“What about the tracker? We need to get it off. I know that leaving it on doesn’t really affect my movements within the Nations, but I don’t want enforcers knowing my every move. The tracker doesn’t allow them to track my voice or anything, but I don’t want to give them the opportunity to connect any dots. Also, I will need to leave the UNEA during the trial, and the last thing that I need is to get caught doing this,” I said.
“Nothing is set in stone, but Alex knows someone that might be able to sort out the tracker problem. He mentioned this during our conference call, and yes, the line was secure. I’m no techno wizard, but I think if Alex’s guy is able to get the bracelet off, it will be expensive,” Joe replied.
“I think we both know that money is not an issue, especially when it comes to something like this. As far as the murder charge goes, we should have no problem beating that, because I didn’t do it. I have never killed a man in my life—we have people to handle that kind of stuff. The main charge that bothers me is the conspiracy to assassinate a government official, that charge carries a life sentence. If I’m found guilty, do we know which of the prisons I will end up in?” I asked.
“Yeah, I believe the murder charge was just tossed in there to stir things up. They know they don’t have any proof of that, and even if they did it will be difficult for them to win murder by proxy. I believe the hitters used by Alex and Chris cannot be linked back to them, or to you for that matter. The thing with the government official, there was never any concrete plan to carry out the assassination. You said you called the whole thing off, pending when you had a better plan. With that said, if the prosecution has managed to get their hands on a written note, a voice recording, or anything like that, then we have a problem. The drug charges won’t go far, too many high-ranking officials have been bribed to cover things up. If you go down, everyone else goes down. As far as prisons go, I’m sure this is something Alex and Chris have thought about. They have contacts in every prison across the Nations. I will bring up the matter after our meeting in Albany,” replied Joe.
Joe already knew exactly what we were going to do if the ride got bumpy along the way, and we weren’t able to find our chirper. We would need to deal with things the old-fashioned way, erase a few bodies. He hardly touched his food, he just moved the spaghetti around his plate. He did throw back a couple of swigs of cognac though. I guess he needed to take the edge off. It had been an interesting couple of days for us both. After I was done eating, I poured some Gładka Królewska into my glass, the best vodka Poland had to offer. I added a couple of lemon slices and chased it with a bit of club soda.
“You haven’t eaten a thing, Joe, this is good Italian food.”
“I not really hungry. You’re drinking the hard stuff today, huh?” Joe said.
“Yup. Like you, I need to take the edge off,” I replied.
“How did you know?” Joe asked.
“We’ve known each other for a long time, my friend. You barely touched your food, and we both know you love food. So, how’s Sandra doing?” I asked.
“She’s great, things are a bit manic at home, but she’s coping,” Joe replied.
“And the boys?” I asked.
“They’re great. Joseph Jr. is playing well, and Paul plans on trying out for the team next year,” Joe said.
“I’m sure that makes you happy. My Jonny hates baseball, can you believe that?” I said.
Joe’s wife and kids often came to the house for dinner, and Laura and Sandra played tennis at the country club on Thursdays. My guess is they won’t be playing any tennis this week, considering everything that has happened. All I could think about was what I was going to say to the family when I got home. I will be able to handle the situation, but it’s not something I was looking forward to doing. I was going to have to figure out a way to put everyone’s mind at ease. We are a high-profile family, and because of the trial, our image had taken a hit. Family life was never going to be the same. Even if we won the trial, things would never be the same. The only thing we could do was implement damage control. We had just the right guy to put things in motion to reduce the impact of the damage and restore people’s trust in me, as well as the Edom Group brand.
“I don’t need to ask if damage control is already in play. Right?” I said.
“Yup, we’ve got the team working on this,” Joe replied.
“As far as the legit side of the business goes, I will be able to fix things with some of our clients. High-profile businessmen are often involved in scandals and legal trouble. I’m sure I will be able to convince them we have our integrity intact. Some clients would definitely not want to be associated with Edom Group during or after the trial, but we’ll be able to live with that,” I said.
“Okay. I’m sure that the press will be at the house in the morning. Before leaving for Albany, it will be a good idea for you to give a brief statement and then hand over to our PR guy,” Joe replied.
“Yeah, sure. I already know what to say,” I responded
The pilot announced we would
