by J. L. Abramo
“And now?” I asked.
“Now, Anna Lansdale and LoBianco have assured me that we can reclaim our family name without repercussions.”
“What will happen to Max Lansdale?”
“As long as his mother is alive, his life will be a living nightmare,” said Joey. “When she passes, I think Jack LoBianco will quickly send Max Lansdale to join his brother and his parents.”
“Well, here’s to the Vongoli family,” I said, raising my glass. “Though it will be difficult getting accustomed to the new name.”
“I’m sure it will be trickier for my children—Russo is the only name they’ve ever used. But they have hoped for this day all their lives, for me and for the memory of their grandfather. I think you’ll all manage to adjust.”
“Could I call you Joe Clams?” I asked.
“Do you consider me a close friend, Jake?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Then you can call me Joey Clams if it suits you.”
We both took a long drink. We heard the door open in the next room.
“Anyone here?” Darlene called.
“In here,” called Joey Clams. “Bring a couple of glasses in with you.”
Darlene and Eddie came through the connecting door, holding empty glasses.
Joey Vongoli poured George Dickel all around.
“Drink up,” said Joey, “and let’s get this equipment collected and out of here.”
“And then we can go home?” asked Darlene.
“Yes,” said Joey. “Then we can go home.”
For the next four weeks I tried to keep busy and out of trouble.
I worked at settling into the new house. It began feeling more like home as I proceeded to accumulate the piles and clutter that I was accustomed to. My mother helped with family photographs, which I randomly spread throughout the rooms.
I was able to keep both the Toyota and the Chevrolet Impala convertible in the long driveway, freeing up Joey’s valuable garage space. It was a lot more convenient, but I found myself missing the casual visits with Joey and Sonny that came with picking up the Chevy.
To help with the nesting process I invited Tom Romano and Ira Fennessy to the house for both Thursday-night card games in April, forgoing the normal rotation.
The house still felt too big to me.
Empty.
Darlene visited often, usually bringing Tug McGraw along. Darlene’s boundless energy and the dog’s constant exploration did a lot to fill the emptiness.
I found myself visiting my mother more often, and took Darlene and McGraw over to Pleasant Hill for Easter dinner with Mom and Aunt Rosalie.
At the office, we tried to keep Diamond Investigation active. We managed to satisfy four clients and take care of the monthly bills.
I was sleeping much better, the knee not keeping me awake as often. I took fifteen minutes every morning to work the leg as the physical therapist had ordered.
I had tried many times to visit Sally’s grave but always lost courage. I decided I would go to her burial site when I was at the cemetery for the dedication of the new headstones that Joey had placed for his family.
We stood gathered on a hill at the Mount Tarnalpais Cemetery in San Rafael, overlooking the Pacific.
The morning sky on the first Sunday in May was cloudless. Mount Tam loomed nearby; the Sausalito Marina and the Golden Gate were clearly visible to the south.
The three new headstones sat side by side. The names of Louis Vongoli, Maria Rosario Vongoli, and Carla Vongoli were proudly displayed.
Joey stood with his arm around Angela, their three children at their side. Sonny stood holding his young daughter, Louie Clams’s great-granddaughter.
Other family and friends stood by silently.
A priest from Joey’s parish in the city had made the twenty-mile trip to San Rafael to read from the Bible.
When the dedication was complete, I walked over to Joey.
“Are you coming over to the house, Jake?” he asked.
“I’ll see how I feel. I’m going to walk down the hill to visit Sally’s grave.”
“Need company?”
“No, thanks.”
“Thank you for being here today,” Joey said.
“Where else would I be, Joey?” I said. “I’ll try to make it over to your place later.”
“Please do, there’s a lot of food.”
I walked down the hill and found the marker.
It was impossible to imagine that someone who had been so full of life was resting there.
I put out my empty hand, the hand that Sally would often hold tightly to keep me safe from myself. I felt a chill run up my arm. My fingers had begun to curl into a fist, and then I felt another hand slip into mine.
“Hey, pal,” Darlene said. “Are you all right?”
I turned to face Darlene and felt the warmth of her palm. I gently tightened my grip.
“I think I will be, Darlene. Hang in there with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Jake,” she said. “Well, maybe to Joey’s. Are you up for it?”
“Sure,” I said. “I heard there’s a lot of food.”
We turned and walked away, hand in hand.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J.L. ABRAMO was born in the oceanside paradise of Brooklyn, New York on Raymond Chandler’s 59th birthday. Abramo received a BA in Sociology and Education from City College of the City University of New York and an MA in Social Psychology from the University of Cincinnati. He has been a long-time educator, a producer and director of theatre, and an actor on stage and in film; with a number of television credits including roles on Homicide: Life on the Street and Law and Order. Abramo’s first novel, Catching Water in a Net, was recipient of the St. Martin’s Press/Private Eye Writers of America Award for Best First Private Eye Novel, and was followed by two additional Jake Diamond mysteries, Clutching at Straws and Counting to Infinity. A stand-alone thriller, Gravesend, was recently published by Down and Out Books; and a fourth novel in the Jake Diamond series is in the works. Abramo is a card-carrying member of the Screen Actors Guild, Private Eye Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers.
For more information please visit:
http://www.jlabramo.com/
https://www.facebook.com/jlabramo
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OTHER TITLES FROM DOWN & OUT BOOKS
AND ITS IMPRINTS
See DownAndOutBooks.com for a complete list
By J.L. Abramo
Catching Water in a Net
Clutching at Straws
Counting to Infinity
Gravesend
Chasing Charlie Chan
Circling the Runway
Brooklyn Justice
Coney Island Avenue
By Anonymous-9
Hard Bite
Bite Harder
By Jonathan Ashley
South of Cincinnati (*)
By Trey R. Barker
2,000 Miles to Open Road
Road Gig: A Novella
Exit Blood
Death is Not Forever
No Harder Prison
By Richard Barre
The Innocents
Bearing Secrets
Christmas Stories
The Ghosts of Morning
Blackheart Highway
Burning Moon
Echo Bay
Lost
By Eric Beetner (editor)
Unloaded
By G. J. Brown
Falling
By Rob Brunet
Stinking Rich
By Milton T. Burton
Texas Noir
By Dana Cameron, editor
Murder at the Beach: Bouchercon Anthology 2014
By Eric Campbell, editor
Down, Out and Dead
By Stacey Cochran
Eddie & Sunny (TP only)
By Mark Coggins
No Hard Feelings
By A
ngel Luis Colón
No Happy Endings
By Jen Conley
Cannibals and Other Stories
By Shawn Corridan and Gary Waid
Gitmo
By Matt Coyle, Mary Marks and Patricia Smiley, editors
LAst Resort
By Tom Crowley
Viper’s Tail
Murder in the Slaughterhouse
By Frank De Blase
Pine Box for a Pin-Up
Busted Valentines and Other Dark Delights
A Cougar’s Kiss
By Les Edgerton
The Genuine, Imitation, Plastic Kidnapping
Lagniappe
By A.C. Frieden
Tranquility Denied
The Serpent’s Game
The Pyongyang Option (*)
By Danny Gardner
A Negro and an Ofay
By Jack Getze
Big Numbers
Big Money
Big Mojo
Big Shoes
By Keith Gilman
Bad Habits
By Richard Godwin
Wrong Crowd
Buffalo and Sour Mash
Crystal on Electric Acetate
By William Hastings, editor
Stray Dogs: Writing from the Other America
By Jeffery Hess
Beachhead
Cold War Canoe Club
By Matt Hilton
No Going Back
Rules of Honor
The Lawless Kind
The Devil’s Anvil
No Safe Place
By Naomi Hirahara, Kate Thornton and Jeri Westerson, editors
LAdies’ Night
By Terry Holland
An Ice Cold Paradise
Chicago Shiver
By Darrel James, Linda O. Johnston and Tammy Kaehler, editors
Last Exit to Murder
By David Housewright and Renée Valois
The Devil and the Diva
By David Housewright
Finders Keepers
Full House
By Jon Jordan
Interrogations
By Jon and Ruth Jordan, editors
Murder and Mayhem in Muskego
Cooking with Crimespree
By Lawrence Kelter
Back to Brooklyn
By Lawrence Kelter and Frank Zafiro
The Last Collar
By Jerry Kennealy
Screen Test
Polo’s Long Shot (*)
By Dana King
Worst Enemies
Grind Joint
Resurrection Mall
By Ross Klavan, Tim O’Mara and Charles Salzberg
Triple Shot
By JB Kohl and Eric Beetner
Over Their Heads
By S.W. Lauden
Crosswise
Crossed Bones
By Andrew McAleer and Paul D. Marks, editors
Coast to Coast
Coast to Coast 2
By Terrence McCauley
The Devil Dogs of Belleau Wood
The Bank Heist, editor (*)
By Daniel M. Mendoza, editor
Stray Dogs: Interviews with Working-Class Writers
By Bill Moody
Czechmate: The Spy Who Played Jazz
The Man in Red Square
Solo Hand
The Death of a Tenor Man
The Sound of the Trumpet
Bird Lives!
Mood Swings (TP only)
By Gerald M. O’Connor
The Origins of Benjamin Hackett
By Gary Phillips
The Perpetrators
Scoundrels: Tales of Greed, Murder and Financial Crimes (editor)
Treacherous: Grifters, Ruffians and Killers
3 the Hard Way
By Gary Phillips, Tony Chavira, Manoel Magalhaes
Beat L.A. (Graphic Novel)
By Tom Pitts
Hustle
American Static
By Thomas Pluck
Bad Boy Boogie
By Robert J. Randisi
Upon My Soul
Souls of the Dead
Envy the Dead
By Rob Riley
Thin Blue Line
By Charles Salzberg
Devil in the Hole
Swann’s Last Song
Swann Dives In
Swann’s Lake of Despair
Swann’s Way Out
By Scott Loring Sanders
Shooting Creek and Other Stories
By Linda Sands
3 Women Walk Into a Bar (TP only)
Grand Theft Cargo
By Ryan Sayles
The Subtle Art of Brutality
Warpath
Let Me Put My Stories In You
By John Shepphird
The Shill
Kill the Shill
Beware the Shill
By Anthony Neil Smith
Worm (TP only)
All the Young Warriors TP only)
Once a Warrior (TP only)
Holy Death (TP only)
By Liam Sweeny
Welcome Back, Jack
By Art Taylor, editor
Murder Under the Oaks: Bouchercon Anthology 2015
By Ian Truman
Grand Trunk and Shearer
By James Ray Tuck, editor
Mama Tried 1
Mama Tried 2 (*)
By Nathan Walpow
The Logan Triad
By Lono Waiwaiole
Wiley’s Lament
Wiley’s Shuffle
Wiley’s Refrain
Dark Paradise
Leon’s Legacy
By George Williams
Inferno and Other Stories
Zoë
By Frank Zafiro and Eric Beetner
The Backlist
The Short List
Published by ABC Group Documentation, an imprint of Down & Out Books
By Alec Cizak
Down on the Street
By Grant Jerkins
Abnormal Man
By Robert Leland Taylor
Through the Ant Farm (*)
Published by Shotgun Honey, an imprint of Down & Out Books
By Hector Acosta
Hardway
By Angel Luis Colón
Blacky Jaguar and the Cool Clux Cult
By Nick Kolakowski
A Brutal Batch of Heartbroken Saps
By Albert Tucher
The Place of Refuge
(*) Coming soon
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Here is a preview from Criminal Economics, a crime novel by Eric Beetner…
NEWS BULLETIN
August 23—A daring bank robbery took place last night at the Midland Savings and Loan when two assailants raided the bank after hours and made off with over a half million dollars. Two bank employees were shot, not fatally. The employees, and four others, were bound and gagged and left inside the vault overnight. It was not until morning when a new shift arrived that they were discovered.
Police are gathering evidence, but surveillance video proved an ineffective identification tool as the robbers were wearing full face masks.
NEWS BULLETIN
August 24—Barely twenty-four hours after the robbery of Midland Savings and Loan the suspects are in custody. Apparently the robbers’ own hubris and overconfidence did them in.
The two men allegedly stole a vehicle in the Southport area and were in the act of returning the vehicle to the owner’s address and then making an attempt to stage the car in order to frame the original owner of the vehicle. One of the robbers, one Bo Marcus, made an anonymous phone call to police to tell them about the vehicle, not knowing that two officers were on patrol a mere two blocks from where he stood. Marcus then placed two stolen fifty-dollar bills and a money wrapper from the stolen currency inside the back seat of the car, but before he could make his getaway the officers arrested him at the scene.
Marcus was quick to lead the arresting officers to his
partner, Eddie “Slick” Himes, a criminal of some renown in the police files.