Deep(13)
Nick watched J.J. try to slap his guy back to consciousness. He was getting nowhere. At Nick’s feet was a kit he’d put together over the course of his career. Tools of his trade. A weak suck like this guy, he’d have not only awake but giving up his own kids within ten minutes. And then, if he so chose, he’d leave him intact to go home to those kids knowing to mind his business and his manners.
“Keep talking.”
“What if this is Church? Paying our notes—that’s a huge outlay up front. Even if he doubles the vig—which would collapse business under its own weight—it’s a bad investment, unless it’s a step toward a bigger goal. Somebody big enough to drop that much cash at once, and somebody who’s looking to take us down. That enemies list has one name on it. We don’t need this poor sap. We know who’s got his strings.”
Nick turned to his friend. He was right. “J.J.”
Watching his guys try to rouse his subject, J.J. didn’t hear him. Nick raised his voice. “J.J.”
He held up his hand to stop his men and then turned. “Yeah?”
“End him. Make him a message.”
If J.J. balked, Nick would handle this shit himself, right in front of J.J.’s crew. He didn’t give a fuck. This entitled halfwit had been made a capo. A capo! Nick decided at that moment that he would handle more than this shit if J.J. didn’t get his ass straight, and fast. He would not let his uncle, his family, be brought down over a promotion made for the wrong fucking reasons.
Ben had lost his edge.
J.J. didn’t balk. He blinked, and then he nodded and turned to one of his guys. “Picker. End him. Then let’s get to work.”
Deciding to be satisfied that J.J. could handle the rest, and would know which message to send and how, he put his hand on Brian’s arm and nodded toward the front door. Before they left, Jimmy in the lead, Nick turned back to J.J. “Bring the don his remembrance. This is on the books.”
Again, J.J. nodded.
When they were in the SUV again, Nick looked over the seat at Brian. “Call the guys. We’re going to Neon tonight. I need to talk to Jake.”
~oOo~
‘The guys’ were Chi-Chi Rinaldi and Matty Ferro. With Brian, they’d made up the heart of Nick’s crew for a decade. They were still working with him; he had them on Church detail, which was Nick’s special project. And now the capos’ trouble looked to be part of his big picture.
The four of them rode together in Nick’s Navigator, with Jimmy, as ever, behind the wheel. Neon was one of the hottest nightclubs in Providence; the Pagano Brothers owned a forty-percent share of the club and sixty percent of the escort business it fronted. Jake Chambers managed both and had his own substantial minority shares. He’d been a mover in the nightclub and escort businesses for more than thirty years and affiliated with the Paganos for most of that time.
Because Alvin Church also owned a nightclub—The Pink Hole, popular in its own way, with a different clientele, but otherwise similar to Neon—Jake bumped up against Church associates on a regular basis. And the escort service had a lot of client overlap with the shylocks; a man with one vice tended to have many, and that tended to be expensive. Jake was smart and perceptive; he’d know if there was something shaking underground.
Neon was a good place to conduct business. Loud and dark, with deep, plush booths for privacy, and with heavy, live-monitored, unrecorded security and daily bug sweeps, it was one of the most secure places the Paganos had to talk openly. Nick, though not a fan of the music, if that was what it could be called, preferred the club for business. And the women were fine and plentiful.
Jake came over within minutes of their taking their reserved booth, before their drinks arrived. Nick accepted his greeting of respect and then waved him off. It was better to put business off, look like they were there to party, in the event that snoops or competitors were mingling with the club revelers.
With these guys, though, it was easy to look like they were there to party. Chi-Chi and Matty, ten years younger than Nick and Brian, were always good to party, and they had a running competition between them for the most and best pussy. As soon as Nick nodded, they took off on the prowl.
Brian sat back and scanned the dancers. Nick drank his scotch and turn his sight inward, thinking through what he’d learned this afternoon and what he wanted to get from Jake. Then Brian whistled, the sound splitting the pulse of the house music.
Nick looked over, and Brian leaned in. “You see that guy? He’s almost as big as Jimmy. I thought he was security at first, but he’s out there dancing. Which is a sight in itself.”