Family Secrets-Chapter NineA Chapter by Gary
The next day, Bo
drove his Uncle Joseph’s car to The Victoria Hotel hoping to interview the
blackjack dealer he had spoken to before.
He knew he couldn’t go inside the casino, so he parked across the street
from the hotel. Bo remembered the numerous
stories his uncle had told him about his long hours of surveillance during his
time with the FBI, so Bo settled in for what he expected to be a long
wait. With each hour that
passed, Bo slouched farther down into his seat.
With nothing to see but people walking in and out of the hotel, he
fought the urge to fall asleep. Just as
he rested his head against the window and closed his eyes, he was startled by
the sound of a car speeding by him. Bo
grasped the steering wheel and pulled himself up as he curiously watched a
police car pull into the parking lot of the hotel. A moment later, two more police cars screeched
to a stop in the alley where Bo had entered the casino. Within a matter of minutes, over a dozen
police cars had the building surrounded.
When the last car
arrived, the uniformed policemen exited their cars and swarmed the hotel. Half of them ran through the front door while
the others entered the door leading to the casino. Without taking his eyes off the unfolding
drama, Bo fumbled for the binoculars he had borrowed from his uncle. Once he found them, he immediately put them
up to his eyes and zoomed in on the hotel entrance. After a very short wait, Bo watched the
officers escorting people from the hotel in handcuffs. Casino workers were led
out of the back door as scantily clad women were led through the front. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Later that same
afternoon, Bill was sitting at Peter’s old desk when he received a call to go to
his uncle Harry’s office. “Close the door,”
Harry said. Bill closed the
door and timidly sat down across from his uncle. Harry lit a
cigarette, tilted his head back and blew a stream of smoke into the air. He leaned back into his chair and rested his
elbows on the arms. “Listen, Bill,
there’s something I need to talk to you about.” Bill fidgeted in
his chair. “Sure, Uncle Harry, did…did I
do something wrong?” “No, no, it’s
nothing like that. It’s about the job
we’ve asked you to do a week from tomorrow.
It may be riskier than we first thought.” “What do you mean?”
“You see, the local
police chief is on Carl’s payroll. So,
normally Carl can do whatever he wants to in this town, and no one bothers
him. I mean, that’s why he does so much
business here at this factory. He knows
he won’t get any interference from the local cops.” Harry leaned
forward and put his elbows on the desk. “I just got a call from Carl. The State Police raided The Victoria Hotel
today. So, if anyone from that raid
squeals, the cops will be coming after Carl for sure. That means they may be watching his every
move for a while. And that could put the
job a week from tomorrow in jeopardy.” Harry took another
drag from his cigarette and let out a sigh. “Look, Bill, I’m
going to be honest with you. The only
reason I suggested that Carl let you do this job, was because I didn’t think
there was any way you could get into trouble for it. But now…now I’m not so sure. That’s why I called you in here. You see, me and Carl…we aren’t afraid to go
to prison. We’ve both been there before
and we both know we can handle it. But I
don’t know if you’re willing to take that risk.
So, I’m only going to ask you this once.
Do you still want to do this job?
If you don’t, I’ll understand.
All you have to do is just say the word and I’ll talk to Carl.” Bill lightly rubbed
his chin and thought for a moment. “I still want to do
the job. But with the added risk, do you
think Carl will let me come back to his place tomorrow so I can practice
shooting? A wide smile formed
on Harry’s lips. “I think that can be
arranged.” Early the next
morning, Bill drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove back to
Carl’s mansion. He knew this was his
chance to impress Carl. But more
importantly, he had an opportunity to get a one-on-one interview with him. As he pulled into
the circle drive, Carl was walking out of the door to meet him with a cup of
coffee in his hand. “So, you came back,”
Carl said. “Yes, sir, I was
wondering if I could get in some more practice shooting.” “It turns out, I
can’t help you today. But if you come
back tomorrow you can shoot to your heart’s content.” He pointed at Bill with a smile. “I have to hand it to you, kid, you’re
ambitious…I like that.” “Well sir, I just really want to do a good job
for you next Saturday.” “That’s good to
hear. We all have to be on our toes for
this one.” “Yeah, Uncle Harry
said something about State Police raiding the Victoria Hotel?” “That was all just
a political move. But don’t you worry
about it, I have it all under control.” Bill raised an
eyebrow. “What do you mean by a
political move?” “This is an
election year. So, Governor Goodwin
Knight wants to show everyone how tough he is on crime. But what he doesn’t know is… I’m tougher,”
Carl replied arrogantly. “Do you really
think he might raid us next Saturday?” “If he does, I’ll
know about it ahead of time. Always stay
one step ahead of your competition, kid.” “You’ll have to
forgive me for asking this, Carl, but, how do you stay one step ahead of the
Governor?” “You don’t get to
be as successful as I am without some good connections.” Carl shot Bill a
crooked smile. And let’s just say I
have a very good connection with the President of the Local Labor Union. He meets with the Governor every Friday, and
then we get together almost every weekend, so I know what’s going on in the
political scene.” “So, how did you…”
Bill said shaking his head. “How did I go from public
enemy number one to rubbing elbows with politicians?” Carl interrupted. Fear shot through Bill
as he froze and looked at Carl wide eyed not knowing what to say. Carl slapped Bill
on the back. “Relax, kid, your Uncle
Harry told me how you found that photo of me and your grandpa.” He gave Bill a wink with a sly grin. “I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with how
you figured it all out.” Carl then
paused for a moment and slowly shook his head.
“Your grandpa was a good man. I’m
really sorry to hear about him passing. He
was like a second father to me.” A smile slowly came
across Bill’s face. “Sir…if you don’t
mind me asking, what were your parents like?” “My mom died just
before my fourth birthday and my old man was a “spare the rod spoil the child”
type of guy. One day he would beat me
and lock me in the house all day, then the next day he would give me money for
candy and let me stay out until dark.
But he spent most of his time at his grocery store, so I spent a lot of
time at your grandpa’s house.” “Is that why you
stayed with him when you needed a place to hide out?” “Yeah, but your grandpa
wasn’t the only place we would stay. We
had safe houses all over a four-state area.
We had a really good thing going there.” “Then why did you
stop robbing banks?” “The G-men were
getting smarter all the time. So, it was
getting harder and harder to stay one step ahead of them. I mean, by that time they’d already got Clyde
Barrow and Bonnie Parker, so I figured it was just a matter of time before they
got me too.” “Is that when you
decided to fake your death and retire?” Bill asked. “Oh no… I knew I couldn’t retire,” Carl said
with a chuckle. “I ain’t the type of guy
to go the straight and narrow. I robbed
banks, and once you get a taste for that kind of excitement, you can’t just
stop. I did a few jobs with Jimmy
Gillis…you probably know him better as Baby Face Nelson…anyway, he told me
about how he used to work for Al Capone and all about how Capone did
business. So, I thought to myself…that’s
what I’m going to do…I’m going to be the next Al Capone. But bigger,” Carl said wide-eyed. “Why did you come
all the way out here to California?” “After Melvin
Purvis killed some poor sucker walking out of a movie theater, I stayed with
some friends in Chicago to learn some more about how they did business. They already had connections with the east coast
rackets, and I didn’t want to muscle in on them. So, In May of 1935 I got all of my old gang
members together and we all moved out here and into a fleabag apartment
building downtown.” “How did you do
it? How did you go from living in a
rundown apartment building to…to this?” Bill asked as he pointed to Carl’s
mansion. “I’ll tell you
how. We all worked our tails off. The first thing we did was rent an old
warehouse and open a Freeman’s Furniture store.
We built furniture in the front, and we put a tiny casino in the back room. Then when we weren’t making furniture, we
were collecting protection money. If the
local business owners paid us, nothing bad happened to them. Then we started to take out the local
competition. And let me tell you, kid,
they were no match for our experience and our Tommy Guns. It was just like when we robbed a bank. We swooped in. We took them out. And then we got out of there before the cops
could show up. And of course, there were
no witnesses. No one was that brave.” “How long did it
take to…take out the competition?” “I would say within
a year we had complete control of the downtown area. From there, I knew the sky was the limit. So,
I kept working night and day until I got to where I am today. But let me tell you something, kid, it’s hard
to stay on top. Someone is always
gunning for you. That’s why this deal
next Saturday is so important.” Carl
looked at his watch then looked back at Bill.
“Listen, kid, I have some things I need to attend to. So, I’ll see you tomorrow…right?” “Yes, sir,” Bill
replied. “Oh, kid,” Carl
said as he put his arm around Bill and gave him an icy glare. “I know I don’t have to tell you this, but
this little conversation we just had. If
you breathe a word of it to anyone, I’ll have no choice but to kill you. It’s nothing personal. It’s just business. You understand…don’t you, kid?” Bill swallowed the
lump that had formed in his throat.
“Um…yes, sir,” Bill said nervously. © 2023 GaryReviews
|
Stats
73 Views
2 Reviews Added on December 28, 2020 Last Updated on May 30, 2023 AuthorGaryanderson, INAboutWriting is one of my many hobbies. I know that I will never be published, but I still want to learn and be the best writer I can be. So, any advice would be helpful. more..Writing
|