"No. Nothing like that. It's just a big pain in the ass, is all. They take it, of course. And then you have to go to court and swear you won it gambling in Barbados or someplace. And you have to pay a fine for not declaring you have more than ten thousand in cash on you, and then you have to pay income tax on the money. Gambling income is income, as I guess you know."
"Yeah, right. The bastards."
"But there's no big deal, like if they caught somebody smuggling drugs or something illegal. The worst that can happen is that they keep the money as long as they can, and you have to pay the fine."
Mr. Rosselli took a sip of his drink.
"Vito, you got anything against making a quick ten big ones?" Mr. Rosselli asked.
Vito looked at him, but did not reply.
"The four you owe us on the markers, and six in cash. It'd pay for your plumbing problem."
"I don't understand," Vito said softly, after a moment.
"Now, we don't know for a fact that this is going to happen," Mr. Rosselli said. "But let's just say that the IRS does know our guy who will have the million two in his suitcase. And let's just say they do make their anonymous fucking telephone call to Customs or the Narcotics cops, giving them his description and flight number. Now, we don'tknow that's going to happen, but we're businessmen, and we have to plan for things like that."
"Yeah," Vito said softly.
"So what would happen? They would wait for him at the baggage carousel and search his bags, right?"
"Right. I've seen them do that. Sometimes they call it a random search."
"Right."
"So they search his bags and find the money, and we have to go through the bullshit of paying the fine and the income tax on a million two. And also have to get another million two out of the bank to pay the guy in the Poconos. Right?"
"Yeah, I understand."
"So, I figured we could help each other. We don't want to take the chance of having to go through the bullshit thatmight happen. Including paying the IRS tax on a million two of gambling earnings. And you need money for your fucking plumbing, and to make good the four big ones you owe us."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Just make sure when our guy's airplane lands at Philadelphia, one of his bags don't make it to the carousel. There will be nothing in his other bag but underwear,if and I keep saying,if they search it."
Mr. Rosselli paused.
"Look, Vito, we know you're a cop and an honest cop. We wouldn't ask you to do nothingreally against the law, something that would get you in trouble with the Department. But you got a problem, we got a problem, and I thought maybe we could help each other out. If you think this is something you wouldn't want to do, just say so, and that'll be it. No hard feelings."
Vito Lanza looked first at Mr. Rosselli and then at his hands, and then back at Mr. Rosselli.
"How would I know which bag?" he asked, finally.
****
"Jesus, Carlo," Mr. Cassandro said to Mr. Rosselli as they left the apartment building. "I got to hand it to you. You played him like a fucking violin!"
"That did go pretty well, didn't it?" Mr. Rosselli replied. "And he wants in. That's a lot better than having to show him the photographs and the Xeroxes and all that shit."
"Yeah," Mr. Cassandro agreed.
"It's always better," Mr. Rosselli observed philosophically, "to talk people into doing something. If it's their id
ea, they don't change their minds."
Neither Mr. Rosselli nor Mr. Cassandro noticed that the four-yearold Pontiac was still parked halfway down the block on the other side of the street.
TWENTY-FOUR