Chapter 21: Who’s the Boss

“Is there anything you want to tell me before this deal goes down?” Tommie asked with a sinister gaze.

“Hey, I’m just the facilitator,” Mickey returned with a shrug. “This is McGuire’s deal. That’s all I know.”

Mickey Nevers was standing inside the storage room of the Turf Discount Carpet Warehouse and Store when he made that declaration. The time was 9:57pm, Saturday night, and the store and warehouse had been closed since 6pm that evening. The building was located in Brooklyn, and was owned by Tommie Grasso, the man standing next to Mickey Nevers. Also, in the warehouse was Tommie Grasso’s entourage of seven arm thugs. They were waiting for Tony McGuire and his entourage to arrive.

Tommie Grasso was a 38-year-old entrepreneur, gambler and career criminal. His inclination toward theft and violence was inherited from his father and grandfather, who both spent a good third of their lives in prisons. Tommie had the distinction of never being convicted of anything. He owed his successful navigation through the criminal world to his entrepreneurial instincts. Unlike his father and grandfather, Tommie Grasso did not limit his aspiration to being a thief and a thug. By this time in his life, Tommie owned a restaurant, a discount carpet store and a limousine company. Much of the startup money for his businesses was accrued from his criminal enterprises, drug trafficking, money laundering and illegal gambling. His success in these pursuits was mostly due to his low profile and his influential friends. Tommie believed in the axiom that you must spend money to make money, and he made it his business to keep the right people on the payroll. It was because of the latter that he accepted the meeting with Tony McGuire.

Tommie did not want to get into a splashy and bloody confrontation with Tony McGuire. He preferred to whisper McGuire’s name in the right person’s ear and let the New York City legal system put him out of business. His concern with that process was that it was not dependable. The toll for whispering in the right person’s ear was invariably expensive, and the price had the potential of going higher if a bidding war broke out between him and Tony McGuire. It was for these reasons that Tommie was willing to entertain Tony McGuire’s business proposal. If there was a way to make money with McGuire rather than lose it, then Tommie wanted to hear it. A mutually beneficial financial transaction was better for business.

Working at avoiding a fight with Tony McGuire had its limit with Tommie Grasso. He was not averse to violent acts, and there was more than one corpse that had passed through the county morgue that he had personally put there. But business was business with Tommie, and he was always prepared to do business. His presence in the storage room of his carpeting store was evidence of his willingness to deal, and the seven-armed gunman who were there with him was evidence of his willingness to kill if necessary. Tommie was aware of the possibility that the meeting could get violent, and he was amply prepared to prevail if it did.

At 10:01p.m., Saturday night, Tony, Charlie Ben, Malcolm and Keegan were led through the back entrance of Tommie’s Turf Discount Carpet Warehouse and Store. With five duffel bags, Tony and his boys were led to the center of the storage room where they found Tommie facing them from behind a worktable. Tommie was flanked on either side by seven of his trusted and well-armed thugs: two immediately by his side with the other five fanned out away from the worktable. Mickey was also on Tony’s right, but he promptly took a half-step back assuming the part of a passive observer. No one was checked for weapons as the agreement was that both sides would be armed to negate the possibility of either side attempting to exploit the situation. Tommie assumed a gunfight in such close quarters would be mutually destructive to both sides. Tony’s thinking went to the opposite direction; the closer the better.

“Is that the stuff?” Tommie flatly asked.

“Where’s the money?” Tony asked with equal directness.

Tommie glanced at the armed thug to his right, who reciprocated by reaching down and to his left. The armed thug came back up with a large gym bag and set it on the table. The bag was clearly stuffed with something. The armed thug promptly unzipped the gym bag and exposed dozens of rubber band wads of paper money. The armed gunman held the opening wide and tilted the bag up so that Tony could get a good look.

“I am here to do business,” Tommie pleasantly advised. “BUT,” he spoke with emphasis. “Since I am doing you a favor, I think a 60% mark down from the purchase price is the correct figure,” he added with a stern nod of his head. “And that’s non-negotiable.”

Tony maintained a prolonged smile behind Tommie’s declaration.

“So, no haggling?” Tony asked with a shake of his head.

“The way I see it,” Tommie began with indifference. “You can take my deal, or you can take your stuff out of the county and sell it. But understand this,” he continued with a hard edge to his words. “You’re not selling it here.”

“Wow, those are hard terms—Tommie,” Tony blandly returned.

Tony went silent after making that statement. He gently smiled and nodded as though considering Tommie’s offer.

“So,” Tommie spoke up. “Which will it be, the money or the walk?”

Several of Tommie’s thugs snickered briefly. Tony looked about the room at Tommie’s array of smiling thugs.

“You see,” Tony began. “I do have a counter—but it’s not really an offer,” he continued hesitantly. “It’s more of a counter plan.”

After hearing Tony’s words, Charlie, Ben, Malcolm and Keegan produced their own smiles and snickers. Tommie and his thugs noticed their reactions with suspicion. Tommie’s concerns deepened when he saw Mickey cautiously move a couple steps back.

“I haven’t been completely honest here,” Tony continued with a smile. “The duffel bags are filled with dirt,” he said as though it was no big deal. “I never had any intention of selling you anything. I’m here to resolve a problem.”

Tommie’s suspicions went into high alert as did the suspicions of his team of thugs. They all began looking about with anxious expressions. Tommie looked to Mickey and watched him take another step back.

“And exactly what is the problem?” Tommie asked with a stern look toward Tony.

Tony gave Tommie a wide smile before speaking with a coldness in his voice.

“My problem is this, New York isn’t big enough for the two of us.”

Tommie held a blank stare as he waited for the other shoe to drop. His seven-armed thugs maintained similar postures while intermittently peeking at him out the corner of their eyes. Seconds into the standoff, Tony’s smile fell away as he suddenly reached for something under his coat. His sudden movement had Tommie startled and confused. He hesitated for an instant out of disbelief that Tony McGuire was stupid enough to start a gunfight there. He had to know that even if he survived the battle, he was sure to suffer serious injuries.

“Gun!” The thug to Tommie’s immediate right yelled at the sight of Tony and company reaching for weapons beneath their coats and jackets.

Instantly, Tommie and his thugs reached for their concealed weapons, and Mickey Nevers dove for a hiding place behind a stack of spooled carpets. In a matter of a seconds, the space within the storage room was filled with the deafening sound of gunfire along with the resulting bright flashes that coincided with each report. More than a dozen gunshots went off within the first three seconds. Tommie and Tony were struck by gunfire within that time. After a few seconds more, Charlie, Ben, Malcolm and Keegan were reeling from bullet strikes. Tony and his group struggled to stay on their feet against the barrage of projectiles. Charlie and Malcolm were knocked on the floor. They quickly got up and returned to the fight without loss of speed or accuracy. Tommie and his thugs were suffering the same fate, but they were proving to be far less durable. Their larger number was their only advantage, but the superior speed, aim and durability of Tony and company nullified their opponent’s numerical superiority. In the beginning, Tommie Grasso’s thugs went down with equal frequency, but they never returned to the fight with the same ferocity, if they returned at all. In the span of twenty seconds, the shooting began and ended. Tony and company were tattered but still standing. Tommie Grasso and his seven thugs lay dead or dying.

When the shooting stopped, the silence that followed was shocking by comparison. The smell of burnt gunpowder was everywhere, and a thin layer of smoke could be seen wafting through the air just below the overhead lights.

“Aaaah!” Tony loudly roared while throwing his arms out wide.

Charlie, Ben, Malcolm and Keegan immediately followed Tony’s lead and roared toward the ceiling as loudly as they could. Tony and company paused to examine the destruction they had inflicted while their bodies steamed from adrenaline fueled heat. Their breathing was deep and labored; their eyes were tiny pools of light, and their teeth showed the beginnings of fangs. While this was happening, Mickey Nevers peaked over the top of his hiding place.

“That one’s alive,” Malcolm cried out while racing over to one of Tommie Grasso’s thugs.

After tossing aside his gun, Malcolm descended upon the supine body on the floor, bit into his neck and began to feed on his blood. Keegan was a step behind; he pounced upon the thug right arm and viciously bit into it. Charlie and Ben looked for survivors and shortly found another Tommie Grasso thug who was still breathing while coughing up blood. They descended upon him savagely. Tony went to Grasso and took a moment to note the faint beat of his heart. He dropped to the floor, bit into Tommie Grasso’s neck and began to feed on the blood that had yet to spill out of his wounds. Several seconds later, the pulse of all three casualties had stopped. Charlie and Ben hastily looked for another to feed on and soon found Mickey Nevers.

“Hey, look what I got,” Charlie called out as he grabbed Mickey by the top front of his jacket and pulled him up from his hiding place.

“I didn’t see nothing,” Mickey pleaded with a look of wide-eyed terror.

“Sure, you did, Mickey boy,” Charlie chuckled out with a wide smile. “You saw everything.”

“I won’t tell anyone. I promise,” Mickey whimpered in panic.

“Do you believe him?” Charlie asked Ben with an amused look in his direction.

“Oh, I think we can trust Mickey to keep his mouth shut as long as that’s what it takes to stay alive. Isn’t that right, Mickey?” Ben asked with a wide smile.

“Yeah, sure, I’m with you guys all the way,” Mickey eagerly assured with a quick nod of his head.

Charlie released the top of Mickey’s jacket and began smoothing it out for him.

“Good,” Charlie responded with a smile.

Mickey did not notice the smile. For several seconds he could do nothing but gawk at the fangs in Charlie’s mouth and the glint of light coming off his eyes.

“What are you looking at?” Charlie asked with a constrained grin.

At first, Mickey was hesitant to speak. He was afraid to acknowledge what he was seeing. A moment later, when Charlie leaned in to pressure him for a response, Mickey relented.

“What are you?” A terrorized Mickey Nevers asked.

“We’re the top of the food chain,” Charlie answered with a fiendish smile. “Do you want to join?”

“No!” Mickey bawled with fear.

“Sure, you do,” Charlie countered while grabbing Mickey’s head between his hands.

“No, no, no I don’t,” Mickey quickly cried out.

Charlie gave no thought to Mickey’s plea. He twisted Mickey’s head to one side as he bared his fangs for the bite to come. He was an instant away from sinking his teeth into Mickey’s neck when Tony stopped him.

“Not now,” Tony yelled. “We need him awake and alert.”

Charlie pushed Mickey away before giving him a point and a smile.

“Another time, Mickey boy,” Charlie apprised with a smile and a nod.

Charlie turned away to retrieve his gun. As he left, Tony walked over to Mickey and stopped just a foot away.

“Take a look, Mickey. This is who we are,” Tony instructed as he looked around the room. “We’re the big dogs, and this is what happens to anyone who gets in our way,” he continued with a smug stare. “We’re going to own New York. We’re going to own the cops. We’re going to own the politicians, and we’re going to own the gangs. We have no competitors. Nobody is big enough to fuck with us,” he added just before diverting his gaze into the space between him and Mickey.

A thought suddenly popped into Tony’s mind, and he paused to consider it.

“Maybe the others,” Tony mumbled out mostly to himself.

“The others?” Mickey asked with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

“The other vampires,” Tony returned indifferently.

“Vampires?” Mickey trembled out the one-word question.

“Yes,” Tony affirmed with a wide-eyed look of glee. “That’s what we are.”

“And there’s more of you?” Mickey hesitantly queried.

“Evan Pritchard, the vampire who turned me said there was nineteen of them, but I think there’s only seventeen now,” Tony spoke ponderously. “I think Christian killed Evan and Christine,” he mused aloud. “I think if Evan was still alive, I would have heard from him by now.”

Mickey struggled to make sense of what Tony was saying. Between Tony’s mumbling to himself and Mickey’s fear for his own wellbeing, his brain struggled to follow Tony’s train of thought. After considering Tony’s last remark, Mickey timidly asked the question that came to his mind.

“Is—is Christian a vampire too?”

“Yes,” Tony lingered on his one-word reply. “But it doesn’t matter,” he continued with a sudden swell of confidence. “Soon we will be more powerful than him and his gang. No one will be able to stop us.”

Mickey nodded in agreement hoping to satisfy Tony’s intense stare.

“Put the word out, Grasso is dead,” Tony sternly instructed Mickey with a sudden thrust of his finger in Mickey’s face. “Tell Grasso’s dealers there’s a new supplier in town and if they want to push cocaine in New York then they must do business with me. Tell them if they’re not buying from me, then they’re asking for trouble. You understand?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure, Mr. McGuire,” Mickey eagerly affirmed.

“And if you use my name and this event in the same sentence, “Tony began with a gesture to the bodies lying on the floor, “or if you tell anyone you were here when this went down, or if you so much as speak the word vampire, I’ll kill you. You got that?”

“Yeah, Mr. McGuire,” Mickey confirmed with a frightened nod of his head.

“Okay then, get out of here,” Tony instructed with a gesture of his head.

Mickey needed no further encouragement and quickly left the warehouse and store. Seconds after Mickey was out the door, Ben, Keegan and Malcolm began pulling five-gallon gasoline containers out of the duffel bags and began pouring their contents around the room and onto the bodies. As they were doing that, Tony and Charlie sought out the fire sprinkler shut off valve and turned it off. Less than five minutes later, Tony, Charlie, Ben, Malcolm and Keegan were coming out the back door of the Turf Discount Carpet Warehouse and Store and its storage room was ablaze.