Robert Randisi - It Was a Very Bad Year

‘Sure, Frank,’ Jack said. ‘Come on, guys.’

We left the room. The table with the remnants of our meal had been moved. Two FBI men stood there and nodded at us. I wondered what they thought they were guarding.

Jilly and Jack started down the hall to their rooms.

‘Hey Jack, I’m gonna go out for some air. I’ll be back soon.’

‘Yeah, OK, kid,’ he said. ‘Probably nothin’ will happen for a while.’

Even if Frank did get a call about delivering the money there was probably nothing could be done till the next day, anyway.

As I waited for the elevator one of the FBI men said, ‘Might not be a good idea to go anywhere.’

‘I’ll chance it,’ I said. ‘I just need to stretch my legs.’

‘Suit yourself,’ he said, with a shrug.

The elevator came and I took it down. In the lobby were the other two FBI men. As I passed, one of them started to speak into a small radio. As I left the hotel I noticed one of them fall into step behind me. Did they really think I was going to contact the kidnappers?

I walked along North Virginia Street past the casinos, beneath the Primadonna’s five-lady marquee — not lit up, yet. Foot traffic was brisk, and the FBI man was staying close, since there was no reason for him to try and disguise the fact he was following me.

I kept going until I was passing the Cal-Neva on North Virginia and 2nd Streets. Frank had a piece of the Cal-Neva and had also gotten Dino to invest, but Dean had since sold his interest in the place.

I made a left on 2nd Street and what happened next was probably my own fault. I wasn’t paying attention. Maybe I felt secure with an FBI man on my tail, but when a pair of strong hands grabbed me and pulled me into an alley I felt anything but secure.

They dragged me further into the alley. I struggled but they were two big guys — almost as big as Jerry — and they had a tight hold on me.

Finally, they released me, tossing me against a brick wall. I bounced, but managed to avoid any serious damage — for the time being.

‘What the hell!’ I said, straightening my jacket. ‘What is this, a hold-up?’

‘Yeah, a hold-up,’ one of them said, pointing to the other one, ‘he’s gonna hold you up while I beat you senseless.’

‘What’s the point?’ I asked. ‘Come on, guys. Is this about the kidnapping?’

The other one played dumb and asked, ‘What kidnapping?’

‘We don’t know what the fuck you’re talkin’ about,’ the first one said. ‘This is a message.’

‘So spill it.’

‘Ya shouldn’t oughtta mess with somebody’s business,’ he told me. ‘It ain’t healthy.’

‘OK fine,’ I said, ‘message received. I won’t mess with anybody’s business. Thanks a lot for making me aware. .’

The two apes exchanged blank looks, then the first one said, ‘Huh-uh, that ain’t no good, mister. We gotta hurt ya.’

‘I don’t think you do,’ I argued, wondering where the hell the goddamned FBI man was. ‘I’m pretty sure I got the message.’

‘Naw, we gotta hurt ya some,’ the second one said. ‘That’s what we was told.’

‘Otherwise,’ the first one said, ‘what kinda fun is it?’

‘Are you sure you got the right guy?’

‘Eddie G., right?’ the first one said. ‘From the Sands?’ Before I could deny that it was me he said, ‘Yeah, we got the right guy.’

‘Now look,’ I said, holding up my hands, ‘I know you’ve got to make a living, but-’

They advanced on me and the first one said, ‘Just take it easy.’

The other one grinned and said, ‘It’s only gonna hurt for about a week.’

There was some daylight between them so I tried to split them and get through, but they grabbed me, threw me against the wall again, only this time harder. The back of my head bounced off the brick and one of them caught me in the gut with a ham-sized fist.

I doubled over, trying to catch my breath, but I knew that wasn’t a good posture to be in. I straightened just as one of them launched a haymaker that would have taken my head off if I hadn’t dodged it. His fist struck the wall and I heard bones break — lots of ’em, I hoped. He screamed, and they both backed for a minute. That’s when I heard somebody yell, ‘Hey, hold it!’

The three of us looked up toward the street, the first one cradling his damaged hand.

‘FBI!’ the guy yelled, and started running towards us,

They took off. The alley cut all the way through to 3rd Street, and they moved pretty quick for big guys.

By the time the FBI guy reached me I had my hands on my knees, bent over, still trying to catch my breath. I was also light headed from having my head slammed against the wall.

‘You OK?’ he asked, putting his hand on my back.

‘I’m. . I’m. . I-’

‘Yeah, OK,’ he said, ‘take it easy. Maybe I should go after the-’

I grabbed his arm and shook my head violently, then lost my spaghetti and meatball lunch all over the alley.

‘So they said nothing about the kidnapping?’ the DA asked.

‘No,’ I said, still rubbing my stomach, ‘nothing.’

We were in my room and I was sitting on the bed. Raggio, Rudin and the FBI agent who had saved me were there, along with Jilly Rizzo and Jack Entratter. Up to that point we had not told Frank what happened.

There was also the hotel doctor in the room, cleaning the gash on the back of my head.

‘It won’t need stitches,’ he said. ‘I could shave the area and put a bandage-’

‘That’s OK, Doc,’ I said, waving him away. ‘I don’t wanna be walking around looking like a monk. Thanks.’

He nodded, closed his bag and left the room.

‘So all they said was that they were delivering a message?’ Raggio asked.

‘Right.’

‘And nothing about Frank? Or Frankie?’ Rudin asked.

‘Not a thing.’

Raggio looked at the FBI agent, whose name was Kent.

‘Agent Kent? You didn’t hear anything?’

‘No,’ Kent said. ‘I’m sorry, I stopped for a pack of smokes, or I might have been able to save Mr Gianelli some trouble.’

‘I think you saved me a lot of pain, Agent Kent. I’m grateful.’

‘I’ll have to report to the agent in charge,’ he said.

‘Sure,’ Raggio said, ‘you go ahead.’

‘Mr Gianelli. . I’m glad you’re OK. Again, I’m sorry about the smokes-’

‘Never mind,’ I said. ‘You have my thanks.’

As he left I sipped some water somebody had gotten for me. My throat was sore from losing my lunch. I wished I had a cup of hot coffee.

‘Mr Gianelli,’ Raggio said, ‘is there anything else going on in your life that might explain this? So that we might — and no offense — look past it?’

‘I’ve been thinking about that,’ I said. Considering what their message had been — not to mess with anyone’s business — I figured the only person whose business I had affected was Barney Irwin. Because of me, his photo studio was closed. ‘I think so. I had some-’

Raggio held up his hands and said, ‘I don’t need to know what it is, especially if it’s not in my jurisdiction. I just need to know that this incident has nothing to do with the kidnapping.’

‘I’m fairly certain it doesn’t.’

‘Good.’ Raggio and Rudin exchanged a look. ‘Then we’ll leave you to recover.’

‘Yeah, thanks.’

They left the room, leaving me alone with Entratter and Rizzo.

‘Jealous husband?’ Jilly asked.

‘No.’

‘Then what?’ Jack asked.

‘I think this is a holdover of that Abby Dalton thing.’

‘Ah. . I don’t know all the facts about that,’ Jack said.

‘Believe me, you don’t need to,’ I said. ‘I’ll take care of this when we get back to Vegas.’