Today, we get a sneak-peek from Charles Hardman’s book, “No Lulluby for Tommy.”
Tommy has lost his wife, children, job, savings — basically his whole world. Nothing seems to go his way. Trying to change his life, he becomes a poker player. Tommy wins a very heated poker game against the son of a Chicago Mafia kingpin in Lake Tahoe. Then he joins up with the son’s hooker, who knows a few too many dirty little secrets about Chicago. A hit man is sent to kill the woman by the son’s father. After he fails and is killed, she and Tommy are forced to flee to Las Vegas. But the mob has placed a huge bounty on their lives. They team up with the hooker’s pimp and a police detective from Tahoe. Will they outsmart and escape the mobsters or are their lives fated to be ruled by Murphy’s Law?
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21
Corky was taking the curvy road at a good clip Tommy was still disoriented from the throwing up and the phone messages. He opened the glove box to get some Kleenexes or napkins. There was a huge gun. Tommy was surprised, but picked it up. It was shiny and seemed to be chrome plated. He opened the chamber and it was loaded. It was a .357 magnum. It would blow a hole through a car door he guessed. Sean must have brought it because of the money they were bringing to Lake Tahoe. Tommy reached behind the driver’s seat and threw the gun in the bag with the money. Corky didn’t notice, as she was busy with maneuvering the curves of the road. Tommy found some kleenex and wiped his face and mouth. Corky kept driving at a good pace. Tommy was trying to figure out what he would do when they got back to the Twostates. He had promised Corky he would go with her to Las Vegas after he made his peace with Sean. After his parent’s and Sean’s ex-wife had banned him from returning to Concord for Sean’s funeral, he had nowhere to go anyway. He wondered why Corky had lived the life she had. He really couldn’t judge her because his life was one incredibly big fuck up. If she only knew who she was throwing her cards in with? He had lost everything, found hope, and then had lost everything again. He had no past, present, or future. He wasn’t so sure about the future part, but if his past and present were examples, then his future was destined to turn out to be a disaster as well. Corky was the most beautiful woman he had ever met, and she had let him spend the night in her room when he was on the edge of going insane with guilt and grief. She wasn’t what she was labeled, she was just caught in a bad life. Tommy was on his third bad life, and felt sympathy for her. If he could help her, then maybe he could find a reason to live again himself. They turned into the entrance of the Twostates. Corky asked him if they should go to the entrance or park in the parking lot. Tommy looked at Corky and said, “Let’s go first class and use the valet parking. After all we are headed for Las Vegas in the morning.”
Corky drove to the entrance, and as she got out Tommy gazed at her and saw that she truly trusted him to help her get to Las Vegas. He resolved to make Corky’s trip to Las Vegas his main priority. Sean’s death couldn’t have been her fault. Jake was to blame. He would try to get her to a safe place where Jake could never get to her. He got out, told the valet to take their bags to the front desk, then took the bag with the money and gun from behind the driver’s seat and entered the Twostates.
LET’S BOOGIE
John’s radio came to life. “Detective, Tommy and Corky are back!” John had the entrance watched as well as the parking lot and all the other entrances and exits of the Twostates. He wasn’t sure why, but he figured something had to happen. Three people just couldn’t vanish into thin air without leaving some sort of trace. No one saw Jake or his crew leave, and since they checked out through the television, it wasn’t hard to track the time that they should have been noticed by someone. He was having all the cars in the parking lot checked by their license plates to see if any were rented by Jake. He felt that something wasn’t right, and since he had become the laughing stock of the department for his antics with the press conferences, he was pissed. Tommy and Corky’s return was unexpected, but then they had to be involved somehow. He actually felt sorry for them because now they were going to get back involved with Jake’s disappearance.
“Follow them, but don’t get noticed. Have someone else take your position.”
John wasn’t sure why they had returned, but he wasn’t going to let it stop his monitoring the entrances. Their return just seemed to justify his suspicion that something was about to happen to help his investigation into Jake and his crew’s disappearance. Maybe their return would be the clue to the disappearance. After all, Jake had threatened both of their lives. Something about them didn’t seem right though. They had been free to leave, and he had even told them that it would be a good idea if they did, yet here they were. He felt an itch in his hand, his gun hand. He really didn’t like shooting his gun. He was a lousy shot, and always figured he would probably be shot before he shot anyone. He had a bad feeling about Tommy and Corky’s return, but he knew that this was something unexpected, and that meant a break. He just would make sure he had an officer that could shoot next to him at all times. “Where are they?” John almost screamed into his walkie talkie. It took a minute, then a response
“They are checking in. I think they are getting a room, not two.”
“Who is the best marksman on our force here?” Again a pause.
“Greg Foster. He can shoot a fly out of the air. Why do you want to know this?”
“Where is he?”
“He’s on vacation. He returns on Monday.
” Who is next?”
“Bill Johnson. He is checking license plates in the parking lot.”
“Get him a replacement and have him report to me immediately. Do you understand?”
“What’s up?”
“Just do as I say. Get Bill Johnson to come to me immediately.”
John had a feeling that he was getting close to a break in the disappearance of Jake and his crew. He couldn’t shoot worth a damn, and if Jake and his crew were dead, then he needed someone who could shoot by his side. He wanted to see his next birthday. Something was screaming in his head that Lake Tahoe wasn’t the safest place on the planet anymore. Jake came from Chicago, and Chicago wasn’t known for anything except “MOB”. Jake was Vincent Mosconi’s son, If Jake was dead, then who was next? He wanted to make sure it wasn’t him. He picked up his walkie talkie. “What room did they check into?”
SMOKING!!!!!!
Fillipo drove the road like it was straight. He was focused on Corky’s death. The Cadillac became a race car. He was sure that her death would be the climax of his career. She was a perfect match for him. He killed at will, and most of his marks were not aware of his presence. Somehow Corky had figured out she was going to be killed and made him have to hunt her. He was invigorated by her will to live. He snorted another bit of meth. The rush was instantaneous. He pushed the gas pedal to the floor. The Cadillac gripped the road like it was a race car. Gravel slipped over the corners of the cliffs that led to instant death among the pines on the sides of the road. Fillipo was in a kill zone. All he wanted was Corky’s death. She had to die tonight. Vincent Mosconi was “The Man”, and he wanted Corky dead by Sunday evening. Fillipo had always finished his contracts ahead of time. He never failed and was considered the best contract killer in the world. Corky was becoming his Waterloo. He had never failed, in fact he was perfect before this job. He felt lightheaded. Was the altitude getting to him? The Cadillac was performing like the best vehicle he had ever driven. He took another snort of the meth. It made him drive faster. He had to kill Corky. She had to die tonight. He needed to catch up to her. He floored the Cadillac again and again. He needed this kill. He was the best and Corky was to be his prize kill. He spoke out loud, “Corky, I’m coming. Dying time is near!”
LAS VEGAS OR BUST
Hector got into the cab. He looked around and wasn’t sure that he recognized anyone watching him. He wasn’t sure if he was just paranoid or if Corky was dead on about Vincent Mosconi wanting her and him dead. He was her manager, not a threat to anyone. Why Vincent would want him dead made no sense, yet he felt that he had been followed and that his place had been bugged. Corky was like a daughter to him. She came along when he was burnt out, and she had made him respectable again. He would try to meet with her in Las Vegas and sort out this mess. He was after all a fighter. He had been in the ring for twelve years. He won and lost, but he had never given up. He fought with all his heart. Fate was against him though. He suffered too many hits in the head, and one that almost blinded him. He was smart enough to not try to continue. Corky saved him from becoming a has been sell out. But something about all the cancellations of Corky’s appearances and Jake’s trip to Lake Tahoe with Corky was bothering him. Why did Vincent care? Jake had made the offer in plenty of time for Vincent to step in and stop the trip. Was he just paranoid? Maybe he was just imagining that he was followed. He found no bugs in his apartment. But why was everyone avoiding him? Even his girlfriend. Something was not right. Las Vegas was a long way from Chicago. Maybe he would make sense of it all there. He hoped so, as Chicago had become a frozen tundra for him. He told the cab driver to go to O’Hare. “Make it a fast trip and there is an extra twenty for you.” He was sure he had to get out of Chicago.
TENSION
Vincent was pacing his war room. All the televisions had a different news station playing, but no one had any story that would make Vincent feel comfortable. He had sent the one person that didn’t make any news to Lake Tahoe. Fillipo was the killer no one knew about. He made things disappear. No call from him was very disturbing. Corky should be dead and untraceable by now. Jake was foolish in taking Corky to Lake Tahoe, but it was Vincent who allowed it, which was just another of what seemed to be too many mistakes on his part. Vincent was starting to sweat. He had become the most powerful man in the Chicago Crime Syndicate. He was on the verge of doing what no crime syndicate had ever achieved in Chicago, taking control of the whole state’s politics. He would own the senators, the governor, the house of representatives and even the Chicago mayor and police chief. Not even Al Capone would have envisioned his power. He was feeling the pressure of leaving a loose string dangling. Illinois was his if he just kept it under control for a few more days. In this case it was this Monday. Senator Kline was giving up his seat. Vincent would have him accidentally killed later, but he needed to make sure that no one knew he was involved with the senator. The Governor would be replacing his seat with a person hand picked by Vincent. Corky probably knew, and that meant she had to disappear. He had lost some good people. Nick was a good babysitter, but failed to get Corky back to Chicago. Jake was a bad son, and let him down one too many times. Jake got some people killed that Vincent could probably use now. Corky was the best whore in Chicago, or anywhere else he imagined, but she saw him with senator Kline. Her manager Hector Lopez was a good man, but he knew too much. Fillipo was his executioner, but he would need to be eliminated after he took control. Power was consuming him. He needed it. He was so close. He would kill anything and everything that could stop him. Power was his goal. He needed it, it was now his only goal in life. No one would keep him from getting what he needed. He would be King. “Long live the King!” Vincent called Reno, and had a new killer sent to the hangar where the private jet was. Fillipo had outlived his usefulness. He would accompany Jake and his bodyguards back to Chicago for disposal. He gave the order to terminate Fillipo.
