You remember I told you about how I got shot down in… that place?'
Falcone nodded, and Jules went on to tell him 'This man here, and some others, are the ones that pulled me out before I*really* got into trouble. Even then, it was pretty exciting getting back. Anybody you send after him, they won't come back. God's honest truth, I'm surprised Vinnie and Charlie did. I talked to them. Neither one of them has the faintest idea of what he did – all Vinnie knows is that he woke up in the hospital; all Charley knows is that he was looking down the barrel of a.45 before he even knew this man moved. You know Charlie – and this man SCARED him.'
'Okay, so maybe he's tough. But dammit, he's costing me a lot of money!'
'Uncle Benny, you KNEW those people were crooks when you went into business with them. Now you're gonna get all upset that they stole your money?'
'Them I can take care of. But I don't like this one going to the FBI and making trouble. I think maybe I need to take care of him, so nobody else gets any fancy ideas.'
'Uncle Benny, I promise you: you don't want to start that kind of trouble with him. Believe me, I saw what him and his friends can do.
They don't make war. They ARE war. They're the people Uncle Sam sends in to soften people up before war happens, okay?'
'Yeah, yeah, yeah. So maybe he's lucky. I bet he can't be lucky forever.'
'He doesn't have to be. Uncle Benny, I don't think you understand just what this man can do. If he got it into his head that he wanted to kill you, there's nothing anybody in this room could do to stop it. NOTHING.'
'He'd be killed, if he tried.'
'Maybe – but I can tell you that HE wouldn't die until after YOU did.
And he'd probably take everybody else in this room with him. Then when his friends heard about it, they'd take care of the rest of us.
They know I'm not in the business, so I'd probably wouldn't get hurt too bad – but by the time they were done, this family would be nothing but widows and orphans.'
That gave the old man something to think about. When he stopped to take a drink from the glass in front of him, Jules told him 'Uncle Benny, remember when I was younger, and started sniffing after the girls? Remember what you told me – that I had to think with my brains, not my balls? I think it's time I reminded you of the same thing.'
The old man looked at him a moment, before nodding his head slightly.
Here, I spoke up again, offering something I'd thought about that morning.
'Mister Francone, there's something else for you to think about.'
'What's that, tough guy?'
'I told you that the FBI already has everything I know. You could be using this time to cut the damage you're going to have, instead of fussing over me. There are going to be people that the FBI is going to want to talk to – people you should talk to FIRST. From what they told me, they think they can take out as much as half your organization. I'd think you'd want to stop that.'
He asked me 'Why you telling me this, instead of just watching them do it?'
'Because I don't want any trouble with you – trouble that wouldn't do either one of us any good. I give you a little warning so you can save some of what you've got here, and you decide that I'm not worth messing with. That way, both of us come out of it with something, instead of both of us losing everything.'
That was an idea that he could understand – a little mutual backscratching. And keeping at least SOME of what he already had. I could see in his face that he knew he had a serious problem with the FBI investigation.
Finally, he said 'What about those assholes, and the money they stole?'
I shrugged again, and told him 'You do business with crooks, you take the chance of getting cheated. I think you have other sources of income you can use to make it up. And them? They know they did you wrong. They know you won't be happy about it. Do you think they're going to be feeling safe and secure and comfortable in prison, knowing that you can get to them any time you want?'
With that thought, he cackled, and said 'I think maybe I could learn to like you, mister tough guy. Yeah, I got 'other sources of income'.
This is gonna hurt me, but not so bad, maybe. Okay, you walk outta here, I forget about you – I got an organization to take care of, and I don't need any extra trouble. But you don't go causing me any more problems, right?'
'I got no beef with you, Mister Falcone. I just want me and my friends to be left alone.'
He nodded, and said 'Okay, that's how it is, then.'
At this point, Jules spoke up, saying 'Uncle Benny?'
'What is it, Jules?'
'Just to make sure there aren't any misunderstandings, maybe it would be a good idea if you let Vinnie and the other boys know that you were okay with this, and that you wouldn't like them bothering him?'
The old man nodded, and looked at me, saying 'Any of my boys show up, it's them, not me. How you deal with them is up to you – I won't get involved.'
I nodded, and told him 'Fair enough, Mister Falcone. Thank you.'
He looked me over again, and said 'Yeah, I think I could like you.
You're nice and quiet and polite and all that, but you got*balls*. I think maybe Jules did us BOTH a favor, being here – now that I look closer, I can see that there's steel in you.'
I just smiled at him, and said 'It's been a pleasure meeting you, Mister Falcone'.
He laughed, and waved his hand in dismissal; Jules walked with me as I headed for the door. Outside, we stood and talked for a little bit, him telling me that he'd gotten an architecture degree, and had his own office now. He laughed, and told me how upset the family had been when he'd turned away the clients they'd sent him – then been proud when he'd become a success without their help. We exchanged business cards as an easy way to contact each other, with promises to stay in touch.
Back outside the gate, Agent Hendricks got out of the car, and shielded me while I got the holster back in place. I had to admit to myself that it made me feel a little more secure having it there, and decided that carrying it after all this was over might not be a bad idea.
On the way back to the hotel, I told him how the conversation had gone. He had trouble believing that old Benito Francone had let somebody off the hook like that, but I just told him that his informants would verify it soon enough. I think my confidence did as much to convince him as what I'd told him. He wasn't going to let the detail off the hook until Agent Hawkes told him, too, though.
Back at the hotel, I found Lucy waiting for me. She gave me a terrific welcoming kiss, then another, saying 'The second one was from Amy. She said to tell you 'thank you' again, too.'
I smiled, and pulled Lucy into a tight embrace, kissing her for all I was worth. When it finally ended, she pulled back a little, and said 'Whoosh! What brought that on? Not that I'm complaining, I just want to know how to make it happen again!'
I told her where I'd been – she got a frightened, indignant look that I hadn't told her before – but quickly cheered up when I told her how it had turned out. She was mildly disappointed that it would take a couple days for the FBI to get the message, but gratefully realized that they would be slower to leave us alone than they were to protect us in the first place.
I looked around, and asked her where the girls were. She told me that they'd gone swimming in the hotel pool – AFTER calling down to warn the agents, and give them time to prepare.
I made my own call, and Lucy and I went down to the pool to watch them, and give them the anticipated good news.
When we got to the pool, Lucy and I could both see that the girls were well-protected: there were a couple of female agents obviously watching out, as well as a few other people that didn't seem to be doing anything, even for laying around a pool. Watching, I did notice that a couple of the younger male agents would steal the occasional admiring glance at them.
Lucy and I got their things and sat down at a table, where the girls eventually noticed us. When they came over, we handed each of them their towel, and I told them a condensed and simplified version of what I'd told Lucy. Both seemed to know that there was more to it, but were too happy at the news to bother with it. The girls asked us to join them, and after looking at each other, we agreed. I gestured to one of the agents in suits, and he came
