Fahrenheit 1600 (Victor Kozol) (7 page)

Chapter 13

‘Firestop’

Sam has good reason to be optimistic about his
accidental contact with Victor Kozol bearing fruit. If information is power in
this modern world, then Sam is powerful indeed. He now has dossiers on: Victor;
the Kozol Funeral Home; Vic’s parents; the boro of Duryea Pennsylvania;
Pennsylvania Funeral and Cremation Law; and more. Most important in this
treasure trove is the up-to-the-minute financial position and transactions of
Victor. He knows that Vic is getting close to insolvency and that without some
outside injection of cash, Vic will be out of business very soon. The only
salvation other than Sam for Vic would be if his parents intervened and gave
him more financial aid. Sam had to act first hoping to head off that exit for
Vic.

So, Sam is ready to go to the next monthly meeting
with a formal request for
firestop.

Sam is so confident that he strides into the meeting
at Rosselli’s without any of this financial and personal information on Vic. He
knew that if he got permission none of that would be relevant. He will use it to
hook Vic, but the members of the organization would only be bored by how he did
it. Sam can only but think,
After this deal goes down successfully, Sam
Gianetti will be the man who beat police forensics at their own game.
Firestop
will go down as a turning point in the organization winning against law
enforcement. The mob would now be able to operate with impunity without fear of
the reach of the long arm of the law. Best yet, Sam will be identified forever
with this coup and be a rising star in the organization. But, like all good
things, this project will require a lot of effort. However, Sam is thinking
no
pain no gain.

Gathered around the same table at Rosselli’s are the
same faces Sam has sat across from for the last three years. At the end of the
business agenda, Sam proposes that the organization authorize him to make
contact with Victor Kozol for the purpose of fronting a crematory in his small
upstate Pennsylvania funeral home. Sam recommends that Kozol Funeral Home will
be the legal entity that owns and operates the retort. Victor himself will have
to actually run the equipment and dispose of the ashes. He will be paid about
twenty five times what a regular cremation pays for his services. The entire
cost to install and set up the retort will be up to $100,000 and less if a
lease for the retort can be worked out instead of purchasing it outright.

After that at $10,000 a pop for each cremation, the
operation will be on a pay as you go system. Sam tells the group that we have
to pay that much because Victor will not be able to stay afloat with his
payments, as the entire cremation project makes no financial sense for Victor
without the extraordinary help from the organization. This will also keep
Victor from ever thinking he doesn’t need our business. Carlo the Don has one
important question, “How can we trust Kozol, an outsider? What if he says no to
your scheme and goes to the cops?”

Sam tells Carlo, “I will be responsible for Kozol,
if you greenlight the project.”

He ends his comments with “No risk no reward.”

After receiving an affirmative vote, Carlo reminds
Sam whose idea this is, and who will be responsible if the project misfires. It
is now 10:39 p.m. and the meeting is adjourned.

Chapter 14

Victor and ‘Firestop’

Sam now must turn his vague plan into concrete
results. This will be the first big project that he is doing for the
organization of his own initiation. Sam has to keep Victor from reaching out to
other sources like his parents for help. He has to give him just enough so that
Vic doesn’t go under before Sam even has a chance to enlist him into the plan.
First, Sam knows he just can’t pitch Victor directly with this scheme or he
risks his going to the police. He needs to ensnare Vic in a methodical and
patient way. This has to be done correctly, Sam thinks, I get one chance to get
this right. Since I don’t know any other failing funeral directors, I need
Victor.

Sam begins by calling an old associate from
Brooklyn, Louis Premes. Lou is presently working as a pit boss at the blackjack
tables at the Mountain Resort Casino in the Pocono Mountains in northeast
Pennsylvania. Lou would rather be back in New York, but he fell behind in some
heavy gambling debts with another family from Queens. Word was out on the
streets of New York that it would be healthier if he wasn’t there at this time.
So wanting to stay healthy, Lou was breathing the fine clean air in the lovely
Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.

Sam, through his contacts, obtained Lou’s cell
number and called in a favor. He needed Lou to assist a ‘mark’ he would bring
into the casino to make some money. Lou could do this because it was only a
scam for $5,000. This money Sam would reimburse so Lou could return it to the
table. He then promised Lou $1,000 for helping.

The stage was now set to make the call inviting
Victor to meet Sam in the Poconos for an old time’s sake reunion. Victor took
the call in his present state of depression without emotion. He really didn’t
feel like setting foot into another casino or for that matter wagering the kids
outside for ice cream.

Sam says, “Vic, don’t say no, I really enjoyed your
company in Atlantic City and with the bonus I just got, I am buying dinner and
drinks for old times’ sake.”

Victor does what he always does in these cases,
first vacillates and then says yes. “Okay Sam, next Friday at 6:00 p.m. I’ll
meet you at Mountain Resort.”

Sam drove west across Route 80 from New York that
Friday, taking note how direct Route 80 was from the City to Pennsylvania. Two
hours from the City and forty-five more minutes to Duryea, not bad he figures.

Sam, of course, already knew that Vic was at the end
of his financial rope, and when he saw how depressed his old friend actually
looked, he was sure with some smooth finessing, he could pull this off.

“How are you Vic,” Sam calls out from the bar.

Vic smiles and tries to put on a happy face for the
occasion.

“Let’s get something to eat, I’m starved.”

He guides Vic to Sherali’s Steak House which is
right behind the gambling tables on the main level. Two hours later, after much
small talk about sports and other subjects, to keep Vic’s mind off of his
problems, they head for the casino floor. Sam steers Vic towards Lou’s
blackjack area. Upon arriving at a table, Sam pulls out of his pocket $100
worth of chips and hands them to Vic. “Here, use these they’re lucky.”

Victor isn’t feeling lucky, but in ninety minutes he
has turned the $100 into $5,000. For each time the dealer won a hand, Vic won
three. Vic picks up the chips and says, “Look Sam let’s at least split this,
after all it was all your seed money to begin with.”

“Not on your life Vic, it’s all yours, you made it
happen,” Sam responds.

“Oh by the way Vic, now that I am this close, how
about showing me your funeral home?”

“It’s hardly worth you driving up to see my little
place Sam.”

“Tomorrow, I have business in Scranton. How about I
call you after lunch and update you on a timeframe I can be there?”

“Okay Sam, if you want to be bored I can’t stop you;
come on over.”

With that Vic and Sam take leave of each other.

Vic was feeling much better when Sam arrived the
next afternoon. After all, he now had enough money to last out the month, and
then he would worry about what comes next. Sam seemed to be very interested in
the place considering he was a big ‘city slicker’ where they had funeral homes
that did more funerals in a morning than Vic did in a couple months. Vic
dutifully showed Sam everything. Sam seemed disappointed that even though this
was a small town there was little space around the funeral home, which was just
a large old home in the middle of town. In fact, there wasn’t even a garage.

“Hey Vic. Where do you keep the hearses and cars?”

“Well when my father and grandfather were running
it, they kept their cars in the old boro maintenance garage which grandpa
bought sixty years ago from the boro.”

“Still have it Sam asks?”

“Sure, but it’s down at the end of town.”

“Can I see it?”

“I don’t know why, all you will see is our old
hearse and limousine that we haven’t used for years. See, for the last several
years we rent late model Cadillacs from a livery service in Scranton for each
funeral. It just doesn’t pay with our low volume to own the cars anymore.”

“Hey Vic, I love old cars, let’s go see.”

On a dead end street with no other homes or
businesses sat a cinder block garage capable of holding ten cars. The property
was surrounded by a chain link fence and the entire place was in disrepair from
years of neglect. Victor has a hard time getting the key in the rusty lock, but
finally the door swings open with a loud creak, like out of a scene from a
horror movie. The look was eerie. Inside the dark, leaky, and musty building
were two cars, a hearse, and a limousine from the 1970s sitting on a cracked
concrete floor. In addition, some junk was strewn around, none of which seemed
to be of much value.

Sam’s eyes lit up. He is thinking, this place could
hold several cremation retorts and it’s big enough to pull a van in and close
the door for total privacy while unloading. Better still there is no one living
nearby to see the traffic coming and going. In fact it’s much more private than
the funeral home back in the middle of Duryea. It looks like all of the pieces
are coming together here. But, Sam knows he must wait for the proper time to
spring his proposal. Victor has to once again run out of money, and this time
Sam will be waiting. Victor and Sam shake hands and say their goodbyes and
promise each other to stay in touch.