Robert Randisi - I'm a fool to kill you

‘Napolitano,’ Jack said.

‘Tony Napolitano?’ I asked.

‘Antonio,’ the man said. ‘ Don Antonio Napolitano, at your service.’

He stepped into the room, hands in his trouser pockets. Behind him two men came in, with Jack’s girl between them, looking very frightened. Both men had guns. One of them was wearing a silver snake ring.

Great, I thought, just fuckin’ great.

‘I’m surprised it was so easy for us to walk in here,’ Napolitano said.

‘This is a casino,’ Jack Entratter said, ‘not some Mafia enclave that needs to be guarded.’ I had heard Jack wax eloquent before, so it didn’t surprise me.

I also knew Jack had a gun in his top drawer. And I had Ava’s in my pocket. Was I waiting for him to make a move, or was he waiting for me? Make a move? Why did I sound like a bad movie in my head? My hands began to sweat, and I could feel the perspiration at the small of my back.

‘What do you want, Napolitano?’ Entratter asked.

‘What do I want?’ Napolitano asked. He was walking around Jack’s office, looking at things. His hands still in his pockets. ‘I want the bitch who killed my son. I want the whore who has caused the death of five of my men. I want Ava Gardner.’

‘I don’t know where she is,’ Entratter said.

‘You’re probably telling the truth,’ Napolitano said. He took his hands out of his pockets and pointed at me. ‘But he does.’

On the third finger of his right hand was a gold snake ring.

Up close I could see he was closer to sixty than fifty. His hair looked as black as shoe polish.

‘Where is she?’ he said, looking directly at me for the first time.

‘Let this girl go,’ I said. ‘And Jack.’

‘And then you’ll tell me? Is that your bargain?’

‘No,’ I said. ‘This is my bargain. Let them go and I’ll see if I can stop Sam Giancana from killin’ you.’

‘Sam can do what he wants to me,’ Napolitano said, ‘after I’ve avenged my son’s death.’

‘What makes you so sure she killed him?’ I asked.

‘She came to Chicago and beguiled him,’ he said. ‘Plied him with sex and drink and then killed him. The only reason she is still alive is because of you. And yet,’ he added, with a shrug, ‘if you give her to me, I will let you live.’

The only thing I could think to do was keep talking.

‘You’ve managed to find us every time,’ I said. ‘How did you do that?’

Napolitano smiled.

‘It was not hard to find her in L.A.,’ he said. ‘What other hotel would a woman like her stay in? But after we heard that you were coming to help her, we knew we had to do something.’

‘So you sent two men to the Beverly Hills Hotel to put me in the hospital, only they got the wrong guy.’

‘That was unfortunate,’ he said, ‘but after that we assumed you would come to Las Vegas.’ I wondered who the ‘we’ was he kept referring to, or if he really used the royal ‘we’ when referring to himself?

‘You managed to kill two of my men and disappear again.’

‘But you found us again.’

‘And, since I have not heard from those three men, I assume they are dead, as well. You and the woman have cost me a lot.’

‘I think you got it wrong, Napolitano,’ I said. ‘Ava didn’t kill him, and you’ve wasted your time and your men tryin’ to kill her.’ Whether she did or not, this man needed to be convinced she didn’t. He could reach out for her even from behind bars,

‘No,’ Napolitano said, ‘you can’t deter me with lies.’

Entratter slammed his hand down on his desk top, getting everyone’s attention.

‘You have somebody in my hotel and casino, don’t you?’ he demanded.

Napolitano smiled at Jack.

‘That’s right,’ I said, ‘the man who slid the message under my door. Did he find out from Tony LaBella that I’d gotten his cabin key?’ I stood up. ‘Did you do anything to Tony?’

‘Sit down, Mr Gianelli!’ Napolitano roared. He startled not only Jack’s girl, but his own two men. However, I was too mad to be startled. If they had hurt Tony LaBella it was my fault.

I turned my head, spotted the two rings I’d left on Jack’s desk.

‘What’s with the tacky silver rings, Napolitano?’ I asked. I walked to Jack’s desk, picked one up. ‘I notice you wear a gold one. What is it supposed to be, some kind of badge of honor?’

‘I give them to men who have been loyal to me,’ he said.

‘Yeah, well, they can’t be very good men, can they? I mean, I’m just a casino pit boss, yet I have three of their rings right here.’ I picked up the others, held them all in my palm and rattled them at him. I noticed there was a line of Momo’s sauce down the side of the jar that had made a small pool on the desk.

‘Give them to me!’ Napolitano said, his eyes flashing.

‘Yeah, sure, here ya go,’ I said, tossing them to him.

He put his hands out to catch them. As he did I grabbed the jar of sauce, flipped the lid off and tossed the contents into Napolitano’s face.

His two men were stunned by the move, didn’t know where to look or what to do. They did release the girl’s arms and she slid to the floor, unable to stand.

Jack had opened his top drawer when I moved and grabbed his gun. At the same time I pulled Ava’s little gun out of my pocket.

Jack stood up, extended his gun and fired twice at Napolitano’s men. The sound was deafening within the confines of the office.

I moved in on Napolitano, who was still wiping sauce from his eyes. I jammed the barrel of Ava’s gun right under his chin.

‘Eddie! Don’t!’ Jack shouted. He obviously thought I was going to pull the trigger.

Napolitano dropped his hands and looked at me from behind a marinara mask.

‘Go ahead, pull the trigger. I am done, anyway. If you don’t kill me I’ll keep going after the woman, and you.’

‘I don’t think so, Napolitano,’ Jack said. ‘For one thing I don’t think you’ve got many more men.’

‘For another, I’m still gonna prove that Ava Gardner didn’t kill your son,’ I said.

‘Then who did?’

‘That’s what I’m gonna find out.’

‘As well as who the traitor in my house is,’ Entratter said.

‘That I will not tell you,’ Napolitano said. He licked some sauce from his chin. ‘What is this?’ he demanded.

‘Sam Giancana’s marinara sauce,’ I said. ‘You owe me a new jar.’

Jack had to call the cops.

I had no choice but to stay and wait for them. Napolitano was sure to tell Hargrove I was there, and then he’d be looking for me — again.

Jack took his girl out to her desk, made her sit down and gave her a small brandy. She insisted she was fine and he told her she was a trooper.

I kept Napolitano company until Hargrove arrived with three uniforms and they took him into custody.

‘What is all this?’ Hargrove asked, looking at the orange stains on Napolitano and the floor. ‘It doesn’t look like blood.’

‘Marinara,’ I said.

‘How the hell-’

‘We’ll tell you the whole story,’ Entratter said, coming back into the room.

‘You two?’ Hargrove asked, folding his arms. ‘That will be a switch.’

‘Where’s Ava Gardner?’ Hargrove asked.

‘She’s someplace safe.’

‘With your buddy Jerry?’

‘No, with my buddy Danny.’

‘Hmph, Bardini.’ He was almost less of a fan of Danny’s than he was of me. ‘Well, I’m going to have to talk to her.’

‘Have to, or want to, Detective?’ I asked.

‘I ain’t a starry eyed movie fan, Eddie,’ he said. ‘I’m just tryin’ to do my job.’