Chapter 2 – A Case Full of Dollars

Red Valdez, Portland, Liberty City, 1999

He was in complete darkness, not a single light to be seen. He could have been held there in darkness for maybe three or four hours tied with rope to his feet and hands.

Suddenly the light slowly came on. Salvatore Leone was standing in the doorway holding an AK47. He came over and cut the rope away with a sharp knife.

"Get up punk" Salvatore demanded

He then took him into a room where it looked like it was a lounge.

"Who are you?" Salvatore asked

"I'm Red Valdez" the man said

Red had a face which looked typically Cuban and he had greasy brown hair and he was wearing the trashiest clothes obviously bought from Binco.

"Well Red, if you tell me what's going on I'll let you leave this room alive" Salvatore said

"I don't know what you mean" Red said

"Don't get smart with me, we saw you in the apartment across the road from Momma's Restaurant aiming a sniper rifle to my sons head while he was eating, I had to send my men in to stop you and knock you out"

"Oh that" Red said

"Yeah that, you forgot already" Salvatore said "so who do you work for?"

"I work for no-one" Red said

"C'mon, you must work for someone" Salvatore said "What age are you?"

"Seventeen" Red said

"Seventeen, so you're saying you planned this all by yourself, as a personal grudge against the Leone's" Salvatore said

"Well, I don't work for anyone, but I helped a gang do this yes" Red said "The Liberty City Triads"

"But you're not Chinese" Salvatore replied

"No, I'm half Cuban" Red said

"I thought so" Salvatore said "I could tell by your accent, so did you get paid money for this?"

"Yes I was getting paid One Million Dollars, I'm a hired hitman" Red said "but I won't get paid now because I didn't kill your son"

"Say what if I let you leave this room with 1 Million Dollars of Leone money just now" Salvatore said "would you leave this room and never speak to me again, and never be associated with the Triads"

"So you're not going to kill me?" Red asked

"I can't" Salvatore said "you're just a pawn, there's no point in killing the pawn, but we will take action towards the Triads"

Salvatore then took a picture off the hook and opened the safe and then filled a nearby briefcase full of One Million Dollars. He then handed it to Red. Red began to walk away with it when Salvatore shouted "And if we ever see you trying that again, we'll hit you so hard, you won't be able to walk for a month, take that money as a nice way of a warning"

Red walked out of the Leone mansion and walked along the gravel path when suddenly a Mafia Sentinel came driving up. The car suddenly braked and someone rolled the window down.

"Who the fk are you?" the man shouted

"I'd like to ask the same question" Red said

"I'm Toni Cipriani, what are you doing here, you're not part of the Leone Family Mafia" the man said

"Wait" another voice said inside the car "that's that punk that tried to shoot me with a sniper rifle"

The man got out of the car, it was Joey Leone and he suddenly got a Colt 45 out of his pocket and aimed it to his head.

"Hang on Joey" Toni said "he must be about seventeen, find out who he is first"

Toni got out the car as well.

"What's this you got here" Joey said snatching the briefcase out of his hand

"That's mine" Red shouted

"You're right" Joey said "once I find out what's in it, for all we know you could've murdered Salvatore and took all his money, you tried blasting me"

"Hey Joey" Toni shouted "are you sure this is the guy?"

"Toni I saw his face in the apartment, I know this is the guy" Joey said

"Don't you think we should ask Salvatore, maybe he gave him all the information and then paid him off" Toni said

"Will you hold him while I check the case?" Joey asked

"Why?" Toni asked "if he wanted to kill you he would've done it already"

"Just hold him" Joey demanded

"One of these days I'm gonna land up shooting you Joey" Toni said giving up his argument and holding Red

Joey laid the briefcase on the bonnet of the car and opened the case. There was the One Million Dollars lying there.

"Look at this Toni" Joey said

"How did you know the number?" Toni asked

"Never mind that," Joey shouted in annoyance "my father always uses 6-6-6 as the code on briefcases, and on everything else, someone only has to have a devil fixation and they'd have the whole mansion robbed"

"That must be Salvatore's payoff" Toni said

"I don't think so Toni" Joey said "do you think my father would pay off One Million Dollars to someone who tried to kill his own son"

"Yeah" Toni said

"Well you can buy that cheap story," Joey replied "but I'm not going back to the mansion, find out my fathers dead, and then regret that we never avenged him"

"Okay" Toni said "take him back"

"I have to tell you" Red said "your friend is right, I was paid off by Salvatore"

"See" Toni said "straight from the horse's mouth"

"I still won't believe it till I see it" Joey said

Joey grabbed Red pointing the Colt 45 to his head, carrying his briefcase and took him back along the gravel road while Toni drove the Sentinel behind him. When Joey walked into the house Salvatore was sitting on the couch.

"Did you pay this guy off?" Joey asked Salvatore

"Yeah I did" Salvatore said "Why?"

"You paid him off with One Million Dollars" Joey said

"Yeah" Salvatore said "he promised me he's not going to do it again"

"And you believed him" Joey said

"Yes why shouldn't I" Salvatore replied

"Because, you shouldn't trust someone who tried to kill me" Joey shouted

"I hope you never become the Don" Salvatore said "you never give anyone a second chance, the reason why I didn't blast him is because he's a pawn and he was just in it for the cash, our real enemies are the Triads, so Red can go"

Red nodded his head quickly, took the briefcase from Joey's hands and began out the door.

"Oh and Red" Salvatore shouted again "take one of our Sentinels, we've got plenty, we won't miss one"

Red got into one of the Sentinels, pushed his foot down on the accelerator and drove along the road where loads of Leone's Mafia men were standing about. Red owned a small apartment in Hepburn Heights, which was Diablo territory, but luckily he had never met any of them face to face. He drove up to his apartment and quickly got out the car and walked into the apartment. He walked up a floor and took a key out his pocket and opened the door. He walked into the two roomed house and laid the briefcase onto the bed.

"Home sweet home" he said to himself

His house was the grubbiest thing you could have ever laid eyes on. The walls were un-papered and the only bits of furniture that were in the house were the bed and a small table which sat a small television. There was one small window which looked onto El-Train Station. He closed the raggy curtains so no-one could see inside. He then sat on the bed.

'So what could I do with this money?' Red thought to himself 'well first things first, I'm going to buy myself some new wheels, some new clothes and a haircut, then I'm going to open up a business, what shall my target be'

He then got up and put the television on.

"Hello, welcome to Love TV, the news will be on in a few minutes but first a message from the station's owner Donald Love" the television said

A smartly dressed short haired businessman walked onto the screen "Hello" the man said "I'm Donald Love; I see all is well, goodbye"

Within a few seconds Red had made up his mind. He wanted to be as big as this Donald Love one day; this made him think of what inspired him to be a hitman. When he heard of an underground gang leader named Darkel from a friend and how he ruled the gangs of the city of Darkel, the city which had been named after him he immediately thought of what it would be like. Now he had loads of money, he could be like this Donald Love; Donald Love basically owned most of America's media.

"Anyway" Red said to himself "firstly wheels, clothes and haircut, then tomorrow, I get to business"

He knew a friend that could give him advice on what to do.