The Mafia Trilogy

by Jonas Saul

  No baby, stay quiet. I almost have him.

  “Rosina, shut up. This doesn’t concern you anymore.” He looked at Gambino with all the hatred he could muster. It was because of the man in front of him that he was forced to talk like that to his wife. “With the proper training, even polygraphs are useless. I’m one of their forward soldiers. I was sent to finish the job you fucked up in Toronto. Vincenzo was to be killed too. The Fuccini head was supposed to be at that meeting. He wasn’t. So, as I said, I finished your job for you. You should be thanking me and not burying me in six feet of dirt.” Darwin spat the last word out. “If I’m lying, then how is it I’m standing before you, alive, and so many men lay dead by my hand? If I’m really a Canadian boy looking to live out his years married and raising kids, then why am I shooting feds and discussing business with you. That leads me to one more thing for you to think about.”

  Gambino looked confused. He looked around his men again and fidgeted on his feet. He mustered up as much bravado as he could and then asked, “What do I have to think about?”

  “Whether you will willingly let me shoot Rosina and the five men who helped me escape the grave.”

  “There were five men who helped you?”

  Whispering and murmurs erupted among all the men standing around. They were buying his bullshit with all their stupid currency.

  “I will point them out as soon as Rosina is dead.”

  “Deal. Shoot her.”

  Darwin spun around and aimed his gun at Rosina from ten feet away.

  I’m sorry baby. This is going to hurt me more than it’ll hurt you. I hope you’ll forgive me one day.

  “Fuck you,” Rosina spit. “I loved you and I don’t believe a single word—”

  Darwin fired, cutting her off. The bullet hit high in her forehead near the hairline. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she crumpled to the floor, blood seeping from the wound. The men who had been standing on either side of her stepped away.

  “Ok, now, tell me who helped you,” Gambino said.

  Darwin scanned everyone’s faces and met the eyes of each man. He caught a glimpse of Rudy in the window of the living room talking on a cell phone. Darwin chose five men at random. They all protested and had to be brought to the ground by the butts of their friends’ weapons. One of the five got quite vocal, protesting the charge and declaring his innocence.

  “Quiet them,” Gambino ordered. “No one speaks. I want silence.” Then he turned to look at Darwin. “Wait. Johnny was with me after you were taken away to the cemetery. He couldn’t have helped you escape. You’re lying.”

  Darwin had to act the part to the end or die trying. He lowered the weapon to his side and raised his right hand. “Stop,” he said to Gambino. “Watch what you say. The mistakes you’ve made are plenty. Rudy,” he pointed up at the living room window without looking, “is on the phone right now, detailing your mistakes to our bosses. Questioning me again will cost you. Look at your house. That’s just the start. Ask Fuccini how I deal with mistakes. You heard how he was killed.”

  Gambino nodded. “Yeah, he was torn in half.”

  “I had a local biker gang do it for me. That’s the influence I wield. So, question me again. Please, because I’m pretty pissed at being buried alive.”

  Gambino looked like he was on a leaky boat, destined for the darkness beyond the waves. His forehead glistened in the floodlights coming from the house.

  He moved off to the side and leaned against the tank.

  “Line those five men up and kill them. Do it now.”

  All five were put in a line. Before they could fight or run, half a dozen other men emptied weapons into their bodies making them dance on the ground like puppets with broken strings.

  Forgive me, Lord. This is the only way to get out and leave behind a lot of dead bad guys who don’t deserve to live.

  Darwin turned to Gambino. He pointed at the dead men on the ground. “May I?”

  Gambino nodded. Darwin walked over and emptied his weapon into them, making sure he aimed high so any ricochets would fly into the trees and disappear in the dark. Then he tossed the assault rifle into the bush and grabbed one from the dead man at his feet.

  “Now, let’s talk business.”

  “Not so fast,” Gambino said. He waved at Rudy in the window. Rudy nodded and headed toward them.

  Shit, shit, shit. Here we go.

  “Can you verify anything Darwin is saying?” Gambino asked Rudy.

  The Russian contact stared at Darwin long and hard. Then he shook his head. “No, I can’t.”

  Gambino swung his head fast to look at Darwin.

  “But I will say his story fits,” Rudy added.

  Gambino looked back at Rudy. “What do you mean, ‘His story fits’?”

  “How many people do you know who could do what Darwin has done?”

  Gambino gestured with his hand. “Go on.”

  “There are others working for my people. They don’t tell me everything. I only know what I’m supposed to do.”

  “Who were you talking to on the phone?”

  “That’s none of your business. We have a deal. You have passed your initiation. My people will work with you now. If Darwin says he’s one of them, I wouldn’t believe him. But if he says he’s one of them and shoots a fed and his wife, then I would be careful before I say otherwise.”

  Gambino appeared to think about it. Darwin gripped the new weapon with both hands, waiting for his moment. He counted eight men in total, including Rudy and Gambino. The fed named Carson was still on his knees, another guard holding a weapon behind him.

  There’s no way I can get them all.

  “Gambino, you know how this works,” Rudy continued. “I haven’t met Darwin because his people and my people didn’t feel it necessary. If they did, we would’ve met. There’s never a face-to-face without a recommendation by a third party. But after what he has done here tonight, I would take him at his word. For now.”

  When Gambino turned his whole body to Darwin, Rudy lifted his gun and fired at the back of Gambino’s head. Darwin’s mouth dropped open as the back of Gambino’s skull exploded seven feet from him, a blank look on Gambino’s face as he fell to his knees hard and dropped face first to the ground.

  No one turned to shoot Rudy. They were all afraid of who he was and who he represented.

  “The Red Mafia are moving into parts of Florida and central Ontario. All of you men are now standing employees of my people. Your wages just increased. Now, secure the property. You and you,” he pointed at two men nearest him, “come with me.”

  Rudy turned around and walked into the house, followed by the two men. The rest of them lowered their weapons and stared at Gambino’s body.

  That gave Darwin the edge he needed. He spun and fired at the guard by Carson, cutting him nearly in half. He swung back as fast as he could, cutting the other three men down before they could respond. In a matter of four seconds, only Carson and Darwin were still standing.

  Darwin kicked a rifle toward Carson. “Help me get those other three. Let’s end this.”

  Carson grabbed the gun and aimed it at Darwin. “You die first.”

  “Aim that somewhere else. I’m not with the bad guys. I’m with you.”

  “You killed a federal agent and your wife.”

  “No, I didn’t. That gun was loaded with rubber bullets. They’re only unconscious.”

  Darwin watched the front of the house. Carson dropped to check Greg’s pulse and stood back up. “How did you know?”

  “That was the same gun they shot me with before they buried me alive. The handle has a piece of blue duct tape on it. I covered it with my hand so no one else could tell.”

  Carson looked over and saw the blue tape, then blinked twice and looked stunned for a moment.

  The two men who had followed Rudy inside came running out of the front door. Carson and Darwin fired in unison, killing both men before they got past the threshold.

  “One
left,” Darwin said.

  “I got him,” Carson said. He stepped by Darwin and then stopped. He put a hand on Darwin’s shoulder. “You’re a smart fucker. You even had me believing you. Where do you come up with this stuff?”

  “No idea. We’ll talk later. Get Rudy.”

  Carson ran in the house and disappeared. Darwin ran over to Rosina and lifted her head to rest it on his legs.

  “I’m so sorry, baby. I had to. You’ll wake to a splitting headache and be mad at me, but we’re married. You have to forgive me. I’m your husband. To save your life, I can do no wrong, right?”

  “Right,” Rosina mumbled. Her eyes fluttered. “You are an … asshole sometimes. But I love you, Darwin.”

  Chapter 16

  Darwin reclined in the office chair of Carson Dodge’s plush office. It had been a week since Gambino’s death. Darwin had spent the first few days of that week giving long, drawn-out statements to the FBI. He talked of the events that occurred and that ultimately led up to Gambino’s death. Whenever he could, or when they’d let him out, he went to the hospital to visit with Greg and his wife.

  Rudy Earlton had escaped. Carson had gone into Gambino’s house, called for backup and searched the premises as best he could, but Rudy had disappeared. A SWAT team had been dispatched. For the next twelve hours, they extensively searched every square foot of the Gambino property and surrounding area without turning up anything. On the second day, work crews began digging up graves at the funeral home across from the Gambino residence to begin the arduous task of identifying the bodies. Darwin heard the expected count of over one hundred unmarked graves would be a low estimate.

  Two days ago, Rosina had been taken to stay with Greg in a secret location that only Greg and Carson knew about.

  It had been seven full days and Darwin was eager to stop coming to the federal building and get back to his wife. His wounds healed fast, the bump on his forehead only a small, purple bruise now.

  He still couldn’t believe how he had gotten out of Gambino’s clutches. There was a point when he had no doubt that they would be dead for sure, but somehow, bullshitting Gambino for all of three minutes had worked. Darwin’s reputation had won Gambino over, along with a certain amount of luck.

  Carson entered the office, followed by two other men.

  “Darwin, I want you to meet Special Agent Mike Keans and Special Agent Victor Ivanovich.”

  Darwin stood and shook their hands without saying a word. He took his seat and waited to find out why Carson had brought people to meet him.

  Both men were dressed in suits and clean shaven. They looked so good, they could easily have passed as two guys on their way to a wedding. Mike and Victor took a seat on the small sofa to the right of Carson’s desk.

  “I asked these men to join us before you leave today. They have information that I think you should hear.”

  “What could they possibly have to tell me?” Darwin asked. “Wait. Do I want to hear it?”

  “You need to hear it. It involves you and Rosina.”

  “I gave you everything in the statements. I just want my life back. It’s finally over.”

  Carson raised his eyebrows and looked at his colleagues.

  “It is over, right?” Darwin asked.

  “I’ll let them tell you everything.” Carson laced his hands together behind his head and leaned back in his office chair, placing his feet on the corner of the desk.

  They had no charges on Darwin that would hold up in court. Proof was already coming out that Bob Freska was on Gambino’s payroll as well as the two agents, Nick Johnson and Lee Michaels, who had come to the safe house and killed the other three agents guarding Darwin and his wife. Darwin had killed Nick and Lee in self-defense. Other than the theft at the gas station, which under the circumstances the local police had chosen to ignore, Darwin and Rosina were cleared of all wrongdoing. Greg thanked Darwin for saving his life by shooting him in the head. Rosina punched Darwin in the arm half a dozen times for scaring her, but then held him so tight it hurt more than the punch.

  It was time to leave federal custody and that was exactly what he wanted to do. He did not want to talk or hear anything anyone else had to say.

  It was over.

  “Darwin,” Victor said, “I’m the local Russian Mafia expert. A large part of the information coming and going that deals with the Red Mafia channels through me.”

  “What’s that got to do with me?” Darwin asked. “Gambino was Italian.”

  “New information has come to light.”

  “I’ll ask a different way,” Darwin said. “Why are you telling me?” He looked at Carson and got no support.

  “Because your name has come up.”

  The room grew silent. His stomach dropped and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead and upper lip.

  Oh no, not again. Please tell me this nightmare is over.

  “I’m listening.”

  “Recently we found out that Gambino was moving his interests into arms dealing. The tank and his private planes were converted to war machines with specific modifications. He stored munitions in the back of that warehouse where you found the tank. The kind of stockpiles he had would shame a small country.”

  “But he’s dead. That’s all over. I’m not an agent or anything special like that, so I’ll ask one more time, why tell me? Isn’t this classified or something?”

  “Bear with me.” Victor opened a file that lay on the coffee table in front of him. “Do you recognize this man?” He handed Darwin a black and white five-by-seven photo.

  The picture was taken in the street of a busy downtown area like New York or Toronto. The man had stepped from a limousine and turned to the camera. Darwin stared at the face and drew a blank.

  “Should I recognize him?” Darwin asked.

  “No, but he knows you.”

  “And why does that matter? I’m sure my name has traveled the circles of mobsters after what happened in Toronto. Who is this guy?” Darwin asked, handing the photo back.

  “This is Arkady Andropov, also known as AA.”

  “I know what AKA stands for.”

  Victor looked at Carson and then back to Darwin. “What?” he asked.

  “You said, ‘also known as.’ I’m just telling you that I know what AKA stands for. You can use your special-agent talk if you want to. I read books and I write thrillers.”

  Victor tried to smile. “Okay … um, Arkady has been seen in Jacksonville as recently as three days ago.”

  “For fear of sounding retarded and repeating myself several times, what does this have to do with me?” Darwin asked.

  “Arkady Andropov is reputed to be the boss of the Russian Bratva in Toronto.”

  “What’s Bratva?” Darwin asked.

  “It’s Russian, meaning brotherhood.”

  Darwin looked at Carson who shrugged and put on a dumb smile.

  “Is this special-agent talk that I don’t understand? Okay, egg’s on my face. Tell me what you have to. Let’s get on with this so I can leave.”

  “As far as we can tell, Arkady runs the most dangerous Mafia in the world this side of Russia and he does it in Toronto.”

  “What do you mean, ’As far as you can tell’?” Darwin asked, crossing his legs to keep them from bouncing. “And who says the Bratva is the most dangerous Mafia in the world? I’ve met the Harvester of Sorrow. I’d say he was pretty dangerous.”

  “The U.S. State Department has declared the Red Mafia the most dangerous mobsters in the world. They aren’t like La Cosa Nostra.”

  Darwin uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, balancing himself over his knees. “Are we going to keep up the question and answer games or will you guys speak English soon?”

  Victor looked at Carson with a blank expression.

  This guy seems pretty fucking dumb to be a special anything.

  “La Cosa Nostra is just another word for the Italian Mafia,” Carson said. “Gambino and Fuccini were both bosses in La Cosa Nostra.�
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  “I’m done. I’m walking away. Rosina and I are going to where no one will ever find us. You guys aren’t making sense with your Mafia 101 course.”

  “I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Mike said. “You can’t leave.”

  Darwin looked at the man who had remained quiet so far.

  “I’m afraid to ask, but why is that? Why can’t I leave?”

  “Because you will be murdered within forty-eight hours if you leave this building.”