"Laura Resnick - The Vatican Outfit" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Laura)

"I'm afraid that that's completely out of the question, Vito. I'm a
priest. I am now the spiritual leader of the entire Roman Catholic world. I
can't go around ordering assassinations of the Church's enemies. I must deal
with these evil men and their institutions in a legal and Christian fashion."
"Al, that's gotta be just about the dumbest thing I ever heard in my
whole life."
"Nevertheless, it is my decision."
Well, Mr. Corvino had figured on something like this happening, just
like he figured that Luciani's enemies weren't gonna give up so easily. So I
hung out at the Vatican for another couple of weeks, keeping Angelo's boss
alive. He was one stubborn guy, let me tell you, and it wasn't until his
private toilet was rigged with plastic explosives that he finally realized
that we was gonna have to do things the old-fashioned way, like it or not.
"That's the fifth attempt on your life since I got here, Al," I said.
"Are you ready to let Mr. Corvino help you?"
The poor guy had been dividing all his time between trying to waste his
enemies in a "legal and Christian fashion" and trying not to get killed. It
kept him so busy that he didn't have no time left over to comfort the poor,
give a mass, or baptize no babies. And as for running his legitimate business
concerns -- forget it! I could see the time was right to bring him into the




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fold.
"What do I have to do?" Luciani asked.
We started by placing a phone call to Chicago, where a certain cardinal
was giving Luciani a hard time. When the guy answered the phone, I reminded
Luciani, "Just say exactly what I told you to say."
He nodded and said into the receiver, "This is Big Al Luciani." He
frowned a second later and said, "You know -- the Pope... Yes, _that_ Pope."
"He's stalling you, Al. Get on with it," I said.
Luciani cleared his throat. "So here's the scam, Johnny. I don't like
the way you've been handling your branch of the outfit... The outfit... You
know, the Holy Roman Church." He took a deep breath and got tough. "You ain't
been following orders, Johnny, and that makes me mad. What's more, you've been
ignoring all my messages, and that makes me hurt. I don't think you want me to
be mad and hurt, Johnny, 'cause then I get mean. And do you know what happens
when the boss of this outfit gets mean? People get whacked. I ain't saying
it's gonna be you, Johnny, but then, I also ain't saying it ain't."
Well, that guy in Chicago was one stubborn idiot -- what is it about
priests? -- but he finally saw reason. A perfectly legitimate associate of Mr.
Corvino's, who's based in Chicago, reported that the cardinal took a small
suitcase and five grand in cash and disappeared that very afternoon. Last I
heard, he was flipping burgers at some roadside joint in Oklahoma.
Now, personally, I don't like violence. But, under certain
circumstances, I'm all in favor of whacking. It's over quickly, and, more
importantly, you don't have to worry about a guy squealing to the feds after
he's been whacked. But, Big Al didn't want anyone to be clipped, and so we had