The Heart of an Assassin (2 page)

“Man, you are pretty fast on your feet,”
David remarked.

“Got to be, if you want to sell real estate
in this country,” he responded. David stared at his client and
busted out laughing.

“What the hell kind a real estate do you
sell, anyway? Never mind, it ain’t none of my business,” David
said, deciding it would be best he didn’t know. Then he went on
home.

“Goodnight, David, get home safe,” Jack
said.

June 23,
1964 (New York)

Approximately a week earlier, Felicia
Giordano advised her father, Fazio Giordano, that if they wanted to
survive this war they were in, they would have to take out
Bolnaldo, the head of the Costellino family. The Giordanos had been
at war with the Costellino family for more than three months over
control of the various racketeering enterprises they shared.

“Are you out of your mind, Feli?” he barked
at her.

“Pop, Feli is right. We got to hit them hard.
They outnumber us three to one. We need to show them we mean
business,” added Fabio.

Along with Fazio and his daughter, Felicia,
were his son, Fabio, and his top lieutenants, Leo Russo, John De
Luca, and Erin Romano. The Giordano family was into prostitution,
drugs, extortion, and liquor. Fabio handled the organization’s
political contacts by either bribery or extortion of city
officials. They originally started in Queens and, over a short
period, expanded into Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Long Island.
Though much smaller than the Costellino family, they operated a lot
more efficiently and had ties to one of the biggest crime families
out of San Francisco. Unlike the Costellino family, they could
bring in estraneos (outsiders) to deal with uncomfortable
situations. Much like Felicia was suggesting.

After some thought, Fazio realized that they
were right; it was time to send the Costellino family a strong
message. Turning to Felicia, he ordered that she bring in an
outsider to deal with the situation. Felicia nodded and left for
Long Island.

Felicia, a twenty-seven-year-old, very
attractive redhead, stood five foot six, and would give a model a
run for her money. She was a Harvard graduate who majored in
criminology. Her ability to defuse a situation when warranted, and
to act without any conscience, made her dangerous. Her reputation
was quickly established among the family when she had the son of a
politician kidnapped and then returned unharmed. She had no
remorse, was calculating, and quite good as an advisor to her
father. She was responsible for placing two of her most loyal
soldiers in the Costellino family; a risky feat that took almost a
year to fulfill. Rumor was that she would take the reins when her
father stepped aside.

Felicia had never met Nick Costello, but his
reputation for completing his assignments was what legends were
made of. Some called him a ghost or phantom. Some said he could
take out a man in a crowded room without anyone realizing what had
happened until it was too late. Others said he had been a commando
or Green Beret in Vietnam. In any case, she had heard he had never
failed in any of his assignments, and that was what she needed; an
outsider who could not be traced back to them.

The instructions for contacting Nick were
quite simple. Have the NYC number provided to them disconnected,
and he would call their vacation home in the Hamptons within
twenty-four hours. If they did not receive a call within that time
period, it would mean that Nick was currently unavailable.

Felicia, using her contacts in the Costellino
family, needed to know the whereabouts of Bolnaldo over the next
few days, information she would provide to Nick. A few days later,
she made the call and waited.

When Nick called, he advised her to look in
the book titled
Mississippi River,
located in the library in
the Hampton home. There she would find instructions on where to
leave the information.

Felicia was taken aback. When did he put the
instructions in the book? How cunning. Who is this man?

The instructions left were detailed in that
they covered everything from making sure she wore gloves when
handling any of the papers, to using copiers that were in public
places (which did not contain any cameras), rather than in private.
In anticipation that the information might fall into the wrong
hands, Nick requested that the data consist of only Bolnaldo’s
name, written backward, leaving out the first letter of each name,
the locations he frequented, and nothing more. Specific
instructions noted that no time or dates were to be provided.
Cancellation of the orders would require the disconnection of the
second NYC number within ten days of the initial contact and would
cost them 25 percent of the original cost of $100,000. Payment
would be made upon completion of the job and instructions of where
to make the payment would be forthcoming. Any failure to meet their
obligation would be deemed as disrespectful, resulting in them, and
possibly any associates, becoming his next mark.

The instructions went on to direct her to
make six copies of the information she was providing and to leave
them in six different locations, including one in the Hampton home.
After ten days, she was to return to these locations and remove any
remaining copies and destroy them.

With no reservation, Felicia put into motion
the steps that would eliminate Bolnaldo Costellino as she had been
instructed to. She put on gloves and took a piece of paper, and
using her left hand instead of her right, wrote
Mr. Odlanlo
Onilletso
on it. She also wrote the first three letters of
three restaurants on Mulberry Street in New York City.

She then placed the paper in an envelope and
repeated this process five times. Then, calling in one of her
trusted soldiers, she gave him two of the locations he was to drop
off the envelope at. Half an hour later, she called another soldier
to drop off the other two. Lastly, she placed the final envelope in
the book from which she extracted the instructions.

Felicia was now concerned about herself and
her father’s welfare. This man could come in at any time and take
them out. Was he for the highest bidder, or would he be loyal to
her and her family? These thoughts began to run through her head.
After thinking things through, she started to make plans of her own
to eliminate Nick as a future threat.

June 22,
1964 (New York)

Bolnaldo pointed his finger at his son, Tony,
face red with anger. “You! You can’t let outsiders come in and
simply walk all over us,” he sputtered, referring to an incident
where some soldiers of the Giordano family showed up at one of
their bars and started a fight. Tony was caught in the middle of it
and suffered a black eye. The intruders walked away, laughing out
loud and mocking some of the members of the Costellino family.

“Dad, they aren’t. They’re just trying to
provoke us. They haven’t tried to cross over to any of our
locations. I am only saying that we need to be vigilant. That we
need to send them a message by hitting some of the locations closer
to them. In their own backyard,” Tony finished.

“No, no,” interjected Clemente Marino, one of
Bolnaldo’s advisors. “I say we call in some guns from Chicago
before they do.”

“Hey, Junior, what do you think?” asked the
senior Bolnaldo to his son.

Junior, the youngest of Bolnaldo’s sons, who
stood about five foot seven and weighed about 175 pounds, was known
for being fair-minded and logical. “I think we should go after
their top lieutenants and stop wasting time hitting their joints.
Hit Leo Russo, Erin Romano, or Fabio Giordano. That is what we
should do. Hey, Tony what about Fazio’s daughter, Felicia?
Everybody knows old man Fazio ain’t got nothing upstairs, and he
don’t shit without checking with her. She’s the one we should go
after,” Junior added.

“You’re right. Felicia is the real issue,”
Tony responded.

“Let’s go after her,” Malco Lombardi
interjected.

“You guys gone nuts? You go after her and you
might as well sign your own death certificates. Unless we take out
her old man and Fabio first, we don’t have a chance in hell of
getting away with it. In fact, the entire top tier of their
organization would have to be eliminated before we can breathe
easier,” remarked Bolnaldo.

Like the Giordano family, the Costellino
family was into prostitution, drugs, and the numbers rackets. They
operated solely in Manhattan and the Bronx and were looking to
expand into Giordano territory. They numbered over two hundred, but
were not as efficiently managed as the Giordano family.

They sat there quietly for a good five
minutes, contemplating what they were planning.

“What about their ties to the San Francisco
family?” asked Clemente.

“Don’t think they would be a problem as long
as we do a thorough job,” responded Tony.

After a few minutes, Bolnaldo slammed his
open hand on the desk, getting everyone’s attention. “This needs to
be done. I want Tony and Clemente to come up with a plan on how to
wipe out the whole fuckin’ family. Just like in one of those
old-time movies when you take out the bad guys while they’re
pissing in the john. Malco, you and Junior find out exactly where
in Long Island they live, get the plans to their home. Lastly, this
cannot go out of this room. No one needs to know what we are
planning. Understood?” Bolnaldo asked, staring at each one of them.
They all nodded. They all understood. Then he added, “Tony, call
Chicago and tell them we need some muscle; about five good
men.”

July 6,
1964 (Pennsylvania)

Four days later Nick, now going by the name
of Tim Goldman, arrived at Lehigh International Airport, and rented
a car for a one-way trip to Newark, New Jersey, where he would drop
it off. Tim always travelled light, carrying only a duffel bag with
enough clothes for a few days and a camera strapped around his
neck. He wore a light, black jacket over a dark blue shirt,
dungarees, and sneakers.

Before dropping the car off, he phoned ahead
to an old military acquaintance about purchasing some merchandise
for his business. Parking the car out of sight of the store on
Pacific Street and Vesey, he entered.

“Hello, Jay,” he greeted the man behind the
counter of the gun store.

“It’s been a long time, Theo,” Jay Messina
replied. They both embraced each other. Jay knew Nick by his real
name and by no other.

“I got the product you requested in the back.
Hold on while I put the ‘Closed’ sign on the door,” Jay said. Nick
purposely arrived at 5:00 p.m. so that it wouldn’t be suspicious if
the store was closed. Nick was very meticulous about his
planning.

Jay took him in the back where, behind a
makeshift wall, he had his inventory of weapons. There were all
types of rifles and guns. A .38 Super Automatic with a silencer
attached caught Nick’s eye.

“Don’t see that too often,” Jay said. “It
holds nine rounds, and it’s known to be quite accurate.”

“Depends on who’s firing,” responded
Nick.

Jay laughed and said, “Guess it does.”

“I’ll take this one with me,” he told Jay.
“With nine in the chamber and fifteen rounds in a box, it’s
something I can easily put in my jacket pocket.”

Continuing to browse the merchandise, Nick
grabbed a Browning 22 Semi-Automatic rifle to examine. “I like this
one, but I need a scope and a silencer for it,” he told Jay.

“A silencer?” asked Jay. “Okay, but I cannot
guarantee its accuracy once I attach a silencer to it, you
understand?” he told Nick.

“No problem, Jay. How soon do you think you
can have it done?” Nick asked.

“Should have it in a few days,” he replied.
With that, they shook hands and once more embraced each other.

Placing the gun inside a shoulder holster,
which Jay provided, Nick left the store, only after looking out
through the side of the shade covering the front door window. After
getting into the car, Nick drove to the rental site located near
the Newark Airport and turned it in. From there, he took a taxi to
the Newark train station, boarded a train to New York, then got off
at Times Square. Finally, he walked over to the Long Island
Railroad Station and boarded a train to the Hamptons.

July
6-7, 1964 (Long Island, New York, 11:30 p.m.)

Four hours later, Nick Costello was checking
into the Old Hampton Inn in East Hampton as Tim Goldman. That night
he exited the inn, stole a car a mile down the road, and drove to
the home of Fazio Giordano. Nick had decided earlier that he didn’t
want to chance picking up the information Felicia was providing at
any train or bus station where there were too many watchful eyes.
No, the best choice would be to go to the Hampton home and pick it
up there. He should be in and out without anyone being the wiser,
or so he thought.

Parking about a quarter of a mile from their
estate, he crept along the six-foot wall that surrounded the
estate, until he reached a tree that overhung into their property.
This is how he got in the last few times he visited the estate.
Nick was familiar with the grounds and where all of the sentries
would be located.

As he moved toward the house, he noticed that
there were no guards posted around the garden as was the custom.
Something was wrong. Nick felt it in his gut. Moving more
cautiously, he scanned the area. Finally, he spotted one of the
guards lying face down on the ground, a knife sticking out of his
back. Nick moved swiftly toward the back of the house while drawing
his 38. As he came around to the back of the house, he spotted a
couple of men prying open the back door and slipping in. Moving
quietly, he picked up a rock and threw it through the back upstairs
window shattering it. The noise woke up its occupant. One of the
men who had entered through the back door exited and was moving in
Nick’s direction. The intruder spotted Nick. At the same time Nick
stood up and fired. The intruder fired back, nicking Nick in the
shoulder. Nick’s shot had more success as the intruder hit the
ground with a bullet through his chest. Nick moved quickly and
fired another shot into his head as he moved past him, continuing
into the house.