LATER THAT DAY
“Dating Connie,” I said.
“Is that what this is about?” Bobby asked. “This is why you asked to see me? To talk to me about Connie?”
“That was one reason,” I said. “What went on back then between the two of you, that stays between the two of you.”
“That’s very kind of you,” Bobby said.
“But I’m in her life now and she’s in mine,” I said. “I just want to make sure our working together doesn’t complicate that.”
“I don’t see why it would,” Bobby said. “I’m here to do a job—one I didn’t ask for, by the way. And if I wanted to make time to see Connie, I wouldn’t need an assignment to help me do that. A dinner reservation would have done the trick.”
“She still likes you,” I said. “And it wouldn’t be a stretch to figure you feel the same way. And no one ever forgets their first love. The one you let get away stays with you forever.”
Bobby sipped his coffee and shrugged. “Who says I’m the one who let her get away?” he asked.
“You tell me,” I said.
“Connie was a good friend to me,” Bobby said. “I didn’t have many of those back then, not with working a full-time job and going to law school. It was nice to sit with her late at night in an empty diner and be able to forget about work and school, for a few hours at least. She was easy to talk to and even easier to like. And maybe if I were smarter and not as focused on the work, I would have made a move to take it to the next step. But I wasn’t and I didn’t.”
“What about now?” I asked.
Bobby smiled. “I’m here to work with you, Tank,” he said. “Bring down a firm that deserves to be brought down. But I’m not going to hide from Connie just because she’s seeing you. She wants to talk to me, we’ll talk. She wants to have a cup of coffee, that’s what we’ll do, just like I’m doing with you. I’m not going to hide. If that doesn’t sit right with you, then that’s something you’re going to have to learn to live with.”
I stared at Bobby for a few moments. My hands were wrapped around my large coffee mug and I struggled to keep a lid on my temper. “You want to have coffee with her, that’s fine by me. You want to talk over old times, again not a problem. That I can live with. But you making a move on Connie won’t be something I will just let happen.”
“I have no plans for it to head in that direction,” Bobby said. “But if something like that were to happen, I would think Connie deserves to have as much say in the matter as either one of us.”
“That’s right,” I said. “She would.”
“How about we focus on the case in front of us for now?” Bobby said. “The sooner it gets resolved, the sooner I get out of your hair. Fair enough?”
Carmine came up behind me and Bobby, signaling to a passing waitress for three more cappuccinos. He slid in the booth next to me and across from Bobby. “I miss anything?” he asked.
“Just shootin’ the shit,” I said. “Getting to know a little bit about Bobby here.”
“Looks like it went well,” Carmine said. “I don’t see any guns on the table and there aren’t any bloodstains on the floor.”
I waited as the waitress brought three fresh cappuccinos and rested them in front of us. She took away the two empty cups. “I’m going to see Dee Dee tomorrow,” I said.
I was eager to shift the conversation back to work. The talk with Bobby had rattled me. I wasn’t quite sure if that was his intent or if he was seriously looking to reconnect with Connie. I knew I could trust him working on the team. Dee Dee wouldn’t have sent him my way if there was any doubt to that fact. But to suddenly have a potential suitor for Connie unnerved me a bit. I knew she loved me as much as I loved her. But, still, his presence left me with an uneasy feeling. And that was something I had never experienced when it came to me and Connie.
“See her about what?” Carmine asked.
“She’s going to give me the money for you to open your account with the firm.”
“Finally, I get to play with tax dollars,” Carmine said.
“It’s enough to get you started, and then it’s up to you to sell them the idea that this is a drop of what you plan to bring their way,” I said to him. “They have to believe you’re going to be a mob rainmaker. They’ll be holding six figures but need to be leaving the meeting seeing seven.”
“I’ve called around since I met with Randolph,” Carmine said. “They got some mob money tied in to their firm already. Mostly East Coast and down South.”
“Anybody you know?” Bobby asked.
“Everybody I know,” Carmine said. “But there’s still a few more out there with plenty of cash to invest. Don’t worry. I know how to sing songs guys like these accountants like to hear.”
I looked at Bobby. “I’m also going to let Dee Dee know I’ll be reaching out to some people for help on this case and on another one I’m working. Figured I should also tell you, make sure you’re aware and are on board with it.”
“I imagine some of these people have criminal records,” Bobby said.
“Not some,” I said. “All of them.”
“Such as?”
“Well, I guess you figured out by now, Carmine’s old running pals aren’t recruits from a seminary,” I said. “The firm knows the players out there as well as we do. We can’t be bringing in ringers. They have to be the real deal.”
Bobby nodded. “Makes sense,” he said. “Old-timers with a lot of money angling for a fresh place to put it. And any name Carmine brings in they don’t know, they can run by some of their other mob investors.”
“Exactly,” I said. “You couldn’t do this working out of the U.S. Attorney’s office. Too many hurdles to jump over. But with us you can. Gives us instant credibility, and the more cash we flash and the more clients Carmine brings in, the deeper we can get into their business. That’ll mostly fall on your shoulders. So you need to work closely with Carmine and his associates.”
“Now, my guys are not going to be doing backflips when they hear one of the team is an active federal agent,” Carmine said. “It was hard enough to convince them to trust Tank, and him they knew. You they don’t.”
“To make it easier, I’m going to ask Dee Dee to give anyone we bring in blanket immunity,” I said. “Are you good with that?”
“That’s up to Dee Dee,” Bobby said. “But Carmine’s crew has been on the sidelines for a while now. Most are either retired or tied up in legit businesses. I don’t see a problem giving them a pass.”
“It’s not just Carmine’s buddies I’m reaching out to for help,” I said.
“Who else, then?”
“Alban and his crew,” I said.
Bobby pushed aside his cappuccino cup and leaned in closer to me and Carmine. “Are you fuckin’ serious?” he asked. “Those guys will slit your throat if you look at them funny. They steal everything they have, they work cons and hustles in every borough of the city, and if you pay them enough they’ll kill anybody you want. Now, tell me, Tank, why the fuck do we need them on our side? And why the hell would Dee Dee or the chief consider giving these guys immunity?”
“You’ve been dancing around these accountants for well over a year,” I said. “And you’re not any closer to sniffing an indictment. We’re going to go in and not only try to pin a murder on them, we’re going to bring their entire operation crumbling to the ground. They’re not going to roll over and let that happen. They’ll come at us just as heavy. And they’re not going to be sweet and gentle about it.”
“Which means what?” Bobby asked. “You bring in a team of lifters and thieves to help you out? From what I know about Alban and his gang, they don’t lift a finger unless there is something coming back their way. And if you ask me, immunity isn’t what they’re going to be looking for.”
“Immunity and twenty percent of the dough we confiscate gets handed over to Alban,” I said. “It may not be enough to bring him to our side of the table, but it will get the conversation started.”
Bobby sat back, took a deep breath, and stayed silent for several moments. “This is a lot to take in,” he finally said. “I need some time to think it all out.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “You got a lot more at stake than either me or Carmine. You’re still on the job and moving up the ladder at a rapid pace. Coming in with guys like us is risky. I’m out to bring the ones who killed my brother and his wife down. And I’m not particular about how I get it done. It’s not the same for you. You work on this and it comes out right, you score quite a few points in the Southern District. But if it goes south and word gets out about how we operated, then your elevator ride will come to a screeching halt. You’re right to take some time before you jump in.”
“You want to see these guys go out of business, am I right?” Carmine asked. “You’ve been trying it your way, the legal way, and that will work eventually. But it will take years and frustrate the shit out of you. These guys are always moving three steps forward for every two you take. Our way may not work, but if it does, they’ll come crashing down in a week, maybe two tops. And you’ll have your page-one bust.”
“Along with a heavy body count,” Bobby said. “There are never any winners when you have that to consider.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Bobby,” Carmine said. “There’s always a winner with that kind of brawl.”
“Yeah, tell me who.”
“The ones still alive,” I said. “They take home the gold.”