By the way, all material on this site is copyrighted James Ciano over the years

I came across the pictures below a short time ago and they brought back some great memories.

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Chapter 1,

 

Joe Russo a high school friend, and Angy discuss their futures, in Revere.

 

Sub Shop, the business Angy chooses to buy and run. 

 Peggy, first real girl friend and sex partner from the sub shop.

 Jack the Manager of the sub shop frees some of Angy’s time to pursue other things.

 Sold shop and realized a possible future financial advantage.

 

Chapter 2

Brother at UCLA regales Angy with stories of the beautiful women and country side in LA.

School in CA Because of the stories from his brother, Angy searches for and finds a possible school of video photography for him to attend.

Off to CA, plans are made and Angy will be on his way soon.

 Ben Sturgis a lawyer is helping Angy close the sale on the sub shop.  Ben is from San Francisco and tells Angy about how wonderful San Francisco is.

 

 

Chapter 3

Money from the Sub shop is burning a hole in Angy’s pocket.

 

New Car, Angy talks himself into buying a new car.

On the State House Steps a ceremony is held honoring Robert (Bobby) Long for heroism and outstanding behavior capturing a wanted criminal.

 

 

 

Chapter 4

 

Cataldo Food Distributors. Robert, the future owner of the Gaslight Club checks with Angy’s father to be sure he is not creating a problem inviting Angy to work for him.

Night Club Business and Robert’s dream is explained to Angy.

 The deal is not very complicated but is good for everyone involved.

 The new club is a great building and excites the imagination of both Robert and Angy.

 Antiques and new kitchen abound in the new club.  The second floor bar is an antique made for a gentlemen’s club of the last century.

 Jacob Melvin former owner and not a very nice person is encountered and our group moves around him.

Incentive for Angy to stay is everywhere he looks in this new operation. Also, the women he meets turn his head completely.

Robert’s Women think they are his exclusively and the club doesn’t change that impression.

 Every year Robert gets, a new car or new girl friend, I can’t tell which is more important.

 

 

Chapter 5

 

Studying other clubs is a necessity to find the correct balance between toughness and a new management style.

 Finding girls Robert’s way is just picking them up.

 Players Club is a good training ground for Gaslight Club waitresses

 Tic Toc is where Angy met Janet and he loves the Tic Toc manager’s style

 Meeting Janet is one of the best happenings for Angy.

  Janet and Angy, It was great for a while

 

Chapter 6

 

Geographical location of the Gaslight Club is pretty central in Boston and easy to get anywhere else.

Physical layout is exactly what a club should be, small enough to be intimate, yet large enough to accommodate many paying patrons.

 Advantages are basically its proximity to the rest of Boston. The building is attached to the one next to it in a way that is not entirely visible outside, so a guest can enter the club and leave by another exit and never be seen from outside.  At night the street outside the club is completely deserted so people can park anywhere and not worry about tickets.

 

 Meet Ella Marky a very attractive young woman with personality and the body to turn men’s heads.

 Elegant Whore House, is the first impression the inside gives a visitor.

Embarrassing situation developed when Angy decided to sleep in the room of the third floor and in the middle of the night he heard a racket from the second floor and went to investigate carrying a loaded pistol.

Danger after hours developed when Angy was knocked out by a potential robber and left unconscious while the robber and an accomplice attempted to get away with food and liquor.

Players club tragedy occurred when killers murdered the manager and assistant manager during the night and were never caught.

Albert DeSalvo, of The Boston Stranger Fame, plied his trade (raping unsuspecting women) at about the same time as the Gaslight and Players Clubs were first opened.

 

Chapter 7

 

Ideas for the club basically uniform.  The primary idea was a Dixieland atmosphere and the Roaring Twenties approach to night clubs.   A group of actors were recruited to stage a Charleston dance and revenge shooting to became a legend and a much anticipated event. The dress of the actors revolved around the “Jean Harlow” look and men in Tuxes and Spats. This group became a standard and tips were their only pay. 

 

Surrounding the Gaslight Club were mostly Insurance and Legal offices and the denizens therein looked forward with much anticipation to the opening of the club.

After more than a year of hassling with the city, Players Club got approved, one of the main problems was the costumes.  The original design had the crouch like a bikini bottom but the city wanted the crouch even with the sides. 

 Little by little Players Club changed the costumes back to the original design. No one seamed to notice.

 

Meet the Mafia Boss of Boston, he is Andrew Diamante and every night we went to the Copley Cafeteria we would see him and wave a greeting. Unknown to Angy at the time, Mr. Diamante, Robert and Angy had mutual friends very close to home.

 

Finally the city liquor commission let them open, after much back and forth about the “Speak Easy” atmosphere they were hoping to cultivate.

 

 The day to day operation of a night club is explained to some extent to give background to the ongoing story.

 

Meet Donna Kale Angy’s secretary and his right hand person.  A very bright and capable Ally. Angy spent a lot of time showing Donna the club in detail.  Since Donna is the one to answer the phones she will be asked more questions about the operation than anyone else.  During the tour Angy and Donna banter about possible sexual situations but nothing further is intended, by either, than banter.

 

Meet the bosses, is part of the tour of the club and is simply a profile of Robert and Angy.   The various attractions of the club are analyzed for their potential interest to the patrons.

 

“Lets go out and get some waitresses.” Was a statement by Robert and his idea of hiring waitresses was to go from night clubs to bars all over the city and convince the waitresses they encountered to come to work for Gaslight, and it worked.

 

All Robert’s Girl friends in the club at one time could be a problem.  Robert had several steady girl friends at any one time and had no problem having a few of them at the club at the same time.

 

“I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.” Said Angy  This place is fantastic, but why did it fail before?  Robert explained that there were several owners all working at cross purposes.  When the building was renovated the wall paper cost over 300,000.00 dollars. This huge cost plus no new income doomed the night club.

 

Dixieland Music makes your toes tap, and your hands clap, and the blood pound in your veins to the beat of the music.  Fast and catchy Dixieland is impossible to ignore

 

The Gaslight Players and the smell of cordite is an experience the patrons of Gaslight will never forget.  Twice a week, at odd times, a group of actors would enter the club and enact a vengeance shooting.  With realistic guns and fake blood the customers were in for a treat.

 

 

 

Chapter 8

 

Donna’s Tour took in the entire club from the wine cellar and liquor closet to the fourth floor Gourmet Room.  Current and future plans were discussed including an entertainer for the third floor.

The 3 piece Dixieland Band is the main feature of the first floor, but was not the only attraction.  The waitresses, all young and beautiful would occasionally climb on the tables or the bar and do a Charleston dance.

 

Gaslight Players, is the group of actors who, for tips, would do different skits portraying a 1920s gangster theme.

A Roaming singer worked the different floors on week ends.

 

Before the club opened Janet practiced dancing on the tables and Angy watched as a safety net for her. After much experimentation and practice Janet worked out a practical method for the future girls to dance safely on the tables and bar.

 

Chapter 9

 

Family members like to visit and on one occasion Angy’s sister Pat had lunch with him. As Pat was leaving she asked if she could do something for Angy and he asked her to pick up some change. When Pat dropped off the change someone in the club stole the money and this chapter moves on to ways employees in a night club can steal, by using anecdotal examples. The last straw being a brand new manager putting together a food order for himself and leaving it out in the alley. 

 

The chapter ends with Donna and her friends visiting the club one night. Her group had fun and got to see most of the attractions of the club first hand. 

 

Chapter 10

 

A former employee of the Executive Suite, which was the name of the business before it became the Gaslight Club, named Alex Saroyan asked for a job and was hired as a bartender. The customer who recommended him said he has the sweetest voice this side of Milan.  It turns out Alex is a classically trained tenor and can sing with the angels.  Over night he becomes a major attraction for the dining room and he also becomes the roaming singer the club was looking for.  Quickly he and Angy become life long friends.  Oh, by the way, don’t get Alex angry he is a karate and tae kwon do champion.

 

Meet Roy, a childhood friend of Angy and his future bride Marsha.  They accompany Angy to Players club for a visit and to meet Angy’s new friend Kari, who is a Bunny at the Players Club.

 

On one of Roy’s visits he and Angy fill in for a detective friend of Angy’s on a week end stake out and have a ball playing tag with the subject.

 

Chapter 11

 

In the restaurant business help is all important.  Where food is served the cook is king.  Here at Gaslight Angy becomes and expert cook in self defense of the drunken professionals available.  The hired cooks range from self absorbed morons to outright drunks and more than once it is necessary to send one bouncing down the stairs.

 

The wait staff (waiters waitresses and bus people) are also very important and can make or break a room. One of Gaslight’s bus boys is a former denizen of the sex trade, but has reformed. He is constantly bantering with other employees in an entertaining way.

 

Time to find an apartment for Angy; who decides to live in the club for a while and this move has its ups and downs. Angy put a small bed in one of the unused offices and between the huge lavatory next door and his own facilities in the club he has a make shift apartment with fringe benefits. Since the waitresses changing room is next door occasionally Angy’s bed would be occupied with an aspiring starlet hoping to get herself a “leg up” so to speak.

 

Robert took Angy on a trip to New York to see the model of the club Robert wants the Gaslight Club to be.  Robert likes the way the Beacon Men’s Club chain is run and would like to see more refinements put into the operations of the Gaslight similar to those found in the Beacon Men’s Club. Because of less sophistication and disposable income in Boston Angy doesn’t think Gaslight will be able to emulate Beacon Men’s Club.  After approaching the owner of Beacon Men’s Club to make Gaslight another in their chain this is the answer he got;

 “We are not interested at this time, but please keep us in mind.  Thank you very much!”

 

 

 

Chapter 12

 

Although there are many great benefits to living in the club, there are as many negative qualities.  One of the worst is no privacy. In the morning if Angy wanted to sleep in, the employees would simply harass him until he got up, there was no place to hide. So, Angy found a good apartment on the other side of Boston. Now, when he was wanted it took a telephone call to reach him.

 

His new apartment had many good features not the least of which is the fact that Janet’s apartment is almost right next door.  They were so close that many nights Angy would cook for Janet and even share old family recipes with her, as on this occasion when Janet learned how to cook Penne all’Arriabbiata which Angy’s grandmother taught him many years ago. Angy showed Janet the Sex and Sizzle method of cooking the most delightful meals.  Between the great wine, bedroom and kitchen the two of them were exhausted by the end of the night.

 

 

 

 

Of course Angy’s new apartment had to have a house warming party and Angy couldn’t disappoint his neighbors. He had the crew from the club over and they partied until the wee hours.  Alex showed up at 11PM with his girlfriend. Both were all shook up from an attack outside the apartment by 6 strangers.  Telling the story, Alex’s girlfriend referred to the attackers as “Those poor guys” because the minute they raised their hands against her and Alex they were dispatched in the most unceremonious way. Alex won’t put up with any insults and had the 6 thugs running for their lives. 

 

On a more serious note.  The day after the house warming party there was an incident in the hallway outside Angy’s apartment.  It seems someone, no names mentioned, put still live ashes in a trash container on top of two cans of hair spray.  It didn’t take long for the hot ashes to get the hair spray cans to explode and fill the hallway with black soot. The fire department said it was not particularly dangerous because there were no flames but the soot got everywhere and took days to clean up. Who Knew?

 

Angy’s land lord offered Angy a job managing a new restaurant he purchased and after a single meal attempt, Angy decided he would stay where he is.  It seems the restaurant’s help can’t smell ammonia and attempted  to serve Angy the most rank and rotted shrimp Angy had ever smelled. The waiter couldn’t smell anything wrong.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 13

 

Their clubs general atmosphere is fun and frolic, which might suggest a lax attitude toward rules and regulations.   The Gaslight is located in the Insurance District of Boston.  Insurance men are, by definition gamblers, and when relaxing they tend to play games that have elements of chance associated with them. Unfortunately the laws regarding night club licenses tend to frown on any form of gambling. It took time and energy to convince the clientele that this would not be tolerated.

A few diehards would not take no for an answer and had to be convinced in the old fashioned way, jail. Unfortunately a nasty phrase became the litany for these denizens of the fast buck and still rings true today;

“The next time they come back I’ll put them in the hospital!”

Even the local police agreed with Angy on this one.

 

Chapter 14

 

 

It was Angy’s job to study how Players Club ran their operation and to adapt policies and management approaches that would make us more successful. Of course this included;

“In the interest of being thorough I must date some of the girls!”

You’ve heard the expression;

“It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it.”

Angy took this mantra to new heights.

 

Meet Jacky, a perfectly happy and energetic 5 foot 2 brunette with a bubbly personality and the dancing feet to tempt Fred Astaire.   Jacky worked for Players Club and became Angy’s pipeline into the workings of that estimable operation. However, Jacky decided that Angy doesn’t dance well enough for her and she found greener “Tap Shoes”.

 

About this time Jacky’s rejection just didn’t register since Kari made it clear she was interested and Angy was easy to please.  After a session with the “bell boys” of the Sherman Hotel, Angy and Kari decided to call it a night.

 

As we got into the summer and a slower business atmosphere the employees took up softball as a diversion.  Joining a league they soon discovered their goals didn’t match those of the local sports enthusiasts.

“We quickly went back to our solitary ways and had fun on our own.” 

“Of course it took an occasional white painted grapefruit as a substitute softball to liven up the infield.”

Angy soon discovered softball is a young man’s game and relinquished his position on the field.  If you could stand up, you could play, laugh and enjoy, became the motto.

 

 

Chapter 15

 

A new girl, Dory, cut her leg and got a major infection. After surgery she is alright, but must stay home to collect her check from the state. 

Dixieland Music has its fans and they come out in droves.  Angy is a big fan and so are most of his friends. The Gaslight is a popular place. Now, its time to have a talent contest and that adds most of the rest of Boston to the fans of the club. With all the different types of entertainment Gaslight is the place to be.

 

Meanwhile Robert has been discovered by one of his favorite girls and he has to convince her, she is his only love.  To Robert this type of job is just too difficult and he backs out.

 

 

 

Chapter 16

 

Our newly hired promoter has a party and Angy meets Jennifer and Marcella. These two estimable ladies teach Angy a new language.  Never quite learning the ways of women, Angy is smitten until his new girl decides to run the club herself. Two managers don’t work well together. After a needed adjustment in reality Angy is alone again. 

  • After a blinding flash I woke up with a pounding head ache, and blood on my face, and the knowledge that someone was in the club with a gun. The “crunk” sound of his head being hit by the door was very satisfying and almost made me laugh until I heard;
  • “Hey, Jacky help me with the Lobster”

    scared the shit out of me. Once Angy got him on the ground and hit him with the butt of the gun as hard as he could. 

     

     

    Chapter 17

     

    Angy closed up the club with both eyes looking in different directions for a while not wanting a repeat of last weeks robbery attempt.

     

    As a manager of a night club, when Angy visited other clubs they sent drinks.  Quickly Angy had a problem with alcohol and missed his turn home from a party and ended up heading out of town again.  After taking down a chain link fence and running the car out of gas with a 200 foot fiery tail through the tunnel he got his friend to pick up the car before the police did. The last incident to convince him he had a problem was a serious discussion with one of Boston’s finest while he held Angy up rather than let him fall to the ground. Angy was so drunk he was glad he didn’t have to stand to drive the car.  This time when he found his car on the sidewalk he decided to stop drinking. Of course the entire story the next morning in the Boston Globe just pushed him over the edge.  Head Line.

    “17 gallons for three quarters of a mile”

     

    Talk about drunk,  the love sick cop who left his gun and badge behind wasn’t as funny as Angy first thought.

     

    Loaning his car to Freddie turn out to be the wrong thing to do when Freddie raced a Corvette and the Corvette took out the T-birds drivers door.

     

    The club started programs to entertain the families of their employees.  One of which was to take the children to outings in Boston.  The Museum of science and the Museum of Fine Arts are two of the sights the kids enjoyed. Working with children this way is one of the most rewarding things a person can do

     

     

     

     

    Chapter 18

     

    Meet Edward Brakeman.  Edward is a great politician and a good friend of the club. His first drink sent him to the Mass General Hospital because he laughed so hard he bit his glass and a small piece of broken glass cut his tongue.

     

    While Mrs. Calderrone was enjoying the music Eddie was enjoying her cleavage until a drop of his saliva hit her bosom and she pushed back her chair so hard it knocked Eddie right off his feet.

     

    Meet Alex our second floor bartender and resident roaming Tenor. When Angy walked into the room Alex was singing “Mama” and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. 

    “The look of the club was a high class bordello and we didn’t want to change a thing.”

     

    Chapter 19

     

    Angy found a store in New York City, that sold Tuxedos and bought a bunch of them.

    “I borrowed Robert’s Corvette and on the way home intended to leave my tuxes at the laundry. Of course that night the car was stolen and goodbye tuxes.”

     

    A pair of young men got the impression the Gaslight was a good place to play touchy feely with the waitresses until a group of the regulars stepped in. The last anyone saw of them is the T shirts hanging off their backs as they ran for their lives.

     

    I noticed there was no reflection off my office door window and found we had been robbed.  But, the finger print man stole a lot more of our money.   Some of the local police though I squealed on their man and tagged my car twenty times a day for a while. After showing them what really happened they were convinced and stopped the tagging parade.

    Later I had a hearing and the tickets were reduced to a few hundred dollars.

     

    With the meal almost done he started yelling there’s a cockroach in my dish and thought Angy would let him get off free.  However, another customer saw him pull the cockroach out of his pocket and he managed to leave with his life.

     

     

    Chapter 20

     

    Meet Ella our new hat check girl.  From the first Ella made it clear she would like to get to know Angy better, and not being one to disappoint a fan Angy accommodated. However, Robert had other ideas. Robert ordered her to accompany him to New York and Angy had to made do.  We of course protected Ella by not letting Eddie work anywhere near her ever.

     

    As I walked along the second floor landing I could hear Richard Nixon, Henry Fonda and Hubert Humphrey arguing, since I was reasonably sure they probably weren’t visiting at the time, my second guess was David Frye, the impersonator, was practicing in the second floor ladies room.

     

     

     

    Chapter 21

     

    Meet Mark and Ginger a likeable couple until you let them get too close to you.  Ginger got Angy in bed and then blackmailed Robert with Angy’s indiscretion. All Angy remembers is her body was pretty until you touched her and saying “My kids will call you daddy” was the biggest turn off he had encountered.

     

    Players club favored their managers and when there was a conflict all the girls involved were fired.

     

    Not that Angy is conceited or anything but he can’t find anything wrong with himself. 

    “I never said I’m great, I’m actually a work in progress”

     

     

    Chapter 22

     

    Alex the hero of the dining room.  From the moment he started work at the club Alex was loved by his customers.  His bartending is professional and polite and his singing is incredible and enjoyable. Once we got a piano player in the second floor Alex could sing to his customers any time they wanted.

     

     

    One of the customers convinced a nationally renowned Tenor to visit the Gaslight and sing “Malafemmina”  then this same customer talked Alex into singing the same song, even though Alex did not know it had just been sung by another Tenor. The result was a standing ovation and an invitation to sing with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.  Alex couldn’t sing in a professional setting.

     

    Alex died young and at his funeral I learned he sang every Sunday morning at his Greek Orthodox Church for the 7:00 AM service.

     

     

    Chapter 23

     

     

    Karl Borski a school chum of Angy’s came looking for a job and quickly found ways to steal as much as his hands could carry. Years after he left Angy’s employ it was discovered that all the salesmen gave Karl kick backs as long as he was there. Finally a call from a disagreeable family member, who thought he was hurting Angy, called to tell him Karl was shot to death. 

     

     

    Mr. Crivitz is a customer who couldn’t stop gambling and got himself kicked out. He insisted on fighting and got jailed for his efforts then returned again. His second stint in jail may convince him to find another place to be bad.

     

     

     

    Chapter 24

     

     

    The new cook was either a great cook or a wife killer, we couldn’t decide which until he made one of the waitresses a sandwich and got sent packing. Will he sue us out of business?  I don’t think so. He’ll spend some time in jail instead.

     

     

     

    Angy is back in the kitchen again (Sung to “Back in the saddle again”) and Robert is not very happy.

     

    It’s time for a few rules about handling unruly patrons. (Soap Box) or How women are different from men.   The calming pat on the shoulder could get you a swift kick, spat in the face or a severed ear.   Better, would be a sweet hug, a kiss and a promise. You decide, or not?

     

     

     

    Chapter 25

     

    We needed a night time draw and the Dixieland Band was not enough so the collegiate comedian Rocky Reagan filled the bill. His act drew a very specific crowd but they spent money. Rocky is expensive but worth the effort. Now all we had to do is make a good schedule for him. And keep the help from stealing us blind.

     

     

     

    Chapter 26

     

    After the first year the club never made a profit in Rockies room again. No matter what they did it lost money. They finally closed the room and stopped entertainment up there because of losses.  Several years later they discovered, from one of the waitresses working the room, that everyone that worked that room was stealing. It was a team effort.  If they worked that hard for the club it would have gone on forever.

     

     

    Chapter 27

     

    The cooks that never came back.  Starting with the first cook we worked with.  He was a hold over from the last owners and left as soon as he got another job. 

    Cooks are difficult to work with any way you slice it. Angy arrived late one night and notice something being thrown off the top floor fire escape.   As he looked closer it turned out to be a very expensive full box of prime steaks.  Angy literally threw the cook down the stairs.  Another cook pulled a knife on Angy when he yelled at him. The cook found the stairwell an uncomfortable bouncing platform. After each of these losers Angy took over the kitchen against Robert’s wishes. Finally a compromise was struck.

     

     

    Chapter 28

     

    Sitting at his desk, Angy met a beautiful young lady screaming for help. Her boy friend was chasing her.  After showing her a way to leave without being seen, Angy went to meet this terrifying boy friend. Paul was his name and as big as a tree was he. However, so drunk that Angy simply had to steer him to lead him away.  But, he would not completely leave. Once outside he would come back and knock on the door until Alex massaged his face and the police let him sleep in a nice guest room at their hotel.

     

    The secret exit Angy let Paul’s girlfriend use became a helpful secret to battered women in our area and was gladly loaned to anyone who needed it. 

     

     

     

    Chapter 29

     

    Meet Crystal Pizza and Mr. Diamante

     Meet Niko Spoleto “What the hell does he want?”

     “Niko what do I gotta do teach you had to run your crew?”

    • “It will be easier to just whack you than put up with your shit. At least it will be a lot easier.  Do you understand Niko?”
  • Internal war is brewing between the gangs
  •  

    Niko is firing up his crew and getting angrier by the minute

     

    “Just shoot someone, they’ll get the message real quick.’

    “It’s for Niko’s insurance, to insure that we don’t break you heads and legs.”

     

    “Ok get the men we hit the Gaslight Club and start killing people!”

    “Hello, FBI? This is Niko Spoleto, I want to talk about my boss Andy Diamante.”

    Conversation at Crystal Pizza. Andy Diamante talking to his crew.

    “Rocco, I want a crew after this guy tonight.  Tell them a hundred grand to the guy who shoots that bastard tonight.”

     

    The gangster Niko Spoleto was angry with Andy Diamante and decided to rebel. At first he just wanted more money. 

     

     

     

     

    Chapter 30

     

    Angy’s father tries to pay Angy’s insurance with a check, but they want cash.

     

    Andy Diamante wants to protect the Gaslight Club but Angy politely refused.  He had to convince Andy he had the help of the Boston Police, the FBI and the fire department.

    The club closed early on a Friday Night and all hell broke loose.

    The fire department showed up for a Bomb Scare and warned Angy and officially reprimanded Angy:

    “If anyone dies tonight you will be held responsible!”

     

    Niko Spoleto was angry with Andy Diamante but, once Andy told him off, he decided to do something about it.  After a few false starts, a lot of bullets and shooting up the Gaslight Club Niko got a leaden heart and a pine casket for his troubles.

     

    Now Andy owes Angy $100,000.00.

     

     

    Suddenly Angy is dreaming of the Brooks Institute

    After hours of cross examination from the FBI, the State Police rescue Angy and the shooting is over, for now.

     

     

    Chapter 31

     

    At a meeting with Andy diamante he said;

    “Remember, if you don’t accept this now I will never offer again!”

    After some polite language and some straight talk Andy saw the light. 

     

    “Va Bene, will you enjoy a pizza with me?” he asked.

    “I thought you’d never ask, it would be my pleasure” and they sat and ate together.

     

     

    Chapter 32

     

    In Granlargo MA two congressmen are having a meeting and their flunkies join them. The flunkies suggest a plan that includes beating up a college girl, putting the blame on another college girl and video taping the whole thing. As crazy as it sound the two congressmen agree. In the town of Grandlargo everyone who lives there is aware of how bad this Bill is but people outside the town have no idea. The congressman’s son leaves for college in Denver.  But, once outside the restaurant he changes his mind.

     

     

     

     

    Chapter 33

     

    Robert offered Angy a partnership in the club after the shoot out with Spoleto.  It’s his way of convincing Angy to stay at the club.  The Spoleto affair took a lot out of everyone, especially Angy. Someone suggests adding a detective agency to the club and once done, the phone rings off the hook with people in trouble.

     

    It’s necessary to hire a new manager if Angy is going to run the detective agency.   An old friend showed up and is the perfect choice.  Joe Russo is one of the best managers Angy has ever seen and would be perfect in the club.

     

    With Joe at the helm it is now possible to take investigative jobs.  Angy’s first job is for Congressman Edward Brakeman. 

     

     

     

    Chapter 34

     

    After a first meeting and some witty repartee they begin to talk out the problem and look for answers.

    As the charges mount up against Marilyn the congressman’s apprehension for his daughter, Marilyn’s fear of the next attack and Angy’s investigation all heat to fever pitch. 

     

     

     

    Chapter 35

     

    “Marilyn’s been arrested” said Edward.   And Angy heads to the police station to bail her out. Finding her ready to leave they leave together.  Judy, the injured innocent, is still in intensive care, but getting better. They are trying to connect Marilyn to Judy’s attack, when Angy realizes they must do something more to convince the congressman they are serious.  Judy almost dies, in the next attempt, now it’s attempted murder.  However, Marilyn can account for her time and is cleared of any involvement. Which turns out to be a bad thing.

     

     

    Chapter 36

     

    It must be the Quamac Reservoir Bill.  Marilyn, Donna and Angy all come to the conclusion that this particular bill before congress is what is fueling their problems.

    The congressman’s daughter is in trouble.  An innocent girl is attacked and put in the hospital. The daughter is the perpetrator and the police are hot on the trail. At first it is impossible to see behind the smoke screen, but on closer examination, it is not the daughter but, the father who they really want to influence.  And the real perpetrators are hiding behind their congressmen friends.

     

    It is time to convince Marilyn to head off to Europe and safety.

     

    Almost dead in a car accident, then a very cold dash though the woods and a real flight away, Angy and Marilyn show up at the congressman’s home with a story to tell. After a long talk and some hard decisions the congressman decides to take a chance and try a bluff.  The two criminal congressmen from Granlargo try a bluff of their own. Listening in, the FBI hear some damaging admissions and make an arrest in Grandlargo.  Now it’s off to Europe for the Brakemans.

     

     

    Chapter 37

     

    After doing a few minutes of work but a very good job of it, I convince Leigh to see the sun with me.  But first Robert has us deliver a contract.  Back at Logan Airport,

    “We take off heading for the sun.  All Angy can see is rain clouds.  Miami is no better and after a few days they fly away again.  Landing in San Juan Angy and Leigh fly through a monsoon and can’t see the hood ornament on the rental.  Stuck in the motel room they rediscover each other and forget everything else. 

    “I didn’t know sex could be so good. I also discovered that sex and love are two different things.  I hope I’m not growing up yet, it is to soon.  But I sure do love Leigh.”

      

    “When the gods on Mt. Olympus look back on this night they will point to what we did as the greatest achievement of its kind in sexual history.”

     

     

     

    Chapter 38

     

    “Is that the sun I see?”

    After three more rainy days the sun is finally out and of course Angy gets third degree burns.

    “Leigh is sleeping so peacefully I don’t dare wake her, God I love her”

     

    Cheez the sun is hot as hell, two days ago nothing was more important than a sun burn.

     

    Leigh shook Angy awake with a very worried look on her face. Angy attempt to roll over and tears filled his eyes with pain. His back hurts so much he can’t believe it.

     

    At the airport Angy is arrested for a sex crime an put in jail.

     

    Angy’s lawyer finally gets him out and the airport cops won’t let them fly tonight.

     

     

     

     

    Chapter 39

     

     

    “On my stomach is the only way I can sleep and of course with the help of several sleeping pills.”

    Groggy I awake and smell blood and I think I peed the bed

     

    “OH GOD NO LEIGH!”

     

    “I want to die!!!!”

     

    “I keep hearing screaming coming from someplace close and it took me a long time to realize it was me screaming at the sight of Leigh lying in a pool of blood.”

     

    I keep hearing the police officer asking;

    “What got you so mad that you did that to her, why did you murder her? Where is the knife?”

    In interrogation, back to the cell, in interrogation, back to the cell, this cycle seems familiar. The local police won’t do anything except accuse me.

    To them this is a simple case of the crazy gringo flipping out and killing his girl friend.

     

    Now I’m deep into the investigation. I never took more pictures of any place in my life

     

    Edward Brakeman called and offered to come down and help defend me

     

    After talking to Bobby , Robert  and Edward I know I have friends and somehow will come out of this maybe alive. Adversity brings out the true friends

     

     

     

     

    Chapter 40

     

    The police insist on the formality that a guard will be with me every step of the way.

    This is kind of lonely trying to figure out what happened, when all I want to do is die.

    How long will I be in jail, who knows, I sure don’t

     

     

    Chapter 41

     

     

    Alex was sent by Robert, with a pocket full of money and is a big help.  Leigh’s aunt and uncle show up to help and they dive right in.  Angy rents an office and use it as a central point to investigate this terrible crime.  Bobby helps from Boston, almost as much as any of us here in San Juan.  The local police finally agree that Angy didn’t do anything wrong.  Josie and Allen are wonderful and it is easy to see where Leigh got her personality

     

    “Leigh told me in Miami that you are the one Angy, I’ve never seen her so happy.”

    “As she was talking I was falling apart.” thought Angy.

    I got you a room here at the hotel so you could be close, and they both stayed at our same motel.

    “Alex, I want to recreate the crime” Angy said.

    And after a recreation of the crime Angy came across a couple of details not seen before.  They find an outline of the knife on the wall in blood and some blood on the floor. Also a strange and unique ring is found under the bedside table.

     

     

    Chapter 42

     

    Angy drove everyone across to the rented office to get started   They  had 7 tables and several telephone hook ups scattered around the room.   There were also two large, old fashioned blackboards on wheels so they could be moved around and two large bulletin boards to post things on. By this time Angy had a couple of packs of developed pictures of the motel and room, which they scattered on the tables.

     

    As they began discussing what other material was needed they made a list on one of the blackboards so everyone could see what was needed and what had already been received. 

     

    A little bit at a time they narrowed the list and when they discussed the passenger lists they tried to figure a way to go through them quickly.  While this discussion was going on Bobby called from Boston and when he heard about the lists he suggested they send them to him in Boston. In his office he had people who where professionals at sorting through that type of list. 

     

    Later in the day Allen (Leigh’s Uncle) found a news paper article in the Miami Herald that sounded interesting.  A local petty criminal’s body was discovered just off the highway in south Miami.  This criminal was shot to death, but, a very expensive antique knife was found hidden on his body.  The knife was stolen from the collection of a Congressman de Roche from GrandLargo MA.

     

    Bobby contacted the Miami police and explained that there might be a connection with the Miami knife and a San Juan Murder and the police are looking into it.

     

     

    Chapter 44

     

    It seems this knife is the murder weapon and Bobby now feels there may be a solid connection between San Juan and Grandlargo. 

     

    In spite of Angy’s protestations Marilyn arrives in San Juan to help.  Angy is afraid whoever killed Leigh might try for Marilyn now that she’s in San Juan.

     

    Angy’s little detective agency in San Juan is getting nowhere and the general consensus is the dead body found in Miami is the murderer and this solves the case very unsatisfactorily.

     

     

    “I escorted Leigh’s body home; and with each mile we travel I became more detached.  I have no emotion at all now; and later as I watch the casket being lowered I couldn’t even cry.   The screaming in my head pushes every other thought away leaving me shaking.  Now suddenly as I walk away from the grave the tears are running like water.” Angy’s thoughts

     

     

    Chapter 45

     

    Edward called Angy about the Hampshire County District Attorney’s case against the de Roche and Spaulding crew.  He wants Angy to help the District Attorney build his case

     

    After a conversation with the District Attorney Angy is in Court every day

     

    The trial drags on questioning everyone involved in the case in great detail

     

    After de Roche and Spaulding testify Mr. Bleaker the District Attorney recalls them and cancels the plea agreement by impeaching their testimony.  Showing they lied on the stand.

     

    All are convicted and sent to jail.

     

     

     

     

    Chapter 46

     

    Happy times are back again for most, but Angy still grieves for Leigh, a year later and not enough time has passed to make him forget.

     

    Marilyn has moved her classes to Boston to be near Angy, but not much is happening in their relationship.

     

    Angy is still not convinced the case is over there are too many loose ends.

     

     

    Angy and Bobby are taking turns escorting Marilyn around to keep an eye on her.  This particular day Bobby is with her at Filenes department store Marilyn disappears. After a momentary panic Angy picks up the phone and it’s Marilyn in a panic. Apparently she has been kidnapped from Filenes and managed to elude her captor while they stopped at a rest stop off the Mass Pike.   Angy and Bobby drive out to get her and find she is being waited on by the Mass State Police, sent by Bobby, the FBI, sent by her father and the local police sent by Angy. In each others arms she and Angy discover something has changed between them.  Hopefully the ice has broken.

     

     

    Chapter 47

     

     

    Marilyn and Angy are sleeping in the same bed but not having sex.  The club is booming and Bobby and Angy are still escorting Marilyn around everywhere.

     

    Donna and Angy are sorting out details about the club, looking at possible additions to the entertainment and in general upgrading the club’s promotions.

     

     

    The Three Musketeers are about to have dinner as Angy and Marilyn arrive at the club.  They see Bobby’s state car just parked ahead of them as they get out of the cab.

     

    “It’s about time I killed you and your bitch too.  I let you live in San Juan, but that was a mistake.”  Shouted a surprise voice as he shot Angy in the face.  The second shot, meant for Marilyn, was intercepted by Angy as he fell.

     

    As the shooting began Bobby pulled his service revolver and shot the attacker dead, but not before Angy took one bullet in the face and the other in the chest.

     

     

     

    Chapter 48

     

    “By the way what happened to that son of a bitch shooter?”

    “He’s dead my bullet caught him above his right eye.”  After working on Angy for hours the first day and several months recovery Angy is going to be all right.  Angy and Marilyn are closer together since the shooting.  Angy doesn’t want to lose Marilyn.

     

     

    Chapter 49

     

    Angy explains everything.  The attacker who shot Angy was named Franklyn de Roche, the son of Edward de Roche, one of the congressmen Angy sent to jail over the Brakeman affair.  This Franklin overheard his father and two of his father’s employees discussing a problem and decided to stay locally to help them out while he stayed in the background. Once his father was convicted of attempted murder and disgraced Franklin apparently lost all rationality and began his rain of terror against Angy and Leigh/Marilyn.  The terrible irony here is de Roche shot Leigh thinking she was Marilyn. 

     

    Short Stories