Nightmare in New York

Bolan had given the Capo— indeed, all the Caposof New York City — another option to think about.

Chapter Fifteen Tutti

'Sure, I'm getting feed-in from both sides of the stream,' Leo Turrin's voice reported across the connection from Pittsfield. 'You're really rattling the cage there, buddy. Hey, it's all over television here, even. You going nuts or something?'

'Maybe,' Bolan replied gloomily. 'So what'd you find out?'

'First of all, let's take the matter of official reaction. Do you know how many cops the city of New York has to throw against you, my blitzing buddy? At last count, roughly thirty-two thousand. That's a lot of men in blue, more than enough to populate an average American city.'

'They haven't bothered me yet,' Bolan muttered.

'Well, they've known you were in town since that first little fracas at Midtown Station. But they're a pretty cool bunch, those New York cops. They have so much crime there, on a minute-to-minute basis, that they just play it by the numbers and everything waits its turn, even a Mack Bolan. But your turn has come, buddy. You're on the hot list, and you can bet your ass that right now those guys are gearing up to stop you.

There's an unofficial quote shoot on sight unquote order covering you at this moment. You're getting the mad-dog treatment.'

'Okay, that's one,' Bolan said. 'What's two?'

'Two is Freddie Gambella and Company. I hear the guy is frothing at the mouth — throwing tantrums all over the place. You torched his beloved palace, you rotten shit, and stamped out the guard besides, plus terrifying his lady. Very undignifying, Sarge, for a Capo.'

Bolan said, 'Yeah. So what's new?'

'What's new is that you'd better get the hell away from there, and via the quickest means. Try a time machine and go back to the seventeenth century or something.'

'Get serious,' Bolan growled.

'I'm as serious as I can get. I never saw such a guy. I thought I'd seen it all here, when you went after Sergio. Then when I saw what was left after the hit on Miami Beach I told myself, why hell no Leo, nowyou're seeing it all. So here you are taking on the City of New York, complete with its Five Families and fellow travelers. When do you figure your luck is going to run out, buddy?'

Bolan was being gently chided, he knew it — but he didn't mind. He chuckled and told his friend, 'I guess I'm like the New York cops. I have so much crime on my hands I have to take it minute by minute and luck by lucky break. You know what I want to hear, Leo. How's the mob reacting to my Tarzan act?'

'Oh they're impressed. Jittery as hell. A lot of 'em are suddenly finding reasons why they have to go out of town for awhile. And I get the feeling that a lot of displeasure is building against Gambella. High level displeasure. The other bosses, I hear, are quite concerned because of…'

'Because of what?'

'Aw, shit. And me a double agent.'

'Uh-huh. Okay, you started to spill. So out with it. What's going on that I should know about?'

'Dammit, Mack, there are some things — '

'You know better. I need every item of intelligence I can get'

There was a brief pause, then Turrin's breath hissed across the line in a lengthy sigh. 'Okay. Some day I'm going to get nailed up over this double-agent stuff. Why did I have to add youto my list of tragedies?'

'Give, Leo.'

'May I first impose on our friendship to give you a bit of very sober advice?'

'You may,' Bolan told him. 'Go on, impose.'

'You're a dead man. You know that, don't you? I mean, not to be morbid but just to face facts, from one friend to another. You're a dead man.'

Bolan said, 'Thanks, friend… but… yeah okay, I accept that.'

'Okay. So it's just a matter of time before your death certificate becomes official. You may have another day, another week, another month — — — or maybe just another hour. So what the hell are you accomplishing?'

It was Bolan's turn for silence. Presently he replied, 'I don't know, Leo. I've just been playing it by ear, trying to stay alive, hoping to carry the fight against this Goddamned cancer that a lot of people in this country still think doesn't exist. They're all going to wake up one day and find it eating them alive. I don't know, Leo. What the hell do you mean, what am I accomplishing? I'm harassing the hell out of them if nothing else. What kind of question is that to ask a dead man?'

Turrin chuckled. 'Okay, it was a leading question. You've been waging a war of attrition — like in 'Nam, right? With the odds at about a million to one. So who do you think is going to win this war, Sarge?'

'I never hoped to win it, Leo,' Bolan told him. 'The damned outfit is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. I know that. It's like fighting heaven. You can spit in God's face fifty times a day every day, but you know that in the end it's all going to go his way. Okay. So I've just been pushing sand around on the beach, not trying to fill the ocean with it.'

'So why don't you start filling?'

'Yeah, okay.'

'I'm serious. You think about it. And think about this. Have you ever heard the expression, Cosa di tutti Coscfl'

'No. I've heard of Capo di tutti Capo, the boss of all the bosses, but I hear that one's a thing of the past.'

'It is, but not the tutti Cosa. It's a thing of the future, or so billed, and it roughly translates as the thing of all the things.'

'Or Big Thing,' Bolan suggested. 'You've heard of it, then.'

'Not actually, no. A whisper somewhere, maybe that's all. Is this what you weren't going to spill?'

'That's it.'

'So? Give.'

'I already gave. It's all I know. It has something to do with politics, and I think I told you this morning that something big was brewing. Well, that's what's brewing, Cosa di tutti Cosa. So if you really want to accomplish something in New York, why don't you look into that?'

'I'm no detective. I'm an infantryman.' Turrin laughed. 'Look, Sarge. It's common knowledge that the mob is everywhere, in everything. They've got congressmen, legislators, mayors, and maybe even a couple of governors. They've infiltrated all levels of the legit business world, and they've got labor unions, a good chunk of the entertainment industry, civil servants up the kazoo, entire political machines — anyplace where money is king — and hell, it's like you said, they're a cancer and they're eating into everything. So far as I know, they do> not presently ownany U.S. Senators or White House advisors or members of the cabinet. So far as I know, they've never had a piece of a U.S. President, or a seat on the Supreme Court. So far as— '

'Okay, I get the picture,' Bolan interrupted. 'You're saying, but what if they did? What if they decided to put it all together? Sha-zam! Cosa di tutti Cosal'

'That's about it, buddy,' Turrin said. 'That's just about it.'

'Do the feds know about this?'

'About as much as anyone els© on the outside. I've been hearing rumbles since I was elevated to underboss rank, but even at my level it's no more than an occasional remark or a slipped word here and there. Speaking of feds. Uh, I was talking to Brognola today. About you. He uh…'