Fool's Paradise

-1-



          He watched from the shadows as his intended target made his way through the crowded street into the apartment building. Flicking his cigarette through the air, he pushed away from the wall and followed him. He had been watching him for the past week and this was the best place to take him. Mr. Santini had said to make an example of him. He stopped at the stairs and glanced at his watch; he was late already. As he took the steps two at a time, he thought about the poor bastard whose life he was going to end.
          Daniel Catelli had been his good friend. There was no question that he was going to take the job, his loyalty to his father-in-law was undeniable, he just had to make it right with himself. He had already taken care of the agent Daniel had been reporting to. That had been the easy part. Taking a deep breath, he knocked.
          “Just a minute.” He heard a muffled response and shuffling noises behind the door before Daniel finally opened it.
          “Hey, what’s going on?” Daniel’s worried frown dissolved at the sight of his old friend standing at the door. “I thought you were going to a party.” Daniel turned and waved him in.
          “I still am. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He entered and carefully closed the door behind him. He stood by the door and waited for Daniel to turn around.
          “Oh.” Daniel slowly turned and studied his friend. He had known him nearly his whole life and oddly enough he had no idea what he did for a living. He knew he had married Joseph Santini’s daughter but that was about it. Daniel had never seen him working anywhere, legal or otherwise. The more he thought about it, the realization of what he did for Joseph Santini and his organization slowly dawned on him. His throat suddenly went dry as he reached out for the wall to support himself.
          “What’s wrong?” He asked as he slowly made his way towards Daniel. “Are you alright?” He reached out for Daniel’s arm and led him to the couch. “Do you need some water or so mething?” His voice was concerned and Daniel smiled at his illogical panic.
          “Nothing’s wrong, I just thought . . . ” he smiled with relief as he managed to convince himself he had been imagining things. There was no way his friend was the Family hit man. He just didn’t have it in him.
          “Just thought what?” He sat down next to him and patted Daniel’s knee with a consolatory smile.
          “Well, nothing, it’s nothing.” Daniel glanced at his watch and noticed the time. “Aren’t you going to be late for Joanna’s party?” As he watched his friend’s smile turn into a grimace, Daniel knew his gut had been right.
          “I had to say bye to a friend first.” His blue eyes teared as he slipped the knife from its sheath in his boot and slit his friend’s throat. Standing up, he wiped the tears from his eyes and leaning over Daniel’s dying body, sliced off his tongue. He looked around satisfied everything had gone well and headed out the door.



-2-

          The darkness of the neighborhood was lit by the flashing of the emergency vehicles that cluttered the street. Jesse Cooper wound his way through the maze of police cars and an ambulance to the front of the building. He dreaded what he would find, lately it seemed that wherever there was a homicide it involved one of the guys he had known as a child. He quickly flashed his badge at the cop guarding the door and slipped into the building. It took his eyes a minute to adjust to the sudden darkness of the hallway before he was able to continue. As he approached the crime scene, his hand reached for the small silver medallion he wore around his neck and rubbed it.
          “Jesse, what are you doing here?” Stan McGee hurried to Jesse and pulled him aside. “You know you can’t be seen around here, in this capacity.” He whispered as he nervously looked around.
          “I had to see.” Jesse tried to peek around Stan to get a look inside the apartment.
          “It’s not him, okay, it’s not Chance.” Stan knew about Jesse’s relationship with Joseph Santini’s son-in-law and it never bothered him until Jesse put his life on the line like this.
          “Good.” Jesse leaned against the wall with relief. “Who was it then?”
          “It was a Daniel Catelli.” Stan closely watched Jesse to see if the name mattered to him and when he saw him sigh he knew it had.
          “Is it really bad?” Jesse wasn’t in the mood to see a slaughter, like the last few hits had been.
          “Surprisingly, no.”
          “Surprisingly?” Jesse frowned as he waited for Stan to fill him in.
          “Yeah, this guy had a deal with Sam Jenkins. He was a snitch. Whoever did this must’ve liked the guy. It’s a pretty clean hit.” Stan watched as Jesse’s mind digested the information.
          “Any ideas?”
          “It looks like they brought in their hitter, no witnesses, no prints, nothing. Just like all the others lately.”
          “He was busy tonight.” Jesse mumbled under his breath.
          “So you’ve heard about the floater they found about an hour ago. You think this is related.”
          Jesse stared at Stan and shook his head. “What do you think?”
          “I told you what I think. It looks like their hitter, a guy they call the kid.”
          “The kid?” Jesse frowned as he thought how that could apply to anyone younger than Joseph Santini.
          “That’s what we’re calling their hitter. It seems like whenever there’s any trouble, anyone needs to be put in their place, someone mentions the kid and boom, it’s done.” Stan watched as Jesse soaked up this information.
          “The kid. That’s what they say?” Jesse confirmed what he heard.
          “Yeah, every time. No one’s mentioned him by name, no one knows what he looks like, it’s just the kid.” Stan studied Jesse wondering if he knew something about the hitter. “You know anyone that goes by that?”
          “Shit, Stan, they call everyone that’s younger than them kid. It could be just about anyone out there.” Jesse smiled and walked out of the room thinking about the year he had spent living on the streets. His best friend had been called kid

-3-

          As they waited for their next target to arrive, Ray Bonaforte studied the man seated next to him. Chance Lamatina’s delicate featured face and easy smiles belied who he really was, making him adept at his job. His quiet demeanor lulled people into letting their guard down and within an hour of meeting him, men who didn’t trust their own shadows were telling him their life story. He could sit down with the most hardened guy on their crew and have him babbling like a baby, practically asking him to end his miserable life. People genuinely like Chance and would do just about anything for him. Ray smiled fondly at the man he had rescued as a child and waited.
          “How long do you think we’re gonna have to wait on him?” Chance fumbled for his cigarettes in the dark and finally managed to get the pack out of his pocket.
          “I’m not sure, the last couple of nights it’s been seven, seven thirty.” Ray looked down at his watch and remembered the date. “I thought you were quitting.” He said as he pointed at the cigarette dangling from Chance’s lips.
          “I did. You see any smoke?” Chance waved the cigarette infront of Ray’s face and promptly returned it to its place. “This is gonna have to be quick, the party already started.” Ray thought he heard a pout in his voice and shook his head with a grin.
          “It shouldn’t be much longer.” Ray pointed into the street as he noticed Louis Galante turning the corner. “There he is now.” Ray turned to Chance but he was already out of the car and on his way to meet Louis. As Ray watched Chance approach him, he thanked god he wasn’t in Louis’ shoes. Chance wasn’t the hit man for nothing, he had earned his position and did it exceptionally well.
          Louis slowed his step as he noticed a man walking towards him. The word was out on the hits that had been happening and it had everyone on the edge. His hand strayed to his gun but as soon as he saw who it was, he let out a sigh of relief and smiled.
          “Hey Louie, whatcha doing?” Chance closed the gap between them and reached out to embrace him, patting his back and steering him towards the curb.
          “Hey, I thought you’d be at a party by now.” Louis frowned as he realized Chance was missing his wife’s birthday party and an alarm went off in the back of his mind. If he had learned one thing about the man, it was that he loved his wife more than life itself and would never miss the opportunity to be at her side.
          “Yeah, I’m just saying bye to a friend.” Chance grinned as he leaned close to Louis and whispered, “they know about you.”
          Louis stared at Chance in surprise and looked around the suddenly deserted street. He couldn’t believe there was no one else around. He turned back only to stare into Chance’s icy blue eyes and tried a last ditch effort to save his life.
          “Hey, listen, I could help you out a lot. It doesn’t have to be this way.” Louis heard himself babbling and couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. He closed his eyes and tried to save what was left of his dignity.
          “Why don’t we talk about it some more? Here, let’s go for a ride.” Chance gently guided him into the back of the car Ray had pull alongside them. “So do we have company tonight?” Chance asked as he stared straight ahead.
          “No, nothing’s been going on so I left . . . ” Louis stopped short as he realized what he was saying.
          “Don’t stop now. You left it at home.” Chance finished for him. Louis nodded as it dawned on him who Chance really was. For the last few months he had been looking to get close to the man they called kid and he had known him all along.
          “You’re the one.” Louis muttered
          “I guess, if you say so.” Chance glanced outside the window and tapped Ray’s shoulder to stop the car.
          “Look, I could help you out, I know what’s going on, who’s who.” Louis’ voice cracked as he realized it was really over.
          “I don’t know if you can do that. Who do you know?” Chance looked at his watch and realized he was going to be in a world of trouble if he didn’t hurry up.
          “Well, there’s this guy, an undercover guy, supposed to be their best guy, I know him.” Louis tried to read Chance but had a hard time figuring out if he was even listening.
          “Get out of the car Louis. C’mon, you’re only gonna make it harder for me.” Chance opened the car door and stood outside waiting for Louis to comply. This was the part he hated the most. Ray joined him and handed him a yellow rain slicker and safety glasses.
          “Just listen please, I have a family.” Louis pleaded for his life.
          “You shoulda thought about that before you turned into a rat bastard. Mr. Santini trusted you.” Chance paused for dramatic effect and gave him his most sincere innocent boy look. “I trusted you. I put my life on the line for you and you disrespect the family this way. Me, this way. I guess our friendship meant nothing to you. All those years I pulled your ass out of trouble and this is how you were gonna repay me?” Chance never raised his voice, he just gave it the right emotional touch and waited for Louis’ already overworked emotions to do the rest.
          “I, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Louis found himself outside the car kneeling in front of Chance.
          “I’m sorry too Louis. This is the right thing, you’re making amends. I’ll see your family is looked after.” Chance rested his hand on the top of Louis’ head and gently pushed it back, exposing his throat. He sliced through it with his knife and revved up the chainsaw Ray had handed him. The ride to Joseph Santini’s house was quiet. Ray Bonaforte kept glancing at Chance, waiting for him to say something. He had been quiet since they had loaded what used to be Louis into the trunk. Finally, with a long sigh, Chance turned to Ray with a pained smile and nodded.
          “We’re almost there kid.” Ray finally allowed himself to smile. The kid was going to be okay, he was just tired. Seeing Joanna would fix that.
          “I am gonna be in a world of trouble, we are soooo late.” Chance rolled down his window and let his arm hang out. “There was no other way.” He mumbled under his breath.
          “Hey, we’re not gonna be that late. Don’t worry about it.” Ray frowned as he turned to look at Chance. In the thirty years that he’d known him he still hadn’t figured out how his mind worked. Ray had watched him grow from a mischievous toddler to a scrawny street kid and into the most prolific hit man he’d known and still couldn’t understand why let the job get under his skin.
          They reached the house and the car had barely slowed down when Chance opened the door.
          “Can I ask you a favor?” Chance asked as he started to get out of the car.
          “Go on, I’ll take care of our friend.” Ray watched Chance run to the front door and shook his head with an amused smile. Same old Chance.


- 4-

          Jesse drove through the nearly empty streets tying to piece together what he had seen tonight. One of Samuel Jenkins’ agents had been killed along with a snitch. Not a good sign. Jesse had known that Samuel had been targeting the Santini Family going on ten years now and hadn’t been able to get any lucky breaks. He’d had the unfortunate luck of going against the Family’s best kept secret. They had no witnesses to any of the murders and no one seemed to have seen anyone with the victims at any time leading up to the killings. It was as if the invisible man had hired himself out as a hit man. Samuel had his hands full on this and Jesse knew that soon he’d be receiving a call for his assistance.
          As he ran his hands through his freshly cut hair, he thought about his friendship with Joseph Santini’s son in law. It was a complicated matter that only a handful of people knew about. His friendship with Chance Lamatina went back over twenty years. Chance had been a scrawny street urchin in need of saving when Jesse first met him. It was a deceiving first meeting. Chance was anything but in need of saving. He taught Jesse how to survive on the streets with nothing but your wits and a bit of luck. There had always been something about Chance that he couldn’t understand. He had a certain aura about him that brought out a protective instinct in people. Even the most street hardened wise guys seemed to have a soft spot for him. If there was anything at all tying him to these hits, no one was going to talk. Jesse pulled out his cell phone and tried to reach his friend. His voice mail picked up and Jesse left a quick message.


-5-

          Chance made his way through the crowded living room, coming to an abrupt stop when he saw her. As he watched her mingling with friends, a hint of mischievousness in her green eyes as she spotted him, he relaxed, knowing everything was going to be alright. He felt a light touch on his elbow and turned to see who it was.
          “So, it’s done.” Joseph Santini said. Chance answered with a distracted nod. “What are you doing just standing there, go to her. She’s been waiting.” Joseph smiled as he patted Chance’s shoulder and watched him slowly walk towards Joanna.
          “What’s a beautiful woman like you doing here without an escort?” He whispered into her ear as he stepped up behind her.
          She turned around with a smile and lightly touched his chest. “I was actually waiting for my husband but since he’s nearly an hour late, I guess you’ll have to do.” Her hand slowly traveled down his chest to his hand and taking it in a surprisingly strong grip, led him to the dance floor.
          “Your husband seems like a pretty inconsiderate guy, standing you up like this. I bet he’s gonna be one sorry son of a bitch when he shows up.” Chance said with an apologetic half smile.
          “Well, I guess it’s your lucky night then.” She reached up and rested her arms on his shoulders, entwining her fingers behind his neck.
          “Lucky me.” He whispered into her ear before covering her lips with his and, wrapping his arms around her waist, picked her up in a hug. As he gently placed her feet back on the ground, he gazed deep into her eyes. “It’s good to see you.” He said as he brushed a strand of hair from her forehead.
          “You just saw me this morning.” She stroked his cheek gently. Shrugging away her comment, he casually looked around the room and nodding with satisfaction, took her hand and led her outside. He searched the yard for a place to sit and spotted a bench hidden in the trees. He headed towards it knowing that Joanna was not far behind.
          She watched as he parted the leaves and sat on the bench, hidden from sight. “Something’s the matter.” It wasn’t a question, after living with him for nineteen years she knew him better than he knew himself. She waited for him to confirm what she already knew.
          “Yes.” He answered after a thoughtful moment. “Let’s not talk about anything depressing. After all this is supposed to be a happy occasion.” He smiled to try and put her and ease but realized she couldn’t see him. She covered the distance between them and stopped directly in front of him. Placing her hands on his cheeks, she forced him to look at her. She was startled to see the confusion raging inside him. He quickly looked away, not wanting her to see but it was too late. He knew she wouldn’t expect him to tell her anything but he did. He had always confided in her, shared with her his deepest, darkest secrets. She knew everything about him and understood him better than he could ever know. As she cradled his head against her breast, she softly caressed his tousled dark hair, quietly soothing his conscience.