WAR (24 page)

“He would be most happy with all three.”

“I know one of these pests you want removed. I can tell you he has a very dark side. One not even I want to cross. You would be well advised to drop this plan before it blows up in your faces, and I do mean blows up. None of the New York families can assist you in this.”

“I’m going to have to report to the President you have refused his kind offer.”

“Listen you little shit. I will lose no sleep putting a bounty on his head. I don’t fear him; in fact, there are rumors he has lost his fortune.”

“We all know that’s not possible. He keeps his fortune outside of the country.”

“If I were you, I’d check. I think he may need to sign up for his own welfare soon.”

“If we can’t do any business, then I’ll take my leave and thank you for your time.”

The LSA representative is shown to the door by Solly as the five heads of the New York families enjoy their dinner. When Solly nods to inform Don Gardenzo that the visitor has left, and the door is locked, the Don speaks. “There is no way we want to be involved with their crazy scheme; the LSA can’t win this war. In addition, I don’t want to cross the three men in the White House, pissing on one of them is a problem, pissing on the three of them is a death sentence. In addition, Cruise and Brownstone have done us favors before. We owe them; I always pay my debts. When this war is over there’s a good chance the country will come back together, the equal bullshit will go in the trash can where it belongs. We will make more money working to ensure a smooth transition then we would trying to take out the three of them. Getting to one of them would be hard enough, getting to the three of them is all but impossible. I haven’t lived as long as I have by being a fool.”

Everyone nods in agreement.

Don Slerano asks, “Don, do you think Bloomberg will try to come after us?”

“I’m sure of it. However, his means to do so, is very limited.”

“Don, how do you know Bloomberg is having financial issues?”

“I told you I knew one of their pests; I got a tip off call that this meeting was being planned. It was hinted to me that our friend in LA is about to enter the poor house.”

“It couldn’t happen to a nicer asshole.”

All laugh, “Solly, some more of this excellent wine, please. If your family hasn’t eaten yet, please come and join us.”

Solly replies, “Thank you Don. By the way, we made enough for all of you to take home. With the electrical problems, we thought your wives might appreciate a nice meal.”

Don Gardenzo nods in his agreement, “Thank you my friend. I’m sure we all appreciate your thoughtfulness. Is there anything we can do for you?”

“Don, I don’t want to burden you with my problems.”

“Solly, your problems are mine. Tell us what’s wrong.”

“Don, since the power went out, there are many hungry, we do our best to prepare extra food which we feed the hungry with. We bring food to the church every evening, two nights ago my oldest daughter was attacked on the street; two blacks beat her and took the food we’d prepared for the Father.”

Don Gardenzo looks depressed. “Solly, tomorrow at 7AM two of my people will visit you to learn more about this. Was your daughter badly hurt?”

“Don, she had a black eye and lost some teeth when one of them punched her in the mouth.”

“From tomorrow night on, each of us will ensure your family has protection when you feed the Father and the hungry. You do a good deed for all who live in the neighborhood. I promise you, we will catch these two, when we do, I invite you to witness their punishment.”

“Thank you, Godfather.”

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An LSA G5 takes off from New York’s MLK international airport, (renamed from LaGuardia) flying directly to LAX. As soon as the G5 enters USA airspace, the pilot calls the only passenger on board. “Sir, if you look outside, you’ll notice we’ve picked up an escort.”

“An escort?”

“Yes sir, two F16s. Sir, they are armed.”

“How can you tell?”

“The missiles under their wings are gray not blue. I was in the Air Force. Training rounds are always painted blue so they’re never mixed up with live missiles; these bad boys are armed with live missiles.”

“Have they contacted you yet?”

“They asked to speak with you.”

“What? How do they know I’m on board?”

“Sir, do you want me to connect you to the fighters?”

“Yes, please.”

“Hello, US Air Force. We are a VIP LSA airplane following a filed flight plan from MLK to LAX, why are you following us?”

“We don’t want you flying over the USA again. Tell your boss that we know what you were doing, we know what his plan was. It would be a shame if your airplane had a mechanical problem, you know like it ran into a missile up here in the cloudy sky. Don’t come back. By the way, tell your boss the USA is willing to make him a payday loan since he’s broke.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about; President Bloomberg is one of the richest people in the world.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that.”

Laughing one of the two F16s banks to the left flying around the G5, the F16 rushes by the small private jet shaking it in its wash. “Goodbye asshole.”

@@@@@

President Bloomberg’s secure two-way radio pings, he looks at it wondering why anyone would disturb his after dinner drink. “Hello and this had better be important.”

“Mr. President, this is Matthew Dominick from the first bank of Switzerland. Sir, we seem to have a little problem. Our computer has flagged your personal accounts, I checked them, and the computer is correct.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Mr. President, your accounts have been zeroed out.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mr. President, all of your personal funds are gone.”

“How is that even possible?”

“Mr. President, I don’t know. One minute you had $2.43 billion on deposit and the next you had zero.”

“I want to speak with your head of security. I want to know how this happened. Were anyone’s accounts emptied?”

“No, just yours.”

“Find my money.”

Bloomberg sits at his desk thinking; It has to be that bastard Rand and his NSA. They hacked the bank’s computers and either stole or hid my money. I’ll get even with them if it’s the last thing I do. Before Bloomberg can think of his next steps, his two-way radio beeps again, “Hello?”

“Mr. President, we’ve intercepted a call between General Leninkov and the Marshal in Moscow. Leninkov reported that he believed his forces had been discovered. He believes his forces are surrounded. He has started to move towards the bridges leading into D.C.; he’s asking Moscow if he should continue or pause. He said there is no guarantee of his mission success now that he’s been discovered.”

“Damn it, are all of the military men morons?”

“Sir?”

“No matter, I’m sure the families in New York will be taking the trash out soon enough. Is there any word from our plane?”

“Yes sir, it should land at LAX in two hours.”

“Have we heard anything from them?”

“The pilot called in to say he’s got a US Air Force escort of two F16s.”

“Not good. Something must be wrong. They usually don’t bother our VIP flights.”

@@@@@

Brad, Kathy, and Bev decide they’ve waited long enough for Ron. They can’t stay in the garage forever. Brad is worried an attack on the hotel could close off the exit. Kathy and Bev are concerned about the conditions on the streets of Las Vegas. They find the service staircase which leads them to the street outside of the hotel. It’s a long, nervous, four flight climb which finally brings them to the door on the side of the hotel. Brad cracks the door open a couple of inches to make sure they’re not going to exit into a platoon of Russian soldiers. Brad pokes his head out, he doesn’t see anyone on the street. He pulls his head back into the staircase saying, “It looks clear. In fact, there’s no one on the streets. Can either of you remember the last time the Vegas streets were empty?”

Bev says, “Can I see?”

“Sure, take a peek.”

Bev pushes the door open six inches, she looks through the crack, she shakes her head. “Brad you’re right, there’s no one on the streets.”

Before they can do anything else they hear the roar of military jets, Bev pulls her head back into the staircase. Brad says, “Fighters, at least two, flying very low and fast.”

The staircase vibrates as two American F15 fighters fly in between the hotels looking for Russian troops. Bev, Kathy, and Brad have to cover their ears from the deafening sound as the two fighters zoom past them.

Kathy says, “I’ve never seen them fly so low, were they running from the Russians?”

Brad says, “Kath, we haven’t heard any Russian war planes. If there were some, I’d bet the Air Force cleared the sky of them quickly. I guess they were looking for Russians to attack and doing a recon flight.”

Bev says, “Let’s go. I don’t want to stay in the staircase any longer than we need to.”

The three of them slip out of the staircase door, they walk along the hotel wall. As they turn the corner which brings them to the front of the hotel they, are surprised to see thousands of African-Americans being released by the Russians. They are being kicked out of the hotels into the street. Brad whispers to Kath and Bev, “I don’t like this. The only reason, they would release these people, is if they’re trying to increase race tensions in the country. I bet they contacted the press in advance to cover the story.” Bev taps Brad and Kathy on the arm pointing to the group of people across the street. Brad looks across the street, “The damn press is here in force, they most likely will carry the Russian’s water for them. I hope the Russians aren’t trying to start a race war which is the last thing we need on top of an invasion and the dispute with the LSA.”

Bev says, “Let’s get out of here and find Ron. I’m sure if there’s trouble we’ll find him in the middle of it.”

@@@@@

Unknown to Brad, the Russian FSB was indeed starting a race war; they set up African-Americans to commit crimes and get caught, they set up the press to record the ‘poor’ misunderstood monitories. They set up police to look bad in the media. Their latest ploy will add to the tension in the country; they hired hit men to attack police while they are sitting in their cars. The hit teams sneak up on the police cars usually firing through the car’s windows killing the officers while at the same time the FSB agents arrange and fund demonstrations in support of the cop killers. White Middle America turned against minorities while the minorities thought they were entitled to more than they were already getting. Russian FSB agents led minorities to shut down retail shopping malls, bridges, highways and even hospitals. The protestors laid down saying they were dying in symbolic support of the minorities killed by the police. The cities of Atlanta, Miami, and Dallas are closed for 24 hours. With the access roads closed, people can’t get into or leave the cities. Many are stuck on the highway for more than 24 hours. Four babies are born on I-85 south because they can’t make it to the hospital. The media in both the LSA and USA scream over the injustice of how the USA legal system treats minorities. President Bloomberg holds a press conference saying how well the LSA treats minorities and everyone is equal in the LSA. He urges the USA to change their laws and adopt rules that recognize the struggle of minority people. Bloomberg explains to the world minorities have been held back for hundreds of years due to the white privilege of the ruling class. The press doesn’t question why a multibillionaire white man can speak with any experience about minorities he’s been famous for ignoring and stepping on for years.

The resulting attacks on both the police and minorities is stated as the number one reason there is a 400% increase in CCW licenses in the USA. People go food shopping armed, they visit Starbucks armed. The number of guns in America increases by 30% in thirty days. America is on the verge of a race war. A war where the soldiers will be everyday citizens armed to the teeth. Many don’t know how to use their new weapons. When the time comes to fight, they might shoot their own neighbors versus their supposed enemy. Minorities also try to stock up on weapons and ammo. Many learn that previous police records stop them from legally buying firearms, they turn to the streets where weapons are easier to acquire than drugs. Both sides arm for a civil war, one side arms itself for defense and one to get what they think they are entitled to.

Chapter 16

Commander Jack Lewis, the Las Vegas DepLIES commanding officer and liaison officer to the LVMPD, and Ron, a retired Sterling Police Captian, are leading a ragtag group composed of two local militia members and Las Vegas first responders through a series of tunnels under the city. They are working their way towards the Wynn Hotel, which is the Russian headquarters building for the invasion of Las Vegas. Unbeknownst to them as they sneak through the tunnels, Russian General Chekov is meeting with the Major in charge of the Russian computer hacking department. “Vickor I don’t understand what you’re saying. You studied the plan before we left; you assured everyone your team could break the casino’s firewalls. What is this new problem that’s blocking you?”