Fahrenheit 1600 (Victor Kozol) (9 page)

Chapter 18

The Hammer

Vic starts out early the next morning. It’s a
beautiful fall day. The leaves are just beginning to turn and as he approaches
the granite cliffs of the Delaware Water Gap heading east into New Jersey on
Route 80, the scenery is even more magnificent. There are golds, reds, and
yellow all blending into what could be a beautiful painting. But, Vic is not
paying much attention to nature around him.

For the first time he has a certain foreboding about
the upcoming meeting in Brooklyn. He knows he was in a real mess on his own
accord, but listening to Sam and his crematory advice only seems to have made
it worse. Well, Sam got me into this part of my problems, so I will let him get
me out. Just a little more working capital would smooth everything over.

At 11:10 a.m. Vic walks into Sam’s sumptuous
offices. The building is an old brick five story affair that could be over one
hundred years old. But once inside, things were very different. The lobby,
halls and elevators are sleek stainless steel trimmed with wood accents. The
floors are marble and silver chandeliers dot the ceilings. Expensively dressed
fine looking ladies with their high heels clicking on the Italian marble
saunter through the halls with the other visitors. Victor thought these must be
the secretaries and paralegals, at any rate he was duly impressed.

Stepping off the elevator at the fifth floor, the
decor was even more luxurious with Sam’s office suite in the north corner of
the building. Upon entering, a receptionist who could be considered a “ten”
greeted Vic and said Sam would be out in a minute. The office suite is done in
cherry wood with dark green accents on the walls and a woolen Berber carpet
graces the floor. Vic thought what a far cry from his lawyer Steve Lamont’s
spartan quarters back in Duryea. Sam is no $100 an hour lawyer like Steve.

“Victor my friend, it’s so good to see you in New
York.” He guides Vic into his palatial corner office with the great view of the
Brooklyn Bridge.

Sam gestures for Vic to take a leather arm chair in
front of his teak, gold inlaid desk, and then takes his place facing Vic.

“This is like out of the movies Sam.”

“I guess I don’t appreciate it as much as I see it
every day; by the way how was the trip?”

“I enjoyed the ride and traffic was light, I can’t
get over your beautiful digs here, but all of that being said, I can’t feel
good about my position as to why I’m here.”

“Perhaps we can solve some of your pressing problems
today then go out and celebrate.”

“I appreciate the thought Sam, but after my episode
earlier in the year down in Bucks County, I won’t be doing any drinking today.”

“Okay, but we can still do some great food later.”

Vic opens the conversation and gets right to the
point. “Look Sam, I missed the monthly payment for the retort lease, and I
don’t have the $3,000 I own my father this month. That’s why I asked for a
little more cash up front.”

“I don’t want to make a bad situation worse Vic, but
if you read page sixteen in your loan documents, you owe a payment to my
associates on the $25,000 they loaned you. With the five year amortization and
15% APR interest, you owe another $800 for your start-up loan times two months,
that’s another $1,600 you need to come up with.”

“Wow, I forgot about that, I guess that makes
bankruptcy inevitable for me.”

“Not so fast Vic, bankruptcy is an escape for some,
but might not work in your case.”

“What do you mean by that, I read about people
declaring chapter 11 or whatever you lawyers call it every day.”

“Look Vic, here are the facts; the retort lease was
cosigned by my venture capitalist associates. When you add that $50,000 they
will be liable for if the retort lease is terminated prematurely, they are on
the hook for $75,000.”

“Oh shit, I’ll never get that much money together in
one place to ever pay it back.”

“Right, and bankruptcy won’t solve it for you
because you don’t own any of the real estate in Duryea.”

“There is very little my associates could get back
in a bankruptcy proceeding.”

“Okay, so what else is there, you seemed to have
closed the door on the only option people have in my situation.”

“Well here is where it gets a little … shall we say
dicey Vic, see my friends here in the City are having a problem that you are
the only one they can turn to for help. If you would help them out, they would
not only forgive all of the debt you owe them, but they would reward you
generously for your services.”

Vic doesn’t know what is coming next, but he is
smart enough to know it will not be something he ever thought of while driving
down here. He starts to squirm in his chair and for the first time feels really
uncomfortable. Vic regains his composure and retorts, “What do they need done
by me in Pennsylvania that they can’t get done right here in New York?”

“They need a sort of specialized disposal service
Vic.”

“A disposal service?”

“Yes, they need your crematory retort to make some
things go away for them.”

“Again I am at a loss why can’t they get the same
services without all of the hauling expense to Pennsylvania right here in New
York?”

“Victor, I’m afraid I just have to be direct here;
they need a few dead bodies to disappear every year.”

“What? Are you crazy man? You mean cremate some
bodies which are evidence that the mafia or underworld wants to dispose of?”

“You make it sound so sinister Vic; look, there are
no cameras or counters on your retort. When you push the buttons some gas and
electricity gets used but there is no record of that cycle anywhere. There is
no trace except for the two pounds or so of remains that the operation ever
took place. Poof, the body and all evidence of it disappear forever.”

“No way man, I need a cremation permit from some
state agency for each cremation that I perform, that gives me legal permission
to do it.”

“See Vic, you said it yourself, a small eight by
eleven inch piece of paper is all that is coming between you and the solution
to all of your problems.”

“Yeh, but that little piece of paper means breaking
the law and jail time for me the operator.”

“Getting caught would be highly unlikely Vic, but
the problem for me is in your case I can’t talk these investors into anything
else. They don’t need anything else and you don’t have anything to give them
anyway; they just need a few already dead bodies to disappear Vic. You don’t
have to know who they are or where they came from or anything about them. You
simply push the buttons, drop the remains in the Lackawanna River and get
paid.”

“How much would they pay me for a criminal act like
that?”

“My friends have informed me that they would forgive
all of the start-up costs and pay you $10,000 a case going forward.”

“$10,000 a case, are you kidding me man?”

“My associates don’t kid about business decisions of
this gravity Vic.”

“Well Sam, I have to go home and sleep on it, this
is a momentous decision for me; this is far outside of anything I ever dreamed
about in my entire life.”

“Vic, I wish there was the luxury of time for you,
but I need an answer now.”

“Well then, I guess it’s going to have to be a no
Sam, but thanks for all of the help.”

“No Vic, we can’t end it just like that, it would be
easy for you, but not for me to face my associates, so I propose we do the ‘Ben
Franklin’ close on this matter. That is we take a piece of paper,” Sam tears
off a sheet from a notepad and writes on the top reasons for and against, and
draws a line down the center.

“See, we will now list all of the reasons for and
against my proposal, whichever side comes out with the best reasons, is the
side you do, okay?”

“Yah, on one side I get money until I go to jail.”

“No Vic, on one side you remain a trusted
businessman keeping up with all of his obligations in the community. Plus you
are living a lifestyle far better than you enjoy now.”

“On the other side,” Sam points to the pad’s right
side, “You are a disgraced former funeral director with a target on his and his
families back.”

“What target Sam?”

“Vic I told you your insolvency leaves my associates
out $75,000 with no place to collect it except from you personally or maybe
your parents.”

“No way man; you can’t threaten my parents, they
have nothing to do with any of this.” I’m just saying Vic, how else can these
investors get their money back?”

“Wow, I may need police protection and soon.”

“Wait Vic, who are you going to be protected from?
There are no notes or threats recorded on your life, or people waiting outside
your door to get you. Do you really think the police are going to protect you
forever on some flimsy hearsay evidence? The answer is that even in Duryea,
they aren’t going to devote two of their four man police force watching you. I
mean Vic, you are in no immediate danger, but you can never tell a month or
even a year down the road what could happen.”

“Geeze, I can’t believe I am having this
conversation with you Sam.”

“Vic if it was just me, I would let bygones be
bygones, I would say, the guy tried his best let’s forget about it.”

“What friends you have Sam, I am just realizing who
you really represent.”

“Vic, I guess we are all disappointed at how this
worked out, but you have to make a decision here. Go home and call me by the
end of the week as to where you stand. Longer than that, and I just may not be
able to control things at this end.”

“Sam, I’ll take a raincheck on dinner, I’m not
hungry right now, but you will hear from me, I promise.” Vic leaves Sam’s
office with a new emotion; fear. This one seems to top the ones of lethargy and
despondency.

Chapter 19

Fight or Flight

Vic is back on Route 80, heading west towards
Pennsylvania. As you approach the Delaware Water Gap from this direction the
terrain becomes very rugged with towering rock cliffs that had to be blasted
through to make the openings for the highway. As he sullenly and robotically
guides his car along over the pavement, Vic’s mind races on to alternative
courses of action. He sees the one hundred foot rock ledge fifty feet to his
right. He thinks, ‘what if I just let the car drift into the granite, it would
all be over in a flash. But then an even scarier scene enters his muddled
brain. He is not dead, but in an ICU unit of a local hospital after the crash.
Hovering over him lying helplessly with all kinds of restraints on is a dark
shadowy figure standing on the oxygen line hooked to Vic’s nose. There is no
escape from Sam’s organization. Vic is choking and gasping for air and ready to
black out when reality returns.

With his mind wandering wildly, he now goes back to
the first scene where he is dead underneath the wreckage of his car after
hitting the rock ledge. However, now the same dark figure is hovering over his
sleeping parents in Florida with a knife. Again Vic feels if they can’t recover
the money from him they will move to the next closest members of his family.
What about his sister, could they track her and her family down? By the time
Vic is safely back in Duryea he is mentally and physically exhausted from the
day’s happenings and all those weird thoughts he was entertaining on the road.

The next morning Vic gets up at 11:00 a.m. and still
feels exhausted. It takes him but a minute to relive the events of yesterday
and all of his other problems putting him back into a horrible mood. Vic gets
dressed and heads for the local coffee shop. Here at the counter he spies an
old friend of his father, Charley Heckman. Charley was chief of police here in
Duryea for thirty years until his retirement some ten years ago. Vic moves over
closer to Charley to initiate a conversation.

“Charley, how are you, my father often asks about
you?”

“Oh it’s Vic, very good after all who wants to hear
old people complain anyway?”

“Charley let me pose a hypothetical question to you.
If a local citizen is being threatened by someone from out of the area, and
they wanted to get some protection, how would they go about it?”

“I hope this isn’t about you or your family Vic.”

“No, no, but I had a widow that I was arranging a
funeral for and her daughter was in this predicament up in Eynon.”

“Well Vic, she can go to the local police up there,
but she is going to need some particulars for them to even look into it.”

“What kind of particulars Charlie?”

“The police will need names, places, dates, and a
description of the incident, even with all of that, unless a crime has already
been committed, they can’t do a whole lot. There are just not the resources
anywhere to station guards around her daughter and her home. There would have
to be some type of local threat occurring that they could respond to, otherwise
they are chasing ghosts.”

“Ghosts, maybe that’s what my client’s daughter is
chasing after all, well thanks Charley for the info, if she calls back, I can
tell her what you told me.”

So Sam is exactly right thought Vic, what police
department: local, state or federal can hang around waiting for something to
happen. They will certainly investigate if Vic is found dead in his home or on
the street, but by then the horse has sort of left the proverbial barn. This
idea of coming clean to the police is receding further and further into the
background.

The next thought of ignoring Sam in New York was
entertained as in normal times this would be Vic’s default position on any
crisis; do nothing. But even Vic knows that this time he is in too deep to just
ignore the problem. What about just leaving everything behind and starting a
new life somewhere, anywhere else? This initially sounds like a good plan. You
fill the car with gas, throw some clothes in the trunk and vamoose.

But, there is a reality check with this idea also.
First, Vic is almost out of funds in the bank and his credit cards are almost
completely maxed out. If he just gets a couple hundred miles away and runs out
of money, who do you turn to? If you start working somewhere under your own
name, you are exposed to being found. This would be especially true after Vic’s
family and friends file police reports that something suspicious happened to
him, as he is inexplicably gone. There would be locator requests sent out all
over the country by the local authorities looking for him.

Finally, if he changed his identity, he would need
resources to get that accomplished. Probably the only employer who wouldn’t
want to see valid ID for a job would be a migrant farm labor contractor. So,
running is not what it initially seems and it would likely be just temporary.
Worse, the mob could locate him out of town first and that would be curtains.
Just when Vic couldn’t be any more walled in by his circumstances the second
blow falls.

The next day, Vic’s father unexpectedly called at
10:00 a.m. arousing Vic from a deep sleep. “Vic, as you already know the check
for this month’s rent never appeared, and I am damned tired of pulling teeth to
get what is owed to me. It should come as no surprise to me Vic, because more
than a couple of friends have called us from Duryea telling us how badly things
were going up there with the funeral home. It is time for tough love Vic, I am
issuing you an ultimatum, if I don’t see the money in two days, I will get on a
plane and evict you from the premises. Then, I will sell what is left of the
business and the property.

By the way, they tell me you now have a crematory in
the garage. I guess I now know where my rent money is, in some fool project of
yours. Well the days of playing with my money are over Vic. I hope this brings
you to your senses; know that I will wait until the end of the week, two more
days, that’s it, so long.” Click.
Just as well he hung up on me, as I have
no money or answers for him that he is going to like,
thought Vic.

Now Vic has heat coming from two stereo channels New
York and Florida at the same time. Sam didn’t know how perfect the timing of
Vic’s father was for his purposes, but it was the final straw that forced Vic
into action.

“Sam, it’s me Vic. Look, maybe I was a little hasty
about walking out on you last week.”

“Vic, you were under stress and I fully understand
how startled you were by my proposal. I just hope that these couple of days
gave you time to come to the right decision.”

“Oh it has Sam, but before we can begin with your
deal, I will need a quick $10,000 advance to keep going. Otherwise there won’t
be a business left here for your associates to make use of.”

“Vic, you will have the $10,000 wired to your
account today, as far as proceeding on the other matter, I will be in touch
later.”

“Thanks Sam, I know this will work out for the both
of us.”

Sam puts the phone in its cradle and breathes a sigh
of relief. All of the planning and time spent is going to finally pay off. Sam
will be the star of the next meeting with the organization.