Leon, Calderone, John, and two other of Leon’s security men came toward the front door.
Alfredo stood by the table as Delaney came over to him and stood beside him.
Leon and Calderone came into the clubhouse while his men stood on either side of the front door. John stepped up to stand next to Leon.
Leon looked around the room and his gaze stopped at Alfredo. “More of your father’s head games, Alfredo? Is that what this is?”
Alfredo shook his head. “No senor. Those games died the day I buried my father. I have never liked playing them. This is very real.”
Leon growled then looked over at the bikers. “Is there a Zeus among you?”
Zeus stepped forward. “I am Zeus and I called you on this matter.”
Leon turned to study the other man for a moment and said, “First of all. You do not call a mafia Don, and threaten him, Si? Lesson 101 in the Handbook of Life. It could be seriously bad for your health, Mr. Zeus. “
Calderone stifled a chuckle.
John did as well.
The men in the room stared at him then at each other. None of them knew if he had just threatened their president or not.
Leon stared hard at Zeus as he smoothed down his already neat lapels on his Italian suit and went on smoothly, “So, you claimed to be in possession of some gold Alfonzo Raggetti was entrusted with a very long time ago?”
“We purchased this place seven years ago,” Zeus explained, “We had no idea who owned it before we got it but it had been abandoned for a long time. We are a legitimate club. We all served this nation in the armed services and we live a clean life. We were just working for a living until about three years ago when a neighboring MC decided we didn’t need to be here any longer. That MC was the Dragon’s Breath over in Crystal City. Their president, Raggo, told me he wanted our clubhouse back. His family had owned this house before we bought it, but I didn’t see the need in giving up our home, so I turned him down.”
“Did he offer to pay you for the land?” Leon interrupted him.
Zeus snorted. “No, he didn’t, he just claimed we stole this place.”
Leon turned to Alfredo and asked, “Did they pay you for the land and buildings?”
Alfredo nodded. “Yes sir they did, the sale was legal.”
“Go on.” Leon nodded at Zeus.
“Raggo sent a mole into our club. She wreaked havoc and ended up killing my woman, in hopes of taking her place. When that didn’t work, she tried her best to get us to leave by almost killing my four year old daughter. That’s when Marty came to find her sister. We didn’t know Sam was her sister but when she saved my daughter, things started heating up. We still had no idea why Raggo wanted us out of here, that’s when we started to uncover this place’s secrets.”
“Secrets?” Leon narrowed his eyes at him.
Zeus nodded. “So far, we’ve found five escape tunnels, a couple of secret rooms, a small warehouse, an old garage and an old safe loaded with money from the thirties that Alfonzo stored from banks he’d robbed back then. Then we came across Alfredo and Delaney in the small warehouse. He was just starting a batch of moonshine in one of his daddy’s old stills.” Zeus took a breath and exhaled loudly, “Then today, Alfredo told us about a room under this one. A room we didn’t know existed until today.”
“Indeed. That is some story,” Leon commented as he raised one of his eyebrows. “And what did you find in the room below this one?”
Zeus walked over to the table and picked up the identifications he found on the men downstairs. “We found two bodies that have been down there a hell of a long time.” He walked over to him to hand the ID’s to him.
Leon stared at him for a moment then looked down at the very old ID’s in his hands. He stared at one for the longest time, then he looked at the other ID and began shaking his head. Finally he asked, “What happened to these men?” He asked in a low controlled voice.
“They were shot but when he put them down there, he managed to preserve their bodies,” Zeus admitted. “They are almost mummified.”
Leon turned his head to glare at Alfredo. “The Family could never find them or find out what happened to them. Your father made a very big mistake when he shot these two men.”
Alfredo nodded slowly. “Yes, he did. He always told us and anyone who would listen to him that he shot two drug runners after he stiffed them. I never knew what he did with their bodies but I was only a kid when he did this. And now he’s well beyond the punishment you or anyone could ever give him.”
Leon agreed as he let out a sigh. He then looked at Zeus. “Your phone call said something about gold.”
Zeus nodded. “We found an old storeroom that hadn’t been opened in a long time but when we opened it, all we found were what looked like whiskey caskets. My brother opened up one and found it full of small bags. We opened one of the bags and found gold nuggets. We sealed the room with cement and haven’t been in there since. Then we found an old diary of Alfonzo’s and he said in that diary that he melted down most of the gold and made it into bricks. He put those bricks in the hearth part of the fireplace. But Alfredo told us that was a lie, his father used the gold bricks to build the actual fireplace with. Then he told us where to look and we found them. They are part of the chimney, not the hearth like we thought.”
“Show me what you found,” Leon stated.
Zeus nodded and motioned him over to the fireplace.
The Vincintis looked surprised when Zeus unhooked the huge mirror and pulled it back. Leon and Calderone stepped forward and could see the area where they had removed the mortar between the stones. They couldn’t miss seeing the gleam of the gold.
Leon glared at Zeus. “Any idea how many bricks are actually here?”
Zeus shook his head while motioning to the wall. “That was as far as we went. Look…we have been dealing with all of this while under attack half the time, by Raggo and his MC. So, after some research, we found that one of Alfonzo’s grandsons is in Marshal’s custody, but he’s still got two more roaming around. So if Raggo used his one phone call to let his brothers know we found the gold, I didn’t want to let anyone else know where it was. That gold has just been sitting here all this time and no one knew it was here. He hid the fucking stuff in plain sight then went to his grave laughing because no one else knew it.”
Leon turned around to face Alfredo and snarled, “No one but you knew it was here.”
Alfredo shook his head. “You forget senor… I was just a kid when he got that gold. I didn’t know what he did with it. I wouldn’t have known anything except for the fact that while he was putting the gold into the wall I woke up and snuck down to see what all the swearing was about. I saw the gold in the wall and at the time, he was putting in the stones to hide the gleam of the gold. But as I said, I was a kid.” Shaking his head he admitted, “You know he loved to play his stupid head games and I think he liked this one the most. The bigger members of the family all brought him gold and told him to hide it. Well, he hid it all right, the only thing is he forgot to tell anyone about it. This house was just sitting here empty for decades and no one knew its secrets. When I sold it, I didn’t even know its secrets. All I knew was my father liked to play head games. He would talk to my sons and grandsons, telling them there was enough money here to last them all their own lifetimes. But he never said where it was. Then after a while, no one believed his old stories.”
Leon turned his head to stare at Zeus. “So what are your plans for the gold?”
Zeus shrugged. “It doesn’t belong to us. We’ve got no plans for it at all. I was hoping you came here to retrieve it and take it back with you.”
“And the Raggetti’s? What about their claims to the gold?” Calderone asked.
Delaney snorted. “It’s not ours either. My great grandfather was only holding it supposedly until the Feds were done busting the members of the Family. Then he was supposed to give it back to those he was holding it for.” She motioned toward the fireplace. “As you can see, he never got that far.”
Leon snorted. “I don’t think he ever intended to give it back either.”
Alfredo nodded. “You could be right about that.”
“We’ve got another problem,” Memphis spoke up.
Leon looked over at him with a raised brow. “And who are you?”
He shrugged “My name is Memphis, I ‘m Zeus’ brother.”
Leon studied him then again studied Zeus. “So, tell me this other problem?”
“After Raggo’s attack the other day, Marty’s attorney contacted the Marshal’s office,” Memphis explained.
“Wait, wait.” Leon placed his hand up at him. “Who is this man, Marty?”
“I’m Martine Shaw, Mr. Vincinti.” Marty stepped forward.
Leon blinked his eyes at her. “Martine Shaw? I have dealt with your company. Your family is well known for quality and precision. The weapons you make are superior to any I have ever seen.”
She nodded at him. “Thank you.”
He smiled at her, the first smile anyone had seen from him. Then he looked back over at Memphis. “Continue.”
“Well, the Marshals came to collect the wounded men and they heard about the gold we found in the storeroom. At the time, we didn’t know about the fireplace gold or this long standing feud the Marshals have with the Ragetti family. But Raggo found out about the gold at the same time. So now, we have the Raggetti brothers knowing about it as well as the Marshals. They could come any time with a warrant to collect the gold, stating it was stolen.”
Leon growled. “But it wasn’t stolen and it was handed over for safekeeping.”
“And do you really think that makes a damn bit of difference to those guys?” Delaney scoffed. “Don’t forget they have been after our family as well as yours for well over a hundred years now. Generation after generation has been coming after us and I don’t know about you but I’m sick of the whole damn fucking mess.”
Memphis snorted. “And you called me out for a potty mouth.”
Delaney glared at him as she snapped, “Yeah, I did and now bringing up this whole fucking mess has me on edge, so sue me.”
Leon shook his head. “Children, children…calmati, calm down.”
Delaney turned her head and growled at him “I was living a good life without ever meeting you and now that’s all fucked up.”
The whole room went silent as her words echoed in the room.
Looking apprehensive, Alfredo tugged her back a step from the Vincintis.
Leon drew himself up and glared at her. “And I could have done very well without ever meeting you as well, Signorina. However, if you disrespect me one more time, you will regret it. So be polite, piccola ragazza.” Then he paused to stare at her. “Since you seem to have all the answers, tell me…How do you think your brothers will react to this news of the gold?”
Delaney sighed in disgust. “They are greedy and stupid and that is a fact. They’re going to come in here madder than hell and they shoot anyone in their way.”
“And your father, Barrett?” Calderone asked.
“Oh, he’ll lead the charge.” Delaney nodded. “He’s due to get out of prison very soon. So the boys may wait for him to get out but they won’t wait too long.”
Leon shook his head. “It is astounding to me. In reality, we all do not want this gold. While they want it badly. I was just going to leave the gold here but that isn’t a viable option any longer. I do not want to lose it to the Raggetti’s greed. There are members of those families who gave the gold over for safekeeping that deserve to have it back.” He ran his hands over the back of his head and growled. “Damn it.”
“What are you going to do, Dad?” Calderone asked him.
“I guess we’ll have to dismantle the fireplace,” Leon replied. “And take it back with us.”
“And you don’t think my brothers aren’t watching this place?” Delaney interjected. “Believe me they are. If Vincent got word to them, they are watching and waiting for the right moment to strike.”
“Alright Miss Smartmouth, what do you suggest we do then?” Leon’s glare rested on her now.
Delaney glared back at him. “As you put it so reasonably, it isn’t my gold and I don’t want it. I’d rather not have anything to do with my entire family, with the exception of my grandpa here. But I also don’t want my brothers to get their hands on either. It’s six of one and half a dozen of another isn’t it? Your best bet would be to take it out under the cover of darkness. And we need a distraction so they don’t know which way to go to get the treasure. Send out more than one truck. In fact, the more the merrier, one with a direct route to your plane and another going the opposite way and the last one going a roundabout way, but they will all have a small portion of gold in them. That way, you might lose one truck but you’ll have the other two. My brothers aren’t that smart, even if they think they are. They may go after one or two of the trucks but they don’t have enough men to split up with that many vehicles. Then if they are watching, engage them here, so they can’t move and you’ll stand a better chance of getting the gold to the plane.”
Leon paused and mulled over her words then looked over at Calderone. “Il vecchio gioco delle conchiglie…The old shell game.” He shook his head in amusement. “She’s got a good idea there.”
“Only this will be trucks full of gold, Dad.” Calderone shook his head in amusement as well. “A helluva expensive shell game.”
Leon nodded. “The Ragettis may lose their lives in this game. I plan to bring in some very nasty foot soldiers to play.” He narrowed his eyes at Alfredo and Delaney. “Your family will be getting smaller before this is done.”
Delaney shrugged as she took her grandfather’s arm. “For years now, it has only been the two of us. And that is the way we want it to stay.”
Alfredo spoke up finally, “She’s a smart girl and the only Raggetti that’s any good at all really.” He patted her arm.
Memphis nodded. “And I really like her idea of engaging them on our home territory. We have had enough of this sneaking in here to attack us. Gathering in our backyard to ambush us. It is time to take them all down. I like it.” He grinned at Delaney.
