11
MARCH 25, 2010
THURSDAY, 2:45 p.m.
THURSDAY, 2:45 p.m.
Louie felt energized as he neared his
restaurant. He’d used the bus ride from Rikers Island to consider
Paulie’s advice, and by the time he got back to his car he’d
decided to follow Paulie’s suggestions. It was now clear in his
mind that there was a time to avoid violence, and there was a time
in which violence was the only solution. And this was one of those
situations. At the same time, he was convinced he was right about
not taking out Hideki. There were too many negatives, including the
concern of losing the Japanese income stream and flow of crystal
meth, even short-term. Instead, the disappearance of Susumu Nomura
and Yoshiaki Eto was the perfect message to everyone, but most
specifically to Hideki. The plan wasn’t necessarily going to be
easy, but it was doable. Accordingly, Louie had started by calling
Hideki and requesting a meeting at the Venetian for three-thirty to
go over the evening’s plans, to which Hideki had immediately
agreed.
Louie parked his car in his spot at the rear of the
restaurant and walked in the back door. He knew all the guys would
still be there, because after he’d made the call to Hideki to set
up the meeting for that afternoon, he’d called Carlo.
“Did you get to see Paulie?” Carlo had asked. “And
do we have a plan for tonight with the two crazy-ass Japs?”
“Yes to both questions,” Louie had said. “We have a
plan but with different rules of engagement.”
“How so?” Carlo had asked, not trying to hide his
disappointment.
“You’ll know soon enough,” Louie had snapped back.
“Why I’m calling is to make sure you guys are still there when I
return.”
“We’re here,” Carlo had said.
After walking through a short hallway containing
the restrooms, Louie pounded open the swinging door leading into
the kitchen, catching Benito off guard as he sat on the countertop,
shooting the breeze with the chef, John Franco. Guiltily, Benito
dropped his feet to the floor and stood. Louie glared at him for a
moment but quickly decided he was too busy to ream him out for
behavior the health department would hardly condone. “Did the guys
eat?”
“Yes, they did,” Benito answered smartly.
“Is there any of the pasta left?”
“I have the sauce,” John Franco said. “I’ll have
fresh pasta in ten minutes.”
Without answering, Louie pushed through the
swinging doors leading into the dining room. Carlo, Brennan,
Arthur, and Ted were sitting around the table, poker chips and
dollar bills piled up in the table’s center. Empty espresso cups
littered the table’s periphery. Carlo slid out from the booth so
Louie could slide into his usual spot.
“So how was Paulie?” Carlo asked after Louie had
nodded a greeting to each of his henchmen.
“Weird,” Louie said. “He’s lost a lot of weight.
Plus, he’s found God.”
“You mean he’s become a Bible banger?” Carlo
questioned.
“I don’t really know,” Louie admitted. “He said
he’d found the Lord and then talked like the old Paulie Cerino. The
issue didn’t come up again until almost the end of our talk, and
then only briefly. It might be an act for the parole board. I think
he’s getting desperate about not getting parole.”
“So what’s the plan for tonight?” Carlo
asked.
Louie then told them about his conversation with
Paulie, trying to remember all the details, such as the clever idea
of the diversionary explosion concept to convince Hideki that Louie
was serious about helping with the break-in. The only time he
paused was when Benito brought out Louie’s pasta and placed the
steaming plate under his nose. Benito poured him a glass of Barolo
and another of sparkling water.
“Will there be anything else?” Benito asked.
Louie waved the waiter off without responding, and
as soon as Benito was out of earshot, he went back to his
conversation with Paulie and Paulie’s suggestions, most
specifically about getting rid of both Susumu and Yoshiaki.
“So we’re going on the offensive here?” Carlo
asked. He was pleased and happy to show it.
“Most definitely,” Louie responded. “In this
business, sometimes you need to use violence to keep the peace. We
can’t have the likes of those two wandering around shooting
whomever and wherever they please. It gives us all a bad name. At
the same time, when you use violence you have to limit the fallout,
which brings us to the morgue issue. You all understand that, don’t
you?”
No one spoke, causing Louie to repeat the
question.
“I guess so,” Carlo said. As the head enforcer,
Carlo was expected to speak for the group.
“The point is that it is important Satoshi’s death
continues to be thought of as a natural death. We would be
accomplices if it were considered a homicide, and we don’t want
that.”
“Surely not,” Carlo agreed.
“Paulie was also insistent about this medical
examiner, Laurie Montgomery. We have to make sure she’s not
associated with the case. If she is, we have to do something to get
her off the case. It’s as simple as that.”
“What exactly do we do if she is on the case?”
Carlo asked.
“Paulie didn’t have any suggestions. He was just
insistent she not be involved. But we’ll cross that bridge if and
when we come to it.”
“Now let’s go back to Susumu Nomura and Yoshiaki
Eto,” Carlo said. “We’re supposed to pick them up as if we are
going to help them break into iPS USA but whack them
instead.”
“That’s it,” Louie said. “And I don’t want their
bodies found. Drive them way out to the tip of Brooklyn, way out
near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. I want them in the ocean, not
the bay.”
Carlo looked at Brennan and shrugged, wondering if
his partner had any questions.
“How are we going to pick them up?” Brennan asked.
“Like last night, in front of their apartments on the Lower East
Side?”
“No,” Louie said. “There’s always the chance
someone will spot you hanging around their neighborhood. I want to
arrange a pickup in a public place. Do you have any
preference?
Carlo and Brennan exchanged a glance.
“Come on, guys, give me a location. Hideki’s going
to be here at three-thirty, and I want to have this planned
out.”
“How about Union Square in front of the Barnes and
Noble bookstore,” Brennan said. “There are always enough people
loitering around the area.”
“That’s settled,” Louie said, taking another bite
of his pasta. “What time should we say for them to be in Union
Square?”
“Well,” Brennan said. “If we’re supposed to be
breaking into a Midtown Fifth Avenue office building, it shouldn’t
be too early.”
“I don’t think the time matters,” Carlo said. “I
mean, we’re not going to be actually doing the break-in.”
“Well, then just pick, for chrissake,” Louie
snapped. “Where do you have in mind to do the hit?”
Again Carlo and Brennan looked at each other as if
waiting for the other to decide.
Louie looked skyward in frustration. “This isn’t
rocket science,” he complained. “What about at the pier.” The
Vaccarro organization in the past had had a fruit import company as
a cover in Maspeth on the East River just south of the
Queens-Midtown Tunnel. The warehouse and the pier were still there
but in sad shape. They hadn’t been able to sell them. They used the
warehouse for storage.
“That’s fine,” Carlo said. Brennan nodded in
agreement. The whole area was deserted, especially at night.
Louie looked at Arthur and Ted. “You guys in
agreement? Because I want all of you in on it so there’s no
trouble, as wild as these Japs are supposed to be.”
Arthur and Ted nodded.
“All right,” Louie continued. “We got the pickup
place, we got the location of the hit, but we still don’t have the
pickup time. What about eleven o’clock. What do you say?”
“That’s fine,” Carlo said, looking over at Brennan,
who nodded.
“Jesus,” Louie said. “Must I come along and be the
band leader? You guys can be pathetic.”
“How are we going to get them to come to the pier?”
Carlo asked.
“Do I have to tell you everything?” Louie said,
shaking his head in despair. “Tell them that’s where the explosives
are stored for the distraction during the break-in. I don’t know.
You figure it out.” Louie paused. “Are we okay now? We have the
pickup location and hour, and we have the hit location, and what
you’re going to do with the bodies. Of course you’ll remove all
identification. I mean, that’s a given.”
Everyone nodded.
“Now let’s go back to the morgue issue. Carlo, you
and Brennan head over there right now.” Louie glanced at this
watch. It was almost three-thirty. “Go in and ask for Vinnie
Amendola. Say you’re family. When you talk to him, say that you’re
working for Paulie and that you know what Paulie did for his
father.”
“What was it?”
“I’m not sure of all the details, but Paulie said
it had to do with the father having embezzled a couple hundred
bucks in union funds, nothing huge. For that Vinnie’s father was
supposedly going to be iced unless he came up with the money, plus
fifty percent. Since he had done some work for Paulie, Paulie lent
him the money, saving his life.”
“What if he refuses to talk to me?”
Louie stared at Carlo with disbelief. “What is
this, a new Carlo? Usually when I tell you to do something, you do
it, no questions asked. What should you do if he refuses to talk to
you? Threaten to kill his dog. You’re a professional. Plus, all you
want is some information about Satoshi. Of course, you can’t use
Satoshi’s name. Call him ‘the body from the subway.’ And don’t
threaten Vinnie right away. Be calm and reasonable. Don’t let them
know who you are. Tell him you heard Laurie Montgomery was good at
what she does. Be creative.”
“Okay,” Carlo said. “I get the picture.”
“If it turns out she has been assigned the case and
she’s still working on it, and if Vinnie seems favorably inclined,
meaning he’s not going to blab to the authorities about our
questions, then ask if he has any suggestions as to how she might
be encouraged to get off the case. Without being too obvious,
suggest there might be money in it for him and for her. If that
doesn’t work, then have Vinnie convey some threat. Got it?”
“I got it,” Carlo said.
“Then get your ass out of here!”
Carlo slid out from the table, tossed the cards
that he’d been holding since Louie’s arrival, picked through the
cash to extract what he thought he’d contributed to the pot, and
motioned for Brennan to follow suit. When the men were halfway to
the door, in walked Hideki Shimoda, flanked by Susumu and
Yoshiaki.
The saiko-komon was the size and shape of a
sumo wrestler, with a bloated, florid face whose features seemed
lost in folds of skin. As he walked he swayed from side to
side.
Carlo and Brennan had to quickly move aside to
avoid a collision. Susumu and Yoshiaki stuck by their
saiko-komon’s side, slightly behind the immense man, causing
the group to move like a wedge. As if detached from the world about
them and with slight sneers on their faces, they didn’t even
acknowledge Carlo and Brennan, despite spending the previous
afternoon and evening with them.
In contrast to the apparent camaraderie between
Louie and his minions, the relationship between Hideki and his
soldiers was impersonal, almost martial. Their attire was also
strikingly different, with the Japanese wearing what they had had
on the previous day: sharkskin suits, white dress shirts, black
ties, and dark glasses, while the Americans, for the most part,
wore casual sweaters and jeans. Only Carlo was smartly dressed,
with his gray silk jacket, black silk turtleneck, and black
gabardine pants.
As Louie got up from the table Hideki halted, bowed
slightly. “Hello, Barbera-san.”
“Welcome, Shimoda-san,” Louie said, feeling awkward
as he tried to imitate Hideki’s bow. Louie stepped back and
gestured for Hideki to sit at a clean booth, uncluttered by coffee
cups and pasta dishes.
Hideki and Louie settled into the booth while
Susumu and Yoshiaki walked to the bar and sat stiffly on a pair of
stools, their arms crossed. They did not speak but continued to
stare at their boss.
“Thank you for coming out to visit my humble
restaurant,” Louie began. While he spoke he wished it was going to
be Hideki who was going to be whacked, or better yet, all three
instead of just the impudent soldiers sitting at the bar with their
stupid dark glasses and their spiky hair.
“It is my pleasure,” Hideki replied in passable
English. “And it is my pleasure to thank you for your gracious
help, especially for tonight. It would be hard for us to do it
alone, as it is on such a famous avenue.”
“It is my pleasure to help, and you are correct
that the location makes the task more difficult. It would be the
equivalent for us to rob an office on the busiest street in the
Ginza district in Tokyo.”
“Not easy.”
“Not easy,” Louie agreed. “Excuse me, Shimoda-san,”
Louie said before calling out to Carlo and Brennan, who had backed
up against the wall opposite the bar to keep an eye on Susumu and
Yoshiaki. “Why don’t you two go ahead with what we discussed, and
call me as soon as you finish?”
They nodded and quickly left the room.
“I’m very sorry to interrupt, Shimoda-san,” Louie
said. “I’m sending my two men to the city morgue to make sure that
what you said about your hit was as you promised. I want to be
certain it is being considered a natural death and not a
professional homicide.”
“You have contacts in the city morgue?” Hideki
asked. He was clearly impressed.
“A resource we rarely tap,” Louie answered.
“I would appreciate hearing what they learn.”
“Getting back to what we were talking about,” Louie
said, “I want you to know it will not be easy to break into the
offices of iPS USA. It can be done, but it will have to be done
quickly. To be as safe as possible, we will have only minutes to be
in the office. My understanding is we will be looking for lab
books. Is that correct?”
“It is entirely correct. We must get these lab
books.”
“What kind of lab books are they?”
“I am not authorized to say.”
Louie was taken aback. He stared at Hideki. Here
the guy was going to the extent of trying to extort Louie into
helping him obtain lab books but wasn’t willing to say anything
about them. It was irritating to say the least. And what was more
irritating was that after speaking with Paulie, Louie knew the
basis of the extortion was, in Louie’s vernacular, a crock of shit.
There’d be no way that Hideki’s Aizukotetsu-kai would be able to
team up with Dominick, because it would mean teaming up with the
hated Yamaguchi, which would never happen. Louie felt himself
getting more angry but more curious, too. Why were these damn lab
books so important?
“What do they look like? I mean, once inside the
office, my guys and your guys are not going to have a lot of time.
Everybody will have to look for the missing books.”
“I was told they were dark blue, but the most
important way to recognize them is that they say ‘Satoshi Machita’
in yellow letters on the front cover. They will be easy to
recognize.”
“What the hell?” Louie questioned. “You said they
were stolen.”
“They were stolen. They were stolen by the man who
owns iPS USA.”
Louie rubbed his forehead roughly. Nothing was
making sense. He was beginning to believe Hideki was teasing him,
making fun of him, but for what reason he had no idea.
“I think we should stop talking about the lab books
and get on with the plans for tonight,” Hideki said.
“Just a few more questions,” Louie said. “I gotta
have some sense of what we’re after. I mean, we’re taking a risk
here for you.”
“I’m not authorized to discuss the lab
books.”
“Look!” Louie said suddenly. “You’re pissing me
off. Up until these lab books, you and I have gotten along
superbly. We’ve never had a disagreement, and we’re making money
together hand over fist, which means we’re making a lot. Either you
answer my questions or we’re out, and you can get the lab books on
your own. The trouble is, you didn’t level with me about Satoshi
right from the beginning. You said it was a shakedown, making me
believe it was a gambling debt or something. But it turns out it’s
a lot more, and I want to know what it’s about.”
“You are going to make me turn to your
competition,” Hideki warned.
“Bullshit!” Louie scoffed.
Sensitive to a sudden change in atmosphere, Susumu
and Yoshiaki slid off the barstools and stood. Simultaneously,
Arthur and Ted slipped from their booth. Each twosome eyed the
other.
“You’re not about to go to Vinnie any more than I
am,” Louie rejoined. “I learned something today. You
Aizukotetsu-kai and Yamaguchi-gumi get along like oil and
water.”
For a few tense minutes, no one in the room moved.
It was like those charged moments just before a summer
thunderstorm, when lightning was on its way but no one knew exactly
when. Then suddenly the atmosphere lightened as Hideki audibly
breathed out and said, “You are right.”
“Right about what?” Louie demanded. He’d gotten
himself worked up that Hideki had been playing him for a
fool.
“Everything you said. I have not been truthful with
you. I had been given orders to kill Satoshi and get his lab books.
I had hoped I could achieve both goals at the very same time, but
it did not work out that way. I do not know all the details about
the lab books myself, as it is a complicated story related to who
will own the very important patents for the next kind of stem
cells, the induced pluripotent stem cells.”
“Slow down. What was that?”
“What do you know about stem cells?” Hideki
asked.
“Nothing,” Louie admitted.
“I’m no expert, but it’s a topic covered constantly
in the Japanese news media,” Hideki said. “We’re constantly
reminded that it was a Japanese scientist named Shigeo Takayama who
produced the first pluripotent stem cell. Kyoto University patented
the process on his behalf. Then my oyabun learned that
another researcher, Satoshi Machita, had actually beat Takayama in
creating the special cells, which was proved by his lab books.
Although during the day he’d been working on mice under Takayama’s
tutelage, during the night he was working by himself on his own
mature fibroblasts, creating human iPS cells before anyone
else.”
“So the man your guys killed yesterday is
considered the granddaddy of these special cells.”
“That’s correct.”
“Which makes the lab books quite valuable.”
“Yes. In Japan they are to be used to challenge
Kyoto University patents, and here in America they are to be used
to get the patents. Same with the European patent office and the
WTO.”
Louie pondered this revelation for several beats
and thought about its money-earning potential, then tucked it into
the back of his mind. There was no way he would consider actively
going through with the planned break-in at iPS USA. Then Hideki
told him something that totally shocked him.
“My oyabun learned these things from the
government.”
“The government?” Louie questioned with surprise.
“Which government?”
“The Japanese government.”
“Now, that’s hard to believe.”
“But it is true. A vice minister met with my
oyabun and told him all of this, including the fact that
Satoshi had fled the country illegally with the help of the
Yamaguchi-gumi. They were the ones who engineered the theft of the
lab books from Kyoto University. It was Kyoto University which had
physical but not legal control of the lab books, as Satoshi had
been an employee. It is the Japanese government who wants the lab
books.”
“Good grief!” Louie said. “I can’t believe the
Japanese government approached your leader for help. What’s his
name again?”
“Hisayuki Ishii-san.”
“Our government would never come to me for
anything,” Louie said, laughing heartily.
“There has always been give-and-take between the
Yakuza and our government. That’s how we operate so openly in
Japan. The Japanese government has found us useful on occasion, and
we Yakuza are generally left alone by the authorities. It’s the
same with the Japanese people; they too find us useful as an out in
an otherwise strict and stratified culture.”
“If that’s true, why did the Yamaguchi-gumi go
against your government by helping Satoshi to flee the country and
help iPS USA, presumably to get the lab books?”
“We are not sure,” Hideki said, “but it is assumed
by my boss that the Yamaguchi-gumi is financially associated with
iPS USA as a way of laundering money.”
“That’s not working together.”
“No, it’s not,” Hideki admitted. “You have to
remember that the Yamaguchi-gumi is a younger organization than
other Yakuza, and not bound as tightly by tradition. They are also
much larger, almost double the size of the next smaller.
“Now that I have been fully open with you,” Hideki
continued, “how about we get back to discussing tonight’s
break-in?”
Before speaking, Louie silently questioned himself
if there was anything else he wanted to know about the lab books
and their backstory, but nothing came to mind. As up-front as
Hideki had seemingly been, Louie was glad that there weren’t plans
to kill him after all. Killing the two out-of-control enforcers
would be enough.
As concisely as possible, Louie then went on to
describe that night’s faux plans, including the pickup location and
time, and the fact that the robbery was designed around a
diversionary explosion to preoccupy the police, to be set off on
Fifth Avenue, south of the break-in location, perhaps at the New
York Public Library. When he was finished, he paused to give Hideki
time for questions. He felt confident the plans sounded real.
“What if there are still police or general public
around the iPS USA building after the explosion?”
Louie thought it was a good question, and gave it a
bit of thought before responding. “If there are people or cops in
the immediate surroundings, then we abort. We don’t do the
break-in. We postpone it until another day. There’s to be no
civilian casualties whatsoever if we can possibly avoid it. This is
to be a clean break-in with no violence to others, except possibly
to an inside security guard if there is one. Have your guys wear
masks, gloves, and nondescript dark clothing, not white shirts and
sunglasses.”
Louie looked at Hideki. There was a pause. Louie
couldn’t believe Hideki didn’t have more questions. Hideki was
clearly inexperienced at organizing such an event and was seemingly
buying into the plan even though from Louie’s perspective it was,
as he would say, nuts.
“If you have no questions for me,” Louie said
finally, “I have one for you. When we spoke on the phone, you
assured me that Satoshi’s death would be considered natural. How
was the hit done?”
“I have been open with you as you requested about
the lab books,” Hideki said. “But about this special technique, I
can say nothing, as my oyabun has specifically ordered. We
use it rarely, but it has always worked as designed.”
“Why did you use it on this occasion?”
“Specifically, we did not want the hit to appear as
a hit.”
“I appreciate that you made the effort. If it is
signed out as a natural death, it won’t cause the police to become
agitated. That’s important to me, but why did you care?”
“Because of the Yamaguchi-gumi’s involvement. They
had made a big effort to bring Satoshi over to America after they
had helped iPS USA to acquire his lab books. If his death had been
an obvious hit, we were fearful they might suspect us, the
Aizukotetsu-kai, as the instigators. They are our rivals, and there
has been tension between us because they stole the lab books from
under our noses in our home city of Kyoto. In the past, such a
situation could have resulted in violence. The problem is that they
have grown too large. We would be overwhelmed even if we acted
preemptively.”
“My God!” Louie exclaimed. “Such intrigue.”
“It is a time of change, I am afraid. The Yakuza
used to be more respectful of tradition. The Yamaguchi-gumi are
mere upstarts.”
After confirming that Susumu and Yoshiaki would be
waiting outside the Barnes & Noble store in Union Square at
eleven p.m., the three Yakuza left, all bowing before slipping out
the door.
“Weird people,” Arthur said as soon as the sound of
the outer door closing slipped back through the heavy
draperies.
“This whole situation is weird,” Louie
responded.