ASCENSION (30 page)

Dominick’s sensual lips smiled, “
Why torture yourself when y
ou’ll never be
able to afford
one
on your
measly
government salary
?
”

“
Probably not,” Sinesi answered, “it’s a little ostentatious for my taste anyway.”

“What do you want agent?”

“I’ve got
some
questions about
your recent
trip to Italy
. I understand
you had a traveling companion, Frank Monticelli.”
The question came next, “Do you know where we can find Mr. Monticelli
?”

Despite Dominick’s loathing of the old man, h
is loyalty was to the family
. He did not respect lawmen
. They made
empty pledges
to uphold the law
and
easily broke
them
at the slightest temptation. They were undisciplin
ed and weak.
Turncoats and thieves.
He despised politicians because they were worse th
a
n scum
, especially t
he
silver tongue
corporate types
who
raped corporations then used their wealth to
f
e
ed lies to the public
as they pandered
for votes
. As soon as they were elected to
office
they
lined their pockets like robber barons
while crushing the livelihood of
the poor
. They argued against legalization of marijuana and prostitution
by calling them vices
, yet dabbled in
both.
They were crafty and sneaky fiends who stole the number
’s
game and sold it as their own to the public calling it the Lottery
. They
rak
ed
in billions due to
nearly impossible
odds
of winning
.
Now, that’s what he considered a
goddamn
racket!

To Dominick
,
A
gent
Sinesi represented everything he despi
sed. He considered corrupt politicians and law enforcement a criminal organization without honor working to rid themselves of rivals such as La Costra Nostra
. They skimmed
off the top
, stealing
from the coffers of taxpayers
and called it
excise
taxation
.
They were m
en with loyalty to greed
;
the
deadliest
kind
!

“Sorry, can’t help you.”

“Well, if you happen to cross paths again, give him a message for me.
Let him
know we want to speak to him about his business associates,” he
t
ook out
a
card and sat it down. “Tell him to call me
anytime
.”

Dominick stood, “What are you really here for Sinesi, it’s no secret you’ve been
chasing Monticelli for half your miserable career.
What exactly are you after
?”

Sinesi lit a cigarette.
Frank Monticelli was the only
other person who knew about the existence of
a rumored
ledger. He and Sergio Giacanti were once
close friends. Rumor
has it
Monticelli eliminated the entire Giacanti family
for a ledger containing secrets on many important people and a fortune scattered around the world in anonymous bank account
s. However, no one
’s
been able to prove any of this or verify the existence of this ledger.
Sinesi
spent his career trying to get a lead on this elusive book and now began
to doubt its existence. Only the old man
could confirm whether the rumors were true or not.
“
G
ive him
my
message.”

The
agent turned
around and flicked his cigarette in the pool then departed.
He had a flight to catch to New York.

Stupid prick!

Dominick
reclined in his seat.
He
needed to speak to the old man
. Gina hinted Luzo
Palazzo wasn’t who he claimed to be.
It
didn’t make any sense at the time
but what if she were on to something…what if she knew…what if Sinesi and Monticelli were all aware of something important but what…what’s the connection…what am I missing? He wondered.

Monticelli’s
obsession with the Palazzo’s
and the feds obsession with Monticelli led him to one conclusion; t
here
’s
more to this
and
the old man
’s
the key.

“
Sue Chang!
” he shouted
irritably
.

The maid came immediately, “Yes, Mr. Fiorello?”

“Get over here,” he ordered whi
le pulling down his swim shorts.

Sue Chang locked the door.
These favors came with plenty of expensive
gifts and money. Money she sent to her family in Thailand. She felt sorry for Mr. Fiorello, his
wife was always sick
.
A
strong, virile man
such
as
he
had very specific needs
.

T
he couple and a lone man were the
last to exit through the doors of the famed Waldorf-Astoria
.
Alfonzo held his wife’s hand
, glad the long ceremony was over.
He stopped under the bright lights and turned to his wife. “You had a good time?”

The cold wind whipped at her carefully coiffed hair
sending
long tendrils
blowing free.
He
moved a
wayward
strand from her eye
as she spoke
. “It was special. Did you see the kids and how eloquent they
we
re?”

He barely noticed the bright city lights or the honking from the cars whizzing by in the backdrop. She was the center of his attention. He cupped her face in the chill and kissed her, pulling her soft body bundled in fur again
st his already warm one. He kissed her long and hard then grinned, “I’m going to miss this, esposa.”

Selange’s brow crinkled, “Are you going somewhere?”

The musical chime of a cell phone interrupted them and he reached into his coat pocket to retrieve it.
There was a voice message from Nico. He listened to it then shut off his cell
before
slipp
ing off his watch and
jewelry
. He placed them along with his wallet and cell phone
in her pocket
.

“Why are you giving me these?”

“Babe, the
feds
are coming to arrest me. I want you to go with Giuseppe. I’ve told him what to do. Sal’s with my mom, he’ll be fine.”

Her eyes became glassy, “No
honey I
’m not
leav
ing
without you, let’s get out of here right now!
”

Beyond her head in the distance he saw a caravan of multi-colored lights making their way through the traffic. He hugged her and whispered, “
It’s
okay
, if I run
it’
ll
make it worse.
No, it’s better if I stay.” She was troubled and he
attempted to assuage her fears. “It’s Friday night, I’ll get processed and be in front of a Federal Judge by Monday morning. Don’t worry, I have a good lawyer on stand-by and I’m sure to make bail. Come on don’t cry
I’ll be home soon trust me.”

She
hugged his waist really tight,
“I love yo
u so much honey.”
She sniffled.

He nodded,
“I know
but go get in the car, Giuseppe’s waiting to get you out of here. I’ll call tonight
.” His eyes lowered to her face, “
It’ll be all right,
babe come on
go!”

She spun around reluctantly and hurried to the limo where Giuseppe stood then disappeared inside just as multiple dark police cars with strobe lig
hts flashing careened to a halt. Alfonzo slowly crossed his hands in front of his body in plain view of the officers to demonstrate his cooperation. Car doors
swung
open and men in flap jackets with F.B.I monogrammed on the
ir chest
rushed at him with guns drawn.

He recognized one face amongst them.
Agent
Townsend
.
He was shoved against the wall and frisked, “
Alfonzo Diaz,” handcuffs were
slapped
on his wrists, “you are under arrest, you have
the right to remain silent…”

Alfonzo
ignored the recital of his MIRANDA rights. The handcuffs were unnecessarily
tight and cut into his wrists. He
was glad
he removed his watch and Selange was out of harm’s way
. He didn’t want her caught in the middle
of
mayhem or
man-handled by overzealous law enforcement
officers
. Sometimes their met
hods of intimidation incited a violent reaction in an effort to attach additional charges to
a
case. He was smart enough not to jeopardize his chances of a speedy release
by losing it if anyone touched his wife
.

He was
roughly
yanked off the
wall
and escorted to an unmarked car parked in the street.
He saw her distress through the window of the vehicle and smiled. He was relaxed with a full stomach and a healthy buzz from the champagne. He winked and mouthed,
“I love you
,
”
as he passed.

The back door of the unmarked car
opened, his head was pushed down and he was shoved inside. His eyes scanned the street and he caught a glimpse of Nico in silhouette. He stood on the concrete island of flower pots, hands in his pockets observing the scene.
He’d gotten the message, by then it was
too late
!

CHAPTER TWENTY
-FIVE

Monday morning as predicted Alfonzo
was brought before a judge. A
seasoned
and utterly tenacious
criminal attorney
, Martin Scheppe
stood alongside his client during the
arraignment
in Federal Court, room
2
10.
A series of charges were read aloud and recorded by the unsmiling court stenographer
who looked up
o
ccasionally during Judge Hiram
Bernstein’s
’ frequent pauses with
frustration.

Selange
sat in the second to front row
listen
ing
to the readings with a feeling of doom.
Money
l
aundering,
racketeering
a
nd tax evasion.
Alfonzo w
as being charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations
S
tatute
;
commonly known as the RICO law.
She hadn’t slept well in the last
72
hours due to
a knot in her stomach. She worried
a
bout her husband and prayed he did not receive harsh treatment inside the Manhattan
Correctional
Center
. She
’d spoken to him late Friday night but this was the first time she’d seen him since the
arrest
. S
eeing him now brought
tears to
her eyes.

Alfonzo glanced
reassuringly
in
Selange’s
direction
. He winked at her and she blew him a kiss. H
e wanted
desperately to stroke her face and tell her
not to worry
, he was
fine.
He
held his chin up in defiance as he
listened
t
o
his
attorney
vehemently
argue there was no probable cause to detain him
followed by
a litany of
federal rules and constitutional violations
if they thought to do so.
The attorney concluded
his summation by saying there was a lack of
sufficient
evidentiary support
to warrant an arrest
. He
requested bail for his client who demonstrated firm ties to the
c
ommunity
and
ha
d
no
prior arrests.