by Tony Bertot
Bolnaldo’s Retaliation
Queens/New York
Sitting in their Queens makeshift headquarters, Sal Manetti stared down the row of men seated before him. It had been over a week since the Giovanna and Bolnaldo families discovered they were being bugged.
“Well I guess it was only a matter of time before their brains would kick in and find the bugs,” Sal said laughing.
“What now, Sal?” asked Leo Russo.
“I’m going to see Fazio to determine what he wants us to do. In the meantime we sit tight,” Sal responded.
Exiting from their headquarters in Queens, two of the men stepped out and scanned the area. Signaling Manetti was coming out, the driver brought the car forward to the front of the entryway. Manetti and two other men rushed into the waiting car. Suddenly, a car came screeching around the corner with the passenger side windows down. Two men with submachine guns began firing at them. Manetti quickly dove out of the car onto the sidewalk as bullets ripped through the air around him. The men took cover behind the car returning fire.
“Sal, you ok?” asked one of the bodyguards.
“Yeah, I’m good,” he responded.
“They got Freddie, Sal,” one of the men said of the driver.
“Damn! Let’s bring him inside,” Sal ordered.
As Sal Manetti stood up and began to help pull Freddie out of the car, three men hiding nearby behind a parked car, came out from hiding and opened fire. Caught by surprise and before Sal’s men could react, they were showered with a hail of bullets. Three of the men who had gone inside came rushing back out with guns drawn. They got outside in time to see a nearby car peeling out as Sal Manetti, his two bodyguards and the driver lay at their feet as their blood flowed with deliberate intent. The nearest man rushed to Sal and held him as he gasped his dying words,
“Get to Fazio.”
Tami Gates continued west on the Long Island Expressway as she made her way to Queens where she was to meet Fazio Giordano and his kids. Though reluctant in continuing her relationship with Fazio after discovering the kind of work he did, she could not help herself. She was in love with him and his family. Felicia was like the daughter she never had and Fabio could not be a better young man. They made a good team together.
Reaching the Clearview Expressway, she headed north towards Bayside, exited at 35th Avenue and headed east until she reached the Cross Island Parkway where she turned south and went for about half a mile. There she turned into a mom and pop restaurant where she was to meet the Giordano’s.
Fazio smiled when he saw her car pull into the parking area.
“There she is,” Fazio said to Felicia and Fabio as they both turned and glanced out the window into the parking lot.
Fazio immediately got up and ordered them to greet her at the entrance and get her and themselves out through the backdoor.
“What’s wrong, Dad?” asked Felicia.
“We got company,” Fazio said.
Both Felicia and Fabio turned and saw two other cars pull into the driveway behind Tami. Tami stepped out of the car and headed for the entrance to the restaurant. Two men stepped out of a car and were following several feet behind Tami.
As Tami entered the restaurant, Fabio pulled her to his right into Felicia. Felicia led Tami behind a row of tables towards the back.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“You were followed. We got to get out of here,” Felicia told her.
Tami turned in time to see Fazio heading towards the front entrance. He met her eyes and nodded for her to go with Felicia and Fabio.
“No,” Tami protested.
As the men entered the restaurant, they reached inside their jackets when they saw Fazio heading their way. But it was too late as gunfire erupted from inside the restaurant. The men who were assigned to protect the Giordano’s had seen the entire scene play out and responded efficiently. The men who opened fire ordered Fazio to get out the back as they continued to move towards the front entrance. People screamed and ducked for cover between the aisles. One of Giordano’s men was hit squarely in the chest as the second man returned fire missing his target as he retreated outside. The bodyguards continued their movement forward with guns blaring. The second man was hit in the back as he ran outside, while the men in the other car, finding the front parking exit cut off by the bodyguards, took off towards the back of the restaurant. They spotted Tami, Felicia and Fabio trying to escape. One of the men rolled down his window and indiscriminately opened fire, as the driver went over the sidewalk towards the Cross Island Parkway heading south.
As Fazio ran out the back of the restaurant, he saw Felicia, Fabio and Tami on the ground.
“No. No,” he screamed.
As he reached his daughter, he saw her sit up while Fabio got up and ran toward Tami.
“Tami,” he screamed as he reached her.
Fazio, seeing that Felicia was alright, ran to Fabio and Tami.
Fazio reached them in time to see Fabio placing his hand over her chest in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
“Oh, no,” moaned Fazio.
Two men ran up to Fazio as they heard him shout for an ambulance. One of the men immediately turned and headed back towards the restaurant to call 911. Within minutes, the place was crawling with paramedics and police officers.
Fazio held Tami’s hand as paramedics tried desperately to save her.
She looked up at Fazio and though she was in pain, she smiled.
“It’s ok, honey. Stop worrying, I’m alright, I love you,” she told him.
It was the last words he heard before she died.
Fazio, Felicia, Fabio and the three bodyguards were taken to the nearest police station for questioning.
Based on eyewitness accounts, it was determined the bodyguards acted in self-defense. All three had licenses to carry weapons as part of their duty to protect their clients. After questioning each of the Giordano’s, they were released pending further investigation.
At the precinct Fazio was met by Leo Russo, John De Luca and Erin Romano.
“Mr. Giordano, they got Sal,” Leo Russo said choking back his true emotions.
Fazio looked at him and the other men.
“What happened?” Fazio asked them.
After John De Luca and the other men filled Fazio in on the details, Fazio knew it was just a matter of time before his family would be attacked again. It was obvious Bolnaldo was determined to get them.
“Mr. Giordano we have twenty men with us to take you wherever you want. Just give the order,” Leo Russo said.
“Who’s in charge, right now?” asked Fazio.
The men looked at each other.
“You are Mr. Giordano,” responded Leo Russo.
“What!” Fazio said.
Fazio was always quick in sizing up a situation. This was unexpected but nonetheless it was not the time to make rash decisions.
“Get us to a safe place where we can make sense of this and plan for the appropriate response,” Fazio ordered.
Checks and Balances of Life
South Wabash/Chicago
A few blocks south of the butcher shop, two cars sat waiting for the arrival of a third car. At around 11:00pm the other car arrived. The occupant stepped out with two men and walked toward the waiting cars.
“Nick, what the hell you doing?” asked Mario Pierina.
“What do you mean?” asked Nick.
“Why did you bring these men with you?” Rico Vitalia asked him.
“They got to learn sooner or later what happens to people who screw with us,” replied Nick.
Wondering what was going on, Louie and Eddie Bertolonia, stepped out of the second car and came over to them.
“Crap. You were supposed to be here an hour and half ago. The hit was gonna go down when he closed up shop. Now what are we going to do?” asked Rico.
“We can get him in his apartment. I know where he lives,” replied Nick.
“I’ll ride with you and Ma
rio. Joe Bolano and Theodore Enzinola can ride with the Bertolonia brothers,” Nick suggested.
“Sure. Sure. We better not screw this up or the Sabrisio brothers will have our asses. You guys got hardware?” Louie asked them.
“Yeah,” both Joe Bolano and Theodore Enzinola answered as they pulled out handguns with silencers attached.
Nick rode in the back of Rico Vitalia and Mario Pierina’s car. Joe Bolano and Theodore Enzinola got into the back of the Bertolonia car, parked behind them.
Suddenly there was a flash of light and a second later another one coming from the Bertolonia car.
In the darkness a lone figure watched as the two men sitting in the back of the second car exited and walked up to the first car.
The two men got into the first car and after a few seconds the car pulled away.
Theo stepped into the light as he watched the car head north on South Wabash.
“What have you got yourself into, Nick?” Theo thought to himself.
It was Theo’s intention to take these men out tonight. But, when he saw Nick, he stopped. It was not his nature to trust anyone, but Nick was different.
Theo quickly went over to the other car and found the two men in the front seat dead. Each had blood trickling from a hole in the back of their head. Pulling the men out of the seats and dumping them on the street, Theo jumped into the driver’s seat and took off after Nick. A few minutes later Theo found them on the corner of 11th street and South Wabash; the corner where his father once owned a cigar shop. Stopping about a quarter of a block away he stepped out of the car and watched.
Theo saw two men with their mouths taped, dragged out of the car and tied to the corner lamp post. It was the same two men he had seen earlier in the week with Ana Randazzo, the same two men whose picture he has carried for thirteen years, the men who murdered his father.
Theo saw Nick standing in front of them, saying something. He raised his gun and fired four shots into them. Theo could see Nick had not killed them as he could hear their muffled screams.
Nick and the other two men got into the car and drove back in the direction from which they came. Theo stepped away from the car and watched them as they drove by.
Nick saw Theo standing by the side of the street and simply nodded and smiled.
Theo drove the car four blocks past 11th and South Wabash, parked it and walked back. As he reached the corner where the two men were tied, he could see they were still alive as they looked up at him. Theo could see their eyes pleading. He looked directly back at them, smiled and wished them a good night as he headed back to his apartment. Before going in, Theo turned and waved at Calito who was atop the building across the street.
From his vantage point, Calito had seen it all. At first, he could not believe what he was seeing. Then he recognized Nick and later on saw Theo coming from across the street and stand in front of the two men before walking to his apartment building.
Calito left his perch and went back across the street to report to his father what he had witnessed.
It was a cool and moonless night as Nick’s accomplice, Rino Porfirio perched atop a tree, looked through the binoculars and signaled the men below that the coast was clear. In the back of his mind, he prayed Nick Costello and his two men were able to complete their end of the plan by taking out all four of the hit men sent by the Giovanna Family to take out Benito Randazzo. Not that he cared about Benito or anyone else for that matter, but these men were among the men who for years have extorted money from him and Anzio Costello. The same men who killed the only friend he ever had.
Slowly and cautiously the six men hired by Rino made their way toward the lake house. Two men swam towards the back of the house and under the cover of darkness, positioning themselves just outside the pool area. Two other men moved to the east side while Rino and the other two men came up the west side.
The Sabrisio brothers, Al Giovanna, his son and a few of their men were having drinks when the ambush occurred.
When all was said and done, five of the Giovanna lieutenants lay dead in their own blood. Anthony Giovanna and both the Sabrisio brothers were wounded.
Rino, who had been critically wounded, managed to drive away only to die alone a few days later.
For all the planning, Rino failed to take into account the firepower the Sabrisio brothers had in their home and as a result, all six of the men he hired met their fate that day.
The next day the press and the news channels were a frenzy with the news of a mob war in the quaint little town of Lake Zurich. It was a shock to the inhabitants of this small town when the usually quiet night erupted with gunfire, the news reported.
Fazio, sitting in a motel room somewhere on Long Island, stared at the television as it reported the attack on the Giovanna Family in Lake Zurich. Not having been able to sleep, Fazio looked frazzled. He dreamt of Tami, her last words to him. He was also worried about Felicia and Fabio.
“Tami was right. How could I have done this to her or my kids?” he thought himself.
“Those bastards took her away from me,” he murmured to himself.
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.
“Mr. Fazio, are you up?” a voice called out to him.
“Yeah, I’m up,” he replied as he walked over to the door and opened it to find two bodyguards standing there.
One was holding a tray with a towel covering its contents.
“Breakfast,” the guard said.
“Where are my kids?” Fazio asked.
“They’ll be here shortly, sir,” responded one of the guards.
As Fazio took the tray and laid it on the bed, he heard Felicia and Fabio outside asking about him.
Fazio walked over to the door and opened it to his kids.
“Come in,” he told them.
Felicia stepped in followed by Fabio. Both hugged him tightly.
“I’m so sorry to have brought you two into this,” Fazio told them.
“Pop, it’s not your fault,” said Fabio.
“Yeah, Dad, stop beating yourself up. Poor Tami, I really loved her,” Felicia said as her eyes began to water.
“Me too, me too,” Fazio told her holding her hand.
“What now, Dad? What do we do, now?” asked Fabio.
Fazio stared at them and then turned to the television as it once again repeated the story of the incident at Lake Zurich.
“They think I’m the head of the family,” Fazio told his kids.
“What! Really?” asked Fabio.
“What are you going to do?” asked Felicia.
Before answering, he stood and pulled them close to him. Looking into their eyes, he said,
“If I am to take control of this situation I have no choice but to take up where my grandfather left off as capo of the Giovanna Family.”
There was a moment of silence but Fazio could see it in their eyes as they nodded their approval.
Twenty minutes later Fazio called for a meeting of the top lieutenants.
Gruesome Discovery
Chicago
“Early morning churchgoers were shocked to find two men, who had been shot several times, tied to a lamp post on the corner of 11th and South Wabash Avenue. Though the cause of death is still under investigation, preliminary findings reveal they succumbed to their wounds,” the news commentator reported.
So on this day, while their street was busy with police cars, news reporters and people shouting back and forth, they sat and had a quiet breakfast. Benito had invited Calito, Sonia, Theo and Sylvia and her mother to join them for breakfast.
They were sitting quietly when Ana rolled her wheelchair next to Benito and took his hand. He turned to her, smiled, nodded and said the morning prayer, thanking God for the meal before them and for getting them through the night safely as everyone ignored the commotion outside their window.
Theo was in awe as they all sat there quietly and enjoyed idle conversation. In his heart, he was pleased the danger threatenin
g them had passed. Carmine Davino would be coming home soon – another reason to give thanks.
From the local news, Nick Costello learned that Al Giovanna and the Sabrisio brothers escaped with their lives.
“Crap. Another place another time,” Nick mumbled to himself. Not hearing from Rino, Nick suspected that he was probably dead.
He knew he had to get out of town before Frank and Emilio Sabrisio wonder what happened to him, and start tying the pieces together.
The two men who accompanied him, Theodore Enzinola and Joseph Bolano, were in the clear. After all, they were not supposed to be there at all so there was no way to connect them with what happened. What the Giovanna Family did not know is Nick and Rino hired these two men to infiltrate the Giovanna organization. Nick decided to leave them in place and will continue to pay them for their loyalty. As long as they maintain their cover, he was sure he could use them in the future.
Nick contemplated going after the Sabrisio brothers on his own but knew it would be a suicide mission as, no doubt, they would be heavily protected now.
“He who runs away today lives to fight another day,” Nick thought to himself smiling.
Goodbye Chicago, Goodbye Sylvia
Chicago
South Wabash was filled with spectators as the July 4th celebration was under way. Though the event of a couple of days ago was in the back of the local residents’ mind, it did not hamper their ability to move on. Especially when it was discovered the men who met their fate on that day might have been responsible for what happened thirteen years ago. The news, no matter how cruel, received favorable responses with many agreeing that justice had been served.
The streets were four persons deep all along South Wabash as the parade, which stretched almost two miles, moved slowly along. Benito and his family were among the spectators while Theo, Sylvia and her mother watched the parade from their apartment windows, while a couple of floors up Carmine, Maria and their kids did the same. It was a beautiful day.