BK 2 - Chapter 6 - The FBI
Ricky Giordano was the nephew of Luca Giordano, the head of the Italian mafia syndicate based out of San Francisco. He was ruthless and heartless, which had encouraged his uncle to give him the title of enforcer. Ricky was smart, too, he ordered the hits on people, but he made sure never to get his hands dirty.
The day he and his men were near the piers, they had just finished a meeting with his attorneys regarding the charges being brought against him. The FBI thought they had enough evidence to convict him for ordering the hits on fifty-seven people. Ricky had laughed when they gave him the number, it was closer to two hundred, but they didn't need to know that.
Ricky's one weakness was pretty young women, and that's what may have cost him his life. When he had seen the beauty that bumped into them, he wanted her, and Ricky always got what he wanted. However, he wanted her for another reason when he realized she had stolen his money clip. The card inside had the list of every person he had ordered to be killed and the method they were killed.
He had to get that back before she turned it in to the FBI. If they had that card, then his life would be over. His only saving grace was that Ricky didn't think she was smart enough to figure out the clip had a secret compartment. He would let her live if he could get the clip back. If she turned it in, he would make sure she died an excruciating death.
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Nine months after the girl stole the clip, one of Ricky's men happened to be dumping a body near a roach motel when he saw her coming out of one of the rooms. Gianni recognized her from the sketch that was passed around to the crew. Ricky told him to go inside and look for the clip. He figured they could take it back if she left it there, and she would think one of the other homeless scum had broken into her room.
An hour later, Gianni told him that he had torn the room apart and didn't find it anywhere, so Ricky assumed she had it on her. He ordered Gianni to sit outside the room and let him know when she returned so they could get what was theirs.
Gianni didn't do as Ricky said; instead, he put a note on the mirror and left the area. He figured the girl was homeless, so she would be back and wouldn't have anywhere else to go. He would check on the room from time to time. After all, he had seen her once, and Gianni was sure he'd see her again. He got into his car and drove to his mistress's house; no need to tell Ricky his plans. He would tell him after he caught the girl.
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Kitty clung to Aiden's hand as they inspected her room. All of her clothes had been torn up and thrown on the floor. The mattress was cut open, and the dresser and nightstand drawers were emptied and lying on the floor. Kitty was upset about her clothes being ruined because now she had nothing except for what she was wearing, but everything else she could care less about.
She pulled Aiden into the bathroom with her, which was just as torn up as the rest of the place. Kitty got on her knees and looked under the bathroom sink. She had duct-taped an envelope near the back of the sink bowl on the wall. It had her money, the money clip, and her essential papers. She pulled the envelope off the wall and stood up. Aiden was looking at her in surprise.
"When you've had people steal your stuff, you learn the places they don't look. This is the money clip and what money I have left. I'll use it to buy clothes because they ruined all of mine. Do you think we can stop at a thrift store on the way to Monterey?" Aiden was still staring at her.
"How can you be so calm when those men threatened you? I'm ready to tear them apart for invading your space." He had to calm himself and Harley down. Harley wanted to roar his anger, but now was not the time to talk about his lion. He figured the men who did this wouldn't be gone long.
"If I were scared of every person who threatened to kill me, I'd be living in a hole somewhere, shaking like a leaf. These guys may be the worst, but we'll do what's right and hand this over to the police. Then we'll get out of town." Kitty started looking through her clothes on the floor to see if anything was salvageable.
Aiden watched as she went through her things, trying to save what she could. Once again, it made him realize how much he took for granted that he could buy new clothes whenever he wanted, whereas she was trying to save her few pieces of used clothing. He decided they would stop on the way to Monterey to buy her clothes, but not a thrift store. He was going to take her shopping to get any clothes her heart desired. It was time for her to know what it was like to have things she wanted and not just what she needed.
"Let's get out of here, and yes, we'll stop and get you some clothes on the way. I think we should drop the clip off at the FBI rather than the police. We'll tell them that you found it and it has a hidden compartment on it you thought looked suspicious. Hopefully, they'll look at the card and figure out what's on it." Kitty took one last look around her room and decided to leave the clothes she was going to take. They weren't in great shape, and she hoped to find something better at the thrift store.
"Alright, let's go." Kitty had her ID, social security card, and birth certificate with the money she had hidden. She removed everything except the money clip and put them in her pocket. Kitty often looked at her birth certificate, hoping to see something different, but all it said for her mother's name was Jane Doe, and the space for her father was blank.
They left the room and got into Aiden's car. Kitty left the door like it was when they had arrived, hoping that if the men came back, they would think she hadn't been there.
Aiden drove to the Federal Building, and Kitty had him wait in the car while she went inside. She had already decided what she was going to do. When she got inside, she went to the front desk, where a federal officer sat. Kitty walked up to the woman with a smile.
"Hello, I found something, and I thought it would be best if I turned it in." She pulled out the envelope, and the woman stood up.
"What's in the envelope? I need to scan it before you can open it?" The officer pulled out a hand-held scanner and ran it over the envelope. It beeped, so she looked at Kitty in question.
"It's a money clip. I saw a man drop it near the piers. I tried to give it back to him, but before I could, he got in a car and left. I wasn't going to worry about it, but then I saw the same man on the news. It was Ricky Giordano. I'm going to leave it here with you because you'll know who to give it to. Also, tell them there is a small button in the middle of the G that pops out a secret compartment. I have to go now. I want to remain anonymous because I saw what Ricky's being accused of. Please give it to the people investigating him. Thank you." Kitty ran out the door before the officer had time to respond.
Regina took the envelope in her hand and felt the heaviness. She walked to the x-ray scanner to see what was in the envelope without opening it. She saw on the screen that it was a money clip, just as the girl had said. Regina took the envelope and headed to the elevators. She decided this was something she wanted to give to the agents herself.
She knocked on the conference room door where the federal agents and prosecutor were working on the Giordano case. When they told her to come in, she tried to look professional as she addressed the head agent Malcolm Prescott.
"Excuse me, agent Prescott a girl just dropped this envelope off downstairs. She said she saw Ricky Giordano drop it near the piers and decided to turn it in when she saw him on the news. She also said a button in the middle of the G would unlock a secret compartment." Regina stopped talking as the agent walked toward her.
"Where is this girl now? We need to question her." Regina hesitated as her confidence began to waiver.
"She ran out saying she wanted to remain anonymous because of who he is." She saw anger in Agent Prescott's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.
"It may be better that we don't have a name so his people can't get to her. Thank you, Regina; we'll take a look at it." She took a sigh of relief as she left.
Malcolm took the envelope and went to the table where they had been looking at the evidence. He put on a pair of gloves and carefully removed the money clip. He turned it around in his hand and immediately recognized it as the one he had seen Ricky flash many times. Malcolm began to get excited, hoping the girl was right that there was a secret compartment.
He took pictures of it from different angles while everyone else stood around holding their breath that this would be the nail in the coffin they needed. Malcolm ran his finger over the G, and, at first, he didn't feel anything. He did it again, and this time he felt a tiny bump.
He pushed it and saw something pop open on the side. He pulled on the little card with his fingernail.
"Someone get me an adapter for a micro SD card." Malcolm took pictures of the compartment and the card before taking it all the way out. Someone handed him the adapter, and he stuck the card into it before putting it into the card reader on his computer. Everyone crowded around him while they waited to see what was on it.
Once it finished downloading, Malcolm opened the file. It took them a minute to decipher what they were reading, but when they did, everyone gasped. It was a list of everyone Ricky had killed and how they died. Malcolm couldn't believe his eyes; they had all the proof they needed.
"We got you, asshole."
