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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781466942578 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Trafford Publishing |
| Publication date: | 07/27/2012 |
| Pages: | 152 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.35(d) |
Read an Excerpt
PARANOIA Can Kill
Waking a Retired Killer can be dangerous to your healthBy Charlie
Trafford Publishing
Copyright © 2012 CharlieAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-4257-8
Chapter One
The Event
The sun was just breaking over the golf course when Charlie started out of the house. He had to get the last item to be packed. The movers had packed all of the household goods, including several weapons, into the moving van, yesterday. Helen and Charlie had packed all of their precious, breakable items into the car. This last item was to go into the trunk of the car with other precious items, but last night's confrontation, with Juan, would make Charlie use it before he packed it.
Suddenly, the golf course sprinklers started to spray fifty foot jets of water. They always provided Charlie with a water show as the sunlight sparkled through the mist that drifted over the golf course. It was his own little backyard Bellogio. He picked up a small shovel and walked down the steps of the deck to the backyard and out to the bird feeder. He moved the feeder aside and dug into the soft earth about six inches to find an oak box he had buried eleven years ago. It was inscribed "friends forever". He carried the box up to the deck remembering back to the day, 40 years ago, that Sal had given it to him. He brushed off the dirt, opened the box and removed the cold, blue steel gun. Charlie screwed on the silencer, closed the box and put the gun in the waistband of his shorts and covered it with his shirt. He wondered what Sal would say about what he was about to do.
Charlie walked back down the deck stairs and through the bushes on the side of his house to the bike path that ran along the roadway. After about three blocks, the bike path crossed the street and ran along the front of the horse farm. The horses were out running around making horse prints in the morning dew. They played like little children stopping every once in a while to nibble on the bales of hay. Charlie would miss putting his granddaughter on the pony named Sparkle, but it, like everything else changed as the grandchildren grew up and went to school. Now the grandkids only came to visit on Christmas and Easter and the Hilton Head climate was a little too cool. Charlie and Helen hoped that the Florida weather would be warmer for them and they would get to see them more often. As he crossed the next street, he saw the cemetery coming up on the left. He wondered if any other community had its own private cemetery, it seemed odd but then Sea Pines was a very unique place.
As he crossed into the cemetery and started down the gravel road, Charlie began to think about last night. He and Helen were out for a walk when they heard the little boy's screams coming from the cemetery and saw the caretaker beating his son with a thick leather belt and huge brass buckle. This was the third or fourth time they had seen Juan beat his son Luis. They had stopped him once before and other people in the neighborhood had called the Police and Social Services. On one occasion, the doctors at the hospital had called the police when Luis was admitted with cuts and a broken arm. He was saved from arrest when Juan's wife and son claimed that the boy had tripped over a toy and fallen down the stairs. Unfortunately, Juan was a typical abuser, saved by a family who always protected him because he always promised he would never do it again. A police officer had told Charlie that it was only a matter of time before he killed Luis.
This time was different for Helen and Charlie, Luis was cowering on the ground with blood on his forehead and arm. Juan, who was a small Mexican with dark hair and a beard, obviously needed to bully some one so as to feel important. Charlie ripped the belt from Juan's hand and the caretaker screamed, "You old fart, he belongs to me, and I'll do whatever I want to him, he's my property". Not in this country you little asshole, if I have to, I'll kill you. Juan threw the boy in his truck and screamed out the window, "You're an old fuck who should mind his own business". Unfortunately for Juan, Charlie's and more importantly Helen's grandson was the same age as Luis, and in Helen and Charlie's mind, it just became their business.
He was about 50 yards away from Juan, who was working on a power mower in the back of the maintenance area near the tool shed. He surveyed the area no cars, no people, a few deer 100 yards away. He was walking faster now almost running. He was in a rush to kill the fuck. At 20 yards, Juan saw him and stepped around the mower with a large wrench in his hand. "Your back again, you old meddling bastard". Charlie thought to himself, not old, just retired. At 10 yards, he pulled out the gun and put two shots in Juan's chest. The force of the bullets drove him over the mower. As Charlie stepped around the mower, Juan tried to move but Charlie put another bullet in the back of his head. Juan would never hit Luis again.
Charlie put the gun back in his waistband and looked around. Nothing! The shots were so silent that two deer about 100 yards away continued to feed. Charlie felt safe. He was amazed, how all those instincts from a decade ago had kicked into gear as if it was yesterday. He mused to himself, it's like riding a bike or making love, you never forget.
As he walked out of the cemetery, he thought about the potential ramifications of what he had just done. He doubted that a small town police force would check the slugs with the FBI data base and discover that they came from a gun used in more than a dozen Mafia hit's a decade ago. The silencer and method of the killing would cause some suspicion but the silence early in the morning was worth the risk.
As he crossed the street to the horse farm, his favorite mare spotted him and came running over for her apple. Everyday, Charlie would cut up a couple of apples and put them in his pocket for his daily walk. Today was no exception. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his friend Bill walking toward him. The horses are going to miss you Charlie. In fact, we're all going to miss you. I'll miss you more than most because I won't have a Yankee fan to tease when the Sox's kick their asses. Yeah, I know you Sox's fans have two world series wins, we have 26, but you still think you're the best. It's the curse of the Bambino. It fried every Red Sox fan's brain when you sold us Ruth in 1919 and the retardation has passed on through generations to you. Bill laughed, wait till the playoffs. They shook hands and Charlie continued his walk home.
This time he went around to the driveway and punched the garage door code. He stepped inside and closed the door. Once inside, he took off all his clothes including his sneakers and put them in the black garbage bag he had left out the night before. Charlie walked to the outside dressing area, took a shower, dressed in the new clothes, and threw the garbage bag in the trunk. Finally, as a precaution, he dismantled the gun into 10 or 12 pieces putting the pieces in a small box in the trunk.
Charlie walked around the house to the deck. Helen was sitting on the screened-in porch drinking coffee. Want some? Can't wait. Charlie usually had two cups before his walk but today his mind was elsewhere and he skipped. How did it go? Perfect, Juan will never hit Luis again. Did we do the right thing, she asked?. Yes, we had to stop the abuse but now we have to live with the consequences.
They had talked about the situation over and over into the wee hours of the morning. Charlie and Helen had been best friends for 45 years and talked over every decision they ever made. Both of them were well aware of the chance they were taking, but Helen thought of that little boy being beaten for the next ten years and it was more than she could bear. She told Charlie he would kill a mobster without blinking an eye and it was time for him to protect Luis.
Helen got up and went into the house to take a shower. Charlie sat with his coffee and thought about his 30 years as an enforcer for the Magnetti Family. It started by accident in 1957 and lasted till his retirement in 1989. During that time, Charlie was in the Navy Seal, a design engineer for Bell Labs and an executive in the Telephone Company.
To the world outside the Magnetti Family, he was a quiet, ordinary guy with a wife and three kids. To Sal and the Family he was a deadly assassin. During those thirty years, he was an invaluable asset that put and kept the Magnetti's in power. His profession gave him the flexibility to travel, his intelligence kept him far ahead of the authorities and his Navy training made him deadly. The relationship made him a multi-millionaire with his money invested in the Caymans and Grand Bahama.
At 11:30am, the two of them checked the house for things that might be left behind and left the house for the last time. After they passed through the security gate, Charlie made a right into the Public's parking lot. He pulled around behind the store, opened the trunk and threw the black garbage bag into the huge dumpster. Next stop was Wild Wings for lunch with Patty.
Their daughter Patty had lived with them for almost forty years but she had decided not to move to Naples. She had her friends, job and needed to spread her wings. Of course, her mother didn't think so and was very upset. Both Charlie and, more so Helen, had buyers remorse over the move to Naples. The move to Naples seemed like a good idea in June, but by October, leaving Patty and most importantly her house seemed like a stupid idea. From Charlie's point-of-view 52 windows, 4 skylights, a 3600 square foot house surrounded by huge oak trees, that never stopped dropping leaves on a roof that needed to be blown, was more than he could leave for Helen, if he should die. The lady down the block had lost her husband five years ago and Charlie watched her deteriorate under the work and stress of the house. At 65, Charlie couldn't take the chance of leaving Helen in that situation.
Wild Wings was their favorite pub. Danny the bartender was a dream for the patrons with free drinks and sometimes free food. It was great for Danny because of the great tips. However, if you were the owner of the pub trying to make a living, he was a disaster.
Wild Wings had awesome chicken. Charlie and Helen loved the honey mustard and barbeque wings. Patty loved the virgin wings. The best night was two-for one-Tuesday when they ran a two for one special. On those nights, the free world would come to Wild Wings. Helen and Charlie would meet their friends Betty, Charlie, Jay and Kathy for dozens of wings and a night of beer, wine and lots of laughs.
Today, they ordered a honey mustard and virgin with three diet cokes. Patty arrived at 12:15pm and they talked about her coming to Naples. That had been the subject of their conversation in recent months but she was sure she wanted to stay in Hilton Head. Her mother wanted her to know that they were only a few hours away and she was welcome to change her mind at any time.
At 2pm, Helen and Charlie started the drive to Naples amid tears, hugs and lots of kisses. On the way to Naples, they stopped at each rest stop along I-95 and I-4 to dispose of each piece of the gun that would never be used again.
Chapter Two
The Nightmare Cop
It was an unusually cold morning in the Low Country, as Ben stepped out of his front door to jog. He had jogged every morning, sick or well, in good weather or bad, since joining the F.B.I. 25 years ago. The exercise had kept him in very good shape. He was 6'1" and weighed 190, with a blond crew cut and strong blue eyes. Last night, the temperature had dropped to 45 and he felt cold for the first mile. To Ben, who had lived in the Low Country for five years, it was freezing. Funny how temperatures that seemed like spring time when he was jogging in Washington D.C. felt like Alaska in South Carolina.
After his five mile run, he pushed the start button on the coffee maker and took a quick shower. By the time he finished, the coffee maker had his coffee hot and fresh. Ordinarily, he would sit outside on his back porch watching the egrets catch breakfast and have his first cup of coffee. Today, he sat in his family room looking out at the mud flats and a few birds willing to brave the cold to try to catch some breakfast. At 6am, he poured himself a large cup to go, cleaned up the coffee maker and a few glasses from last night. He grabbed his gun and badge, went out to his police cruiser and started off to work in Beaufort.
The attraction to Beaufort was the warm winters and less hectic life style. He had found a small place ten miles from Beaufort were he could enjoy watching sports and playing cards with a small group of select friends. Gone were the dozens of airports that all blended together into a bad dream. He had spent 20 years crisscrossing the country working for the F.B.I. The job was 24/7 when he was on a case and it seemed like he was always on a case. There was no lack of bad guys and some cases took years to solve. In fact, some remained open to this day.
The job had cost him his marriage and he lost his kids in a bitter divorce that made him the bad guy. He also got an ulcer which stopped him from eating those great pepperoni pizzas in Luigi's. The divorce and ulcer lessened his desire to catch bad guys and increased his desire to find a new life.
A friend of his suggested Beaufort, in the low country of South Carolina. It was a great little town and it had a laid back charm that he saw in Prince of Tides. He took some vacation five years ago, liked what he saw, got a job and turned in his papers.
The Beaufort County sheriffs department was small town stuff with a group of just out of school police officers and three experienced detectives. He immediately became the lead detective and often thought of the department as a college dorm with him as the chaperone. The only other real adult was John Bishop the sheriff. He had been sheriff for as long as anyone could remember. He was pushing 70, was about 6 feet with gray hair and a mustache. He looked like the Southern Gentleman you would see in a magazine advertisement. But his most important quality was that he knew everyone in town by their first name.
John hated the growth that had taken place over the last ten or fifteen years. In particular, he hated the northerners who retired down there and ruined "his" county. Ben hoped John thought of him as an exception.
When John had a problem involving one of those northerners, he used Ben's big city style and expertise to keep things running smoothly. Clearly, John's objective was to die with his cowboy boots on, in his office, in about 50 years.
The sheriffs office was built in 1965 when the population of Beaufort was one-third of the current 250,000. As a result, the twenty officers and three detectives were crammed into a space designed for half that number. The sheriff and Ben had the only two private offices. Ben was happy with his office even though it could only hold a small steel desk, chair and a small file cabinet. Most importantly, he could shut the door and block out the noise of the "dormitory".
At 8am, he was returning to his office with his third cup of coffee when his phone rang. Good Morning, Ben Marks!! Well I'm glad to see your on time you old retrofit from the F.B.I.
Bubba James was the only person in Beaufort County that knew him from the old days in D.C. and he loved to tease him about the F.B.I. Bubba was in the Atlanta office when Ben graduated from the academy and was assigned to Atlanta. He liked Ben, took him under his wing and taught him everything he knew before Ben was promoted to the Major Crimes Unit in Quantico. They stayed in touch and Ben would call him whenever he needed advice. Ben and Bubba remained good friends, but about ten years ago Bubba took a bullet in the gut and almost died. He retired and took a job as head of security in a community called Sea Pines on Hilton Head Island. In fact, it was Bubba who told Ben about the job in the sheriffs office and recommended Ben to John Bishop.
Me on time! This is my third cup of coffee. In fact, I'm surprised to hear from you this early in the morning. I thought you Sea Pines executives got to the office at noon so you could go to lunch at the "club". What happened, did someone set your bed on fire? Very funny Yankee, he drawled with his heavy southern voice. It's so funny that I'm not going to tell you about the shooting this morning. I'm going to call the State Police in Columbia and have someone with real expertise come help me. Oh really, I guess you don't want this crime solved. Oh that's a fine way to talk about the States premier crime solving unit. Yeah they're so elite, the government is investigating their laboratory procedures and jeopardizing a half dozen of my cases. That's exactly why I called you, I need your eye for detail, your intuition and most importantly, I need someone who won't screw up my crime scene.
Look Bubba, it's a cold morning so it better be worth my while to drive forty miles from my warm Beaufort office to Hilton Head. Bubba said; "It will be, it will be as he hung up.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from PARANOIA Can Kill by Charlie Copyright © 2012 by Charlie. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Chapter 1: The Event....................1Chapter 2: The Nightmare Cop....................7
Chapter 3: Hilton Head....................11
Chapter 4: The Connection....................15
Chapter 5: The Beginning....................18
Chapter 6: The Contract....................25
Chapter 7: Sending A Message....................30
Chapter 8: The Bahamas....................35
Chapter 9: Message Received....................38
Chapter 10: The FBI Is Interested....................40
Chapter 11: The Meet....................43
Chapter 12: Bad News From Hilton Head....................55
Chapter 13: The FBI Starts To Check Charlie....................60
Chapter 14: The Exit Strategy....................67
Chapter 15: The First Day Of The Rest Of Charlie's Life....................79
Chapter 16: Who's in Charge?....................93
Chapter 17: The Funeral....................96
Chapter 18: Peace at Last....................99
Chapter 19: Finding The Hit Man....................103
Chapter 20: Finally Some Good News....................106
Chapter 21: A Bad News Day....................115
Chapter 22: Another Funeral....................123
Chapter 23: Lola Gets Even....................127
Chapter 24: It's Wedding Time....................133
Chapter 25: The End....................138