The Overlords by Matt Braun

Author:Matt Braun
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
Published: 2011-03-08T00:00:00+00:00

The men began trooping into the Turf Club shortly before eleven o’clock. They took the elevator to the third floor, where they were frisked by Jack Nolan and Turk McGuire. Firearms, knives and brass knuckles were consigned to a box in the athletic club.

The meeting was held across the hall in the billiards room. The men gathered there were the vice chiefs of the Island, operating under the largesse of their overlords. Quinn and Voight had summoned them, though the purpose of the meeting was not announced. None of the men felt bold enough to ask.

Dan Lampis ran part of the slot machine concession. His counterpart, Lou Lera, was in jail for murder, and he hoped to take over the entire business. Sam Amelio owned seven whorehouses, and Gus Allen operated two of the larger gaming joints, the Garden Club and the Grotto Club. The other men, five in all, had various concessions for juke-boxes, pinball machines, and bootlegging. They were the underbosses of Galveston’s underworld.

The men seated themselves in chairs arranged along the back wall of the billiards room. Nolan and McGuire took positions on either side of the door, there to ensure that the meeting was conducted in a businesslike manner. Quinn and Voight walked through the door at the stroke of eleven, and halted behind the snooker table, facing their underbosses. The room fell quiet as the men ranged along the wall waited to hear the purpose of the meeting.

Voight nodded around the room. “You boys are here because of what’s happened over the past week. Anybody that’s not deaf, dumb and blind knows we damn near handed the reformers our operation on a silver platter.”

The men murmured their assent. Quinn silenced them with an upraised palm. “We got off the hook with some fast moves and a little luck. Lou Lera’s surrender to the cops was the only thing that saved us. Otherwise the reformers would have started a crusade to clean us out.”

“Holy roller cocksuckers,” Sam Amelio grated. “Why don’t we bump off a couple and teach ’em a lesson? They’d learn to keep their traps shut.”

“You always were a stupe,” Voight said, fixing him with a hard glare. “Lera killin’ that civilian was what got us into hot water. Wise up, for chrissake.”

Amelio looked stung. “I didn’t mean no harm, Dutch.”

“That’s the trouble with you lunkheads,” Voight said hotly. “Your mouth gets ahead of your brain, and before you know it, you’ve done something stupid. All that’s gonna end today.”

“Lera’s a case in point,” Quinn said. “He pulled a gun when he should’ve walked away, or at worst, fought the guy even-steven. Everybody has to put the good of the organization first. Forget the rough stuff.”

The men swapped glances. They thought it was an odd statement, considering the fate of Joey Adonis. A week ago today Adonis and a couple of his goons were spotted at the Funland Amusement Pier. They seemingly vanished that evening, and while no one had the moxie to ask what happened, everyone in the room knew.

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