Lake Effect: A Jordan Reed Mystery by K.C. Gillis

Author:K.C. Gillis [Gillis, K.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chesterfield Press
Published: 2020-05-25T16:00:00+00:00

30

Francis Emberly read the summary of the backgrounder his staff had compiled. It was more troubling than he had expected.

The lawyer who had met with Mike Banfield about selling his marina, Alex Koffman, worked out of Jersey City. He had a solo practice, at least in terms of lawyers. There were a couple of paralegals and a few other staff members, but Koffman was the only attorney listed. That struck Francis as unusual. Most lawyers in the greater New York City area were part of a practice.

Alex Koffman’s area of expertise was commercial real estate. That, at least, made sense, signaling that the potential buyer was legitimate.

But what caused Francis real concern was who Alex Koffman appeared to have as a client. Such information was not generally public, but his team had pieced it together. They could only confirm one, but it was a doozy. The Vitali family.

Just about every businessman in the Tri-State and Boston knew who the Vitalis were. Some would know the family as casino moguls because of Vincent Vitali owning six major casinos. Others would know the family as real estate developers, as they were the lead partner for several major hotel and gambling projects. But the truth was that Vincent Vitali led an organized crime family. And like any good modern crime family, they made sure they owned the right kind of large businesses to support their operations.

Francis’s definition of a criminal conveniently disqualified himself from that label. He didn’t think of political manipulation, sprinkled with occasional bribery and other incentives, as real crime. From his perspective, that was just how things got done in government. But people like the Vitalis were suspected of doing or ordering the full spectrum of violent crime. Francis knew the names of former rivals of Vincent Vitali who had either disappeared or had unfortunate accidents.

Now it looked like the senator was lining up to be in direct competition with the Vitali family to purchase East Bay Marina. And if the Vitalis were involved, their plans weren’t simply to buy the marina and spruce it up. They had to be planning something much larger. If he had to guess, Francis figured the Vitalis’ plan was to turn Copper Lake into a casino getaway. There was plenty of undeveloped land in the area to build a casino and add hotels and restaurants.

It was time to call the senator.

Senator Chris Chisholm answered on the first ring. “Francis, right on time. I trust the team could uncover who is trying to buy the marina.”

“I think so.”

“Who was the lawyer?”

“His name is Alex Koffman.”

“Shit, are you serious?”

“Yes. I have his business card. Do you know him?”

“Not personally, and I’d rather not. He’s Vincent Vitali’s real estate lawyer. Represented him for all of his deals in the last few years. Word on the street is that he also helps with some of Vincent’s more personal legal situations. The Vitalis may not officially be part of what one would call the mob, but they operate pretty much the same.

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