A stand of trees semi-circled Sal Perrino’s gravesite, evergreens that didn’t drop leaves in the winter. Manicured stretches of winter grass mingled with pansies under the afternoon sun. Sal’s body lay in a satin-finished, mahogany casket held above ground by six nylon straps secured to the stainless-steel lowering device. It was a such a classy looking gravesite, it was easy to overlook the big hole beneath the casket and the permanence of its impending occupant. Until you heard the sobs.
Tommy held Cara’s hand as they walked down the slight grade toward the assembly of family members and friends, all wearing black. There were over three hundred people at the funeral, and even though it was supposed to be for close relatives, nearly fifty of them came to the gravesite for the interment.
Angela Perrino, the widow, was surrounded by a group of women holding tissues and men wearing scowls. Cara let go of Tommy’s hand and fell into her mother’s arms. Even after the two-hour church ceremony, there was still plenty of anguish to be shared.
Tommy walked over to a couple of Perrino’s captains whose girth was stretching their black suits. He grabbed Jackie Perrino by the neck and pulled him into a hug, then moved to Eddie and repeated the move.
Eddie grabbed Tommy hard and whispered, “It’s a collision course.”
Tommy stepped back and frowned. “Not now, buddy. Let’s bury Sal first before we talk business, huh?”
Eddie nodded.
Jackie pointed at Nick who was hugging other family members with compassion. “Which side is he on?”
Tommy squinted. “What’s that?”
“You heard me.”
Tommy closed his eyes and let out a breath. “How long we known each other, Jackie?”
The guy shrugged. “I don’t know, twenty-five years?”
“In all that time has Nick ever gotten involved in family business?”
“Not that I can remember.”
This was Jackie’s time now. He was Sal’s number one captain and the apparent successor to the Perrino family empire. Jackie was simply stretching out his new muscles and Tommy understood that.
“Are you forgetting all the times he spoke to the DA on your behalf?” Tommy asked. “Getting you a fraction of the sentence? You think he’s here for any other reason than to show respect?”
“He didn’t mean it,” Eddie intervened. “We’re just a little uptight, that’s all.”
Tommy gently patted Jackie’s face a few times to let him know they were cool.
Coming down a hill wearing a black overcoat on the chilly Arizona day was a stocky gentleman with thinning hair, trailed by two heavier men protecting his perimeter. Al Mancini.
The Mancini boss walked over to Angela first with his arms extended. Every member of the Perrino family stared at the exchange, looking for any sign of tension. But there was nothing but sincere words. An unprecedented gesture of reverence for Sal Perrino.
Mancini moved down the line of relatives, offering his hand, exchanging words of encouragement and support. For a man who had seen death close up, it seemed he was actually affected by Sal’s murder. Maybe because of their history together, or maybe because he knew the Chechens would one day come knocking on his door as well.
Nick arrived with his wife Julie by his side, both of them exchanging somber greetings with the Perrino family. Nick had found his way to Angela, who was still petite at sixty-eight, all that Italian cooking falling off of her frame like rainwater. Nick held Angela in her arms and they hugged for over a minute with Angela’s shoulders shaking with grief. Julie patiently waited for their moment to subside before she gave Angela a warm hug as well.
After ten minutes of quiet conversations, the priest, wearing black vestments and carrying a Bible, moved toward the casket. The crowd filled in the gaps surrounding Sal’s resting place and lowered their heads as the priest spoke.
“Family and friends,” the priest said, “we use this time to offer our respect to Sal Perrino. Father, husband, brother and most of all, believer. Believer in the Lord and believer in all of you. He touched every one of us in one way or another . . .”
The priest went on about Sal’s faith and his ultimate resting place in Heaven, but Tommy wasn’t listening. He’d heard enough fluff about the old guy whom Tommy had loved like a father. The guy was as true as anyone who’d ever lived. There was nothing the priest or anyone could say that would alleviate the pain coursing through the assembly of mourners. Least of all Tommy.
The priest held the Bible over the casket and his tone changed. He spoke with a cadence. “Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust . . .”
The finality of his words seemed to bring more audible sobs, as Tommy dabbed at his eyes.
In his peripheral vision, Tommy caught movement. A hundred yards away, up on the adjacent side street that traced the perimeter of the cemetery, a dark green Mercedes SUV crept down the road. It stopped on a rise between a lane of trees that offered a clear view of Sal’s gravesite. Tommy suspected it was paparazzi trying to get a photo of the private affair. Bloodsucking creeps there to feed the lost animals of the internet. A bunch of losers trying to feel better about themselves by wallowing in other people’s misery.
He watched Angela gather Cara in her arms, still her baby at any age. Angela had been visiting a friend in the hospital when the carnage took place. Sal and his two siblings murdered within ten minutes of each other, so everything came as a shock.
Everyone had their heads bowed as the priest continued his solemn words of comfort. Tommy, however, watched the Mercedes as the passenger door opened. A short man lumbered out with a large metal tube and knelt on the asphalt, trying to secure the tube on his shoulder. For a moment, Tommy thought it might be a long-range camera lens, but no, this was no camera.
“Down!” someone in the crowd shouted, and it seemed like the entire gathering dropped to the ground and produced a gun.
Tommy ran to the front of the opening and waved his arms to the gathering. “No! No! No!” he shouted.
“Out of the way,” Jackie Perrino yelled to him.
A booming sound broke the cacophony of shouts. Only Tommy and Nick knew it was the sound of a bullet from a Remington .300 Win Mag breaking the sound barrier. One of the finest sniper rifles in the world.
A second later, the man holding the rocket launcher fell forward as the metal tube harmlessly bounced on the pavement next to him. The ping of the tube filled the empty silence among the congregation. For a moment the entire Perrino family looked at each other trying to figure out who took such a great shot from that distance.
That’s when Matt jumped down from his nest in a nearby ash tree and ran full speed toward the Mercedes with the Remington in his hand as he pumped his arms. Nick pointed to the gathering and sternly ordered, “Stay put,” then ran with Matt toward the parked car.
The driver didn’t get out to help his friend, or even take a shot at the charging Nick and Matt. He simply pressed on the accelerator and spun his tires until he was completely out of sight.
As the crowd got to their feet, Tommy checked to make sure Julie and Cara were okay, then briefly glared at Jackie, admonishing him with a look. What struck him peculiar was that no one noticed. More notably, no one even looked to Jackie for direction. Instead, everyone stared at Angela. She brushed dirt from her dress and gestured with her open palms for everyone to stay calm. Now Tommy understood who was really replacing Sal.
The Perrino family put their guns away, a couple of them helping the priest to his feet. Angela motioned for Tommy, and he followed her to a nearby tree.
“Angela, is this what Sal would’ve wanted?” Tommy asked. “You in charge of the family?”
“Sal doesn’t have a say anymore.”
Tommy looked over his shoulder at a police cruiser rolling up. “You’re going to be a target now. That’s not an ideal situation.”
Angela followed Tommy’s gaze at the commotion up on the hill, the cruiser stopped next to the dead body. “You think it’s better I keep a low profile and wait for the Chechens to kill my remaining family members? Is that what you’re thinking?”
Tommy took a breath. “Well—”
“This is winner-take-all. There is no prize for second place. They have tons of money, but do their soldiers have the heart to defeat us?”
“Please don’t turn this into a massacre. Let Nicky do his job. He’s really good at this stuff.”
“Listen, I know how the law operates. When the bodies are all discovered, they uncover evidence and prosecute the killers. Meanwhile my family is dead and their bigshot boss is hidden safely behind the denials of his underlings.”
Tommy didn’t have anything for that. The crowd of mourners stared at them, waiting for the ceremony to reconvene. Julie Bracco watched intently at the proceeding as well.
“C’mon,” Tommy said, sticking out his elbow for Angela to loop her arm through. “Let’s give Sal his proper respect, then we’ll talk.”
As they walked arm-in-arm back to the gravesite, Angela whispered, “Don’t you even think about breaking my little girl’s heart.”
Looking straight at Cara, he said, “I’d rather join Sal in that hole.”
“It can be arranged.”