I made my way to the bar and when I got there I was greeted by my good friend Jonathan Schwartz. Jonathan was a childhood friend. He was kinda short, had brown hair and brown eyes, he was Jewish, while some Italian gangsters refused to do work with other races, I didn't care if they were white, brown, black, yellow or a martian, I did business with everyone. Me and Jonathan go far back, we met each other while I was still an associate for the Luciano's and we did more than just become business partners, he became like a brother to me. Currently he runs a crew of Jewish gangsters.
I took a seat and began to speak.
"Alright, So I hear you know who's behind this shooting, Jonathan?" I inquire
"That I do Joey, you see one of my boys was at a bar and had overheard one of the patrons bragging about shooting Vinny and claimed he was after me next. So I look into the matter, had some of my boys pick him up and rough him up, he spills the beans and tells us that the Purple Heart Gang is behind it. He explains.
"Well, we gotta whack them!" I say, finally our mysterious enemy had a name and we were closer to serving out vengeance.
"Not so fast Johnny, they're backed by the Colombo's" Jonathan says.
"I don't care we'll whack them too" blurts out Nicky.
"Nicky, you moran, the Colombo's are one of the five families of New York, we gotta get the okay from Lucky if we wanna whack these bastards" I explain.
"I could arrange a meeting with Frank if you want" says Jonathan, referring to Frank Costello, the consigliere of the Luciano Crime Family and a member of Mr. Luciano's inner circle. He was also known as the 'Prime Minister' for his emphasis on diplomacy and for the fact he had many connections with gangsters and powerful figures alike such DA's, judges, police officers, congressmen, senators, you name it, he knew em and had em in his back pocket. I agreed and awaited the meeting.
A few days later, Frank came to see us at our bar. He was a well dressed man, very polite and had an aura of respectability around him. He greeted us and got down to business shortly.
"Right, so Jonathan said you know who's behind the attempted hit on Vinny?" He asks
"I do, the Purple Hearts Gang, lead by Jack Connery" I explained.
"Alright well do you need help in whacking the crew or..." He begins to ask.
"No, we learned their backed by the Colombo's and as such require a green light from Lucky" I explain, cutting him off.
"Well that certainly changes things and you're assured that this is true?" He asks.
"Certainly" I reply. Frank nodded his head and told us he would bring it up with Luciano himself and would have an answer shortly.
A few days later I received a phone call from Frank. Our hit had been approved and Luciano wanted the whole crew massacred to send a message to other wannabe crews and other families alike that hits on our family would not be tolerated.
