Secrets Ch. 01

I parked my car in a copse of trees, and set up a small camping tent. Melina and I used to go camping a lot when we were married, but I hadn't been tent camping since my ordeal of two years before.

I looked out over the lights of the town of Apple Grove to my south, Providence Springs to my west, and I could make out a few lights of the town of Springer to my northwest. As I looked over Fillmore County in the dark, I realized that while I'd grown up here, this was no longer my home; except for my parents laid to rest inside the mausoleum in the cemetery, I had no more connection to this place. It was dying on the outside, and it was dying within my heart...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Wednesday morning. Just before dawn I broke camp and drove back towards Apple Grove via backroads. I saw no Police until I got into town. As I was driving east towards Rome, I saw the cemetery to the left. I decided to stop by.

The mausoleum was in the back (north side) of the cemetery. As I looked at the names of my parents inscribed on the marble stone covering their place in the gloaming dawn, I suddenly had a tremendous urge to pee. I walked around the side of the mausoleum to the back of it. There was about three feet of space between the building and the back fence, scrub bushes growing along the fence, and some houses and a park on the other side.

I opened my pants, took out my penis, and began to urinate on the ground at the base of the fence. As I did, I looked at the mausoleum. It was made of granite bricks, like house bricks, light gray; and cemented together like house bricks, in rows with the brick ends at the middle of the brick below. But the back side was different. It was vertical sheets of what looked more like marble, but had a pinkish tinge to it. Sandstone? I wondered to myself. Those sheets of stone were thin, about an inch thick, very large, 4 feet by 4 feet, and smooth. I idly wondered why the back was covered with those sheets.

Once I was done relieving myself, I came back around to the front of the mausoleum. Looking over the cemetery, I saw the lights of a car coming along the road. It slowed down at the cemetery entrance, but did not turn in. Hmm, that was curious, I thought to myself. Did I miss a tracking device attached to my car?

I drove to Rome, wary of my surroundings, and went to my hotel room. The door was cracked open; someone had been inside while I was gone. I peeked inside, seeing no one. Then I checked the bathroom and closet, finding no one.

I took a shower and did my toilet, then put on fresh clothes and went and got some breakfast...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"And that's that." said Hamilton Phillips of Grove & Partners, P.C. after we'd signed the paperwork, and he'd handed me a check with a number in the lower six figures on it. The other party in this real estate deal was a youngish man named Chip Blake.

"Thank you." I said as I put the check in my billfold. "Mr. Blake, I'm curious... what are you going to do with the property? Put a house on it? Develop it?"

"It's large for a house, and a bit small for a development." said Blake, with a forced, set smile. "Maybe some apartments, mobile Senior living, something like that."

I nodded, knowing I wouldn't get the truth out of him. I shook hands with him and the attorneys, and took my leave of them. My ties to Apple Grove... were 'ovah'.

Part 6 - Getting 'Connected'

2:45pm, Wednesday afternoon I had decided to drive all the way to Midtown in one shot, and I took a longer way around that would keep me out of Coltrane County. I crossed into the State into Benning County, the 'land that God forgot', and made my way from there to my house in Midtown.

I arrived at my brokerage in time to deposit the check for the property, then went to my house. When I pulled into the driveway, a black Cadillac Escalade pulled into the driveway behind me, and another one was on the street in front of the house.

"Mr. Don Troy?" said a man in a suit and wearing sunglasses.

"Who wants to know?" I asked back.

"Sir, we work for Mr. Jimmy Cerone." said the man. "He wants you to have lunch with him."

"I don't know any Jimmy---" I started, then stopped when the two men exhibited weapons, powerful handguns.

"Sir, Mr. Cerone promises your safety," said the lead man, "but he does require your presence."

"Like I have a choice." I said. I got into the backseat with the man, and we backed out of the driveway...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We went to the Midtown Luigi's, which was a new Italian place that was reputed to have the best food in the State... and a waiting list for reservations even for lunch that went for months. I was shown into a back room, where an older man with an aura of power about him was waiting.

"Thank you for coming, Mr. Troy." the man said courteously. "Please, have a seat and join me for some late lunch. I've taken the liberty of ordering the lasagna for both of us. It recently won a prestigious award, so I'm told."

"Thank you." I said. After we were seated, wine was poured from the same bottle into both our glasses, and then lasagna was served from the same casserole onto our plates.

"As you can see," said the man, "you are eating and drinking from the same dish and bottle that I am. So we will either die together or live together, yes?"

"Let's hope for the latter." I said. I tasted the lasagna. "Wow." I said, stunned. "This is even better than I've heard. Exceptionally good."

"Thank you." said the man. "Oh, allow me to introduce myself, Mr. Troy. My name is Jimmy Cerone. Have you heard of me?"

"I mean no disrespect, sir." I said. "But... no sir."

Cerone chuckled. "It's probably a good thing. Most hardworking decent citizens have never heard my name. My nickname is 'Coffin' Cerone, and I am the man that runs Southport."

Ah, a mobster, I thought to myself. I'm having lunch with a mobster.

"I run the shipping and transportation companies in Southport, but I'm better known as the Boss of Bosses in Southport." said Cerone. "That is not bragging, but just the truth. My rival in the City is Moe Molinari, the real estate developer. Midtown is considered an 'open city', neutral territory."

I nodded. "I understand, Mr. Cerone. But why do you wish to speak to me?"

"Because," said Cerone, "I know all about you. I know what you endured at the hands of the Federal Government two years ago: the loss of your parents, nearly the loss of your ability to walk... hell, nearly the loss of your very life at their hands. And that you are now a licensed Private Investigator."

"Yes sir." I said. "But I'm sure you know that if I take work from a man of your... esteem... I'll lose that license in a hurry."

"Ah, very brave. Fearless. I like that." said Cerone. "That is nothing to worry about... oh, please, if you'd put another helping of the lasagna onto my plate, then help yourself to as much as you like... yes, thank you. As I was saying, Mr. Troy, I know all about you. And I know that the Police up in the University town have asked you to find McGinty's Materials. Then that son of a bitch Jack Burke also asked...well, 'asked' is too kind a term for his bullying threats... he wanted you to find the Materials for him."

"Since you know about it, sir," I said, "there's no point in denying it."

"What I want you to know," said Cerone, "is that if you do find those papers, and I suspect jump drives as well, I will reward you handsomely if you bring them to me instead of the authorities or that fool Burke... oh yes, I know what you are thinking: that I will kill you once you turn them over. But I can assure you, Mr. Troy, that I did not build my businesses based upon a shoddy reputation for keeping my word. You find them, you give them to me, and ten million dollars is yours, as well as enough protection for you to live to enjoy it. And I have legitimate businesses that could use your abilities, if you care for employment with any of them."

"That's very... kind of you, sir." I said as I poured Cerone more wine, then some for me.

"Ah yes," said Cerone, "I also heard that you whipped Jack Burke in personal combat yesterday. He's a man that hates to lose, in any contest. How did you do it?"

"Aikido, sir." I said. "I've been taking it for... years..." I began wondering how I knew Aikido, as I had no memory of any lessons of it. I felt my headache coming back on, followed by a lightheaded feeling and pain in my back. Had I been drugged?

The moment cleared, and I caught Cerone saying "...that son of a bitch Burke. Says he will devote his time as Governor to wiping me out, when he is far dirtier than I am. I won't hurt his wife and children... yes, I know she's your ex-wife... but if he is elected, he will not see one day in Office, I can promise you that. What do you say to that, Mr. Troy?"

"No love lost for Jack Burke here, sir." I said with alacrity. Cerone laughed heartily.

"Good. I like you, Mr. Troy. May I call you Don?" Cerone said. I nodded and he said "Don, you have potential. I see it in you. I can help you do much better than you're doing now. But first... McGinty's Materials. Find those, then the rest is in your hands."

"Thank you, sir." I said. "May I ask if there is anything you can tell me that will help me find them? What's in them, or where or how he might have hidden them?"

"They are papers that can be used for blackmail, that prove scandals of every kind, that prove illegal financial transactions." said Cerone. "I freely admit, I want what McGinty had on Jack Burke. It is no coincidence that Burke held back from running for Governor or Senator until McGinty was safely dead, and I'm sure that Burke is lying awake at night knowing that his exposure awaits him if they are found."

I nodded. I'd love to find those papers and see Jack Burke's balls really get busted, and by more than Aikido. "Sir," I said, "I don't know if I can find them, but if I do, I can assure you that seeing Jack Burke get what's coming to him will be worth the effort..."

Part 7 - Ambushed

I was returned to my house after the meeting with Jimmy 'Coffin' Cerone. I did a quick DuckDuckGo search of him, and found only that he was the head of Southport Shipping & Rail, a conglomerate company based out of Southport, where a lot of river shipping occurred. I had been amazed at how openly and candidly he'd talked about things.

I packed several boxes of my clothes and put them in my vehicle. Two more hours on the road was not something I was looking forward to, but better to do it today and get back to work tomorrow.

I drove up the Interstate towards the City, then took the exit to Pottsville and worked my way up to the University-City Highway, which people in the Town & County called the Nextdoor Highway. It was already dark when I arrived without incident. I took two of the boxes of clothes into my new duplex apartment, then stepped out to get the third...

*CLICK!*

It was the sound of a hammer of a firearm being pulled back, and the business end was now in my earhole. I'd let my guard down, and I'd been jumped...

To be continued.