Quincy tried his best not to visibly shake as he was escorted up to Vandano's penthouse by two of the biggest, tallest men he'd ever seen. The briefcase handle in his hand was drenched with sweat, and he was squeezing it so hard the knuckles of his right hand had turned white. The three men stepped onto a private elevator at the end of the lobby, and Quincy fought the nausea and dizziness he was feeling as the two tree-sized men crowded him in between them.
"Ah, fellas...I, uh, don't suppose you'd mind too much giving me just a little bit more room here, would you?"
Wordlessly the two men looked at each other, then at Quincy, and they stepped even closer to him, almost squeezing him between their massive bodies.
The coroner swallowed hard. "Uh thanks, guys, thanks a lot..."
Only the hum of the elevator hydraulics kept them company for the rest of the way to the penthouse. At the top, the doors opened and the two gorillas led Quincy to the door opposite the elevator. One of them knocked, and momentarily the door opened. The medical examiner felt faint as he looked up into the face of a man even larger than the two apes escorting him.
"Michael Quincy," he said, "I'm here to see Mr. Vandano."
"Uh-huh. Come on..." The huge man stepped aside, and Quincy walked into the penthouse, followed by his own two personal apes. The largest man pointed toward the couch. "Sit down, Mr. Vandano will be with you in a minute."
"Thank you," Quincy heard himself say, although he hadn't remembered making his mouth form the words.
He sat down on the couch, setting the briefcase on his lap. Not unexpectedly, the two gorillas sat down on either side of him, once again crowding his space. Quincy had to admit that it was an extremely effective method of intimidation: he was scared out of his mind. Following an eternity of minutes squeezed between Vandano's apes, the mob boss walked in from another room. He was also a very large man, although not as large as his bodyguards. Quincy tried to stand, but the two apes astride him kept him pinned to the couch. Vandano smiled, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Well, Michael, how nice to see you."
"Yes, Mr. Vandano, nice to see you too."
"You look quite pale, Michael, is something wrong?"
"No, no, I'm just a little tired." He gave a sidelong look at the two men squishing him and added, "Perhaps a little crowded..."
Vandano laughed. "Mickey, Joe, let him up."
The two apes stood and took up positions on opposite ends of the couch. Quincy stood and extended his hand, which Vandano took, shaking it.
"I brought the documents in question, Mr. Vandano..."
"Good," Vandano wiped his hand on his pants and stared at Quincy. "You're awfully warm, Michael, are you sure there's nothing wrong?"
"I might have picked up a little cold down in LA, nothing more."
"That's right," Vandano said with a large smile, "You went down to LA. How was that trip?"
Hearing the amusement in Vandano's voice, knowing the mobster put the hit out on his brother, lit Quincy with anger, but he tried to keep it from his timbre. "It was fine, thank you, just fine."
"I never thought you were much of a fan of LA, Michael, so I was a little surprised."
"It had been a long time." He stared into the dark eyes of Vandano. "But I remembered why I never liked it...too violent."
The smile never left Vandano's face. "Let's take a look at these documents that you're so concerned about."
Quincy followed the mobster over to a table and they sat down. He noted that the two large apes moved with them, taking up new positions around the table. The coroner pulled the file from the briefcase and set it in front of Anthony Vandano.
"You'll notice, Mr. Vandano, that for the past five years, your CPA has misfiled your taxes, leaving you open to federal prosecution for evasion."
Vandano laughed. "This is what you've been so worried about?"
"This and some other more explicit files."
Vandano stared into the gray eyes then. "What are you trying to say, Michael, just spit it out."
"Files filled with evidence linking you to half a dozen hits, that's what I'm saying."
Vandano smiled once again. "Really...and just where are these files?"
"In a safe place."
"Ah, but of course you have an associate who knows their location and will see to it that they're forwarded to the proper authorities should something happen to you..."
Quincy swallowed hard; the man was taking it all with a grain of salt...
Two floors below the penthouse, Sequana's men and equipment were in a hotel room.
"Damn," Sequana muttered, "I don't like the sound of Vandano. Not at all."
"I'd have to agree," Louie said, "It almost sounds like he knows what's coming..."
Sequana's eyes lit with worry. "Somebody blew Michael's cover, and maybe that same someone has blown Quincy's..." He looked hard at Louie. "Put all units on standby. At the first sign of trouble, we go in; but no one moves until I give the go ahead."
"Got it."
Vandano set the file on the table and stood, pulling Quincy up by the arm. "Come, Michael, let's have a drink and a little talk."
Quincy walked with him to the bar, which was near a large and very open balcony door. The coroner's heart was pounding so hard and fast he thought he might just have a heart attack; but instead, Anthony Vandano handed him a drink.
"Scotch has always been your drink of choice."
"Yes," Quincy said absently, "neat."
"So, Michael, you have evidence on me and you want something in exchange for it, is that it?"
Feeling like a lamb heading to slaughter, Quincy fought to keep his voice even, "Yeah, that's about it. I give you all the files, and you let me out of this whole thing, I mean all of it; I leave clean with a half a million."
"Half a million, huh? That's kinda steep, Michael, even for me, don't you think?"
"You can afford it," Quincy said, taking a sip of his scotch, hoping it would calm his nerves.
The apes were closing in, and the medical examiner could feel his heart now pounding in his throat. The knock at the door made him slosh some of his scotch. Vandano nodded to the really huge guy.
"Rocky, get that."
"Yeah, boss."
The door opened, and Quincy couldn't believe what he was seeing: Monahan and Brill, dressed in three piece suits, both of them carrying briefcases and wearing glasses. They flashed badges in Vandano's direction as they entered the room.
"IRS, Mr. Vandano, agents Wexler and Scott," Monahan announced smoothly. He looked over at Quincy, "Sorry if I'm busting up a meeting, but this just can't wait. I'm Wexler by the way," he nodded toward Brill, "And this is Scott."
"Oh Jesus, Mary and Joseph," Sequana groaned in the quiet of the surveillance room.
"Guess now we know what they're up to, Rick," Louie said.
"Here goes two years of prep work, down the toilet without so much as a flush..."
"What should we do?"
"Nothing we can do, Louie, we've got to let this play out and see where these two local yahoos are heading with this..."
Vandano frowned at the two men. "Gentlemen, I don't mean to appear rude, but I am in the middle of a meeting here. Would it be possible for you to make an appointment for a later time?"
"Well you see, Mr. Vandano," Monahan said, "this really is quite urgent. You see, we noticed that your tax filings for the past five years were mishandled by your certified accountant, and we at the IRS want to see that it is rectified immediately. After all sir," Monahan said smiling, "we wouldn't want it to come to any kind of court case or anything."
"Mr. Vandano," Rocky said, motioning to his boss, "a moment, sir."
"Excuse me, gentlemen..."
Vandano walked over to Rocky who whispered in his ear. Monahan and Quincy exchanged worried glances, but dared to give away nothing else. Vandano moved back over to them, smiling. He walked toward Quincy, putting his arm around his shoulders.
"You know, Michael, it's really quite fortunate that these gentlemen have joined us today since we're discussing my tax problems, don't you think?" He leaned into Quincy's face. "Oh, but wait, I forgot, you're not Michael. You see, you can't be Michael, because Michael is dead. You'd have to be his twin brother, the coroner from Los Angeles." He smiled over at Brill and Monahan. "And you two idiots are ex-cops who just got yourself into much more than you bargained for."
Vandano violently ripped Quincy's shirt open, and pulled the sound equipment free, demolishing it before it hit the floor.
"Oh shit!" Sequana yelled. "All units, move in now! Go, go!"
As the two large apes, Mickey and Joe moved toward Monahan and Brill, the two ex-cops tossed their briefcases at them and pulled their guns. Quincy tried to break away from Vandano, but the man was younger, larger and had a solid grip on him. As the mobster tried to pull his weapon though, Quincy managed to pin his arm to his side with both his hands, but Vandano shoved the coroner away from him, yanking the gun free of its holster. Brill fired first and nailed Joe in the heart, dropping him like a stone. Monahan dove behind the couch, firing at Mickey, who fired back, barely missing the ex-cop. Vandano jumped behind the bar for cover, and Mickey knocked the table over, using it as a barricade. Brill and Quincy joined Monahan behind the couch, and Rocky ducked into the adjoining room, using the door as a shield. Shots flew as the front door was busted down, allowing several FBI agents to pour in, guns firing in a burst at the mobsters.
Monahan had emptied his revolver and ducked behind the couch to reload, leaning against it; and his eyes spotted Quincy. "Oh my God..."
Hearing his friend and colleague's timbre, Brill's heart almost stopped as he turned to see what was wrong. Monahan was holding Quincy in his arms, the coroner's hands covering a bloody wound in his abdomen.
"Brill, we've gotta get him outta here!"
As they dodged bullets, Monahan moved Quincy as best he could toward the front door, Brill standing between them and the firing men, shooting as quickly as his revolver would allow. Once they cleared the door, Monahan and Brill got on either side of Quincy, hustled him into the elevator and pushed the lower lobby button. The elevator plummeted downward, the doors opened, and the men were in the parking garage below the Sands. Danny was waiting with both cars when he saw the men approaching.
Tovo ran to help them. "My God, what happened?"
"Quincy was hit," Monahan said matter-of-factly. "Let's get him into the sedan."
"Lieutenant," Brill said, "he looks bad, maybe we should take him to the hospital."
"No," Quincy said weakly, "please, no."
Monahan sat Quincy gently in the rear seat of the sedan. "Quincy, you're hurt bad, I don't think we've got a choice."
The coroner grabbed his friend's sleeve, hard. "Please, Monahan. They'll just arrest all of us and he'll get away--"
"--Quincy, does dead really sound better to you than arrested?"
"There's still a chance to get him..."
"What are you talking about?"
"Vandano."
"Quincy, that's gone now. Any lawyer worth two cents is gonna rip up any case the feds try to levy. They've got two ex-cops impersonating federal officers, and a coroner pretending to be a lawyer...it's illegal and falsified entry, we're done."
"No. The bones."
"What bones?"
"Sequana's people found a skeleton on the Kantana."
"Quincy, you're not makin' any sense..."
"We can get Vandano on murder, but we've got to buy some time with Sequana..."
"What are you suggesting?"
"Sequana had no interest in the bones, so they were taken to the local morgue." Quincy grimaced in pain, and Monahan steadied him gently. "Brill and Danny can get them..."
"You want us to steal some old bones?" Monahan asked.
"Please, Frank, trust me."
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but, where are they?"
"Clark County morgue..."
Monahan shook his head. "Okay. Brill, you and Danny get to the morgue in Clark County, and find the bones that Sequana released to the Clark County Coroner. Bring them with you and we'll meet at the place outside Victorville. Brill, you remember how to get there?"
"Yeah." He paused, lowered his voice and then said, "Lieutenant, is Quincy gonna make it that far?"
"He'll have to. As soon as we're out of the hotspot, I'll call Asten and have him meet us. Quincy's gonna need him. Now get going!"
Monahan gently laid Quincy down in the back seat and he jumped in the front, peeling out of the garage as fast as he could, with Brill and Danny right on his tail in Anselmo's car.
