Fahrenheit 1600 (Victor Kozol) (19 page)

John raced up to the Scranton Hill Section where
Karen’s apartment is located. The local police are already there and have
started to search the empty apartment. John figures, since the door frame is
splintered, Karen was hold up here and overheard them mention the name which
she wrote with lipstick “Honeymoon Lodge” on the inside of the closet door.
Good thinking, because if she used the mirror or someplace more prominent they
would have seen the message and erased it.

John made a quick call to the State Police for the
location of “Honeymoon Lodge” in the Poconos. It turns out there are two. One
is far over in Hazleton off Route 80 and the other is in Canadensis, closer to
Scranton. John barks, “Tell the Hazleton barracks to check out their lodge, and
have the Mount Pocono barracks checkout the Canadensis one. I’d put my money on
Canadensis. It’s closer. Have a chopper pick me up on the roof of the CMC
hospital.”

Meanwhile, the chase is on for Karen. Fortunately,
Milt and Johnny are big city boys, not deer hunters. They could much easier
catch you in a five story tenement in New York than here. But, Karen isn’t home
free. With her hands still bound Karen can make only slow progress, and the
terrain has turned marshy. The escape and search went on for twenty minutes.
Tiring, Karen leans on a branch; it cracks, dumping her onto the ground.

“What was that noise, Milt?”

“I don’t know, but it came from over by that swamp.”

The two goons head towards the swamp. Just when
Karen was trying to be quiet, a raccoon scampers in front of her and she
screams.

“Now we got her!”

The two hurry over towards Karen finding her on the
ground.

“You caused us a lot of trouble little lady, now we
are going to cause some for you,” seethes Johnny.

They roughly yank Karen out of her hiding place and
march her back towards the cabin. Back at the cabin everyone is panting from
the walk when Johnny sees a message on his cell.

It’s Sam, “Vinnie didn’t give us a signal and we
can’t raise him on his cell. Whack the girl and get back to the City and lay
low.”

“You heard the orders Milt, let’s do it.”

They had one chance to get away clean, but the thugs
didn’t know it. Time was not on their side. They should have executed Karen and
cleared out ASAP. But Milt wants his party with Karen first. Johnny, sensing
danger, wants to split, but Milt says just ten minutes. He takes the bloodied
Karen into the bedroom cutting loose her hands. She protests and bucks, but he
again rams his gun into her ribs. He then ties her hands and feet to the
bedposts. Karen spits in Milt’s face. He just smiles and wipes it off. Milt
begins ripping her clothes off and then removes his own. This is the moment he
has been waiting for since he first laid eyes on her.

“Freeze FBI!” Johnny, knowing they have the drop on
him surrenders. But, Milt goes for his pistol and comes out shooting. He goes
down with one shot to the head. Standing on the porch with his service pistol
out is FBI Agent John Flaherty, who just landed ten minutes earlier and then
jumped into a State Police car for the short drive to the resort.

He persuaded the state police to let him go in first
and try to save his niece. Had Karen not escaped, and Milt not let his hormones
run wild, Karen could have been executed and the killers been safely on their
way back to New York. That was way too close.

Chapter 37

Celebration

At a family party at Karen’s parents’ house,
there was much to celebrate. Uncle John had secured immunity for Victor in
return for his testimony against the Dellveccio Family. The surviving kidnapper
of Karen, Johnny, was cooperating with the FBI. He named several names of
family operators, but most importantly, named Sam Gianetti, the lawyer as his
boss. In addition, Sam was named by Victor as his contact that financed and
controlled the illegal crematory. This was a coup, as Gianetti was the highest
member of the Dellveccio family to be indicted in anyone’s memory. To get
“capos” indicted at all was a rare occurrence for law enforcement. Even more
importantly, the illegal cremation operation was closed early. Letters went out
to all crematory owners and manufactures to be suspicious and report any
attempts of being approached concerning illegal activities.

Sitting in the corner of the dining room is Aunt
Sophie. She is the one person not smiling and celebrating at the family party.
Sophie is not so sure that everything is over with the mob. She knew a friend
from Queens, New York, who once told her that the mob does not forgive or
forget. They have a long memory and punish people who are either traitors or
failures in their ventures. Wasn’t this what their recent cremation scheme with
Victor was all about anyway? It was vengeance for people who screwed up. Sophie
knew that if they could grab and nearly kill her niece once, they were capable
of finishing the job. She needed a plan, but didn’t even think of telling her
fears to Agent John; he would just think her just another crazed old crank. No,
Sophie needed proof, but how to find it?

Agent John also learned a lesson—to not
underestimate the mob as they got way too close to his niece for comfort.
However, he didn’t feel that there would be anymore reaction from the mob in
Pennsylvania, because the Dellveccio’s didn’t need any more legal trouble. He
would be proven right on that scenario, but wrong on the theory of “Murphy’s
Law”; if something can go wrong it probably will. Anyway the party ended on a
high note and all were happy that a good future awaited the soon to be wed
couple.

Chapter 38

                     
The Unraveling     

Back in New York, things were not going well for
Sam. Both he and Sal are under indictment by the Feds. Sal has already been
reprimanded and demoted for his sloppy supervision of the two soldiers that
kidnapped Karen. Carlo, the family Don, was not about to take this
embarrassment lightly. However for Sam, the golden boy who had the brains and
education to lead the family into a new generation, his dream was crushed. Sam
was now an anathema to Carlo.

In retrospect, Carlo thought it crazy to trust this
cremation scheme to an operator who was an outsider and over a hundred miles
from the City. The function of destroying bodies that they had eliminated was
too serious of an endeavor to handle it the way Sam did. Carlo now had to find
lawyers to defend his people, and possibly replace them when they went to
prison. It was particularly galling to have to hire a lawyer to defend your
lawyer. Carlo so much wished he were back in the much simpler and better ‘olden
days’.

Sam is livid and depressed at the same time. He goes
from first in line to head the family to an indicted felon. Worse, there is
this kid Victor, who is about to skate out of all of this as if it never
happened and he had nothing to do with it.

Sam can’t get his mind around these facts. He is at
home drinking and getting angrier by the minute. Worst debacle the family had
in ten years, and he is the fall guy for it. Oh, it was fine when the bodies
were disappearing and everyone was ‘fat, dumb, and happy’. But to think that
little weasel in Pennsylvania is riding high, and I may be going to prison. …
The more Sam thought about it, the more he started screaming, “Retribution is
mine and mine alone!” He was going to get even, and he was going to do it
personally.

Sam knew that Carlo had written off “operation
firestop”, and would take his losses. He further knew Carlo would not risk any
more assets trying to get even with Victor. Sam alone was going back to Duryea.

Chapter 39

Duryea

It is Friday evening, Vic and Karen are together
in the funeral home apartment. They have been repainting and decorating the
downstairs to be more inviting to the clientele. Upstairs they are making a
nest for themselves, as Victor finally has something to live for. No more,
excess drinking, gambling, or lying around feeling lethargic. This was a new
day and thanks to Karen and her Uncle John, Vic would be around to celebrate it.

The fall night was cold and blustery, and the couple
turned in early. Vic thought he heard a noise downstairs. He listened, but not
hearing anything else he rolled over and went back to sleep. Suddenly, he and
Karen are staring down the barrel of Sam’s Glock pistol. Sam was standing at
the foot of the bed in his black trench coat with a look of cold rage.

“You two lovebirds have ruined my life and now you
are going to pay.”

Vic stammers, “Wait a minute, I was trapped.”

“Sure you were and this little niece of Agent John.
Well, we are going to have a going away party tonight, just the three of us.
Get your coats on. We are going for a little ride.”

“Where?”

“You know; the crematory.”

Vic drove his Suburban, Karen rode shotgun, and Sam
sat in the back.

“Drive straight to the garage, or you two will be
missing what little brains you have.”

Vic and Karen are the most frightened they have ever
been. The atmosphere was a lot more toxic than any other threats or the
kidnapping of Karen. Vic’s adrenaline is pumping, but he knows that to get shot
in the back by being brave won’t help.

Sam screams, “Open the garage door and drive in.”

Vic, thinking fast, wants to say he doesn’t have the
opener, but it is hanging on the sun visor right above him, so he complies and
drives in. The lights from the headlights of Vic’s SUV cast an eerie glow
inside.

Pointing the gun at Vic Sam bellows, “Get out and
walk over in front of the retort!”

Vic does what he is told.

“Now open the doors!

Vic pushed the open button and the hydraulically
powered door slid up, revealing the cavernous space of the fire chamber.

“Get in!” Sam orders.

“You can’t.”

“Shut up, I said crawl in or I execute you here on
the spot. That would give me almost as much pleasure as standing here with your
girlfriend as I start the retort and listen to you die inside.”

Karen notices that all of Sam’s attention is now on
Vic, and the garage door is open. She bolts for the opening and gets almost to
freedom when a bullet bites into her left shoulder. Karen is stunned, but
hoping it’s a flesh wound keeps running. She continues to run. Sam’s second
shot goes wild because Vic gives him a shove just as he fires at Karen again.

If Sam were thinking right he would finish off
Victor and then catch up to, and finish off, the wounded Karen. But Sam is too
enraged and can’t get the scenario out of his mind of cremating Vic alive. He
backhands Vic with his pistol. Vic falls in front of the retort and pretends to
be knocked out cold. Thinking Vic is taken care of, for now, Sam leaves him
behind and rushes outside to pursue Karen.

Karen, not knowing where to run, stays on the street
heading away from the garage. Sam spots her white coat reflecting off a
streetlight at the next intersection. He darts through a wooded area hoping to
head her off before she can make it so the next intersection and the safety of
some houses. It is just before the second intersection that Sam surprises
Karen, who confused, hesitates as she looks for which way to turn. She is also
getting light-headed from loss of blood.

“Alright girl, we are now going back. This time I
finish you off right here if you make one sound. Now march!”

Upon entering the garage with Karen ahead of him,
Sam scans the retort, but there is no Vic lying there. He turns around with his
gun still drawn looking for Vic. But, still no Vic anywhere in sight, just
shadows and silence. Sam walks towards the retort where he last saw Vic, when
out of the corner of his eye sees Vic coming at him with a leftover piece of
two by four.

Sam holds up his right arm to deflect the blow;
however this is his shooting arm and his gun is knocked loose and slides under
the Suburban.

Sam says, “I hadn’t planned on killing you with my
bare hands, but it will give me great pleasure.”

Vic is now too pumped up to stop, so he lands a
second blow on Sam’s shoulder. Sam grabs the plank and rips it from Vic’s hand.
Vic immediately closes the distance with Sam and begins to wildly pummel him
with his fists.

Out of nowhere Aunt Sophie appears with a pavement
brick and smashes it into Sam’s face just as he is about to land a roundhouse
on Vic.

Sam’s legs buckle from Sophie’s blow and his upper
body slumps into the opening of the retort. Vic is trying to hold Sam’s lower
body against the retort so that he can’t get any leverage. Karen, unfortunately
weak from her gunshot, is slumped on the floor and can be of no help.

Vic yells, “Sophie, push the second red button!”
Sophie searches for the button, but Sam is beginning to slip out of Vic’s grip;
just then the hydraulic door began to close, clamping Sam’s head between the
closing door and the floor of the retort. Sam screams, but the pressure crushes
his skull as Sophie refuses to release her pressure on the button. In two more
seconds Sam goes quiet—his life is over.

Vic and Karen are once again surrounded by police
and EMT personnel. Karen is taken to the hospital with Vic left to answer
questions to the authorities. Sam’s body, released from the retort, lies dead
on the floor. Sophie stands silently in the background.

Later at CMC hospital, Vic is in Karen’s room and
she is sitting up looking much better than at the garage. Her wounds are
superficial, but they did cause a considerable loss of blood. Sophie is seated
in the one chair looking on.

“Sophie, how did you get there?”

“Well, every Friday, I have dinner with Esther at
the Silver Bell Dinner in Duryea. I never was satisfied that this thing was
over, so after finishing, I got in my car and instead of going right home I
decided to cruise by your funeral home. Parked at a funny angle was this large
gray Lincoln with New York plates. I thought this was suspicious, so I parked
and walked up to your place and rang the bell. When I didn’t get an answer, I
walked around the back and saw the door wide open, but nobody there. I didn’t
know where to look, but I knew of your crematory down the street, so I just
decided to go there.

When I saw your SUV lights on and heard voices, I
crept up to the door, and, well, you know the rest.”

“Sophie, I can’t tell you how much that intuition
meant to Karen and me, but any hard feelings I had towards you are gone. And,
you have my sincere apologies for the past.