A YOUNG SUCCUBUS NAMED DELICIA by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

CHAPTER 26 – PLAYING ROUGH

 

16:48 (California Time)

Thursday, December 7, 1972

The PUSSYCAT CABARET

Santa Monica, California

Frank DeSoto was doing some bookkeeping work in his office when he heard some kind of commotion coming from the main entrance of his cabaret. Getting up quickly and walking to the door of his office, he opened it, only to face two pistols pointed at his face from less than two paces. His blood boiled when he recognized the smirking small man standing behind the two gunmen.

‘’Mickey Carmine? What are you doing here?’’

Only then did he see his doorman, inert and lying in a pool of blood near the counter of the cloakroom. Anger instantly rose in Frank, who glared at Micky Carmine.

‘’Why did you do that? That was totally uncalled for!’’

‘’He became unreasonable and my men calmed him down, that’s all.’’ replied in an unapologetic tone the boss of the crime family opposed to the Gambino Family in Los Angeles. ‘’Talking of unreasonable…’’

Mickey Carmine took three quick steps and slugged hard Frank DeSoto with a right hook, sending him on the carpet of his office, half knocked out.

‘’Put this inside your thick head if you can, buster: Nick Durante is no more the boss in Los Angeles as of today and this club now belongs to me. You can either be smart and go with the flow, or you could disappear without a trace tonight.’’

‘’You’re the one who is not being smart, Carmine! You really want to start a war with the Gambino here?’’

‘’And why not? The Gambino’s are soft and weak. With Durante gone, they will have no other choice but to deal with my family. Tony, disarm him!’’ One of the gunmen stepped forward and pulled out the pistol holstered in Frank’s belt, then, on Carmine’s signal, started administering a savage beating to Frank DeSoto, helped in that by the second gunman. Leaving his men to work on Frank, Carmine directed four more of his men to hide the doorman’s body and to search the club, in case

364

someone else was inside. They soon reported back that the club was empty, save for an old cleaning lady. Satisfied, Mickey Carmine went to sit behind Frank DeSoto’s work desk and gave a mean look at the now bloodied and bruised club owner.

‘’This club is now mine. My big brother already took care of Durante himself, so don’t expect help from your precious cousin. Tomorrow, you will sign a transfer of property act putting this club in my name. If you don’t, you will then suffer a regrettable accident and I will still get this club. I know that you don’t personally deal in crimes, except for fleecing the IRS, and that you are a good club manager, so be reasonable and you will live, Frank.’’

‘’What about my employees?’’

‘’They will keep working as before, but on my own terms, that’s all.’’ Seeing no reasonable way out of this mess, Frank decided to play it safe, for everybody’s sake.

‘’Very well! But please don’t be rough on my employees.’’ That earned him a contemptuous look from Carmine.

‘’Decidedly, you were definitely too soft to be in this business.’’

‘’I was only being a sensible businessman: well treated employees are more motivated and work better and harder than those who are simply cowered by their bosses.’’

‘’We will soon see about that.’’ replied Carmine, a mean smile on his face.

17:47 (California Time)

The PUSSYCAT CABARET

Jennifer looked crossly at the unknown man who answered the door of the cabaret.

‘’Who are you? Where is George?’’

‘’George is, uh, indisposed. You’re one of the strippers?’’

‘’Yes!’’

The man then finally opened the door wide, letting her come in. Already made suspicious by the man’s attitude, Jennifer stopped cold when she saw the large red stain on the carpet by the cloakroom’s counter. Recognizing at once what it was, she became frankly alarmed and decided to check at once what was going on.

‘’Is Frank in? I need to speak with him.’’

365

From merely formal, the man’s attitude then changed to one of open hostility and contempt.

‘’You speak too much, girl! Frank is busy right now, so go to your changing room and get ready to work.’’

Not pushing her luck further and seeing that the man packed a pistol, Jennifer didn’t protest further and quickly walked towards the backstage lodges of the cabaret. Passing by Frank’s office, she noticed the two musclemen, both wearing concealed pistols, who stood guard on each side of the door. Both men were also total strangers to her. ‘This smells like a hostile takeover’, she thought to herself while continuing on her way. Having ‘entertained’ Nick Durante a few times already and having made him tell her through her spells much about his affairs, Jennifer could only see one group that could possibly dare try a takeover of a cabaret owned by Durante’s cousin: the Carmines. The problem was that nobody would be stupid enough to hit on this cabaret without at least ensuring that Durante would not be able to react to this. That in turn probably meant that something bad had already happened to the Los Angeles Mafia leader. Jennifer realized at once the amount of violence and deaths this probably meant and shook her head in disgust: she was no angel, but this was a downright stupid and needless display of violence which could lead nowhere. Even if Nick Durante and most of his lieutenants had been taken out by the Carmines, then one could be assured that such a forceful coup would inevitably attract a most violent reaction from the Gambino family in New York. The Carmines may have proven that they could play rough, but they certainly had not proven that they were smart. Stopping for a short moment while out of sight of anyone else, Jennifer raised her left foot and passed a finger against the sole of her shoe, which had walked on the red stain near the cloakroom, then licked her finger: it was blood alright, fresh blood. Now knowing that something very bad had happened to the doorman, Jennifer resumed her walk, anger building inside her: George was not a bad man per say and had always been nice and polite with her and the other girls. Her problem now was to figure out a way to respond to this.

By the time that she arrived at her small lodge in the back of the main lounge’s stage, she had mostly made her mind about how to act next. Since the police could very possibly descend on the cabaret tonight and since Frank may still be alive and inside the establishment, any overt display of magical or supernatural powers was out of the question, as she didn’t want to attract undue attention on her. Nor could she act like a

366

combat beast, which she was not really anyway, for the same reasons. She would thus have to be subtle in her next moves. Changing quickly in her college girl outfit over her leather dominatrix ensemble, she walked out of her lodge and returned to Frank’s office, presenting herself to the two goons guarding the door with a bimbo smile painted on her face.

‘’Hi! I would like to see the manager, please.’’

The two men exchanged knowing glances before one of them replied to her.

‘’What’s your name, girl, and why do you want to talk to him?’’

‘’I’m Mélanie and I want to discuss my wages with him.’’

The Mafia muscleman thought that over for a moment before signaling her to wait and hen knocking on the door. On hearing a muffled answer, he opened the door partly and stuck his head inside, looking at Mickey Carmine, who was reviewing the accounting books of the cabaret with a downcast Frank DeSoto.

‘’Excuse me, boss, but a chick named Mélanie wants to talk to the manager about her wages. Should I let her in?’’

Seeing alarm and worry appear on Frank’s face, Mickey threw him a questioning look.

‘’Who is that Mélanie?’’

‘’My start performer. She is bringing tons of money to the cabaret. Please don’t be rough on her.’’

‘’Tons of money, hey? As for not being rough on her, that will depend on her. Let her in, Jimmie!’’

‘’Yes, boss!’’

The bodyguard then opened wide the door and let Jennifer in. Mickey’s eyes grew wider at once on seeing her.

‘’Wow! That’s one fine chick you have here, Frank. Why don’t you go wait outside while I talk to the dame?’’

Understanding at once that Mickey’s suggestion was more like an order, Frank got up from his chair and went for the door. He hesitated and slowed his pace as he was about to pass by Jennifer, worry visible on his battered face, but she nodded to him to go on and leave. Mickey spoke once the door closed behind Frank, his eyes devouring her.

‘’So, Mélanie, what exactly do you want? Higher wages?’’

‘’Well, you seem to be the new boss here, so I will have to discuss this with you, I guess. How should I call you, mister?’’

367

‘’Just call me Mickey. Since you wanted to discuss your wages as a stripper, why don’t you get comfortable and come sit in my lap, Mélanie?’’

‘This should be easier that I even hoped for’, thought Jennifer, who then started to slowly shed her clothes with sexy moves, causing Mickey to experience a steel-hard erection. Once down to her leather bottom and boots and with her huge, firm breasts fully exposed, she slowly approached the mesmerized Mickey and sat on his legs, straddling him and presenting her chest to his face while passing her arms around his neck. She then spoke in her softest, sexiest voice.

‘’So, Mickey, how should I convince you to raise my wages? How about a kiss first?’’

While she gave him a French kiss, she guided his hands to her breasts and let him fondle them. With him already well aroused, Jennifer threw a ‘Charm’ spell on Mickey, mentally convincing him that he could trust her. Rubbing his crotch with her crotch and letting out a fake moan of pleasure, she looked him in the eyes from up close as she threw next a ‘Suggestion’ spell on him.

‘’You know, your men told me that they were going to have me after this. They really seem to like me.’’

‘’What? The only one you will have is me!’’

‘’Oh? I don’t know about that: I heard them discuss how they will kill you to take over from you and then blame poor Frank for your death.’’ His mind fogged and addled by her spells, Mickey was incapable of thinking straight and reacted on a purely emotional level, while he was experiencing intense desire for her.

‘’The bastards! Who exactly said that?’’

‘’The two men guarding your door.’’

Rage filled Mickey, who pushed away Jennifer before getting up and drawing out his pistol. He then charged towards the door, pulling it open and pointing his pistol at one of his bodyguards, who had half turned on him opening the door.

‘’YOU FUCKERS WANTED TO DOUBLE-CROSS ME?’’

He then shot twice the man on his left in the chest with his FN GP35 9mm pistol, projecting him backward as the loud detonations resonated inside the cabaret. The man was dead by the time he fell down on the carpet. Mickey then turned his pistol on the second guard, who was frozen by stupor and incomprehension. The muscleman tried to draw his own pistol on seeing his boss pointing his weapon at him, acting purely reflexively in a defensive gesture, but was shot before he could get his pistol out of its

368

holster. Mickey was pumping two more bullets in him when the man guarding the main door of the cabaret, the same who had let Jennifer in, reacted in self-defence, convinced that his boss had just gone crazy. He was able to draw and point his pistol just as Mickey was aiming at him. Both shots were near simultaneous, with both bullets finding their marks. While Mickey was hit in his left lung, the muscleman was hit in the stomach and grimaced with pain, but managed to fire a second shot, again hitting his boss but managing only a leg shot this time. Sustained by a flow of adrenaline, Mickey shot back but barely missed, his vision becoming blurred from loss of blood. His three remaining men inside the cabaret, having run to the office on hearing the gunshots, arrived just in time to see the man at the main door shoot their boss in the belly. Not taking the time to wonder why all that had happened, the three intact Mafiosi then peppered the man at the door, killing him in a deluge of bullets. One of the remaining Mafiosi next ran to Mickey, wanting to help him and provide first aid to him. He however made the mistake of keeping his pistol in his hand, pointing it unintentionally at him while running. That made Mickey, now close to losing consciousness and still under Jennifer’s spells, fire at him from near point-blank range, hitting him in the chest. The Mafioso fell face down with a grunt, losing his grip on his pistol. The two Mafiosi now remaining intact then felt they had no choice but shoot their boss as he tried with his last strength to raise again his pistol. The next five shots finished off Mickey Carmine, making his limp body slide down to the floor, his back against the frame of the office’s door.

The two surviving gunmen, stunned and shocked by the firefight they had just been in and wondering what the hell had happened exactly, looked at each other with incomprehension, lowering their guns at the same time. Jennifer jumped into the action then, quickly crouching besides Carmine’s body and grabbing his FN GP35 pistol. Using Carmine’s body and the door frame as partial cover, she quickly pointed Carmine’s pistol at the two gunmen and fired a volley of four bullets at them, hitting hard both men without giving them a chance to shoot back. Seeing that one of the men was still moving, Jennifer dropped Carmine’s pistol, now empty, and ran to the dead man by the door, grabbing his own pistol and methodically emptying it in the two men she had shot, killing them. Next, she went to the man shot and wounded by Mickey Carmine, who was now moaning. Turning him on his back, she pressed her mouth against his mouth and sucked his soul before the man could die for good. Reinvigorated by the soul she had just eaten and with no survivors but herself left around the lobby of the cabaret, Jennifer

369

quickly wiped her fingerprints off the two pistols she had handled before putting them back in the grips of their dead owners. She had just finished doing that when Frank DeSoto cautiously stuck his head out of the cloakroom, where he had been put by Carmine’s gunmen. He gave a haggard look around the scene of carnage, then eyed Jennifer with worry.

‘’Jennifer, are you alright? What the hell happened here?’’ Jennifer ran to him at once and kissed him with genuine grief on seeing the state of his face.

‘’Frank, my God: you’re alive! How are you?’’

‘’I’ll live, Jennifer. What about you?’’

‘’Don’t worry, Frank: I’m alright. Carmine and his men went crazy and shot each other up. Look, what’s important is that we are both alright. I will now have to go before the police arrive: I don’t want them to use me as the fall girl in this. Just pretend that I was not here and tell them that Carmine and his boys beat you up before getting into a dispute about how to split the revenues of your cabaret. I will be back tomorrow evening, so don’t worry about me. Please take care of yourself in the meantime.’’ She then kissed him again, passing a ‘Suggestion’ spell on him to firm up her requests to him, then ran to her lodge and grabbed her purse and suitcase there before concentrating and teleporting back to her house just as police sirens could be heard approaching the cabaret. She was however far from finished for the night and went down at once to the basement of her house, where she took out of their hiding place two grenades, a Colt .45 pistol with silencer and a 9mm, British-made Sten submachine gun dating back from the Second World War, along with spare ammunition magazines. The weapons were part of the arsenal which had been assembled by her during World War 2 while she was the leader of a French Resistance cell in Paris. That arsenal, carefully hidden inside her furniture imported from Paris, had then followed her to Los Angeles. Now, it was going to be useful again.

Having been brought once by Nick Durante to his secret headquarter, so that he could have quiet sex with her there, away from his home and wife, Jennifer knew were to go next. If the Carmines truly planned to take over Durante’s little empire today, then they would certainly have hit his hideout in Del Rey, a warehouse situated near both the Marina Del Rey and the Los Angeles International Airport, two main access points to Los Angeles for drugs imported from nearby Mexico. Putting on an old ankle-length coat

370

with hood and hiding her weapons and ammunition under it, she took her car and drove down to the Del Rey area, parking her car out of sight of Durante’s warehouse and continuing cautiously on foot from there, careful not to attract undue attention. She stopped for a moment behind a telephone booth across the street from the warehouse’s main gate and examined the grounds carefully in the early darkness of December, using as well her ability to detect minds around her. The warehouse was surrounded by a large fenced lot where maritime containers and old truck trailers gathered dust, while the warehouse itself was a three story-high building which had seen better days. A seemingly bored man was sitting in the guard’s hut at the main gate of the fence, while four cars were parked in front of the warehouse, near a pedestrian door. A red tip of light suddenly appearing inside one of the parked cars then made Jennifer smile to herself: a man was smoking behind the driver’s wheel, probably a lookout trying to keep out of the fresh evening air. The moment brought back to her the souvenirs of some of her more exciting times as a young French Resistance girl. The Humans may be weak, short-lived and lacking in powers compared to her, but they certainly could live interesting lives and produce strong displays of emotion. Their astonishingly quick advances in technology and science during the last few decades also made up more and more for their nearly universal lack of magical knowledge or powers.

Having formed her plan of action in her mind, Jennifer discreetly checked that her silencer-equipped pistol was ready to fire and stuck it inside the deep right-side pocket of her coat, then threw back her hood, showing her long red hair, before crossing the street at a calm pace. The man in the guard’s hut took a moment to notice her and straightened up in his chair, but stayed sitting inside the hut as she approached his small side window. The man eyed her beautiful face and smiled to her while opening the sliding side window.

‘’Hi, babe! What are you doing here at this time of the evening? You should know that the streets are not safe at this hour.’’

‘’I know, and thank you for your consideration, mister. I was sent by Mickey Carmine to entertain his big brother Tony, so that he could celebrate properly his latest business success. Tony is indeed here, I hope?’’

‘’Oh, he is still here with his boys, miss. You will find him upstairs, in the upper storey management office of the warehouse. I can phone him to tell him that you are on your way.’’

371

‘’Thank you: you are a darling.’’ said softly Jennifer while passing her left arm through the window to caress the man’s cheek. As the guard shivered with pleasure at the touch of her hand, she quickly took out and raised her silenced pistol, shooting him point-blank in the heart. Her left hand then grabbed the dying man by his shoulder, preventing him from tipping out of his chair and keeping him seated in it. She next set the man’s arms on his narrow counter to help his body stay in place, then pocketed back her pistol and calmly walked towards the pedestrian door of the warehouse and the parked car. The man smoking in the car rolled down his window as she approached him and asked a question in a suspicious tone.

‘’Hey, lady! What are you doing here?’’

‘’Mickey Carmine sent me as a gift for his brother Tony.’’ replied Jennifer before shooting the man in the head. She grinned at the dead man as she pocketed again her pistol. ‘’Yeah, a gift from Hell, indeed!’’

With the next part of her plan calling for a bit more subtlety, she went between the back of the car and the wall of the warehouse and removed her coat, ending in her college girl attire. Pulling down and taking off her panty as well, she stuffed it in a pocket of her coat and took out a grenade before rolling the coat in a ball, with her weapons inside, hiding it under the car. She would probably be bodily searched for weapons by Tony Carmine’s men as an elementary precaution before being given access to Tony, so she was going to have to do without her pistol and submachine gun for the moment. Taking her grenade in one hand, she slipped her hand under her pleated skirt and slowly and cautiously inserted it inside her vagina, careful to let part of the grenade’s butt plug stick out, so she could grab it easily when needed. Taking a moment to mentally picture back how the inside of the warehouse was made, Jennifer took a deep breath and opened the pedestrian door, setting foot inside the warehouse and heading towards the wooden staircase leading to the upper-level offices.

‘’Hey, there’s a young chick in a college outfit coming up the stairs!’’ said in a surprised tone the Mafioso tasked with watching the inside of the warehouse from the windows of the accounting office, where five of his comrades were busy counting the mountain of cash money found in Durante’s hideout. His comrades all stopped counting dollars at once and rushed to the windows of the office to look at the said chick.

372

‘’Wow! She’s quite a looker!’’ said a lieutenant of Tony Carmine. ‘’She also seems to know where she is going. I will go check her out. In the meantime, keep counting that money, guys.’’

Going out of the office and on the wooden gallery which ringed the inside of the warehouse, the lieutenant intercepted the girl, a tall teenager with long red hair and big green eyes, as she set foot on the gallery.

‘’Hold it there, girl! First off, who are you and what are you doing here?’’

‘’Hi! My name is Jennifer and Mickey Carmine paid me to come as a gift for his brother Tony. Mickey found me at the PUSSYCAT CABARET. Mister Carmine is indeed here, I hope?’’

‘’Oh yes, he is!’’ said the Mafioso, grinning as he eyed her splendid body and fabulous chest. ‘’I am sure that Tony will be pleased with his gift. But first, I must do a simple formality.’’

He then patted her down for a pistol, but his search was quite perfunctory and he didn’t bother feeling the inside of her legs.

‘’You’re clean! Follow me!’’

Bypassing the office where the money counting was being done, the lieutenant went next door to the adjacent office of the manager, where Tony Carmine was reviewing the secret ledgers and accounting books of the late Nick Durante, and knocked on the door.

‘’Yeah?’’

‘’Boss, your brother Mickey sent you a gift he found at the PUSSYCAT CABARET.’’ Said the lieutenant through the door.

‘’He did? Alright, come in!’’

The lieutenant opened the door and let in Jennifer, who then found herself facing a bull of a man, with a square-jawed face and big hands with thick fingers. Tony Carmine also had the deformed ears of a boxer and he certainly could breathe meanness when he wanted to. Right now, he smiled with glee as he looked up and down at Jennifer’s body. She then spoke up in her most innocent and cheerful voice.

‘’Hi, Mister Carmine! Mickey sent me here so that you could celebrate in style. I can also entertain your men after taking care of you, if you want.’’

‘’I am sure that the guys won’t object to that.’’ said Tony Carmine with a grin. ‘’But please, make yourself comfortable: there is a bed in the far corner. What is your name, by the way?’’

‘’Jennifer, sir!’’

373

‘’Just Tony will do fine, Jennifer.’’

Smiling to him, Jennifer approached the bed, then faced Tony and started slowly, sensually stripping off her clothes. Grabbing a chair and sitting on it, Tony watched her, mesmerized, gulping hard when her huge, firm tits popped out in the open. Soon down to her skirt and boots, Jennifer slowly danced her way towards the Mafia boss, discreetly checking at the same time that the venetian blinds covering the windows giving in on the accounting office were pulled down and closed. She finally sat astride Tony Carmine and started kissing him. As he hungrily returned her French kiss, Jennifer tightly embraced him with her arms, immobilizing his own arms, at the same time that she started sucking out his soul. Not understanding at first what was happening to him, Tony was too late to react and convulsed with a few spasms before dying, with Jennifer savoring the feeling of power and energy from the eaten soul. That however still left six Mafiosi to take care of.

Carrying Tony’s body to the bed and laying him on it, Jennifer then silently searched the office for anything useful or important. One thing she grabbed at once was Tony’s pistol, a Colt .45 that was accompanied by a silencer and two spare ammunition clips. She also found a backup weapon, a snub-nosed .38 Special revolver, in an ankle holster, along with five extra rounds and a stiletto knife, which she took as well. After a second of reflection, she plunged the stiletto’s blade deep in Tony’s jugular and twisted it, causing a large wound that could later be assumed to be the cause of death. Finding a sports bag under the bed and searching it, she grinned on finding a silencer-equipped UZI 9mm submachine gun with no less than four full ammunition clips. Two empty clips were also inside, prompting her in sniffing the UZI: it had been fired recently, probably today. ‘So, Tony didn’t mind doing part of the dirty work himself’, she thought. She certainly could and would use in turn the nasty, compact weapon tonight. The other notable items she found, while not lethal ones, proved to be truly important ones: three ledger books and a notebook which had belonged to Nick Durante and which listed the financial details of his operations, along with names, addresses and telephone numbers. Jennifer debated for a moment about what to do with them. If the police got hold of them, it could then unravel the whole criminal empire held until tonight around Los Angeles by the Gambino family. However, that would probably also incriminate Frank DeSoto and the PUSSYCAT CABARET, something Jennifer was loathe to see happen. She personally had no special interest in helping the so-called justice system of the Humans.

374

After all, most of what were officially described as crimes here in this world were no more than actions motivated by basic human urges, like greed, lust, jealousy and the wish for power. The only taboos for Jennifer were unnecessary, gratuitous or sadistic violence and the harming of true innocents, mostly meaning children. However, because of those personal reservations, she had been considered too nice for her kind, the main reason she had been treated like a pariah in her place of origin, forcing her real mother to exile her on Earth in order to protect her. Finally deciding to bring them out with her once the job here was finished, she stuffed the ledgers and the notebooks in the sports bag, but took out the UZI and two spare clips, readying the weapon for action. She also put back on her clothes, in case she would have to run away in a hurry, so that she would not possibly leave behind some incriminating evidence against herself. Lastly, she cautiously pulled out the grenade hidden inside her vagina and grabbed both the UZI and the revolver before taking a cautious peep through two blades of the venetian blinds. Five of the six men in the adjacent room were sitting around a large table, counting dollar bills piled on the table before putting elastic bands around the counted wads and then stuffing the wads in a large sports bag set on top of the table. Another similar bag full of counted money sat further away in one corner. As for the sixth man, he was still sitting near the exit door, watching through a window the inside of the warehouse.

Going to the bed and Tony’s dead body, Jennifer silently picked the cadaver and set it down near the door giving to the accounting office, lying it on the floor and against the wall. Next, she brought the iron-framed bed besides the body and tipped it on its side, with the mattress stuck between the body and the iron frame. Now having a fairly good protection against the steel shrapnel that was about to fly around, Jennifer set her weapons on the floor near her, ready to be grabbed quickly, and crouched behind her improvised protection. Grabbing her grenade and pulling out its safety pin, but holding the arming lever in place, she carefully calculated the direction and strength of her throw before letting go the lever, opening the door by a few centimeters after two seconds and throwing her grenade inside the accounting office. The five men counting the dollar bills, concentrated on their work, didn’t notice the grenade at first as it rolled on the floor towards their table. Neither did the watchman, busy looking through his window. Only the lieutenant stopped his counting for a moment when he heard a hard object bounce and then roll on the wooden floor. He was however too late to react before the grenade

375

exploded just under the table. The table and the money piled on it flew upward, projected against the ceiling by the blast while being turned into wood splinters and ripped pieces of paper by the shrapnel. As for the men sitting around the table, the blast and shrapnel mangled their legs, groins and bellies, on top of projecting them violently backward. The watchman was also caught by the blast and fragments, but was hit more evenly over his body. He still went down with a scream of pain as Jennifer threw open the door of the manager’s office and came out, both the UZI and the revolver in her hands. Going quickly to the men who were still moving, she shot them one by one, aiming for their heads, then shot the others, making sure that they were dead. Once she was done, Jennifer looked around at the result of her carnage and grinned: more souls on the way to their proper final destination. She was happy to see that the second bag already filled with money was still mostly intact and in one piece: that was cash money she could use to good effect in the future. Grabbing the money bag, then returning to the manager’s office to grab as well the bag containing the ledgers and notebook and stuffing her weapons in it, she ran out and climbed down the stairs, exiting the warehouse. She took the time to recuperate her long coat and put it on, throwing its hood over her head, before grabbing again her two sports bags and walking away as if nothing had happened. None of the local residents or passersby who heard the explosion and shots cared enough to detail the lone figure that walked away from the warehouse, or dared following it.

The police patrol car that responded to the rare calls about shots fired didn’t know where to look first, having only very confused and incomplete reports to go by. Seeing a security guard sitting in a hut at the entrance of a nearby warehouse compound, the policeman driving the patrol car rolled to it and stopped besides the wicket window of the hut to speak with the security guard.

‘’Hey, mister! We have reports of shots fired in the area. Would you by chance have heard or seen anything out of the ordinary?... Mister?... Hey, mister!’’ Taking his flashlight and shining it in the face of the security guard, the policeman’s jaw dropped wide open.

‘’Holy shit, Jim! This guy is dead! Call for some serious backup, quickly!’’

Half an hour later, now back in her house and with her car parked inside her garage, Jennifer/Delicia sat down in a sofa of her lounge and contemplated the ledger

376

books and notebook she had found at the warehouse, still unsure what to do with them. Taking one of the ledger books and opening it, she glanced through the pages of names and addresses accompanied by sums and dates of payments. It was obviously an accounting book on those who had been forced to pay protection money to Nick Durante and his goons. That made her think seriously about the deeper meaning of what she had in her hands. Contrary to extortion by blackmail or corruption payments, which involved people who had something on their consciences and had been asking for trouble, extortion via protection racket basically touched innocent, hard working people who only wanted to earn a decent living for themselves and their families. Most of those victims of the protection racket were in fact rather low income or at best medium income earners. Putting that ledger book aside with the future intention of burning it, Jennifer picked the second ledger book and found that it listed those who had contracted loans from the Mafia at grossly inflated interest rates, something called loan-sharking. Another part of the same ledger covered the revenues from the casinos, cabarets and clubs owned by the Gambino family in Los Angeles. Deciding to later burn that ledger book as well, she grabbed the third ledger and opened it. She sucked air in after leafing through only a couple of pages, while glee filled her: that ledger contained a list of all the Los Angeles government officials, politicians, police officers, lawyers, prosecutors and judges who had been paid bribes by Durante’s men, along with the dates and amounts of the bribes and the bank accounts information. She had in her hands something that could put in jail or force the resignation of dozens of people, people who were supposed to serve the population, enforce law and order or render justice but were taking money from the Mafia to protect and cover criminals. Jennifer grinned as she read the list of names in the ledger: so many hypocrites, now at her mercy. Now truly satisfied with her accomplishments of tonight, Jennifer put aside for safekeeping the third ledger before picking up the much smaller notebook. Despite its small size, its content proved as hot as that of the third ledger, as it contained the contact information of the drug traffickers providing various hard drugs and marijuana to the street drugs distribution network run by Durante in Los Angeles and the surrounding region. The notebook also listed the account numbers, passwords and access codes of a number of secret bank accounts used to launder dirty money. Just that list of secret bank accounts was worth millions of dollars by itself! Jennifer put the notebook on top of the third ledger book and sat back with a smile, thinking about all the mayhem and chaos she was now going to be able to

377

cause around Los Angeles. This was definitely a good day to be a Succubus50, even for a nice one like her forced to live in exile on Earth.

16:15 (California Time)

Friday, December 8, 1972

L.A.P.D. Homicide Division offices

Central police headquarters, Los Angeles

Lieutenant Christopher Hodges looked at the faces around him as he was about to start the meeting with his men of the Homicide Division. Everybody looked tired, and with good reasons: they had all been working nearly non-stop for over twenty hours, since the shootout at the PUSSYCAT CABARET and the massacre at the Del Rey warehouse had happened. Hodges himself was dead tired. Yet, despite all their efforts, they had precious little to go by.

‘’Okay, let’s resume quickly the situation, men. Yesterday late afternoon, the Carmines apparently attempted a violent takeover of the Gambino family’s assets in and around Los Angeles. In that, they briefly succeeded, killing Nick Durante and many of his lieutenants and soldiers and grabbing control of what appears to have been Durante’s secret center of operation. However, things then went sour afterwards for the Carmines, and fast! First, we have that bizarre shootout between Mickey Carmine and his own men at the PUSSYCAT CABARET, resulting in eight deaths. Then, less than one hour later, someone hit Tony Carmine and six of his men at Durante’s warehouse, killing them in a manner that could only be described as a massacre. A few hours later, the surviving men loyal to Durante hit back, profiting from the fact that the Carmines were now leaderless, resulting in a number of bloody firefights all across town. At the last count, 43 Mafiosi are dead, while sixteen more are in hospital. Thankfully, the violence has quieted down by now, but we still could see more Gambino-Carmine fighting in the days to come. Also, we can reasonably expect the Gambino in New York to send extra muscles to Los Angeles to reestablish their local hold here. We will thus have to be vigilant. Ed, you investigated the shootout at the PUSSYCAT CABARET. Have you been able to make some headway in that case?’’

50 Succubus: Female demon of seduction, a chaotic, evil creature from Hell with magical powers, bent on causing mayhem and chaos through seduction, sex and manipulation.

378

‘’Very little, to be frank, sir.’’ answered the detective Hodges had addressed. ‘’The only thing we have been able to ascertain through ballistics done on the bullets fired inside the cabaret is that they all came from the weapons of Mickey Carmine and of his six men. No third party seems to have been involved in that firefight. As crazy as it sounds, it appears that Mickey Carmine effectively entered in a violent argument with his own men, an argument that ended in a chaotic shootout.’’

‘’What about the cabaret manager and owner? He’s a cousin of Nick Durante, no?’’

‘’Yes, he is, sir. However, I reviewed his file and I would tend to agree with those that say that he is relatively clean and doesn’t do crimes, unless you want to characterize sponsoring strip dancing as a crime. He was severely beaten by Carmine’s men when they took over the cabaret in the afternoon. Right now, he is the only witness we have for that crime scene. If no other witness shows up, I’m afraid that we will have to close that case.’’

‘’Hmm, they rightly say that dead men don’t tell tales. Alright, what about you, Matthew? What can you tell me about the massacre at the warehouse?’’

‘’Well, sir, whoever did it was a real pro. The killer or killers managed to silently kill both of the guards outside the warehouse without raising the alarm inside, then had to walk in plain sight of the upper offices and climb a wooden staircase, again without raising the alarm. That, and the fact that Tony Carmine was killed with a knife only a few feet from his own men makes me think that the killer or killers were insiders who had Carmine’s confidence. By the way, neither Tony Carmine nor his men got a chance to shoot back before being killed. The submachine gun and handgun used with a grenade to kill them was not found at the scene, so must have been carried away by the killer or killers.’’

‘’What about the grenade used in the warehouse? Could our experts identify its type?’’

‘’Yes, sir! It was an old-fashioned American ‘pineapple grenade’, as produced during World War Two. There are considerable stocks of them left all around the World, so that doesn’t help us much. We also found a large quantity of ripped or burned up dollar bills worth a few tens of thousands of dollars, dispersed all around the crime scene. It seemed that Carmine’s men were counting their loot from the hit on Durante’s place when they were attacked and killed.’’

379

‘’I see! Well, guys, we have just worked a lot of hours in a row and we are all quite tired. I will thus cut this short and will enjoin you to go home and catch some sleep. We will resume our work tomorrow morning. Hopefully, some visual witness will come forward to help our investigation.’’

As his detectives dispersed, Hodges rubbed his eyes, himself tired to the bone. He still had to brief Chief Wilson about the case but suspected that the Chief of Police would not like hearing that they had basically no clues concerning a case that had the whole city on edge. The mayor’s office was also pushing hard for him to get results. Shaking his head in discouragement, Hodges grabbed his old gabardine coat and hat from his office’s coat hanger and walked out, intent on going home, have supper and a shower, then enjoy at least eight hours of sleep. Chief Wilson and the mayor could wait until tomorrow.

18:39 (California Time)

The PUSSYCAT CABARET

Santa Monica

When Jennifer showed up at the main entrance of the PUSSYCAT, ready to work, she found a policeman guarding the door and police crime scene tape blocking it. Unsure what to do then, she saw someone wave a hand at her from inside a nearby parked car: it was Frank DeSoto! Walking quickly to his car, she took place in the front passenger seat and looked with concern at Frank’s battered face, now sporting a few bandages.

‘’Will you be alright, Frank?’’

‘’Don’t worry about me, Jennifer: the doctor told me that there would be no permanent damage. I will be like brand new after a couple of weeks.’’

‘’Still, those bastards were really rough on you, Frank.’’ said Jennifer, feeling genuine concern for Frank: he had been up to now a more than fair employer and had proved to be basically a decent man, even though he had been connected by family ties to some rather bad characters. He also happened to be quite a handsome man. Frank lowered his head, trying to forget his most painful experience of yesterday.

‘’Jennifer, I don’t know what you did to cause Mickey Carmine to go berserk the way he did, but I must thank you for it. I certainly won’t cry about that bastard’s death.’’

380

‘’Neither will I, Frank. Unfortunately, poor George was not as lucky as us. I saw on the television news that your cousin, Nick Durante, was also killed yesterday.’’

‘’I saw that too. I suppose that a man in his field of work must expect that kind of thing to happen to him eventually.’’

They were both silent for a moment before Jennifer spoke again in a subdued tone.

‘’I understand that George was married and had three young children. I would like to help his family: my own parents left me with a very comfortable inheritance and I would like to open a scholarship fund for George’s kids.’’

Frank looked at her with both gratitude and what furiously looked like love to Jennifer.

‘’That’s a fine idea, Jennifer. You are truly a wonderful girl. I will contact George’s widow and arrange a meeting between you and her. Don’t worry about caring for the immediate needs of George’s family: I will take care of them, on top of paying for George’s funeral. In the meantime, take the next week off: having the cabaret repaired and reopened may take a while.’’

‘’You are yourself a really nice guy, Frank. Thank you for being what you are.’’ replied Jennifer before bending sideways and kissing him. It was a genuine kiss, not meant to pass a spell or suck in life energy. She withdrew after a few seconds, regret in her eyes as she stared into the eyes of Frank. Being basically an immortal being, she could not logically contemplate taking him as a life companion, as he would grow old and die while she continued to live on for the millennia to come…if no one hunting for her killed her in the meantime. That thought then made Delicia realize how lonely she was, despite all the sexual encounters she had. Basically, she was condemned to leave those she knew and start a new life every forty years or so, and this for eternity. That would have not bothered a common Succubus, who was the perfect image of selfishness, but she was no common Succubus. With sadness in her soul, she opened her door and stepped out of the car, closing back the passenger door and then watching Frank roll away, waving goodbye at him. At least, now she knew how to spend part of the cash she had grabbed at Nick Durante’s hideout.

10:28 (California Time)

Monday, December 11, 1972

L.A.P.D. Homicide Division

Central Police Headquarters, Los Angeles

381

Police Lieutenant Christopher Hodges was reviewing the pathology examination reports made on the victims of the massacre at the warehouse in Del Rey when he got a telephone call from the Chief of Police, Captain Richard Wilson. It was a short, concise call asking him to go see him in his office at once. A bit worried and wondering what it was about, Hodges nonetheless complied and went up to Wilson’s big office, only to find that the other division chiefs had also been called in by Wilson. He guessed that something big must have happened after looking at Wilson’s concerned expression. Hodges thus stood in line with the others in front of the Chief’s desk as the latter looked gravely at them.

‘’Gentlemen, I called you here because me, the District Attorney, the Mayor and many others outside the L.A.P.D. and City Hall have received copies of a denunciation letter accusing Assistant District Attorney Steve Merrick of corruption. I have to urge you right now not to spread this around, since those accusations have not yet been proven. However, as a safety measure and in order to avoid tainting any of the investigations you are presently handling, I will ask you to avoid any working contact with Merrick until he has been cleared of those allegations, and this until further notice. The D.A. has already redistributed the dossiers Merrick was handling and he will be on paid leave in the meantime.’’

‘’Uh, excuse me, Chief,’’ said the head of the Fraud Division, Lieutenant Berkowickz, ‘’but isn’t this a bit drastic of a reaction to a simple denunciation letter. That letter could be a complete lie simply meant to hurt Merrick.’’

‘’I would normally agree with you, Berkowickz, but that letter, which was simply signed as ‘The Revealer’, contained a list of sizeable deposits in a secret bank account allegedly held by Merrick, along with the dates and sizes of the deposits and the bank account number involved. The D.A. just checked on that bank account and has found that it actually belonged to Merrick, but was a totally separate account from his usual bank accounts and had also been opened at a different bank. The dates and amounts of the deposits made in that account also corresponded exactly with the information in the anonymous letter. There is also the fact that this letter was also supposedly sent as well to the local offices of the F.B.I. and of the I.R.S., plus a dozen newspapers, radio stations and media companies. Merrick’s name is now truly blackened.’’

‘’Wait, Chief!’’ exclaimed the head of the Vice Squad. ‘’This sounds like the same pattern as the one who exposed those two pedophile priests last month.’’ Wilson nodded grimly his head at that.

382

‘’That’s correct! This ‘Revealer’ may very well be the same person who denounced those priests. In view of how well informed that unknown person proved to be, we could thus assume that the revelations about Merrick could well prove to be solid ones. What the D.A. has found about the bank account deposits is already quite damning. In fact, the F.B.I. and the I.R.S. have already jumped into Merrick’s case and have launched their own separate investigations. I fully expect Merrick to be formally charged with corruption in the next few days.’’

‘’Did the letter say who paid that money to Merrick and why, Chief?’’ asked Berkowickz. Wilson looked at him, then at Hodges.

‘’As a matter of fact, yes! It also may connect that information to your case about the massacre at the Del Rey warehouse, Hodges. The letter stated that Merrick was in the pay of the late Nick Durante. That ‘Revealer’ thus may have managed to grab some important papers from Durante, either before or after his death.’’ That information struck Hodges like a lightning bolt.

‘’But that could mean that this ‘Revealer’ may as well have committed the massacre at the warehouse, Chief. If that’s the case, then we are dealing with an extremely dangerous and also very well-connected person or persons. This puts this ‘Revealer’ into a whole new light. He may well be holding compromising information on many other persons.’’

Hodges somehow didn’t like the grim smile Wilson made at his words.

‘’Funny that you said that, Hodges. The Revealer said in his letter that, from today, the name and pertinent information of another corrupt official will be released every Monday. I can already smell the shit in the pants of many persons at City Hall.’’

‘’Holy shit! He could throw the whole city administration into complete mayhem!’’

‘’Well, I hate to say this, but this police department could well be targeted too.’’ Wilson saw from a corner of one eye his head of the Narcotics Division tighten his jaw then. A flash of anger coming to him, he eyed the man hard.

‘’What’s the matter, Camproni? You didn’t seem to like that piece of news one bit.’’

‘’Er, I was just measuring the disturbance factor this could represent to us, Chief.’’

Wilson stared at him for a moment, not convinced, while the others also eyed Camproni with suspicion. Lieutenant Berkowickz then asked a question which temporarily

deflected the attention from Camproni.

383

‘’Chief, just out of curiosity, how much money did Merrick allegedly receive from Durante?’’

‘’According to the account the D.A. investigated, Merrick received 2,000 dollars…per month, and that for the last two years.’’

‘’The fucking rat! He was thus nearly doubling his legitimate salary. The I.R.S. should have fun with him.’’

‘’Quite right! Well, you now have an idea of the interesting times we are going to live through in the next few weeks, gentlemen. Hodges, work on the warehouse massacre case with the assumption that this Revealer may well be connected to it. You are now dismissed. Camproni, you stay!’’

Hodges wiggled one hand as he walked out of Wilson’s office. These were going to be very interesting times indeed.

Somehow, Hodges was not surprised to learn on the next Monday that Lieutenant Camproni had been named as ‘Corrupt person of the week’ by the Revealer. What shocked him, though, was the amount Camproni had been paid by Durante to protect the mobster’s drug distribution network: it was even more than for Merrick. From then on, things got really tense in Los Angeles every Monday which followed, with many waiting with dread for the next shoe to drop. The one who got a nasty Christmas gift on Monday, December 25, was in fact no less than the city’s Public Works Commissioner, who turned out to have favored relatives and friends of Durante when awarding juicy public works contracts. That case involved millions of dollars of city money and raised a real stink at City Hall. The eyes of the various medias nationwide quickly started staring at Los Angeles every Monday. Some officials with secrets to hide then started quietly leaving town, disappearing into retirement with their loot before they could be named by The Revealer, while a couple of others committed suicide on seeing their name published. It even came to a point when having your name publicized by The Revealer on a Monday was enough to destroy at once the reputation and career of the one named. Delicia, who was now having a huge success at what was in fact the main purpose in life of a Succubus, the spreading of mayhem and chaos, delighted in seeing all those hypocrites finally pay for their deeds. That mayhem and chaos however attracted more attention on her, both good and bad, from opposite directions. It certainly got many Succubi in Hell jealous about her successes. But again, wasn’t creating jealousy one of the goals of a Succubus?

384