Gumshoe. Part 5. (The City of Angels). (819 hits)
Category: NoneLabels: Gumshoe
Rating: 2 on 26 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Davros (View user info) at 2005-03-02 10:35:53 EST
Part 1 : http://www.ubersite.com/m/56564
Part 2 : http://www.ubersite.com/m/57067
Part 3 : http://www.ubersite.com/m/57844
Part 4 : http://www.ubersite.com/m/60294
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I called Jay from the lounge at JFK. He assured me that things were going well at the office.
He had worked his way through the employee records, transferring details to my computer files, which he had emailed to me. He explained that the inside job was looking doubtful as Cilfone was as thorough in his vetting of employees as he was about his security.
The familiar feeling of fighting a losing battle began to creep over me.
"Any good news?"
"It doesn't look like it Mack. He has files on everyone, staff, servants, doctors, personal trainer right the way down to the FedEx guy that collects his packages."
"So..."
"There is one person missing. His Girl."
"Interesting. See what you can find Jay. I don't like being left out of the loop when there is this much at stake."
To be truthful I was not surprised that there was no details on his fiancé, given her desire to stay out of the media spotlight.
"What am I looking for?"
"Anything you can find. Pictures, background, whatever. She can't be totally invisible if she is engaged to Cilfone."
The PA drowned out Jays reply.
"Now boarding first class passengers on Flight AA342 to Los Angeles"
"I got to go Jay, call you tomorrow."
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"Boarding" turned out to be a different procedure for First Class passengers.
I made my way through to a separate lounge where I was told we would be taken to the plane just prior to departure. I could truly get used to this kind of treatment.
Given that I had time to kill, I opened my power book and took advantage of the wireless access to download the files that Jay had mailed to me. I had my notes with me, but I could recite them parrot fashion if I had to. This gave me something to study once we were in the air.
It seemed as if I had just taken my seat when we began taxiing to the runway for take off.
Once we were in the air I turned on my computer, as did almost everyone else in first class and began to run through the reports Jay had sent.
It turned out that Cilfone ran background checks on all his employees. Previous employment, Criminal records, even going back into family histories to ensure that his staff could be trusted. He headhunted the best people in every field and lured them with highly attractive salaries, including profit sharing, subject of course to them passing his rigorous tests.
I had to agree that the possibility of an inside job looked unlikely, but I wasn't going to discount any situation until I had all the facts. The omission of his fiancé's details bothered me. If he would omit one person then surely he would omit another.
I stowed my laptop, reclined my seat and relaxed.
If I was meant to solve this case then I would, was my last thought as I drifted into sleep.
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I dreamed about the Girl and the hopes we had.
In my dreams she had never left, we were together enjoying our life.
As I woke it occurred to me that she could still be out on the West coast. I had been told that she had come out this way when she left. I imagined finding her and putting things right.
The seatbelt sign flashed on and I shook these ridiculous thoughts from my head.
Once the plane landed I would have to get to work.
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As I watched my fellow passengers being greeted by loved ones and business associates, I set out to go to work.
I decided that it was a little late to be calling the number given to me by the Greek but I still had other leads to follow up.
After a visit to the ATM I walked outside, lighting up a smoke and looking around for my target. I soon spotted a likely candidate.
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The young man was leaning against the door of a limo smoking. I made my way across to him and hoped that he would be my man.
"I'm looking for some information and wondered if you could help?"
He shrugged.
"How many limousine companies are there at the airport?"
"Three", he replied with a hint of a Latino accent.
I was relieved that there wasn't more, but I was still praying that Mang had used an airport company. If not then it was useless. There must be thousands of limos in LA.
"I am trying to locate a guy who took a limo from here" I said, pulling a $100 from my billfold, "would that be a possibility?"
His interest aroused, he agreed that it was possible.
I wrote the details of Mang's arrival on the back of one of my cards.
"How long would something like this take?"
"If it is my people, an hour at the most. My girlfriend works in the office. If it is one of the others I could probably find out by morning."
"I'm staying at the Airport Hilton. What time do you get off?"
"Eleven."
"Meet me at the Bar and give me a progress report."
He nodded, a broad smile on his face.
I walked to the cabs, again thanking the little guy. There would be no way that I could get this kind of help from the company, but wave a little green at an employee and things tended to happen.
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After freshening up at the hotel, I made my way to the bar just before eleven.
I was just finishing up my beer when my contact walked in accompanied by an extremely attractive female. I waved them over and ordered drinks for us all.
I sensed straight off that I had caught a lucky break by the look of excitement and nerves on their faces.
"We have the information you want Mr. Mackintyre."
I smiled, "It's just Mack. And what will it cost me?"
I had no intention of arguing, it wasn't my money I was spending.
"My girl is taking a risk Mack." I nodded, "We want to go to Vegas to get married."
"How much?"
"$500" he replied, looking slightly embarrassed..
"Deal."
The girl pulled a sheet of printed paper from her pocketbook and handed it to me. I peeled off five $100s and passed them over.
We made a little small talk over another round of drinks, before I excused myself and retired to my room.
As was usually the case, when you got lucky there was always a downside.
Mang had been taken to the "Beverly Palm Hotel". I knew without trying that I would get nothing out of the staff there. I just had to hope that Fat Tony could and would assist me.
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After the best night's sleep I had had in a long time I made the call and arranged a meeting with Fat Tony. I took a cab out to the industrial area of the city, to what looked like a construction company.
After exchanging brief pleasantries, I made my first request.
"I need some protection, two pistols if possible. This guy I am looking for has a history."
"Not a problem", he replied, scribbling down an address on the back of one of my cards, "I'll tell them to expect you."
My second request was for information from Mang's hotel.
"That might be difficult. I don't have many people in Beverly Hills. They don't need my services. They want drugs, they got people, they want to place a bet, they call their bookie in Vegas, they don't want my whores, even the high class ones, if they want that kind of thing they go for the Starlets. I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything."
He wrote another address down.
"Meet me there at seven for dinner, I'll let you know what I can."
"Thank you for your time Mr. Mancini, and thanks for your help."
"You're welcome Mack, Mr Rizzo speaks very highly of you."
I must have looked shocked.
"You are not the only one whose business involves knowing what is going on", he said with a smile as he turned and walked away.
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I shouldn't have been surprised. The very fact that he met me in person should have told me that he had checked me out. I allowed myself a wry smile.
Anthony "Fat Tony" Mancini was an old fashioned type of boss. He hated and distrusted everybody equally. His business was in the old style of mob activity, tributes or backhanders being the main source of income.
Like every other family, his had links with drugs, gambling and prostitution, but he kept himself away from those activities. There were rumours that he was also involved in running wetbacks over the border, but I couldn't say how true this was.
This information was going to cost either financially, which I didn't care about, not my money remember, or in services, which concerned me slightly more. But I was tied into the deal now, I would just have to deal with that when the time came.
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A short cab ride to the first address given to me, took me to a neighbourhood of run down houses, which was predominately Black. I knocked on the door and was greeted by the first white face I had seen in a while.
A short time later I was armed with a small.22 pistol and a Heckler and Koch 9mm, with ammo for both, at a very reasonable price. I felt a lot more comfortable on the cab ride back to the hotel.
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I arrived at the small Italian restaurant about fifteen minutes before I was due. If there is one thing I have learned when dealing with people in power, whether it is legal or otherwise, is not to be late.
As I expected Fat Tony was already seated . He beckoned me over.
"First we eat, then onto business."
After a meal that couldn't have been any better if it was served in Rome, he discarded the small talk and laid the cards on the table.
From an employee of the hotel with something of a gambling problem, he was in to the Family for around $10k, he had learned that Mang had stayed there for four nights, living the life of a true high roller. The Hotel had received a call from his PA, saying he was looking for a trip in to Vegas. The Palm arranged it, comping him his flights and room at the Palms resort in Vegas.
"That's all I got for you Mack. My contact has no way of finding out if he is still in Vegas. He can't get into their records."
"You've been most helpful Mr. Mancini. What can I do to repay you?"
As he explained what he wanted, I breathed a sigh of relief. A simple case of checking out a few businesses that he either had an interest in, or was thinking of investing in. I did this kind of work daily for the law firm in my building and agreed to set someone to work on it straight away.
"I guess I will take a trip to Vegas."
I had already decided that I would drive, I didn't want the hassle of re-arming myself again and there was no way you could fly with a handgun since 9/11.
Fat Tony offered to arrange a car for me, I thanked him then said my goodbyes and returned to my hotel.
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I was going to be in the same situation in Vegas as I was in LA, I didn't know anyone. I tried to think of someone who I could call for help and came up with one person. I wasn't sure if he would be pleased to hear from me.
Back in my room I dialled the number, a recorded message answered.
"You have reached the offices of Long and company. We are currently closed for winter vacation. Please leave a message. In emergencies we can be contacted at......"
I grabbed a pen and jotted down the number. I guess this was an emergency.
It was answered on the second ring,
"Sands Resort Las Vegas messaging service, how can I help?"
"Sorry wrong number", I smiled.
My luck was truly running hot, a good time for a trip to Vegas.
I was slowly starting to feel better about this case.
TBC
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Disclaimer.
The characters portrayed here are by no means associated with persons living or dead, even though some of them may share familiar names.
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-Dave
User Reviews
Submitted by VelvetElvis (user info) at 2006-03-21 20:59:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
As I woke it occurred to me that she could still be out on the West coast.
//
Took me a tick to realize you meant the U.S. West, since you're from Eng. and this is the first in this series I've read (why I don't know, other than I've never seen any of them posted: fairly good excuse I think). Hope to read the others. Gritty good job.
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2006-03-21 19:59:33 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Nellypaal (user info) at 2006-03-21 10:14:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm going to start losing respect for myself as a man if I keep gushing over this series.
Suffice to say this is excellent.
Submitted by redskieslookfake (user info) at 2006-03-21 08:18:33 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by bigbabylons (user info) at 2005-06-03 23:15:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by nrduncan (user info) at 2005-04-06 15:59:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Spam (user info) at 2005-03-15 14:42:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
oh, that was an 'internal dialogue' Shit rather than an 'I think this post is shit' shit.
i should never get this stoned and review on Uber.
Submitted by Spam (user info) at 2005-03-15 14:40:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Shit.
I think I may have figured out how this is going to end.
Submitted by DonkeyOnTheEdge (user info) at 2005-03-08 07:32:35 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
For some reason, I picture the 30's level from Time Splitters 2.
Submitted by Davros (user info) at 2005-03-06 14:11:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
thecaes
As always your comments are appreciated.
I will try to work this in, although you may find a plethora of brackets in the next one.
-Dave
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-03-05 18:12:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I really like the "feel" of this series. It's very old-school and interesting. The only thing I don't like is that it's a little sparse at times when it comes to descriptions. There will be a break, and then I'm three lines into the dialogue before I realize, "Oh, he's already talking to Fat Tony." But I'm a little slow that way.
Also, lines like this: "From an employee of the hotel with something of a gambling problem, he was in to the Family for around $10k, he had learned that Mang had stayed there for four nights,". When you drop some extra info like that into the middle of a sentence, it reads kind of weird in my head unless you put brackets around it. E.g.: "From an employee of the hotel with something of a gambling problem (he was in to the Family for around $10k), he had learned that Mang had stayed there for four nights."
Good work.
Submitted by Davros (user info) at 2005-03-03 15:44:02 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by olivia_tremor_control (user info) at 2005-03-02 19:45:03 (#)
Ranking: 2
awesome posts every time. never a stupid NSFW post. some of the best writing on ubersite. +2
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Thank you for you kind words otc.
There were actually a couple of stupid NSFW posts but I try to keep them to a minimum.
Glad you enjoyed them though.
Thanks to everyone for their comments.
Next one soon. I promise.
-Dave
Submitted by olivia_tremor_control (user info) at 2005-03-02 19:45:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
awesome posts every time. never a stupid NSFW post. some of the best writing on ubersite. +2
Submitted by Saxon (user info) at 2005-03-02 17:15:35 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Im enjoying this Dave.
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2005-03-02 13:58:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Yep.
PF2 time.
Submitted by CookieLass (user info) at 2005-03-02 13:48:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Davros (user info) at 2005-03-02 11:09:39 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2005-03-02 10:55:14 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-03-02 10:43:22 (#)
Ranking: 2
awesome series.
i want to have sex with it.
----
awsome series.
i want to have sex with her.
-------------------------------
:sigh:
Why does no one want to have sex with ME?
-Dave
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I want to have sex with the series, Munkey, Tiger, AND you, all at the same time.
You guys can pull a train on me.
Submitted by olivia_tremor_control (user info) at 2005-03-02 12:20:26 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
definitely a kicker of all ass
Submitted by GodLovesALittleLovin (user info) at 2005-03-02 12:15:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Pentameter (user info) at 2005-03-02 12:05:28 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
You're damn good.
Submitted by ess-arr (user info) at 2005-03-02 11:37:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
dun dun dun dunnnnnnn
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2005-03-02 11:29:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
It would have been a funny twist if you had FatTony meet Mack at Disneyworld, and he shows him how to rip the park off.
Submitted by Davros (user info) at 2005-03-02 11:09:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2005-03-02 10:55:14 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-03-02 10:43:22 (#)
Ranking: 2
awesome series.
i want to have sex with it.
----
awsome series.
i want to have sex with her.
-------------------------------
:sigh:
Why does no one want to have sex with ME?
-Dave
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2005-03-02 11:00:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Good stuff. Keep em coming.
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2005-03-02 10:55:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-03-02 10:43:22 (#)
Ranking: 2
awesome series.
i want to have sex with it.
----
awsome series.
i want to have sex with her.
Submitted by knucklesnelson (user info) at 2005-03-02 10:51:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-03-02 10:43:22 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
awesome series.
i want to have sex with it.