Chapter 5: Blow Fish

After arriving at Trenton, Joey had just finished fixing the buggy he'd been working on ever since Claude first met him. "Beautiful. Just beautiful!" He told himself. Claude went inside, and Joey was ready for a final job for him. "Alright listen." Joey started. "Get some wheels to the safehouse at Saint Mark's and pick up a few friends of mine. They're hittin' a bank and they need a driver. I gave you the word that you're the man, so don't screw this up. Get them to the bank before five o' clock, not a minute later."

Claude left the garage, only to find the Mafia Sentinel Salvatore "loaned" him gone. Someone must have stolen it while he was busy with Joey. Luckily for him, some careless taxi driver left his parked Taxi unattended. Claude, inspired from a bank heist back in 1986 that involved a taxi, quickly hopped inside the yellow vehicle, and quickly drove to the safehouse at Saint Mark's. He then sounded the horn, and the garage door opened, and followed by 3 Mafia men, all fully armed, who hopped in the taxi.

"You must be the driver Joey told us about!" one of the men said. "Get us to the bank at the Red Light District." Claude drove towards the Red Light District, while the 3 Mafia men squabble among themselves. Claude could not talk, so he can't shut them up. Funny things like one of them is occupying too much space, then the thug sitting next to Claude started waving his AK-47 around, without hitting Claude. They soon arrived at the bank near the subway at the Red Light District.

"Keep the engine running. We'll be in and out in no time." One of them instructed. The 3 men got off the taxi, and went inside. Everything was going smoothly, while Claude hummed a little tune to himself. Gunshots were heard from inside the bank, and before long, the alarm started wailing. That can't be good, Claude thought to himself. Sure enough, the 3 men, each carrying 2 gunnysacks each, quickly jumped inside the taxi, and one of them yelled, "Get us out of here!" The 4 of them sped off amid the police chopper hovering above them, with 4 police cruisers hot on their trail. The Mafia men wasted no time to arm their Uzis and AK-47s, and shot their pursuers. It was an exciting car chase. To shake off the police, they had to go one whole round around Portland Island, but by the time they arrived back at the safehouse, they had shaken off the cops. The Mafia men paid Claude his share for the job, a hefty $30000. Then, they quickly went inside their hideout to share the money among themselves. Claude then drove off to see Toni. During the chase, Toni had paged earlier. He had some important tasks to do.

At Momma's Restaurant, again Toni wasn't present. Toni's mom made some remarks about Claude. "Oh it's you. Toni ain't here. But he left one of his sugary love letters for you." Claude wasn't amused by that remark, but Toni's letter did have something important. It read, "We're at war. The Triads have a fish factory as a front. Most of their business goes down at the fish market in Chinatown. The laundry still owes us protection. They reckon the Triads are protecting them now, so I say we exact a fitting punishment. Take these boys over and whack the Triad Warlords! Hell, if you got a chance, pop some of their soldiers too!" Two Mafia men showed up, awaiting instructions from Claude. Claude then went inside his taxi he drove back at the bank job, and the 2 men followed suit. They drove to Chinatown, but the gang war between the Mafia and the Triads made it tough to move. The two men then instructed Claude to stop at the roadside market; one of the Triad Warlords is based there. They exited the taxi, and went to get them. There were a lot of skirmishes going on, with Triad thugs in blue shooting their pistols at the Mafia, dressed in suits. The paramedics were kept busy all day long, reviving fallen Triads or Mafia thugs. Claude and his 2 associates then wend to find the Warlord. He was there, with 2 more Triad thugs armed with Uzis. But Claude got them first, and quickly picked up their ammo, and went back into the taxi. The 2 other associates followed suit. The 2nd target is located near a warehouse near the El-Train station in Chinatown. Again, the ongoing skirmishes were everywhere. The 2nd Warlord had been waiting for them, and he was foolish enough to let Claude run him down with his 2 bodyguards. The final Warlord is back at the Fish Factory at Callahan Point, and only Triad vans are allowed inside. Some Triads were guarding the vehicle, and they quickly shot the 2 Mafia men following Claude around. Claude avenged them by gunning all 4 of them down, and then jumped inside the van, and drove towards Callahan Point. He turned into a slip road leading to the factory, and the gatekeepers were stupid enough to let him in. They didn't live to regret it, as Claude ran down each and everyone of them. The last Warlord was located behind the factory, but he could not be rammed; he's on high ground. Claude got off the van, and went after the Warlord. Quickly, Claude used his Uzi to turn the Warlord and his bodyguards into minced meat. Then, he grabbed another Triad van, and drove back to Toni's. He ain't finished with them yet.

Back at Toni's, Toni had one final assignment for Claude, and since they first met, this was the only time Toni was present. Toni was fed up with the Triads, and he plans to run them out of business once and for all. "OK, I've had enough of this!" He exclaimed to Claude when he entered. "We're gonna finish the Triads in Liberty once and for all! 8-Ball's rigged a dustcart with a bomb. It's on a timer, so if you mess up, there'll be no evidence. Careful! 8-Ball says it's highly sensitive, and the slightest bump could set that thing off. Their fish factory opens its gates for a dustcart, so you can drive right in. Park up between the gas canisters and get the hell out of here! I want it to rain mackerel. We're talking real biblical here, nothing low budget.

Claude then drove his van towards Harwood, and sure enough, there was a dustcart waiting. Claude hopped in, and found out that he had only a few minutes to get to the factory before the dustcart blows. Carefully, he drove the dustcart out, and headed to the fish factory in Callahan Point. It was a race against time, because the dustcart is very sluggish, and the bomb armed onboard only helped slowing it down. Some reckless drivers also want to contend with Claude, but Claude paid no attention to them. He drove on towards Callahan Point, and drove towards the Triad fish factory. And just like Toni said, the gates opened for him. He drove towards the gas canisters behind the fish factory, armed the bomb onboard, and quickly ducked for cover. Some Triad goons spotted him, but they had no time for any reaction.

BOOM! The bomb triggered the gas canisters to explode, bringing the fish factory along with it. Triads within a 500m radius were killed in the blast. Some Triad vehicles were also taken out in the blast. Plastic fish from the factory also rained down towards the ground. The mission was successful. Claude then took one of the undamaged Triad vans, and quickly got out of the factory, lest more Triad goons show up to get him. While driving, Toni paged. The message said that the payment for blowing the fish factory was delivered to his account, and he should watch his back in Chinatown, because the Triads have marked him as a target. Claude abandoned the van, and took a taxi to Salvatore's mansion to get more work. Salvatore was pleased to see him, after a splendid job he did before. Salvatore had bigger jobs for him to undertake.

"Leave us alone for a minute." Salvatore instructed his servants after Claude showed up, and took his seat. Salvatore had some issues to deal with a Latino gang. "The Colombian Cartel is making SPANK somewhere in Liberty, but we don't know where. And they seem to know everything we're doing before we do." Salvatore briefed Claude. "We got us a rat! There's a guy named Curly Bob, who works the bar at Luigi's. He's been throwing more money around than he's earning. He ain't pimping or pushing, so he must be talking. He usually takes a taxi home after work, so follow him. And if he's ratting us out, KILL HIM!"

Claude then went outside the mansion, and hailed a Cabbie, but instead of getting in, he yanked the driver out, and got into the driver seat himself. He then drove on to Luigi's Club, and there was a taxi waiting outside, probably for Curly Bob. He waited nearby for Curly to show up. Soon, Curly Bob came out, and Claude quickly intercepted the "fare". Curly instructed Claude to go to Portland Harbor, not realizing that the "taxi driver" would eventually be his killer. Claude was also suspicious of Curly's destination. Why would he go to Portland Harbor if he's going home? The plot thickens.

At the docks near the "Les Cargo" ship, Curly instructed Claude to stop, and let him alight. He paid him the fare, and went outside. Claude kept a close watch on him, and he saw it. Curly was meeting the woman who betrayed him, Catalina. And she had a new partner-in-crime, a senior Cartel member named Miguel. Seems like Curly had a mutual deal with the Cartel: they would sell him SPANK if he agreed to sell out Mafia secrets, and it was a deal that Curly would live to regret.

"Here comes our little friend, Mr. Big Mouth himself." Miguel said after seeing Curly coming.

"Were you followed?" Catalina asked. "You know what goes on around here is our little secret."

"No … no, I wasn't followed." Curly began. He speaks with a few sniffs in his speech. Perfect for a rat. "You got my stuff?"

"Here's your SPANK, squealer." Catalina hands Curly his order of SPANK. "Now talk."

"OK, so the Leones' are fighting a war on two fronts." Curly spilt the beans to the two criminals. "They're in a turf war with the Triads, with no sign of either side giving up. Meanwhile, Joey Leone has stirred up some bad blood with the Forellis. Everyday they're losing men and influence in the city. Salvatore's becoming dangerous and paranoid. He suspects everybody and everything."

"With loyalty like yours, what has he possibly got to worry about?" Catalina and Miguel then left Curly. Curly looked around, and slowly walks away from the meeting spot. Now Claude has a reason to kill him. He revved up his engine, and charged towards Curly. Curly armed his shotgun, but he was too late. Before he could fire even 1 shot, Claude turned him into "fender ketchup". Then, he drove back to Salvatore's to tell him what had happened. Salvatore was pleased with Claude's work. He handed him some money, then gave him further instructions on dealing with the SPANK threat on Mafia interests.

"We should take these Colombian idiots out, but while we're at war with the Triads, we ain't strong enough." Salvatore said to Claude while handing him his check for killing the rat. "The Cartel had bottomless funds from pushing that SPANK crap. If we make an open attack on them, they'll wipe the floor with us. They must be making SPANK that Curly led you to. So we gotta use our heads. Or rather one head, your head. I'm asking you to destroy that SPANK factory as a personal favor to me, Salvatore Leone." He paused, and then instructed, "Go and see 8-Ball. You'll need his expertise to blow up that boat." Claude didn't like the idea of blowing up another factory, especially after what Toni caused him for blowing up the Triad factory, but he was glad that he and 8-Ball could work together again for one more job, so he drove to Harwood to see 8-Ball.

At Harwood, Claude knocked on the door near the bomb garage. This was 8-Ball's house. 8-Ball was there alright, but he needed Claude to do him a little favor. "Yo, my man!" 8-Ball was equally excited to see Claude again. "Salvatore phoned ahead, but a job like this is gonna need a lot of fireworks. I'll need $100,000 to cover expenses, but you know with me, you get a lot of bang with your buck. Come back, brother, when you have the money." 8-Ball then closed the door. Claude checked his wallet, and noticed he didn't have the money. He needed to find more money for this job. He then remembered two things. Firstly, someone calling himself El Burro had paged him back when he was hitting the payroll van for Joey. He's heard about him and wants to know him better. To find him, Claude has to answer the payphone at Hepburn Heights. Secondly, a payphone near Joey's Garage had been ringing all day. Maybe someone at the other end had jobs for him. Claude was tired, so he decided to follow the 2nd lead first thing in the morning. He drove back to his hideout, and went to sleep.