Page 55 of Kingpin
Abram Baskov’s heart pounds in his chest as he watches Dominic Collazo climb out of his BMW and walk up to the house. He can’t fucking believe it—Anthony lied to him. He said he was sure he got Dominic when he fired all those shots through the window. It was over. It was done, and it was all bullshit.
The plan was to stop by Anthony’s house after he dropped his grandmother off at church, so he could give him the five grand he promised, but as Abram drove up the road, he saw someone he recognized. It was the big guy from the sit down at Lumiere Place. He knew it was the same guy Dominic had with him, no mistake about it, and he knew if he was going into Anthony’s house, there was no chance Anthony was ever going to see the light of day again. Abram figured the guy and his two friends were there to get revenge for the hit on Dominic, which is exactly why Abram hired Anthony—a young black kid who Abram doesn’t associate himself with. They weren’t supposed to make the connection to Abram, and for all he knows, maybe they didn’t. But once he saw Dominic show up, he almost started to panic.
Now, it’s been ten minutes since Dominic walked inside, and the door is opening again. Out strolls Dominic like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Abram can’t stand seeing him walk around like everything’s fine, knowing he just did something terrible to poor Anthony, who never saw any of this shit coming. Dominic gets in his car, but the other three guys are still inside, probably cleaning up the mess. Abram knows he has to do something. He has to get rid of this Collazo fucker, or he’ll never have peace. These fucking mob families always think they can just take what they want from people. Well, fuck that. It won’t happen this time, not to Abram.
He needs a plan, but Dominic is already driving away from the house, so he doesn’t have time to sit there when he already knows Anthony’s dead. So, he puts his truck in gear and follows the Italian.
He knows he has to keep his distance. He can’t afford to be seen, at least not until he’s ready to make his move—whatever that’s going to be. As he drives on the highway, he thinks. Dominic is a major player in the Giordano family, not someone to be taken lightly, so he knows it’ll be a bad idea to take the guy on straight up. Unlike the crooks his father ran into, the Giordanos are connected to the Original Five Families in New York. This isn’t some made up shit, this is the real deal. So, whatever move he makes has to be perfect, or he’s sure to be tortured to death in retaliation.
Dominic drives into the underground parking area of River City, where Abram knows he’ll be staying, at least for a while. He knows better than to get too close, so Abram parks in the staff parking lot across the street from the underground entrance. He’ll wait there until he figures out his next move, or until he sees an opportunity to strike. He doesn’t give a fuck how long it takes either, because this thing has to end. Abram refuses to end up like his father and the rest of his family did back in Chicago.
Hours pass before Abram finally sees Dominic leaving River City again. As he prepares to get back on the road to follow him, he still doesn’t know what the hell he’s supposed to do to get rid of this bastard. He just knows he has to, because there’s a chance Dominic and his crew beat the information out of Anthony. If they got Anthony to tell them who hired him, Abram knows he won’t last long. These motherfuckers have no problem killing someone in broad daylight. He can’t take any chances. He has to make this happen.
Then, the stars align.
Abram follows Dominic to Mercy Hospital, where he watches with a smile as a woman wearing hospital scrubs exits and climbs into the BMW. Dominic quickly drives away and Abram stays on his tail.
He doesn’t know who the beautiful brunette is, and it makes no difference. All that matters is that she’s someone Dominic cares about in some way. It could be a sister, or a cousin, or a girlfriend. Abram hopes it’s the last one. Love brings out the most emotion and garners the best results, so as the BMW turns into a residential area, Abram feels his heart start to speed up.
This woman was gorgeous, and he can feel it in his stomach that this was not a family member. Abram believes the woman is Dominic’s girlfriend, and when the car pulls into a driveway and parks, Abram’s suspicions are confirmed when the two lovebirds get out and kiss each other like they haven’t seen each other in years. Abram watches them from four houses down as they caress one another, leaning against the BMW for support as they engage in a proud public display of affection.
Not too many cousins kiss like that.
It takes a while, but they manage to pull themselves apart, and the two of them playfully walk inside and shut the door behind them, totally unaware that they just gave Abram Baskov everything he was hoping for. He stomps on the gas and drives away, burning rubber as he speeds down the road. He knows they can hear the screech of his tires and the roar of his engine, and it makes him chuckle, because they don’t know it’s him. They don’t know what their carelessness has done.
They don’t know Abram finally has a plan.
