women I love most out to dinner. But since I’ve only got one, I’m makin’ do.”

Cat jumped up. “I’ll be right back down.” And she bounced out of the room.

Harry took the remote and flipped the channels until he found some local news.

A Kingston Penitentiary inmate was killed early this morning. Francesco Michael Sacheli, serving 12 to 15 years for a 2017 armed robbery in Toronto, was stabbed several times as he stood in the breakfast line. Sacheli’s capture and subsequent confession actually cleared another man, Harry Alfredo Botticelli, the eldest son of Italian businessman, and alleged mobster, Tino Botticelli. Botticelli had been imprisoned for close to two years. Tino Botticelli died last month in a house explosion and fire on the east side of the city…

“Son of a bitch.” Harry muttered. He clicked off the TV. He sat staring blankly at the screen. Behind him, Cat, changed and looking foxy, appeared in the doorway. 

“OK, big brother. I’m ready to go.”

Harry got up. He forced a smile.

“You alright? You look like you just saw a ghost.”

“Yeah. I’m fine. I was just watching the news.”

“I never watch the news. It’s always such a bummer.”

“Tell me about it… Well, don’t you look delicious? Harry hugged Cat as they left the house.” 

~ 17 ~

Later that evening, after Harry dropped Cat off from their dinner, he drove over to the house where Diane Holloway was staying. He was sitting in his car listening to the sports station on the radio and just ready to get out when he saw her come out and get into her car. She headed up to Queen Street. Harry followed her at a discreet distance.

Diane drove directly to Uncle Fred’s house in Forest Hill. She drove past and turned up a side street. Harry drove past the side street and parked where he could see Diane’s car and Uncle Fred’s driveway. Twenty minutes later, Uncle Fred’s car came out of the driveway. Diane followed. Harry followed Diane.

Harry knew that Uncle Fred liked to go into the office when it was closed to send memos to his suppliers in Italy and deal with emails that he was too busy to do during the day. 

Fred’s car drove south to College Street where it pulled up in front of a cappuccino bar. Fred got out and entered the bar. Diane pulled up down the street and got out of her car. She entered the bar as well. 

Harry parked across the street and watched. Diane came out of the bar with a latte. Fred’s bodyguards, Joseph & Tiny, ogled her a bit. She acted a little coy and briefly chatted with them, then headed down the street to her car. Fred came out about a minute later, with a large latte and another man. Fred shook hands with the other man and got back in his car. 

The procession led by Fred’s car drove into the parking area of Botticelli Foods, over on the west side of the city. Fred got out and entered the building. Joseph and Tiny got out of the car and leaned on the hood, lighting cigarettes and chatting with each other.

Diane drove by with Harry discreetly following. Diane kept rolling until she hit Weston Road and then turned south. As soon as he saw her head in that direction, Harry turned around and drove back to the Botticelli Foods office. He parked beside Fred’s car, chatted briefly with the two bodyguards and then went inside.

Harry climbed the stairs, then headed down the hall to Fred’s office. Fred was sitting at the computer, writing something. He stopped when Harry entered his office.

“Harry, good to see you. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Harry sat down in a chair on the other side of Fred’s desk.

“Something’s come up I think you should know about.” Harry said.

“Yeah?”

“I think the people who killed dad are lookin’ to kill you too.”

“You got my attention.”

“About a week ago, a good lookin’ lady who called herself Diane Holloway came onto me in a bar.”

“Lucky you.”

“That’s what I thought at first. But, you know, Botticellis don’t trust anybody, so I investigated her purse while she was sleeping and came up with a piece of paper with a phone number and a set of initials. JP.

“Was it my number?”

“No. It was a cell phone, registered to Joseph Pintaleone.”

“Jesus Christ! Joey Pinto? Asshole never even bothered to change his name.”

“So who is he?”

“He’s a fuckin’ ghost. ‘Cause he was taken care of like thirty years ago. At least that’s what I was led to believe.”

“A contract?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time somebody bought out of one. Jesus…Joey Pinto.” 

“Who was the hitter?”

“Who can remember? It was all set up by phone and courier. We were young and stupid back then. We’d never done anything like that before.”

“What’d Joey Pinto do to you guys to warrant a hit?”

Fred got up and paced around the room. “You know I wish I could tell you, Harry. ‘Cause if I did, you’d only ask me why the hell I told you in the first place.”

“Alright. I can respect that. Anyway this evening, I decide to follow this Diane chick. Her first stop was your house. She tailed you around all evening, even flirted with your guys down on College Street.”

“She’s studying my routine. Bitch.”

“Yeah. Looks that way.”

“You think she blew up Christina Ricci’s house?”

“Yeah, I do. This woman’s all feminine on the surface, but I could see her as a stone killer. And the other night, she’s casually tryin’ to pump me for information.” 

“So, we’ll take her out.”

“We could do that. But what about Pinto? I mean isn’t he the guy we want? All we got is a cell phone. And chances are this Diane isn’t planning to have lunch with him anytime soon.”

Fred sat back down at his desk. 

“So. You been playing detective, go find Joey Pinto. Tell me where he is. I’ll have him stuffed and mounted.”

“You understand I can’t prove any of this. It’s just a theory.” Harry said.

“Theory my ass. You always were good at figuring things out. I remember I’d come over to your house and watch Colombo with you. You could always solve the case way ahead of that glass-eyed goombah.”

“Alright. You just keep your guys with you at all times. Don’t go anywhere by yourself until we’ve got this figured out. She’ll come after you, Uncle Fred.”

“Don’t worry about me. You be careful. If this chick’s smart enough to off Tino, then she’s a real pro.” Fred replied.

“I’ll be careful.”

“You need a piece?”

“No. I’ve got dad’s arsenal. But I just want to figure things out first.” 

Fred got up and walked around the desk. He hugged Harry affectionately.

“So I hear the club is coming together nicely.”

“Yeah, we’ll be open in about a week’s time.”

“I also hear Tony Taglia’s playing in the house band.”

“Yeah.”

“Whatever you do, Harry, you keep this away from him. He’s a good cop. He can’t be bought. And that’s the last thing we need in our lives right now. Otherwise the shit is gonna hit the fan big time and some innocent people are gonna get hurt.”

“I understand, Uncle Fred.”

“OK, you keep me posted.”

When Harry left the office, Fred’s composure changed dramatically. He was furious. He banged on the window and called his guys to the office. When they got there, he barked: “Joseph Pintaleone. I want him found. And I want him found ASAP. Write this down. P-i-n-t-a-l-e-o-n-e. Put it on the street.”

“What’s so special about this guy?” Joseph asked.

“Nothing, except that he is supposed to be dead, off a contract I put out on him thirty years ago.”

“Guess that makes him special.” Joseph said.

“And I need two guys with me 24/7. Figure it out. Now go. Find that fucker for me. And that tootsie you saw at the coffee shop, you keep an eye out for her. She might be more dangerous than she looks.”

Tiny left the office. Joseph camped outside Fred’s door and got on the phone. Fred sat back in his chair. He picked up his phone and dialled.

“Hi, it’s Freddie. How you been? Good. Good. Listen, I just thought you should know, Joey Pinto is back in town…he might try to contact you…Yeah…if he does, this is important…arrange to meet with him. No, you don’t have to show up. You just set it up, I’ll take care of the rest. OK. Good…I’ll talk to you soon.”

Fred hung up the phone. He leaned back in his chair and takes a deep breath. “Merda!”

~ 18 ~

Joey Pinto sat on a lawn chair under the small awning of his Winnebago. The Winnebago was sitting in the yard of a deserted cottage on the south side of a lake called Scugog, north of the city about two miles from a town called Port Perry.

He was cooking a steak on his Hibachi. On the table beside him was a small salad in a plastic container and a bottle of Chianti. 

He flipped the steak. The cell phone on the table rang. He picked it up and flipped his small egg timer over. He talked in Italian.

“Yeah…Yeah, Diane, how’s it going? No, no, I understand. Things’ll settle down and he’ll get back into his routine. He’s fuckin’ somebody on the side. These goombahs are always fuckin’ somebody. Just be patient. Good things come to those who wait. How’s Harry? Yeah…well don’t get too attached to him. He’s gonna end up hatin’ you one day. Alright, you be patient. We got time. Bye.”

A few seconds later the sand runs out of the egg timer, It’s a few seconds shy of 90 seconds. 

Pinto turned to his steak and flipped it one more time. 

Harry, Lou and Vanessa sat around Lou’s desk. They were listening to the conversation between Diane and Pinto. Vanessa who had a basic grasp of Italian because her given name was Nardi and her parents were both Sicilian, translated the call for Harry and Lou.

“Why the hell would he want to know how I am?” Harry said.

“Maybe he remembers you from back in the day.” Lou suggested.

“Naa. I don’t think I was even born yet.”

“You said he might have been at the house a lot when you were small.”

“Yeah, well, either way, I don’t remember him.”

“Harry, can I talk to you…in private?” Vanessa said.”

“Sure. Let’s go downstairs and get a drink.” turned to Lou. 

“I guess we weren’t able to triangulate his location.”

“Nope. It was eighty-eight seconds. I need at least ninety-three, ninety-five. Probably never gonna get it. Dude is careful.”

Vanessa and Harry left Lou’s office and headed downstairs to the bar. The room was empty but all the tables were in place and everything looked perfect. Harry poured Vanessa a glass of wine and a scotch for himself. He walked around and plopped down on a stool beside her. He raised his glass.”

“Here’s to all this.” Harry said.

“Cheers.” Vanessa said

“What’s with the serious face?”

“Ever since you found out about him, I’ve been thinking about this Joey Pinto guy.”

“What about him?” Harry asked, oddly not unhappy that she was dipping into this can of worms.

“Well, first of all…why did he come back here?”

“Revenge. Way back in the day, my dad and my uncle put a contract on him, which he somehow managed to get out of.”

“Then there’s your Uncle Fred, who knew why they put the hit on him but obviously didn’t want to tell you why.”   

“How do you know that?” 

“Because you would have said something to your brothers and you didn’t.”

Harry just stared at her for a few seconds. “Okay, what next?”

“The question of why he’s here, where he could be found. I mean he could order a hit from anywhere right?”

“I guess.” The wheels are starting to turn in Harry’s brain. “What else?”

“Then there’s your question? ‘Why does he care how I am?’ Put all three of those together and what does it add up to?”

“Maybe I’m slow but I haven’t got a clue.”

“Me either. But a logical guess would be that he came back here because of you.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Not if you think about it. Which is maybe what you should do, Harry.”

“Vanessa slipped off the stool and gave Harry a peck on the cheek.” 

“Thanks for the drink. I think you should go talk to your mom.”

“Talk to her about what?”

“Everything.”

Harry sat at the bar and watched Vanessa walk back up the stairs, pondering what had just happened.

~ 19 ~

Diane Holloway sat in her car parked down the street from Frederico’s office. It was just after sunset. She picked up her cell phone and punched in a number. 

“Hi Harry.”

“Diane. Where you been? I’ve been calling.” Harry said.

“Here and there, doin’ this and that. I’ve been thinking about you.”

“What a coincidence.”

“So what are you doing tonight?”

“Does it sound wussy to say that I’m going to visit my mother?”

“No, I think that’s sweet…Harry hold on a minute.”

Diane put the phone down and picked up a small pair of binoculars. A cab pulled up in front of the front entrance of the building. Fred came out of the building, alone. He climbed into the cab. The cab took off right past Diane’s car. Diane started her engine and pulled out into traffic. She picked up the phone again. 

“Sorry about that, Harry. Just a little something I had to deal with. So can we get together later? Say around eleven at my place?”

“Sounds like fun. Can I bring anything?”

“I believe you carry it with you at all times.”

“Well then, that makes it easy.”

“Bye Harry.”

Diane followed the taxi. Joseph and Tiny followed her in their car.

The taxi pulled up to a quiet corner on a nice residential street off Yonge Street north of the 401 Highway. Fred got out and continued to walk up the street. Diane pulled over and watched Fred through her binoculars. He turned into a house with a long driveway. Diane pulled up to the end of the driveway. He saw Fred enter a coach house in the rear of the larger house, apparently with a key. Diane studied the main house. It was dark. She drove up the street and around the corner. She parked her car there and backtracked to the driveway. She looked around carefully and walked up the driveway until she came to a renovated coach house.

Diane walked around to the far side of the coach house. She saw that it was on the edge of a hill that fell away steeply into darkness. There was a small wooden terrace at the top of the drop-off.

Diane went back to the front of the coach house. She peeked in the window. She saw a woman in a nurse’s uniform moving around. She adjusted her angle. Then she saw a very old man in a wheelchair, and Fred, sitting in a wing chair, talking to the old man. But the old man had a blank look on his face. After several minutes, Fred got up and walked to the back of the coach house and out onto the small terrace. Diane moved back around the side of the house to the rear.

Fred stepped out onto the small terrace. He sat down in a chair and lit a small cigar.

Diane whispered to herself ‘Bingo’, and she faded into the darkness. She moved quickly back down the driveway and then down the street back to her car. 

Up the street, Joseph and Tiny were sitting in their car watching Diane come down the driveway. 

“Harry said she would only be doing recon.” Joseph said.

“God, I hope so, or our ass is grass.” Tiny replied.

“But with who? She pops him we got no boss.”

“Yeah. He should see about a succession management program.” 

“Big idea.”

“I get them from time to time.”

“Better call Harry and tell him he was right.”

Joseph and Tiny pulled up the driveway. Joseph went around to the rear and flashed a thumbs-up at Fred, who nodded.

Tiny sat on the hood of the car and called Harry.

“Yeah, Harry. She was here. Just scopin’ things out.”

Then Joseph came around to the front of the coach house. He gave Tiny a thumbs up. “Yeah, everybody’s fine.” Tiny said into the phone.

~ 20 ~

    

Harry pulled up to the Botticelli house. He walked though to the kitchen, reached into the fridge and grabbed himself a beer. 

“Ma!!!”

Constance shouted from the outside. “Out here, honey.”

Harry walked to the back door, then out into the yard. Constance was sitting at a table by the pool. She was listening to some music on a small radio. Several decorating magazines were spread out on the table in front of her. Harry walked over and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“How you doin’?”

“I’m okay, honey. How are you?”

Harry sat down opposite her. “It’s good to be alive ma.”

“Lou tells me the club will be opening later this week.”

“We live in hope.” 

Harry picked up one of the decorating magazines. “What’s this?”

“Catarina and I are gonna re-decorate the house.”

“No kidding.”

“She needs something to do for the summer. To get her mind off things, you know.”

“What about you, ma? You need to get your mind off things too.”

“It’s always gonna be a sadness. But we had a good life together and well, I guess it's time to move on.”

“That’s good, ma. That’s real good. Just don’t paint my old room pink. You never know, I might wanna move home again someday.”

Constance reached over and gave Harry a loving slap on the cheek “Lou tells me that you’re working hard on your dad’s case.”

“Yeah, we are.”

“You’re not getting yourself into trouble, are you?”

“I’m doing my best to avoid it. But that’s part of the reason I came to see you tonight.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, a name popped up in all this. I wanted to ask you about him.”

“What name?”

“Joey Pinto, ma.”

Constance said nothing for a few seconds. “Oh my god, I haven’t heard that name in years.”

“I don’t remember him at all.”

“That’s understandable since you weren’t born yet.”

“So tell me about him.”

“He, uh…worked for your father.”

“What did he do, ma?”

“Oh, I don’t know. He was around a lot for a couple of years and then suddenly he was gone.”

Harry studied his mother’s face. She was very nervous. He was convinced that she was holding something back. He knew he would have to ease it out of her. 

“Where’d he go?”

“I think your dad said Vegas. Somewhere in the States.”

“Ma, I’m gonna level with you. I’m pretty sure that Joey Pinto was responsible for dad’s death. I really need to know more about him than you’re telling me. I talked to Uncle Fred and he buttoned up on me.”

“Well, your Uncle Fred would know more than I do.”

“Ma, please.”

Constance suddenly became quite emotional. “Harry. What are you dredging up all this stuff for?”

“Because I need to know who killed dad. We all do. I wanna put all this crap behind us.”

Constance stared out into space for a moment. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She took a deep breath and turned her gaze to Harry.

“Joey Pinto was my bodyguard. Back before you were born, your dad and Uncle Fred got into some trouble with the DiVincenzos. They were so green. We were just married. I came from a straight-arrow family except for Frederico. They pretty much disowned me for marrying your dad. Anyway, it was very dangerous. Your dad wanted me to be safe. So he had Joey take me up north. To some cottage resort. Way up north of Huntsville. I was young. Nineteen. I honestly didn’t know your father that all well and Joey was a very handsome young man.”

“So you had an affair with him?”

“We had to stay in the same room. We were hiding out. We had to pretend to be a couple. I got sad seeing him sleeping on the floor. We resisted for the longest time, Harry. But it was most of that whole summer, we were together. Things just happened.”

“So dad found out about it.”

“I told him. I couldn’t carry around a lie like that.”

“What did dad do?”

“He held me and told me that he understood. He said he loved me and that he could forgive me because he had put me in a terrible position.”

“And Joey Pinto?”

“I don’t know. A few days after we got back to Toronto, your father told me he got a job offer in the States. I believed him. I never saw Joey again, Harry.”

“He never tried to contact you?”

Constance shook her head. “No.”

“Then what?”

“About eight weeks later, I found I was pregnant.”

“Pregnant. With me?”

Constance nodded.

“So are you telling me that Joey Pinto thinks he could be my father?”

“Honey, I don’t know. I never made an issue out of it. Your father understood the indiscretion. But a love child…never.”

 Harry got up and walked over to the pool. “So after all these years, Joey Pinto comes back, kills dad and Uncle Fred and what, reclaims you somehow?”

“That would never happen.”

“Why not ma? You loved him once. You could love him again.”

“I didn’t love him. I fooled around with him then, because I was young and bored and frightened out of my mind. But I never loved anybody but your father and you kids. Not in my whole life, Harry. And now he’s gone, and I miss him more than I can tell you. We made our peace with this a long time ago. And now here it is, screaming at me again.”

Harry sat down beside his mother, He hugged her gently as she cried. Harry looked out into the night sky, his whole world in an emotional shambles.

~ 21 ~

Half an hour later, Harry descended the stairs to the basement. It was filled with boxes and junk. He walked to the far end, by the laundry tubs. He reached in back of the dryer and pulled out a small tin box. He opened the box and extracted a key. Then he went back to the other end of the basement and used the key to open a door under the stairs. 

The room he entered had a small desk, with a landline telephone sitting on it. Off to the side, there was a large metal cabinet. Harry sat down at the desk. Then he spun around and wheeled the chair to the door of the metal cabinet and opened it up. 

Inside there was an assortment of handguns, a couple of shotguns, a beautiful Remington 30.06 Hunting Rifle with a scope and a box filled with several small vials of colourless liquid. He looked over the vials and took two of them, He then took out a small leather pouch and opened it. In it was a syringe kit. He slipped the vials into the leather pouch and closed it up.  He loaded the Remington. and slid it into a shoulder pouch. He slapped a magazine into one of the H&K 9-millimetre pistols and took that as well. Then he closed the cabinet. 

As he was getting ready to leave the room, he noticed a small picture in a frame, sitting on a small shelf above the table. He took it down. It was an old family portrait. He was about fourteen years old. He smiled and put the picture back on the shelf of the cabinet. He then closed up the cabinet. He tucked the H&K into his belt at the small of his back. From the desk, he took several plastic ties. Then he closed and locked everything and headed back up the stairs. When he got into his car, he called Lou at the club. Lou was a night owl and the only person in the whole place.

“Lou…Harry.”

“Harry, is everything OK?”

“Everything’s fine. Listen, I need you to meet me at the office at noon tomorrow.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Any action with my girlfriend, Diane?”

“Yeah, she called Mr. Pinto. 88 Seconds again.”

“Yeah.”

“She was talkin’ English this time.”

“What did she say?”

“Something about finding a way in. That it was all locked up…shit like that.”

“Uncle Freddie strikes again.” Harry said, mostly to himself.

“What’d you say?”

“Nothing. That’s great Lou. See you tomorrow.”

“Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you telling me everything?”

“Lou, I’m not gonna lie to you. There’s stuff I know that you just can’t know about right now. Nobody can. But I’ll get you up to speed as soon as possible, I promise.”

“You don’t have to protect me, you know?”

“I know that, Lou. Goodnight.”

“‘Night, Harry.”

~ 22 ~

Harry pulled into the driveway of Fred’s house. Joseph and Tiny were sitting on the front porch of the house, drinking coffee and watching a ball game on a laptop.

“Evening, guys. Uncle Fred in?”

“Yeah, he’s havin’ his steam.”

“He still doin’ that?”

“Three, four times a week.” Joseph said. “Says it makes him feel younger. But all it’s really doin’ is turning his body into a prune.”

“Hunnert and eighty-five pound prune.” Tiny added

“I understand you made the killer tonight.”

“Yeah. It was Fred’s idea.” Joseph said. “Fuckin’ dangerous too. Fred went by himself in a cab to see his father. She followed him and cased out the entire joint.”

“She could popped him and nobody woulda been any the wiser.” Tiny said.

“Did you follow her after?”

“Naw we just assumed she went home.” Tiny said. “I drove by the address you gave me and it looked like she was locked down for the night, so I split.”

“So you think she’ll try and take Fred out next time he goes to see his dad?” Harry asked.

“Should do.” Joseph said. “Course, that will never happen.”

“Right. Well, that’s all I needed to know, guys. Thanks.”

“You don’t wanna see Fred?”

“Naaa…Just wanted to see what was up.”

“Well your theory was right on the money, Harry. If she tries anything hinky, we’ll take her out.”

“I’ve got a plan for her. You don't have to sweat anything from here on out.” Harry said. Then he walked back to his car. He sat behind the wheel for a moment, catching up on his thinking.

~ 23 ~

Twenty minutes later, Harry was parked on Leuty Street. On the seat beside him was a bottle of Valpolicella. Harry got out the hypodermic kit and attached a needle to the syringe. He then took one of the vials of colourless liquid and loaded the syringe. 

Very gently he inserted the needle into the top of the bottle. When he was sure it had penetrated all the way through the cork, he depressed the plunger and squeezed the liquid into the wine. He then slowly extracted the syringe. took it apart and put it back into its case, which he then shoved into his shoulder bag.

Diane let Harry into the flat. Harry was carrying a bottle of wine. He kissed Diane on the cheek. 

“How you doin?”

“I’m good. How about you?”

“I’m good.”

“So we’re both good. Are you hungry?”

“I could eat.”

Harry went into the kitchen. He uncorked the wine and poured some into one of the glasses sitting on the counter. He handed Diane a glass. She was busy fussing with the food. She took a quick drink. 

“This is nice. What is it?”

“Valpolicella. It’s a dry red.”

“You’re not having some?” she asked.

“I can’t drink wine on an empty stomach. I get cramps and it’s no fun.”

“Awww. Well, this will be ready in like five minutes. Hope you like Chicken Cacciatore. It’s my specialty.”

“I love it.”

Diane took another sip of her wine. Harry watched her cook. “It smells great.” he said.

Diane walked over and wrapped her arms around Harry. “So do you.”

They kissed. But by the end of the kiss, Diane was limp in Harry’s arms. Harry picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. He laid Diane on the bed and fastened her wrists together with the plastic binders. He also bound her feet together. Then he taped her mouth with silver duct tape.

Harry went into the kitchen to check on the chicken in the oven.

He then cooked some pasta and opened a can of Spaghetti sauce shaking his head…canned spaghetti sauce. He then took the chicken out of the oven, fixed the pasta and prepared the dinner, which he ate by himself.

Afterwards, he cleaned up  He also emptied out the wine bottle and rinsed it and washed Diane’s wine glass.

Harry then started rummaging through the bedroom closet, Diane’s drawers and suitcases. He searched the rest of the flat and eventually came up with a semi-automatic Colt pistol, which was stashed in the freezer behind a stack of ice cube trays. Harry sat down by the bed. The Colt was on his lap.

Half an hour later, Diane slowly regained consciousness. She freaked momentarily when she saw that she was incapacitated. She looked over at Harry. 

“Diane Holloway is buried in the St. John’s Cemetery. Breakneck New York.’ Harry said. “She died from viral pneumonia in 1996. Listen, I will take the tape off your mouth so that we can have a nice quiet chat. But if you scream or spit at me or do anything I don’t like, it goes back on. If you don’t agree, then I will shoot you right now with your own gun, and make it look like a suicide and that will be that. Now, are we gonna have a nice quiet chat?”

Diane nodded her head.

Harry ripped off the tape. She didn’t even flinch.

“What are you doing this for?” she asked.

“You are some kind of contract killer who was hired by Joey Pinto to kill my dad and Uncle Fred, true or false?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“This is not what I would call a productive conversation, Diane.”

Harry moved his chair closer to her. “I come from a crime family. We have respect for people like you. We hold no grudges and swear no vengeance against people like you. You can survive this by telling me the truth. Otherwise, you are dead.”

Diane took a deep breath and let it out slowly. 

“I’m gonna find out what I need to know one way or another.” Harry said. “Your choice is you can avoid a sodium pentathol hangover by talking to me now. Or I’ll just kill you and find Joey Pinto on my own. And that shouldn’t be too hard. The guy thinks he’s my father. I’m sure he’d be happy to hook up with me.”

“Don’t underestimate him.”

“So you do know him.”

Diane hesitated. She took a deep capitulating breath. “We met in Vegas.”

“Are you a hitter?”

“Yeah. I work mostly in the south. A lot of digging in the desert.”

“How long you been in?”

“Five, six years. My dad taught me the trade. I took over when he retired.”

“Then we understand each other. And you understand that I gotta take out Joey Pinto.”

“Honestly, Harry. I don’t know that much about the situation. I know names, addresses. What I need to know. I don’t know motives. I do know that Joey Pinto is no asshole. But I don’t know where he is. We talk on the phone. He’s got a cell phone, and he never talks longer than ninety seconds, so nobody can triangulate his signal.”

“So what’s your best guess?”

“Joey was a high roller. Called himself Tony Gianelli. I dug up his real name as part of my due diligence when he wanted to hire me. Hell of a poker player so I hear. He wasn’t tethered to Vegas. He liked to move around. Reno. Tahoe. Down into Mexico sometimes. Drove a big Winnebago. Nice vehicle. My best guess is that he drove it up here.”

Harry took a deep breath. He shook his head. “What will you do if I let you go?”

“Go home. I got half my money. Done half the job. I’d cut my losses and split. It’s strictly business, Harry.”

“Diane, is there anything you’re not telling me?”

“Harry, unlike yourself, I have no emotional stake in this. It’s just a job and now it’s over. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been made.”

“Just a job? It was my father, Diane.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Harry. It’s always somebody’s father, somebody’s kid, somebody’s brother. I don’t make the rules here.”
     “What if I give you to the cops?”

“There’s no case, Harry. There’s no evidence. No reason for them to hold me. No way they can. Either way, I’m going home. But givin’ me to the cops is a worst case scenario for you, Harry. They’ll be asking all kinds of questions you don't want to answer.”
      Harry got up. He wanted to hit something. 

“Harry, if you don’t mind me saying this…I really don’t think you’re cut out for this kind of life.”

“No kidding.” Harry said as he sat back down.

“I’m gonna take Joey Pinto out of the picture. And then I’ll let you go home. But till then, you are not moving an inch.”

“Harry reached into his bag and pulled out a syringe kit and a vial of clear liquid. He transferred the liquid into syringe.”

This will knock you out for about 18 hours. When you wake up there will be somebody here to take you to the airport and put you on a plane. If you try anything funny, he will kill you and bury your body where it will never be found and that will be that. Do we understand each other?”

“Perfectly.”

“Then, I never wanna see you again, Diane.”

“You never will, Harry.”

Harry tapped the inside of Diane’s arm and popped a vein. He unceremoniously inserted the needle. In a few seconds, she was out cold. Harry gently slapped her face a bit to make sure. Then he wandered around the room with a wet dish cloth wiping everything he thought he might have touched. He continued to do so for the rest of the apartment. And he removed the bug from the phone.

~ 24 ~

At noon the next day, Harry and Lou were sitting in front of Lou’s computer. Harry dialled Joey Pinto’s number. It rang three times.

“Yeah, who’s this?”

“It’s Harry Botticelli, Joey. How are you?”

“How’d you get this number, Harry?”

“From Diane. Her and I are pretty tight these days.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, you watch out for her. She’s hell on wheels.”

“Not anymore, Joey.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s on her way back home, Joey. We stopped her.”

“Oh yeah. So that means that scum Freddie is still walkin’ the earth.”

“Yeah. That must really piss you off.”

“Yeah, it must. What exactly is it you want Harry?”

“My mother told me the whole story, Joey. The love affair. The pregnancy.”

“Yeah, so what?”

“So…I’d like to know for sure who my father is.”

“You would?”

“Yeah. Wouldn’t you?”

“So what have you got in mind?”

“Well, we can do a blood test.”

“Easier said than done. How do I know you won’t just off me the first minute you lay eyes on me?”

“Joey, we don’t have to meet. Just go to a hospital, get a blood sample and have them send it to my doctor.”

“I guess I could do that.”

“I need to know, Joey and so do you.”

“Look I gotta go. Call me back in half an hour. I need to think about this.”

Lou points to the clock. He needs twelve seconds.

“You know Joey. I talked to my mom last night I told her you were back in town.”

Joey is silent for a few seconds. “What did she say?”

“She says she’d love to see you again.”

“Yeah well…that’s wonderful. But I don’t think it’s gonna happen.” Look I gotta go” And he disconnected.

The computer clock ticked 97. The trace was complete. The triangulation done. Lou brought up a map. 

“He’s up just south and east of Port Perry.” Lou said.

“Good work, Lou.”

“Harry…You really think Joey Pinto is your father?”

“No Lou, I don’t. I think Joey Pinto is nuts, and he killed our father, and for this he’s gonna pay.”

Harry got up and walked out of the office.

“I’ll see you tonight, Lou.”

“Good luck, Harry.”

~ 25 ~

Angelo sat on the stage alone with an electric guitar. He was doing a sound check. When he saw Harry, he jumped down. The two men talked for a moment. Angelo started to get angry, but Harry calmed him down. Then they embraced and Harry walked away. Angelo climbed back up onto the stage. He grabbed his guitar and sat down on his stool in front of the microphone. He plugged in the guitar and started to tune it. He was leaving it to Harry to resolve but he wasn’t thrilled about it.

On the way out of the club, Harry encountered Vanessa just walking in. They stopped and talked for a moment. Harry gently cupped her cheek in his hand and kissed her. Then he left the club.

~ 26 ~

Twenty minutes later, Harry walked into Fred’s office. He summoned the two bodyguards. They all sat down while Harry walked around and talked. He was very nervous. But he was also out for blood.

“All right, Lou has located Joey Pinto. Joseph, you and I are going to find this guy. He’s up north off Highway 7 near Port Perry.” He then handed Tiny a key and a slip of paper with the address for Diane Holloway's apartment. 

“Tiny, you go keep an eye on her. She’s taking a nap right now. She should be awake by later today. When I call you, you call the airport and get her on the next flight to Vegas, then you take her there and make sure she gets on that fuckin’ plane. I’m pretty sure she’ll cooperate, but if she doesn’t, take her out and get rid of her. 

“Joseph, you’re with me. I got a bit of a plan and your skills fit right into it. Uncle Fred. Go over and talk to mom. She told me the whole story and she could use her big brother right about now. I understand why you didn’t tell me. This is gonna get resolved today and nobody needs to know anything else.”

Everybody nodded. There was nothing to say. Tiny took off. Fred clapped Harry on the shoulder and thanked him for figuring it all out. “It was a group effort, Uncle Fred.” Harry said. “Nobody fucks with this family. Dad told me that a long time ago.”

An hour later, Harry and Joseph were driving north and east on Highway 7.

“You gonna take this guy out, or you want me to do it? I’m happy to do it, Harry.” Joseph said.

“Let’s play it by ear. It will be easier to figure out when we get there. I just want him the fuck out of our lives. How that happens, I’m not fussy.”

“Okay. We’ll play it by ear.”

At the Botticelli family home, Constance was sitting in the kitchen, at the counter. There was a cup of tea in front of her. She was staring out the window. 

Cat walked through the kitchen and out the back door in a Speedo swimsuit, holding her cap and goggles. She eased herself into the shallow end of the pool and started to swim.

Tiny let himself into Diane’s flat. He wandered through and leaned into the bedroom and saw Diane on the bed. She was still out cold. He found some chicken cacciatore in the fridge and then flopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. 

 Harry and Joseph came to the location that Lou had given them. It was a cottage that appeared to be abandoned. The place was surrounded by woodland and the shoreline was mostly reeds. Harry parked the car at the end of the roadway in, blocking it off. They saw the Winnebago parked down at the edge of the overgrown lawn. 

Harry and Joseph walked down the roadway together. As they got closer they noticed that the door of the Winnebago was open, but nobody seemed to be around. 

Joesph climbed into the Winnebago and looked around. He came back out and shook his head. They heard a creaking coming from the abandoned cottage, then Joey Pinto’s voice from inside the cottage. “Put your guns down fellas. I have a very big rifle trained on you.”

“I came to talk Joey. That’s all.” Harry said.

“But you brought some extra help just in case.” 

“Yeah well, you can never be too careful these days. You put your gun down and I’ll put mine down and we’ll talk. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?” 

“Yeah, what about your buddy there? He packin’ too?”

“Of course he is, but like I said, nobody has to get hurt here.”

“Your pal goes back to the car and waits.” 

Harry looked at Joseph and nodded. Joseph headed back up the roadway to the car. Harry tossed his gun out into the grass in front of him.

“OK.” Pinto said. “I’m comin’ out.”

The cottage door cracked open. Pinto walked over to the Winnebago and leaned his rifle up against it.

Harry sat down on one of the chairs at the small table outside the Winnebago. Pinto sat down in the other chair facing the car parked about a hundred yards away, so he could keep an eye on it. He kept staring at Harry like he was trying to figure something out.

“Guess you want to know why I’m here.” Pinto said.

“That would be a good start, for sure.” Harry replied.

Pinto took a deep breath. “Your mom and I, we had something special for a while there. It was way more than just foolin’ around. I begged her to come away with me, leave all this behind, start a new life somewhere else. But that didn’t work out. When Tino found out about what happened, he put a contract out on me. But they made a mistake and gave the contract to a cousin of mine. Blood is thicker than water, Harry.”

“So this was all about love?”

“Yeah, and payback.” 

“And you think I’m your kid?” 

“Yeah, I do.” 

Harry took a deep breath. “I hate to break this to you, especially after all the trouble you have obviously gone to, but about four years ago, my dad, Tino, was having some problems with his kidney. I volunteered to give him one if he should need it. There were, of course, blood tests as part of the evaluation process. They proved that Tino was my dad.”

Harry was bullshitting the whole story, but he figured it would throw Pinto off balance which is just how he wanted him.

Harry paused to let that sink into Pinto’s skull.

“Now I get that you probably had some hard feelings about the way things went back then. But the simple fact remains that you killed my dad. And you worked for the family so you know that nobody fucks with us. Not you. Not anybody.” 

Pinto just stared at Harry with a blank expression. He had nothing whatsoever to say. 

“Oh yeah, and did I mention that my associate, whose name is Joseph Nunzio, was the 2021 winner of the Canadian long gun championship?”

With that Harry slid out of the chair and dove to the ground as a 30-calibre bullet whizzed by and put a small crater in the centre of Joey Pinto’s forehead.

Harry got up and dusted himself off. Joseph came up the drive with the smoking Remington cradled in his arms. He smiled at Harry. 

Joseph looked at the hole in Joey Pinto’s head. “Through and through. Bullet’s probably in the lake. What do you want to do with this piece of shit?” 

Harry looked around at the shore of the lake. “Tell you what. Let’s dump him in those bullrushes over there.

They rolled the body onto a blanket, dragged it to a swampy area at the edge of the property and dumped it in the weeds. Then they then burned the blanket in an old oil drum.

“What about this Winny?” Joseph said, then he disappeared into the Winnebago. Almost immediately, he came out with a small plastic folder. He showed it to Harry. “Ownership papers are here.”

“Let’s take it back to town, and sell it privately. You get a dealer involved and then there are all kinds of questions.”

 Harry gave Joseph a hug and headed up to the car, while Joseph tidied everything up. On his way, Harry called Tiny and told him to get Diane to the airport.

Diane Holloway was extremely cooperative, especially after she saw Tiny and he told her, in a most respectful way, that if she acted up in any way that he didn't approve of, he would snap her neck like a twig.

At the airport, Diane walked down the corridor to board her flight back to Las Vegas. Tiny sidled over to the window and watched the plane taxi to the runway and then take off into the early evening sky.

 

~ 27 ~

Three evenings later, at Botticell, people started arriving. Uncle Fred and his wife Theresa. Cat walked in with Lou and Constance and a kid named Davey whom Cat had met on a tour of the art college. The entire extended families were there plus a lot of friends. The place was full. Harry sat at the bar with Vanessa. Rino was wandering around the room, making sure the wait staff were doing their jobs and generally worrying about everything.

The band was all huddled together and saying a prayer like good Italian boys. They then headed out and took the stage. Angelo stood behind the lead microphone.  

“Hello and welcome to the grand opening of Botticell. Our thanks to everybody who worked so hard to get things ready. My guys, who had to learn about seven new songs in less than a week, Rino and Vanessa who run the show, my brothers Harry and Lou, my sister Catarina, our mom Constance. and most of all, my dad, Tino, who made this all possible. Wherever he is, I hope he can hear it.”

The band started up. And Angelo starts singing. This is called el Dorado, which was my dad’s preferred ride.

All alone on a highway of diamonds

Driftin’ straight towards the sun

It’s easy to end up alone like this

Without anywhere to run

Through ghost town after ghost town 

It’s a snakes and ladders game we play

Trade a few minutes of honest rage

For a thousand empty nights and days

You might say I am a lonely man

And you just might be right

 I’ve never been much for family and friends

Working by day, sleepin’ by night

I drive a silver studded el Dorado

With the top down and the wind in my hair

Rollin’ way out into the desert

Just me and the lizards out there

And all I see now are the shadows

Of my past as they all crowd in

And it’s another mickey of tequila before

I can cope with everything I’ve been

There’ve been many women I have loved 

And left wounded in my wake

So many chances to make amends

But none of them would I take

And now this self-inflicted poison

Is rollin’ around in my veins

No new roads for me to ride anymore

Just circles on circles again

You might say I am a lonely man

To deny that would make me a fool

But we all get to sleep in the beds we make

And I’m no exception to the rule...

~ 28 ~

Angelo, Lou and Harry were sitting in Harry’s office. They had just cracked three bottles of beer. It was well after midnight. The evening had been a hell of a party. 

Angelo said. “A toast to Harry and Lou who held down the fort while I was busy putting my band back together.”

They all took a slug of their beers.

Then Lou said, “A toast to Harry, who took care of business for the family.” They clicked their bottles and took another slug.

Then Angelo said. “How about you Harry?”

Harry raised up his bottle and smiled. “To the Brothers Botticelli who make a great team. The best damn team I ever played on.”

Again they clinked and slugged. 

Angelo said. “Oh, yeah. Tony’s handing in his resignation tomorrow. The other guys weren’t doing anything they actually had to quit. So it looks like The El Dorados are back in business. I want to sit down with you Harry and let’s pick a dozen pieces that would hang together. I want to make an album. Sell it online and look for a label.”

“I knew about Tony’s resignation,” Harry said. “We’re thinkin’ about going into business together. A little detective agency. With Lou as a key partner.”

“Alright.”Angelo said. And they all took another slug.

“Also,” Harry said. “I was thinkin’ about the name of the band.”

“What … you don't like the El Dorados?”

“Yeah, I do. But what I was thinkin’ was if you just called it El Dorado? It would have a lot more punch. The El Dorados, mmm, sounds like you should all be wearing matching gold tuxedos or something.”

Angelo thought about it for all of ten seconds. “Works for me, Harry.”

‘El Dorado it is.” Harry said.

And with that, the brothers Botticelli finished off their beers and got on with it all.

FIN

FYI: The brothers Botticelli are also featured in another one of my stories, A Little Ray of Hope. https://jimmurraysstories.blogspot.com/2024/01/a-little-ray-of-hope.html