Cure

11

March 25, 2010

Thursday, 2:45 p.m.

Louie felt energized as he neared his restaurant. He’d used the bus ride from Rikers Island to consider Paulie’s advice, and by the time he got back to his car he’d decided to follow Paulie’s suggestions. It was now clear in his mind that there was a time to avoid violence, and there was a time in which violence was the only solution. And this was one of those situations. At the same time, he was convinced he was right about not taking out Hideki. There were too many negatives, including the concern of losing the Japanese income stream and flow of crystal meth, even short-term. Instead, the disappearance of Susumu Nomura and Yoshiaki Eto was the perfect message to everyone, but most specifically to Hideki. The plan wasn’t necessarily going to be easy, but it was doable. Accordingly, Louie had started by calling Hideki and requesting a meeting at the Venetian for three-thirty to go over the evening’s plans, to which Hideki had immediately agreed.

Louie parked his car in his spot at the rear of the restaurant and walked in the back door. He knew all the guys would still be there, because after he’d made the call to Hideki to set up the meeting for that afternoon, he’d called Carlo.

“Did you get to see Paulie?” Carlo had asked. “And do we have a plan for tonight with the two crazy-ass Japs?”

“Yes to both questions,” Louie had said. “We have a plan but with different rules of engagement.”

“How so?” Carlo had asked, not trying to hide his disappointment.

“You’ll know soon enough,” Louie had snapped back. “Why I’m calling is to make sure you guys are still there when I return.”

“We’re here,” Carlo had said.

After walking through a short hallway containing the restrooms, Louie pounded open the swinging door leading into the kitchen, catching Benito off guard as he sat on the countertop, shooting the breeze with the chef, John Franco. Guiltily, Benito dropped his feet to the floor and stood. Louie glared at him for a moment but quickly decided he was too busy to ream him out for behavior the health department would hardly condone. “Did the guys eat?”

“Yes, they did,” Benito answered smartly.

“Is there any of the pasta left?”

“I have the sauce,” John Franco said. “I’ll have fresh pasta in ten minutes.”

Without answering, Louie pushed through the swinging doors leading into the dining room. Carlo, Brennan, Arthur, and Ted were sitting around the table, poker chips and dollar bills piled up in the table’s center. Empty espresso cups littered the table’s periphery. Carlo slid out from the booth so Louie could slide into his usual spot.

“So how was Paulie?” Carlo asked after Louie had nodded a greeting to each of his henchmen.

“Weird,” Louie said. “He’s lost a lot of weight. Plus, he’s found God.”

“You mean he’s become a Bible banger?” Carlo questioned.

“I don’t really know,” Louie admitted. “He said he’d found the Lord and then talked like the old Paulie Cerino. The issue didn’t come up again until almost the end of our talk, and then only briefly. It might be an act for the parole board. I think he’s getting desperate about not getting parole.”

“So what’s the plan for tonight?” Carlo asked.

Louie then told them about his conversation with Paulie, trying to remember all the details, such as the clever idea of the diversionary explosion concept to convince Hideki that Louie was serious about helping with the break-in. The only time he paused was when Benito brought out Louie’s pasta and placed the steaming plate under his nose. Benito poured him a glass of Barolo and another of sparkling water.

“Will there be anything else?” Benito asked.

Louie waved the waiter off without responding, and as soon as Benito was out of earshot, he went back to his conversation with Paulie and Paulie’s suggestions, most specifically about getting rid of both Susumu and Yoshiaki.

“So we’re going on the offensive here?” Carlo asked. He was pleased and happy to show it.

“Most definitely,” Louie responded. “In this business, sometimes you need to use violence to keep the peace. We can’t have the likes of those two wandering around shooting whomever and wherever they please. It gives us all a bad name. At the same time, when you use violence you have to limit the fallout, which brings us to the morgue issue. You all understand that, don’t you?”

No one spoke, causing Louie to repeat the question.

“I guess so,” Carlo said. As the head enforcer, Carlo was expected to speak for the group.

“The point is that it is important Satoshi’s death continues to be thought of as a natural death. We would be accomplices if it were considered a homicide, and we don’t want that.”

“Surely not,” Carlo agreed.

“Paulie was also insistent about this medical examiner, Laurie Montgomery. We have to make sure she’s not associated with the case. If she is, we have to do something to get her off the case. It’s as simple as that.”

“What exactly do we do if she is on the case?” Carlo asked.

“Paulie didn’t have any suggestions. He was just insistent she not be involved. But we’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it.”

“Now let’s go back to Susumu Nomura and Yoshiaki Eto,” Carlo said. “We’re supposed to pick them up as if we are going to help them break into iPS USA but whack them instead.”

“That’s it,” Louie said. “And I don’t want their bodies found. Drive them way out to the tip of Brooklyn, way out near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. I want them in the ocean, not the bay.”

Carlo looked at Brennan and shrugged, wondering if his partner had any questions.

“How are we going to pick them up?” Brennan asked. “Like last night, in front of their apartments on the Lower East Side?”

“No,” Louie said. “There’s always the chance someone will spot you hanging around their neighborhood. I want to arrange a pickup in a public place. Do you have any preference?

Carlo and Brennan exchanged a glance.

“Come on, guys, give me a location. Hideki’s going to be here at three-thirty, and I want to have this planned out.”

“How about Union Square in front of the Barnes and Noble bookstore,” Brennan said. “There are always enough people loitering around the area.”

“That’s settled,” Louie said, taking another bite of his pasta. “What time should we say for them to be in Union Square?”

“Well,” Brennan said. “If we’re supposed to be breaking into a Midtown Fifth Avenue office building, it shouldn’t be too early.”

“I don’t think the time matters,” Carlo said. “I mean, we’re not going to be actually doing the break-in.”

“Well, then just pick, for chrissake,” Louie snapped. “Where do you have in mind to do the hit?”

Again Carlo and Brennan looked at each other as if waiting for the other to decide.

Louie looked skyward in frustration. “This isn’t rocket science,” he complained. “What about at the pier.” The Vaccarro organization in the past had had a fruit import company as a cover in Maspeth on the East River just south of the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. The warehouse and the pier were still there but in sad shape. They hadn’t been able to sell them. They used the warehouse for storage.

“That’s fine,” Carlo said. Brennan nodded in agreement. The whole area was deserted, especially at night.

Louie looked at Arthur and Ted. “You guys in agreement? Because I want all of you in on it so there’s no trouble, as wild as these Japs are supposed to be.”

Arthur and Ted nodded.

“All right,” Louie continued. “We got the pickup place, we got the location of the hit, but we still don’t have the pickup time. What about eleven o’clock. What do you say?”

“That’s fine,” Carlo said, looking over at Brennan, who nodded.

“Jesus,” Louie said. “Must I come along and be the band leader? You guys can be pathetic.”

“How are we going to get them to come to the pier?” Carlo asked.

“Do I have to tell you everything?” Louie said, shaking his head in despair. “Tell them that’s where the explosives are stored for the distraction during the break-in. I don’t know. You figure it out.” Louie paused. “Are we okay now? We have the pickup location and hour, and we have the hit location, and what you’re going to do with the bodies. Of course you’ll remove all identification. I mean, that’s a given.”

Everyone nodded.

“Now let’s go back to the morgue issue. Carlo, you and Brennan head over there right now.” Louie glanced at this watch. It was almost three-thirty. “Go in and ask for Vinnie Amendola. Say you’re family. When you talk to him, say that you’re working for Paulie and that you know what Paulie did for his father.”

“What was it?”

“I’m not sure of all the details, but Paulie said it had to do with the father having embezzled a couple hundred bucks in union funds, nothing huge. For that Vinnie’s father was supposedly going to be iced unless he came up with the money, plus fifty percent. Since he had done some work for Paulie, Paulie lent him the money, saving his life.”

“What if he refuses to talk to me?”

Louie stared at Carlo with disbelief. “What is this, a new Carlo? Usually when I tell you to do something, you do it, no questions asked. What should you do if he refuses to talk to you? Threaten to kill his dog. You’re a professional. Plus, all you want is some information about Satoshi. Of course, you can’t use Satoshi’s name. Call him ‘the body from the subway.’ And don’t threaten Vinnie right away. Be calm and reasonable. Don’t let them know who you are. Tell him you heard Laurie Montgomery was good at what she does. Be creative.”

“Okay,” Carlo said. “I get the picture.”

“If it turns out she has been assigned the case and she’s still working on it, and if Vinnie seems favorably inclined, meaning he’s not going to blab to the authorities about our questions, then ask if he has any suggestions as to how she might be encouraged to get off the case. Without being too obvious, suggest there might be money in it for him and for her. If that doesn’t work, then have Vinnie convey some threat. Got it?”

“I got it,” Carlo said.

“Then get your ass out of here!”

Carlo slid out from the table, tossed the cards that he’d been holding since Louie’s arrival, picked through the cash to extract what he thought he’d contributed to the pot, and motioned for Brennan to follow suit. When the men were halfway to the door, in walked Hideki Shimoda, flanked by Susumu and Yoshiaki.

The saiko-komon was the size and shape of a sumo wrestler, with a bloated, florid face whose features seemed lost in folds of skin. As he walked he swayed from side to side.

Carlo and Brennan had to quickly move aside to avoid a collision. Susumu and Yoshiaki stuck by their saiko-komon’s side, slightly behind the immense man, causing the group to move like a wedge. As if detached from the world about them and with slight sneers on their faces, they didn’t even acknowledge Carlo and Brennan, despite spending the previous afternoon and evening with them.

In contrast to the apparent camaraderie between Louie and his minions, the relationship between Hideki and his soldiers was impersonal, almost martial. Their attire was also strikingly different, with the Japanese wearing what they had had on the previous day: sharkskin suits, white dress shirts, black ties, and dark glasses, while the Americans, for the most part, wore casual sweaters and jeans. Only Carlo was smartly dressed, with his gray silk jacket, black silk turtleneck, and black gabardine pants.

As Louie got up from the table Hideki halted, bowed slightly. “Hello, Barbera-san.”

“Welcome, Shimoda-san,” Louie said, feeling awkward as he tried to imitate Hideki’s bow. Louie stepped back and gestured for Hideki to sit at a clean booth, uncluttered by coffee cups and pasta dishes.

Hideki and Louie settled into the booth while Susumu and Yoshiaki walked to the bar and sat stiffly on a pair of stools, their arms crossed. They did not speak but continued to stare at their boss.

“Thank you for coming out to visit my humble restaurant,” Louie began. While he spoke he wished it was going to be Hideki who was going to be whacked, or better yet, all three instead of just the impudent soldiers sitting at the bar with their stupid dark glasses and their spiky hair.

“It is my pleasure,” Hideki replied in passable English. “And it is my pleasure to thank you for your gracious help, especially for tonight. It would be hard for us to do it alone, as it is on such a famous avenue.”

“It is my pleasure to help, and you are correct that the location makes the task more difficult. It would be the equivalent for us to rob an office on the busiest street in the Ginza district in Tokyo.”

“Not easy.”

“Not easy,” Louie agreed. “Excuse me, Shimoda-san,” Louie said before calling out to Carlo and Brennan, who had backed up against the wall opposite the bar to keep an eye on Susumu and Yoshiaki. “Why don’t you two go ahead with what we discussed, and call me as soon as you finish?”

They nodded and quickly left the room.

“I’m very sorry to interrupt, Shimoda-san,” Louie said. “I’m sending my two men to the city morgue to make sure that what you said about your hit was as you promised. I want to be certain it is being considered a natural death and not a professional homicide.”

“You have contacts in the city morgue?” Hideki asked. He was clearly impressed.

“A resource we rarely tap,” Louie answered.

“I would appreciate hearing what they learn.”

“Getting back to what we were talking about,” Louie said, “I want you to know it will not be easy to break into the offices of iPS USA. It can be done, but it will have to be done quickly. To be as safe as possible, we will have only minutes to be in the office. My understanding is we will be looking for lab books. Is that correct?”

“It is entirely correct. We must get these lab books.”

“What kind of lab books are they?”

“I am not authorized to say.”

Louie was taken aback. He stared at Hideki. Here the guy was going to the extent of trying to extort Louie into helping him obtain lab books but wasn’t willing to say anything about them. It was irritating to say the least. And what was more irritating was that after speaking with Paulie, Louie knew the basis of the extortion was, in Louie’s vernacular, a crock of shit. There’d be no way that Hideki’s Aizukotetsu-kai would be able to team up with Dominick, because it would mean teaming up with the hated Yamaguchi, which would never happen. Louie felt himself getting more angry but more curious, too. Why were these damn lab books so important?

“What do they look like? I mean, once inside the office, my guys and your guys are not going to have a lot of time. Everybody will have to look for the missing books.”

“I was told they were dark blue, but the most important way to recognize them is that they say ‘Satoshi Machita’ in yellow letters on the front cover. They will be easy to recognize.”

“What the hell?” Louie questioned. “You said they were stolen.”

“They were stolen. They were stolen by the man who owns iPS USA.”

Louie rubbed his forehead roughly. Nothing was making sense. He was beginning to believe Hideki was teasing him, making fun of him, but for what reason he had no idea.

“I think we should stop talking about the lab books and get on with the plans for tonight,” Hideki said.

“Just a few more questions,” Louie said. “I gotta have some sense of what we’re after. I mean, we’re taking a risk here for you.”

“I’m not authorized to discuss the lab books.”

“Look!” Louie said suddenly. “You’re pissing me off. Up until these lab books, you and I have gotten along superbly. We’ve never had a disagreement, and we’re making money together hand over fist, which means we’re making a lot. Either you answer my questions or we’re out, and you can get the lab books on your own. The trouble is, you didn’t level with me about Satoshi right from the beginning. You said it was a shakedown, making me believe it was a gambling debt or something. But it turns out it’s a lot more, and I want to know what it’s about.”

“You are going to make me turn to your competition,” Hideki warned.

“Bullshit!” Louie scoffed.

Sensitive to a sudden change in atmosphere, Susumu and Yoshiaki slid off the barstools and stood. Simultaneously, Arthur and Ted slipped from their booth. Each twosome eyed the other.

“You’re not about to go to Vinnie any more than I am,” Louie rejoined. “I learned something today. You Aizukotetsu-kai and Yamaguchi-gumi get along like oil and water.”

For a few tense minutes, no one in the room moved. It was like those charged moments just before a summer thunderstorm, when lightning was on its way but no one knew exactly when. Then suddenly the atmosphere lightened as Hideki audibly breathed out and said, “You are right.”

“Right about what?” Louie demanded. He’d gotten himself worked up that Hideki had been playing him for a fool.

“Everything you said. I have not been truthful with you. I had been given orders to kill Satoshi and get his lab books. I had hoped I could achieve both goals at the very same time, but it did not work out that way. I do not know all the details about the lab books myself, as it is a complicated story related to who will own the very important patents for the next kind of stem cells, the induced pluripotent stem cells.”

“Slow down. What was that?”

“What do you know about stem cells?” Hideki asked.

“Nothing,” Louie admitted.

“I’m no expert, but it’s a topic covered constantly in the Japanese news media,” Hideki said. “We’re constantly reminded that it was a Japanese scientist named Shigeo Takayama who produced the first pluripotent stem cell. Kyoto University patented the process on his behalf. Then my oyabun learned that another researcher, Satoshi Machita, had actually beat Takayama in creating the special cells, which was proved by his lab books. Although during the day he’d been working on mice under Takayama’s tutelage, during the night he was working by himself on his own mature fibroblasts, creating human iPS cells before anyone else.”

“So the man your guys killed yesterday is considered the grand-daddy of these special cells.”

“That’s correct.”

“Which makes the lab books quite valuable.”

“Yes. In Japan they are to be used to challenge Kyoto University patents, and here in America they are to be used to get the patents. Same with the European patent office and the WTO.”

Louie pondered this revelation for several beats and thought about its money-earning potential, then tucked it into the back of his mind. There was no way he would consider actively going through with the planned break-in at iPS USA. Then Hideki told him something that totally shocked him.

“My oyabun learned these things from the government.”

“The government?” Louie questioned with surprise. “Which government?”

“The Japanese government.”

“Now, that’s hard to believe.”

“But it is true. A vice minister met with my oyabun and told him all of this, including the fact that Satoshi had fled the country illegally with the help of the Yamaguchi-gumi. They were the ones who engineered the theft of the lab books from Kyoto University. It was Kyoto University which had physical but not legal control of the lab books, as Satoshi had been an employee. It is the Japanese government who wants the lab books.”

“Good grief!” Louie said. “I can’t believe the Japanese government approached your leader for help. What’s his name again?”

“Hisayuki Ishii-san.”

“Our government would never come to me for anything,” Louie said, laughing heartily.

“There has always been give-and-take between the Yakuza and our government. That’s how we operate so openly in Japan. The Japanese government has found us useful on occasion, and we Yakuza are generally left alone by the authorities. It’s the same with the Japanese people; they too find us useful as an out in an otherwise strict and stratified culture.”

“If that’s true, why did the Yamaguchi-gumi go against your government by helping Satoshi to flee the country and help iPS USA, presumably to get the lab books?”

“We are not sure,” Hideki said, “but it is assumed by my boss that the Yamaguchi-gumi is financially associated with iPS USA as a way of laundering money.”

“That’s not working together.”

“No, it’s not,” Hideki admitted. “You have to remember that the Yamaguchi-gumi is a younger organization than other Yakuza, and not bound as tightly by tradition. They are also much larger, almost double the size of the next smaller.

“Now that I have been fully open with you,” Hideki continued, “how about we get back to discussing tonight’s break-in?”

Before speaking, Louie silently questioned himself if there was anything else he wanted to know about the lab books and their backstory, but nothing came to mind. As up-front as Hideki had seemingly been, Louie was glad that there weren’t plans to kill him after all. Killing the two out-of-control enforcers would be enough.

As concisely as possible, Louie then went on to describe that night’s faux plans, including the pickup location and time, and the fact that the robbery was designed around a diversionary explosion to preoccupy the police, to be set off on Fifth Avenue, south of the break-in location, perhaps at the New York Public Library. When he was finished, he paused to give Hideki time for questions. He felt confident the plans sounded real.

“What if there are still police or general public around the iPS USA building after the explosion?”

Louie thought it was a good question, and gave it a bit of thought before responding. “If there are people or cops in the immediate surroundings, then we abort. We don’t do the break-in. We postpone it until another day. There’s to be no civilian casualties whatsoever if we can possibly avoid it. This is to be a clean break-in with no violence to others, except possibly to an inside security guard if there is one. Have your guys wear masks, gloves, and nondescript dark clothing, not white shirts and sunglasses.”

Louie looked at Hideki. There was a pause. Louie couldn’t believe Hideki didn’t have more questions. Hideki was clearly inexperienced at organizing such an event and was seemingly buying into the plan even though from Louie’s perspective it was, as he would say, nuts.

“If you have no questions for me,” Louie said finally, “I have one for you. When we spoke on the phone, you assured me that Satoshi’s death would be considered natural. How was the hit done?”

“I have been open with you as you requested about the lab books,” Hideki said. “But about this special technique, I can say nothing, as my oyabun has specifically ordered. We use it rarely, but it has always worked as designed.”

“Why did you use it on this occasion?”

“Specifically, we did not want the hit to appear as a hit.”

“I appreciate that you made the effort. If it is signed out as a natural death, it won’t cause the police to become agitated. That’s important to me, but why did you care?”

“Because of the Yamaguchi-gumi’s involvement. They had made a big effort to bring Satoshi over to America after they had helped iPS USA to acquire his lab books. If his death had been an obvious hit, we were fearful they might suspect us, the Aizukotetsu-kai, as the instigators. They are our rivals, and there has been tension between us because they stole the lab books from under our noses in our home city of Kyoto. In the past, such a situation could have resulted in violence. The problem is that they have grown too large. We would be overwhelmed even if we acted preemptively.”

“My God!” Louie exclaimed. “Such intrigue.”

“It is a time of change, I am afraid. The Yakuza used to be more respectful of tradition. The Yamaguchi-gumi are mere upstarts.”

After confirming that Susumu and Yoshiaki would be waiting outside the Barnes & Noble store in Union Square at eleven p.m., the three Yakuza left, all bowing before slipping out the door.

“Weird people,” Arthur said as soon as the sound of the outer door closing slipped back through the heavy draperies.

“This whole situation is weird,” Louie responded.