Chapter 3: Cipriani's Chauffer

Back from the Bistro and getting rid of Lips Forelli for Joey; Claude went back to Joey's Garage, hoping for more work. And hearing the words from the Forellis working at the bistro, Joey Leone is a major threat to them. Joey's interests include succeeding his dad as the new Don, getting rid of the Forellis once and for all and bank robberies. Claude then saw the dangerous side of Joey Leone. But since Joey's his boss, he cannot complain at all.

At the garage, Joey was busy working on a shiny Sentinel. As he came in, Joey had another assignment for him. "Chunky Lee Chong is pushing SPANK for some new gang from Columbia … or Colorado, I'm not really sure. Who needs details anyway?" Looks like a new gang is messing with Leone interests. And Joey wants Claude to help him take that fat idiot out. "He's got a noodle stand in Chinatown. That rat has served his last stir-fry. I want you to take him out. If you need a piece, go around the back of AmmuNation opposite the subway. Sort yourself with a nine, you know where it is, right? Well remember, watch your back in Chinatown; it's Triad territory."

Claude saw his gun he picked up from a gang war earlier, so he decided to save the money. He went to find Chunky, whose noodle stand is in a road inaccessible to vehicles. Claude then exited his vehicle, and looked around. To his surprise, Chunky knew that an attempt had been made on his life, and he had hired some Triad gangsters to protect him. Must have been the SPANK he's been selling. He went close to the stand, and immediately the Triads opened fire at him. Luckily for him, the Triads there were bad shots. Chunky then fled from his stand to his car, a Perennial parked nearby. Claude knew about this, so he hopped back into his car, and chased Chunky, who was driving at a very fast speed, for a Perennial. The chase went from Chinatown, past the Callahan Point, and towards Portland Harbor. There, Claude made 1 final push at Chunky's Perennial, and the Perennial lost control, sending Chunky to a watery grave. Success, Claude thought. He then headed to Joey's for more work and to collect his pay.

Back there, Joey paid Claude the money for killing Chunky and Lips, and fed him info on his next mission, a dangerous one to date. Joey plans to hit a money-laden truck that's on the way to the Liberty City Bank. "Alright, we're gonna hit the payroll van. It leaves the edge of Chinatown everyday. Bullets won't even dent the van's armor, so get a car and ram it off the road. Now hit it hard, and the stupid security guards should bail. Then take it to the warehouse at the docks and my guys are gonna take over from there. Now it won't be doing rounds all day, so don't hang around."

Claude went out to get his Patriot, and headed to Chinatown. And there it was, the Securicar that Joey was talking about. Claude then revved up his Patriot, and rammed the Securicar. The old security guard driving the car was caught by surprise, but the car was no match for the Patriot in terms of speed. Claude, however, didn't count on one thing: the cops! After the bank heist on Staunton Island, the one where Claude was betrayed and left for dead, the cops have been paying more attention for Securicars being moved. As Claude keeps ramming the target van, the cops' patience wore thin. Before long, the security guard fled from his vehicle and ran away, leaving the door open. Claude hopped in, and quickly headed to Portland Harbor, with the cops hot on his heels. The cops tried firing bullets at the stolen Securicar, but like what Joey said, bullets can't dent the van's armor. Then they tried ramming the car, but that won't even stop Claude from driving like a lunatic. By the time the van reached Portland Harbor, the cops had given up and left the van alone. Claude then happily drove the car into the garage Joey told him about and let the safecrackers in the garage do their dirty work. After all that was done, Claude was awarded his share for the daring deed, a whopping $20000. Claude then jacked the nearest car available, and headed for Joey's garage. Joey had another job for him.

When Claude came, Joey was talking to another man dressed in purple. It turns out that the shiny Sentinel belongs to him. And Joey had just finished repairs, and told the man to pick it up.

"Yeah Toni, I tuned her real sweet. She purrs you know what I mean?" Joey said, very proud of his work. Then, Joey notices Claude, the man he was talking about to this Toni guy. Joey then introduces him to Toni Cipriani, the man in purple and the owner of the shiny Sentinel.

"Oh. Here's the guy I was telling you about. Alright listen, this guy ain't Italian and he's no mechanic, but he can get things fixed. This is Pops Capo, Toni Cipriani.

"Yeah, I'm Toni Cipriani." The man introduces himself to Claude.

"Take him to Momma's restaurant in Saint Mark's alright?" That's it? Claude thought. But Joey wasn't done. "Now listen to me, I'm planning a job that requires a good driver, so drop by sometime later, OK?" After that, Claude hopped into the shiny Sentinel, followed by Toni. As they leave the garage, Toni wants Claude to make a detour before bringing him home. "OK, kid. Drive me to the laundry in Chinatown. I've got a bit of business to take care of. Those washerwomen haven't been paying their protection money. And watch the car, Joey just fixed this junk heap, so no fancy crap, OK?" Claude didn't care about Toni's job, as long as he can get some money for doing some of his jobs. And Chinatown is very close to Trenton, where they are right now, so why not? Claude then took Toni to his destination, Wong's Launderette.

"Wait here. Keep the engine running. This ain't a social call." Toni instructed Claude, took a baseball bat and entered the launderette. Inside were 2 Triad goons, talking in a very funny accent. Toni came in, and for a while, it was calm. However, things changed when the 2 Triads started shooting at Toni! He quickly jumped back into the waiting Sentinel, and yelled, "It's a Triad ambush! Get us out of here kid!" Claude then took off, but not without knocking down the 2 shooters first. The car managed to avoid the other Triad gangsters, and then headed to Cipriani's place, a Momma's restaurant in Saint Mark's.

"The Triads think they can mess with me. The Triads, WITH ME!" Toni was laughing at the thought of the Triads messing with the Leone Mafia. And turning to Claude, he said, "Drop by later, and we'll give them something to launder, their own blood-stained clothes!" With that, Toni paid Claude his money for driving him home, and exited the vehicle. Claude then took the Mafia car back to Joey's garage. Joey had paged him earlier for another job regarding some matters with the Forellis. As Claude entered, he saw Joey still working on the buggy. Must have been a bad accident, Claude thought to himself. But now's not the time for jokes, as Joey has another job to do.

"Beautiful! Just Beautiful!" Joey then fills Claude in with his next assignment. "Alright, just the guy I need to talk to! Alright, there's a car stuffed with a stiff at the café near Callahan Point. Take it to the crusher in Harwood, alright?" A simple job, Claude thought to himself. So, he took the Sentinel he "borrowed" from Toni and drove to the café. And there it was, a Manana parked at one of the lots. Claude then opened the trunk, and then wished he hadn't! Inside was a rotting body! It was no wonder why Joey wanted it disposed! Claude got in, and fell into a trap set up by the Forelli brothers! Both brothers, in Sentinels, started pursuing Claude. Unfortunately for him, the Forellis' car was faster, and they caught up with him in no time! Finally, Claude had enough. Somewhere before the road leading to the crusher, he got off the car, and went forward to 1 of the Sentinels. And there, he yanked out the driver, and using the baseball bat he collected, attacked the loony motorist! The other guy can only look in horror as his brother gets beaten up by Claude Speed. After that, Claude looked at the other driver, who was getting ready to knock him down, and aimed his gun. The guy froze, but he didn't stop revving up his engine. Bad move, as Claude then fired a bullet. It didn't hit him, but being a coward; the Forelli inside the car got out of his car, and ran. Claude then gave chase, angry that the Forellis are messing with his job! He caught up with the coward, and knocked him down on the floor. The Forelli, although not hurt, was begging for mercy!

"Please don't hurt me! Please! Just take Giorgio and leave me alone!" he stammered. Claude smiled at him for a while, and then raised his bat, and knocked him out cold. Then, he picked up the 2 Forelli bodies, and stuffed them in with their dead stiff, and drove to the crusher. There, he exited the car, and watched as the crane lifted up the 3 Forellis stuffed in the trunk, and turns them into a metal block. There, he received his pay from the foreman working at the crusher, and Joey's associate. He was wondering why Claude was smiling after the car was crushed, but Claude just happily took his cash, and headed to Cipriani's place. Joey's final job wasn't ready yet.

GTA fans may remember Giorgio Forelli as the person that Tommy Vercetti had to set free in the "Jury Fury" mission in GTA: Vice City. As for Joey's final job, I'm saving this for later.