The Last Don - Mario Puzo [204]
Cross looked at him and smiled. Lia, usually a natty dresser, had bought a flowery shirt, blue canvas pants, and a light jacket, also blue. He looked like a low-caste casino hustler.
Lia told him about Sharkey. He attempted to make excuses for his actions, but Cross dismissed them. “You’re in this with me, you have to protect yourself. But what the hell does this mean?”
“Simple,” Lia said. “Sharkey was the only one who could tie Losey with Dante. Otherwise it’s just your say-so. Dante made Losey kill his partner.”
Cross said, “How the hell could Sharkey be that dumb?”
Lia shrugged. “He figured he could get money from Losey and then get the fifty from you anyway. He knew that Losey must be playing for big stakes because of the money you gave him. After all, he was a detective for twenty years, he could figure these things out. And he never dreamed Losey would kill him, his old partner. He didn’t figure on Dante.”
“They were extreme,” Cross said.
“In this situation you cannot allow an extra player,” Lia said. “I must say I’m surprised that Dante could see that particular danger. He must have convinced Losey, who really would not want to kill an old partner. We all have our sentimentalities.”
“So now Dante is controlling Losey,” Cross said. “I thought Losey was tougher than that.”
“You’re talking about two different classes of animal,” Lia said. “Losey is formidable, Dante is crazy.”
“So Dante knows I know about him,” Cross said.
“Which means I have to act very quickly,” Lia said.
Cross nodded. “It will have to be a Communion,” he said. “They will have to disappear.”
Lia laughed. “Do you think that will deceive Don Cleri-cuzio?” he said.
“If we plan it right, nobody can blame us,” Cross said.
Lia spent the next three days with Cross going over plans. During that time he burned his old clothes in the hotel incin-erator with his own hands. Cross exercised by shooting a lone eighteen holes of golf, with Lia accompanying him to drive the golf cart. Lia could not understand the popularity of golf in all the Families. To him it was a quaint aberration.
On the night of the third day they sat on the balcony of the penthouse. Cross had laid out the brandy and Havana cigars. They watched the crowds on the Strip below.
“No matter how clever they are, my death so soon after my father’s would compromise Dante with the Don,” Cross said. “I think we can wait.”
Lia puffed on his cigar. “Not too long. Now they know you spoke with Sharkey.”
“We have to get them both at the same time,” Cross said. “Remember, it will have to be a Communion. Their bodies must not be found.”
Lia said, “You’re putting last things first. And first we have to be sure we can kill them.”
Cross sighed. “It’s going to be very difficult. Losey is a dangerous man and careful. Dante can fight. We have to isolate them in one place. Can it be done in Los Angeles?”
“No,” Lia said. “That is Losey’s territory. He is too formidable there. We will have to do it in Vegas.”
“And break rules,” Cross said.
“If it’s a Communion then nobody will know where they were killed,” Lia said. “And we are already breaking the rule by killing a police officer.”
“I think I know how to get them to Vegas at the same time,” Cross said. He explained the scheme to Lia.
“We will have to use more bait,” Lia told Cross. “We have to make sure Losey and Dante come when we want them here.”
Cross drank another brandy. “OK, here’s some more bait.” He told Lia, and Lia nodded in agreement. “Their disappearance will be our salvation,” Cross said. “And it will deceive everyone.”
“Except Don Clericuzio,” Lia said. “He is the only one to fear.”
BOOK VIII
Communion
CHAPTER 21
VERY LUCKILY STEVE Stallings did not die until his final close-up scene in Messalina was shot. It could have cost millions of dollars in reshooting.
The last scene to be shot was a battle scene that actually took place in the middle of the film. A desert town had