In the upcoming GALLIANO CLUB series, Benny Rotolo is a Chicago hitman who
ran afoul of Al Capone and fled to the relative safety of Lido, New York. His breakfast is interrupted by a blabbermouth with information to sell.
--
“Mr. Rotolo?” One of Lido’s local yokels stood by Benny’s booth. A real cafone, from the smell of cow dung that clung to him.
“You know who I am?” Benny grunted.
“Sure, you’re Benny Rotolo, the big wheel from Chicago.” The farmer twisted a tweed cap between his hands.
“Sure, that’s right.” Benny took a second look at the cafone. Wool jacket, dungarees, old-fashioned moustache on a head like a pumpkin, but Benny liked his attitude. Real respectful-like.
“I’m Al Genovese,” the fella said. “I’ve got a farm on Bell Road. Biggest in the county.”
Benny swallowed some coffee. “You selling eggs or what?”
“Information,” Genovese said. “The kind of information someone like you might find useful.”
“Someone like me?” Benny wasn’t sure if he liked the implication or not.
“Someone with street smarts,” Genovese hastened to clarify.
Benny gave Genovese a hard look but the fella didn’t wilt. “Okay,” Benny said. “Have a seat.”
Genovese slid into the booth across from Benny. The waiter came by with the coffeepot, but a scowl sent him scurrying away.
“So what’s the scoop?” Benny asked when the waiter was out of earshot.
“The newspaper’s wrong,” Genovese said, with a meaningful glance at the pages on the table. “The story about Nick Procopio dumping Jimmy Destito in the river. He didn’t do it.”
“Yeah, says who,” Benny said, ready for some scam.
“The night Jimmy Destito went missing, I saw Vito Bottini’s Chrysler drive down to the riverbank,” Genovese said, lowering his voice. “Bottini owns the Galliano Club. I think Bottini and his barman Luca Lombardo put Destito in the river.”
More about the forthcoming GALLIANO CLUB series here: https://carmenamato.net/galliano-club-series
