by Tony Farraj
“All rise, the honorable judge Patricia McCormick presiding.” The court secretary shouted.
“You may be seated.” Judge McCormick said, as she sat down. She was a stunning woman, with short black hair and deep blue, green eyes. Her fair skin peeked through her black robe. “This is a bail hearing for the United States vs. Anthony Sakakini; Mr. Sakakini?”
Anthony stood up and placed his hands in front of his crouch. “Yes your honor.”
“I see you already have council.” Judge McCormick looked up from all her paperwork “You have been charged with three counts of murder and one count of arson. How do you plead?”
Anthony took a deep breath inward, he could smell judge McCormick’s perfume fill his nostrils. “Not guilty your honor.” Anthony said with a smile.
“Bail is set at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.” She slammed her gavel down.
“Your honor, do to the nature of the crime, we feel bail should be denied to this particular prisoner.” The Federal prosecutor said firmly. “ We believe Anthony Sakakini may be involved in organized crime and that he may pose a danger to society.
Anthony bent down and glared into John’s eyes. “Are you going to mention anything about the illegal search of my house?” Anthony asked harshly.
“Relax, let them bring up the wallet, then we’ll nail them.” John said calmly.
“Your honor.” The federal prosecutor continued. “We have evidence that links Anthony Sakakini to the crime scene.
“Is this true?” The judge asked John Pennington.
“Your honor.” John stood up to address the judge. A thick Southern ascent seemed to appear from nowhere. “I believe a great injustice has been put forth upon my client. The evidence that the prosecution is referring to, was obtain without a legal warrant, which is clearly a violation of my clients fourth Amendment. Based on that in itself, is sufficient cause for a dismissal.”
Anthony looked over his shoulder to see the horror in agent Shepherd’s face. Agent Shepherd began to whisper with the federal prosecutor.
“Your honor…” He knew he was on a sinking ship and the prosecutor was trying everything in his power to salvage his case. “Detective William and detective Johnson believed Anthony had a hand in the murder of Carlo Sabbetini and his nephew Michael Mazellie, while detective William was questioning Mr. Sakakini, detective Johnson happen to see the wallet belonging to Bruno Felucca on the coffee table, in plan sight. They then placed Anthony Sakakini under arrest on suspicion of murder.”
John Pennington shot up from his chair. “Begging the courts forgiveness, but did the prosecution say the two detectives questioned my client without legal council present? Your honor, a grave error has accord and now the prosecution is doing everything in his power to hold my client. Why don’t we stop wasting the taxpayers money and release Mr. Sakakini?" John finished his statement and quickly sat back down.
On the other hand, the prosecutor pressed forward. “Your honor, Mr. Sakakini is a dangerous man. He needs to be kept behind bars. Anthony Sakakini is a cold-blooded killer, who takes the law into his own hands and systematically destroys his enemies. Mr. Sakakini is linked to a least four death and the burning of Carlo’s café. This man…” The prosecutor walked around to where Anthony was sitting and stuck a finger in Anthony’s face. “This man should be put to death or at least spend the rest of his life in prison. Furthermore…”
“That’s enough Mr. Hayward…”
“But your honor?” The prosecutor was cut short.
“I said; that’s enough! Do you have anything else that links Anthony Sakakini to this crime?” Judge McCormick asked disappointedly.
Mr. Hayward turned and glared at agent Shepherd and the two detectives, then shook his head.
“Then, do to the circumstances beyond my control, I have no choice but to dismiss all charges against Anthony Sakakini. Sir, you’re free to go!”
“Thank you, your honor.” John shook Anthony’s hand and gathered up his paperwork. Anthony looked back at agent Shepherd again and smiled. It took every ounce of energy for Anthony not to bust out laughing in the courtroom. The minute he was escorted back into the hallway, a large howling laugh echoed throughout the courthouse.
The laughter reached agent Shepherd’s ears and rang like a loud siren
In a fit of rage, agent Shepherd tore into both detectives right in the courtroom. He knew he had Anthony in the palm of his hand and he let him slip away.
Anthony gathered up his belongings from the large yellow envelope and stepped of the court building. Waiting for him at the bottom of the steps, where Vinnie and Tina. As Anthony made his way to Tina’s open arms, he felt a hand on his shoulder spin him around.
“You sonofabitch!”
Anthony regained his balance and saw agent Shepherd standing there.
“You know this isn’t over, not by a long shot. I’m going to bust you, no matter how long it takes. You may have one this round, but the fight isn’t over!”
“You now what Shepherd, you and I we’re both cut from the same clothe. Nothing is going to stand in our way of what we want. You want me and I want to find out who killed my family.” Anthony admired agent Shepherd’s dedication.
“The only difference is; I’m going to get what I want!” Agent Shepherd said softly. “Enjoy your freedom, its’ not going to last.”
Anthony felt like a new man after he beat his triple murder case. He slowly crawled out of his plush bed and walked into the kitchen, where he found Vinnie already had breakfast waiting for him on the table. The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the tiny house.
“What on the agenda for today?” Vinnie asked as he took a bite of his eggs and bacon.
“I want to see how Hank is doing with the club. Anthony said as he finished his coffee and walked back to his room to get dressed.
Vinnie finished cleaning up the kitchen and they both meet at the front door and exited the house. Anthony quickly jumped into the passenger seat, while the surveillance team continued to snap pictures of him.
“I’m really getting sick of Shepherd. That bastard is starting to get under my skin.” Anthony said as he looked back at the van, to see if they where being followed.
The surveillance team radioed ahead to an unmarked car at the end of the block. The second unit was the one that was to follow Anthony and Vinnie. The unmarked car watched as Anthony and Vinnie drove by. They waited for the Mercedes to pass, before they began to tail Anthony and Vinnie. The unmarked car watched as Anthony and Vinnie drove to the club and park in front of Hank’s. Anthony and Vinnie stepped out and quickly walked inside.
Hank had been busy with the money Anthony gave him. He had bought new tables and chairs, along with some nicely fabric booths. He used some of the money to replace the neon signs Bruno and Vinnie had destroyed and he threw a fresh coat of paint on the smoke stained walls. The ripped and torn bar stools where up graded to a more modern look. The where covered with a leather seat and high backs? “Well, whatta think?”
“Hank, I’m really impressed with what you did here, but we do have one problem?”
“What?” Hank asked nervously.
“I know you’re not going to be happy about this.” Anthony already could see Hank’s fore head wrinkle. “I want to do something with the name. I know this place has been here for years, but “Hank”? It sounds like a country western joint and to tell you the truth, that’s not the image I want this bar to represent. People will still know who you are, cause you’ll still be here. We are going to have a lot of important people coming here. They don’t want to come to a place called Hank; they want to come to a place called “Adele’s!” Anthony motioned his hand in space.
“Adele’s? What kind of stupid name is that?” Hank began to laugh. He looked up to see the smile on Anthony’s face was now replaced with a stern look.
“That was my mother’s name.”
“Hey Anthony, I didn’t mean any disrespect to you or your mother.” Ha
nk had seen that look before. He slowly stepped back from the bar.
“You my friend are luck that I have a vested interest in this place. I’m a reasonable man; you come up with a better name. If you don’t like Adele’s, whatta about Anthony’s or better yet; how about Bruno’s?”
Hank paused, at this point anything sounded good just to keep Anthony from destroying the place. “Bruno’s sounds good.” Hank said nervously.
“Good, now that we have that out if the way. Whatta’s it going to cost to change that cheap sign with a large neon one that could be seen from miles around?”
“There’s a guy in the village that owns a neon sign company, he owes me a favor. I could probably get a good looking sign for around five gees.” Hank answered.
“Whatever, you just make sure it looks good.” Anthony said. He could tell there was another problem, by the expression on Hank’s face. “What?”
“Don’t get mad, but I haven’t paid the bar tab in quit awhile. All I have is a case of beer and what you see behind me.”
“I’ll get you a beer truck full of beer. I want you to go out and buy yourself something classy to wear for opening night.” Anthony reached into his pocket and handed Hank a roll of money. “Go and get a nice tuxedo. Do you have anybody that can help you serve drinks?”
Hank leaned in. “I have a couple of girls that work in the back striping. I don’t know if you want them to work for you, but I can ask.”
“Hank, why didn’t you tell me about this before?” Anthony asked hardheartedly. “If they’re going to work for me, I better never find that they tried to hustle any of our new cliental, or so help me god, I’ll take it out on you. Do you understand where I’m coming from?”
”Yeah Anthony, I hear you. I’ll tell them to watch their step.” Hank answered.
“Good, then I’ll see you later.” Anthony took one more look around, before walking to the front door.
“Where to now, boss?” Vinnie asked as he opened the door for Anthony.
“I have to go see Mr. Spinelli. I know where we can get a beer truck, but I’m going to need his help.”
Outside, the unmarked vehicle waited patiently for Anthony and Vinnie to emerge. They watched as the Mercedes quickly pulled away from the curb and headed towards Spinelli’s auto dealership. The two field agents watched Anthony and Vinnie enter the show room and walked towards the back, out of their view. The agent in the passenger seat made a note of every stop Anthony made.
Anthony walked by Tina and gave her a quick kiss and processed to Mr. Spinelli’s office.
“Hey kid, how’s the club looking?” Mr. Spinelli asked.
“Good, but I have a small problem? Hank hasn’t paid the beer company…”
“Say no more.” Mr. Spinelli stood up and walked to the wall safe. “How much do you need?”
”No Mr. Spinelli I don’t need money. I need O’Malley’s assistance.” Anthony asked.
“When do you need him?” Mr. Spinelli asked.
“Tonight would be good.” Anthony reached into Vincent’s cigar box and pulled out one of Mr. Spinelli’s fine cigars. “I’m sorry, do you mind?”
“Fuggettaboutit.” Mr. Spinelli reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold plated lighter and lit the cigar hanging from Anthony’s mouth. The flame danced, as Anthony inhaled hard on the fine cigar. Afterward, Mr. Spinelli placed a call to O’Malley, who happened to be on the other side of the dealership.
“Hello?” The soft gentle voice asked on the other end.
“I need you to come to my office, I have a job for you.” Mr. Spinelli said.
“I’ll be right there, sir.” O’Malley seemed to whisper back.
The sound of music playing on the intercom over shadowed the tiny knock O’Malley made. The three men inside the office never heard O’Malley; it was only when Vinnie stepped out to get something out of his car that he nearly ran into the large frame giant.
“How long have you been standing there?” Vinnie asked.
“Not long.” O’Malley said apologetically.
Vinnie stepped aside and let the soft-spoken mammoth of a man into the office.
“Mr. O’Malley, I don’t know if you remember me, but I could really use your help tonight. If you don’t mind.” Anthony never wanted to make this guy angry. He had forgotten how much of a presence O’Malley made, when he entered a room. “Please, have a seat.” Anthony got up and gave O’Malley his chair.
“Thank you.”
“Alright Anthony, what’s the plan?” Mr. Spinelli asked.
“First, I have to know; Mr. O’Malley can you drive a truck?” Anthony asked the soft-spoken giant.
“I use to work for a construction company up North. I can drive whatever truck you want, Mr. Anthony.”
“Good, then can meet me here around seven- thirty tonight. We’re going to stock my bar with free beer.” Anthony said, without giving out any more information. “I also need a van with real dark tinted widows. Do you have anything like that around here?” Anthony asked Mr. Spinelli.
“I’ll have one for you by tonight.”
“Very well. Then I’ll see you all tonight.” Anthony shook hands with Mr. Spinelli and O’Malley.
Meanwhile, back at F.B.I. headquarters, agent Shepherd was having a meeting with several of his field agents. Over the past few months, Anthony’s file had grown from a couple of yellow envelopes, to several boxes and hundreds of surveillance photos. “We had the bastard within our reach!” Agent Shepherd pasted back and forth in the conference room. “I want to step up surveillance on this guy. I want to know every move he makes, I want to know who he’s hanging out with, what time he goes to sleep, who he’s sleeping with and who’s hanging around his house. I want all of you to make this priority one.”
“Sir.” One of the field agents stood up and waited to be knowledge. “Mr. Sakakini has been dividing his time in two location; a car dealership owned by a Vincent Spinelli and a bar on the South side owned by a Hank Boudreau. In the past month, Mr. Boudreau has made some expensive renovations on his bar. We did a background search on Mr. Boudreau, he’s been arrested several time on pity crimes.”
“So, what do you think that means?” Agent Shepherd asked the lower ranking field agent.
“Well, in my opinion. I believe Anthony Sakakini has gone into partnership with Mr. Boudreau and plans to use his bar as some kind of front.” The field agent said proudly.
“Then that’s where we’ll focus our attention. Let’s see if there’s any vacant building in the area where we can set up shop. Also, see if can drag this Hank fellow in for questioning.” Agent Shepherd said wisely.
Meanwhile, that very evening, a gray beat up van parked down the street from the brewery. The windows of the gray van where tinted dark and the license plates was covered with black electrical tape. Anthony, Vinnie and O’Malley sat and watched, like hawks perched up high stocking prey, as large beer trucks pulled out and made their way passed the unsuspecting predators, and just like an experienced hunter on the African plans, they waited patiently for a weak, slow, clumsy driver to cross their path, before they pounced.
“This is the one!” Anthony said. The three men watched as the truck pulled down the narrow streets, nearly side swiping the beat up van. “We’ll have to do this fast.” Anthony pulled behind the clumsy driver and waited, until he was closer to the on ramp. He quickly swung the van around the large beer truck and sped up to cut him off.
The driver pulled the horn and flashed his bright lights at the discourteous driver. Anthony quickly slammed on the brakes. The sound of screeching tires echoed throughout the inner city. The smell of burnt rubber felt the evening air.
“What the hell is your problem?” The driver jumped out of his truck cab yelling and screaming at Anthony. “Are you trying to kill us both?”
Anthony stepped out of the van and walked towards the driver. “Hey buddy, I’m really sorry. I thought I saw a dog run out in front of me.” Anthony said as he tried
to apologize and distract the disgruntled driver.
In the meantime, Vinnie and O’Malley worked their way to the back of the truck.
Suddenly, the driver felt a large arm wrap around his neck and squeeze like a mighty python.
“What the hell is going on?” The driver struggled to breath.
“Just relax and you won’t get hurt. Just do what we ask and you can walk out of here with money in your pocket.” Anthony reached in his pocket and pulled out a stack of hundreds. He folded one and slipped it in the driver’s shirt pocket. With one arm wrapped around the driver’s neck, Vinnie searched the driver’s back pocket and found his wallet. He handed the wallet to Anthony.
“I know this area and now I know where you live.” Anthony continued to look through the wallet. “Nice family, I sure hate to see your kids grow up without a father.” He handed the wallet back to the terrified driver, but not before he slipped another hundred-dollar bill in one of the slots. “Wait an hour, then call the cops. Tell them four Mexicans jacked you for the truck. That should keep you from loosing your job. Now this is going to hurt, but it’s for your own good.” Anthony leaned back and threw a hard punch across the driver’s face. Blood began to pour out the side of the driver’s mouth. “I sure hope I didn’t break any of your teeth.” Anthony took out three more hundred-dollar bills and laid them next to the bleeding driver. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.” Anthony said as both the van and the beer truck turned and disappeared in to the black night.
The bar was only a few miles away. Anthony quickly pulled into the parking lot. He scanned the empty street for any signs of undercover cars. The streets seemed to be deserted. He signaled for O’Malley, who quickly swung the beer truck into the loading zone and jumped out. All three men began to unload the hijacked beer. They stuffed it in every possible space they could find, the back room, the walk in refrigerator and the coolers under the bar. They had boxes on top of boxes filled with beer and they hadn’t emptied the other side of the beer truck yet.