Hours after a small coffee shop in Los Angeles was closed to the public the lights were still on and fresh coffee was brewing. A short order cook flipped burgers on a grill behind the counter and an old grey haired woman slowly walked from table to table refilling coffee cups. The way her shoulders slumped and she barely lifted her feet to walk caught Innocence’s attention.

“Do you want the night off, Myrtle?” The mafia boss and coffee shop owner asked when the waitress approached her table. “You look tired.”  

“Hell no!” The old lady snapped. “Can’t you spot a racket when you see one, girl? I walk slow and look tired to get bigger tips.” Myrtle shook her head as if Innocence should have known that. “When are you opening a casino? I gotta have some place to go on Friday nights. I got banned from the bingo hall because I called Dorothy Winthrop a two faced cheating c…”

“Myrtle!” Innocence interrupted and held up her hand to stop the old lady's rant. “A casino is in the works. Mercury hired a construction crew to build it near the highway to attract tourists.” The mafia leader took a drink of her coffee and gestured to a group of mobsters at a table in the corner. “Go work your big tip racket on those guys. Tell them it’s been years since you’ve seen your grandkids in Jersey. A sad story might make them leave you a few more bucks.”

“Great idea!” Myrtle laughed quietly and patted Innocence’s shoulder. “I don’t care what they say about you in other coffee shops, you’re a smart cookie, girl.” As the old lady walked away Innocence smiled because she was amused by the comment about gossip in other coffee shops. 

It was almost midnight when Caffrey arrived for the meeting with his boss. Before he sat down at her table he looked around cautiously.

“They’re friends of ours.” Innocence explained the late night crowd of mobsters in the coffee shop. “No one will say a word about this meeting.”

As soon as Caffrey sat down Myrtle brought him a cup of coffee, but didn’t stay at the table to chat. The mouthy old lady knew when to stay out of Innocence's business.

“Chase will be here soon with the funny money Dino printed.” Innocence said and slid a piece of paper across the table to Caffrey. “Take two hundred thousand to these places in Hollywood. The owners are expecting you.”

Caffrey looked at the piece of paper and Innocence lit a cigarette.

“Chase and his boys are going to buy coke from street dealers with the funny money." Innocence waved at a young associate in the coffee shop then explained the rest of the plan to Caffrey. "I’ll take care of the bank and the cops. By this time tomorrow night the idiot who calls himself The Godfather of LA won’t know what hit him.”

Caffrey slid the piece of paper into his upper jacket pocket, got up and went to the pay phone in the back corner of the Coffee Shop. Yea, his boss told him that the fellows sitting in the corner booth were OK but he was a naturally cautious person. They were new faces and new faces never made him too comfortable. It did, however, show that the city was growing so he did he best not to scare them away. He made it to the phone, pulled out some change, and began to make his call.

"Dollars? Hey, stop by Cory's spot and speak with Rhaziel. After she gives you the package meet me at Innocence's Coffee Shop. Also, find Mario for me and tell him to post outside the shop. I want him with the boss the whole night, out of her way." Dollars confirmed the orders and got off the phone.

Caffrey went back to the table and finished up his coffee while chatting with his Boss about other family business. He knew this plan she had was great and would undoubtedly work. She would be one step closer to taking the city for herself.

Dollars had showed up after a short while and walked into the coffee shop. Innocence nodded in his direction to Caffrey and Caffrey spotted his trusted associate. "OK boss I'll meet back up with you shortly." As he got up and walked towards the door he took one last look at the new faces. He was good at remembering faces.

He made it to the door and Dollars held it open for him to walk through. Before he could make it through the door Cory_Chase had stepped through. "Cory, brother." Caffrey said as he stepped in to give him a hug. This man was and family and would be embraced as such. "It's time for me to get to work before Mercury pops up somewhere." He exchanged a few words with Cory before being led to his car by Dollars. As he looked around outside the shop he saw Mario parked at the corner, hidden, doing his job. Caffrey knew today would be the day to change the tide of this inner city LA war.

Today was a big day for the incoming business in L.A. They were going to step things up a notch with their counterfeit money project. Cory was in charge of making the deal with the local drug dealers and being the one pulling the wool over their eyes. Which Cory had no problem with, he was always interesting in the dangerous side of things in this business. He pulled up to the warehouse where they were hiding their machines and stepped out of the car. There were a few people hanging around outside, smoking cigarettes, and yelling at pretty girls when they drove by. Cory shook his head and gave them all a handshake before submerging himself into the warehouse. Against the wall were briefcases of money sitting and waiting on him. Cory had some of his boys load the money into the car for him as he watched for any suspicious activity going on outside.

“Make sure you get all the briefcases in there, I don’t want to be making any trips back here. And make sure that they are lined up according to the locations I am going to. I don’t want to pull out the wrong briefcase for the wrong customer.”

He continued to lean against the building and smoke his cigarette until they were finished. They locked up the back trunk and Cory got into the drivers seat. He looked over to one of his men and threw the cigarette out the window.

“Tell Rhaziel I will be back, I have some things to get done for Innocence. If I am not back in about a days time, then you already know to start checking the jails or funeral home for me.”

Cory half heartily laughed at his own joke as he took off to get his tasks done. He remembered Innocence specifically telling him that she didn’t want him to go alone, but Cory figured he would cut some time off just doing it himself. He was just talking to Caffrey twenty minutes ago before they parted separate ways. Cory thought about how well the others were doing when he pulled up on his first location. It was a decent part of town. Cory had been dealing with these people to the side for a while now so he figured this would be the easiest exchange of all, seeing that they trusted him. A familiar face come down the steps and opened the back door to Cory’s car. He tossed the bag of cocaine in the trunk and pulled out the briefcase. He walked up the window motioned for him to roll down his window.

“I hope the cocaine is good padre. Came straight from the Godfather of L.A.”

Cory laughed and gave a nod to the man. He put the car in drive to show that he was about to leave and tipped his hat.

“I am sure it will be grade A stuff. I am excited to see what it is like before I even get it back home. You take care of all that money, you hear? We haven’t made an exchange this big and I would hate to see something unexpected happen.”

With that said, Cory began to drive off down the street to the second location. It was going to be another quick stop as it was some kids that hung out on the street corner to make a dollar here and there. They did the same as the first man and exchanged the bags in the trunk and hid it from view. The kid didn’t say much to Cory but gave him a thumbs up to let him know everything had gone alright. Cory waved to the kid and began to drive off again. He was making sure that he had made the exchanges into a variety of drug dealers hands. The plan was to make this money spread as quickly as possible to all the well known drug dealers of the city.

It was about another twenty minutes and Cory pulled up on the main location he had been waiting for. The biggest drug dealer in the whole city was about to make an exchange with Cory and this was going to be the biggest catch of the day for him. He pulled the bag out of the trunk and tucked his gun deep into his waste. He fixed his suit as he made his way up the steps, where the front doors already opened for him. He was escorted into the house and a meeting room in the back. He took his seat at the other end of a fairly long table and nodded to the man on the other side. Cory never got his name, guessing for the man’s own safety, and Cory didn’t really care to know. The man offered him a cigar before beginning to speak.

“Cory Chase is it? I am excited to see you here today. This was the one deal I was looking forward to all week. Do you have the money?”

Cory held up the briefcase as two men came over and took it from them. They opened it and began to count it on the table. Cory’s heart almost skipped a beat for a minute but then he realized that they couldn’t tell the difference between the real bill and the counterfeit money. Feeling relieved, he took the man up on the cigar and sat patiently at the end of the table.

“So.. I don’t know who you are. I know you probably don’t care to share, but you seem to be a big part of this whole organization. No doubt, you work for the Godfather. Is he as clever as everyone says he is?”

With that said, he looked at the man across the table in the eyes. The man laughed a little and leaned forward so he could talk in a lower tone.

“Well, he is the Godfather for a reason. He has managed to stay on top of the criminal organization in this city for as long as he has been here. Would take a lot for someone to outsmart this one we have in place now.”

Cory forced himself to hold back a smile as they finished counting all the money. He stood up, bid good day to the gentlemen, and made his way out of the house. He drove a block down the street before he found a pay phone to make a call on. He hid his face from the traffic on the street and spoke softly into the phone when Innocence picked up on the other side of it.

“All good with me. Has Caffrey checked in yet?”

The leader of Familia de Angeles lived in an average suburban neighborhood for two reasons. The first was because it was a good cover. No one thought the nicest dame on the block with two wonderful children was a rich and powerful organized crime boss. The second reason was because of the bank teller who lived in the house on the corner. The police would never find evidence the woman worked for the mysterious The Godfather of Los Angeles, but Innocence found it and patiently waited until the right time to use it.  

As soon as Innocence moved to Los Angeles to take over the city she put a lot of time and money into finding out who worked for The Godfather. It didn’t take long to find out the names of his loyal soldiers. After that it wasn’t difficult to get information about every one of his hitters, button men and dealers. The names, mug shots and various details about The Godfather’s crew cluttered the walls of Innocence’s HQ office. The mob boss spent hours staring at the lists of people and learning everything about them. It was only a matter of time before her and her family were strong enough to take them out. Until then Innocence chipped away at The Godfather’s business and got more powerful every day.

After obsessively memorizing everything about the enemy Innocence focused on the money flow to find a weakness. Every dollar was handled by The Godfather’s accountant who laundered it through a bank twice, sometimes three times a week. The accountant’s bloodline supposedly went way back with The Godfather’s bloodline. Innocence was part of the business long enough to know it was almost impossible to break a bond like that. The weakest link in the money chain was discovered when Innocence’s Right Hand, Mercury investigated the bank teller who laundered the money for the Godfather’s accountant.

“Hi neighbor.” Innocence greeted when the bank teller opened her door long after midnight. Just like the police the mafia boss liked knocking on doors in the middle of the night to catch people off guard.

“Innocence?” The woman asked with surprise and blinked her tired eyes several times. “What are you doing out this late? Are the kids okay?”

“They’re fine.” Innocence answered about her children who were sleeping peacefully a few doors down. “Come outside. I have to talk to you.” The bank teller tentatively took a step out on the porch and Innocence pointed to the driveway where a man stood with a briefcase. “That gentleman works with me. We’re part of a special police task force investigating organized crime.”

“You’re a police officer!” The bank teller said to her neighbor. “I didn’t know what you did for a living, but I never would have guessed you’re one of LA’s finest.”

“As I said we’ve been investigating organized crime.” Innocence spoke boldly with authority. “We found out you’ve been laundering money for an accountant who works for a very dangerous man known as The Godfather. The Chief of Police wants to lock you up and throw away the key.” The mobster paused and let the threat of a long jail sentence linger for a few seconds. “I can get you off the hook, but you have to help us out. All you have to do is give the accountant the money in my associate’s briefcase in exchange for the money from his boss.”

After the bank teller agreed to do the money exchange Innocence walked off the porch and approached her associate in the driveway. “Put the briefcase in her car and follow her to the bank in the morning. The accountant should be there early. The minute he leaves with the briefcase call me.”

Twenty minutes later Innocence walked into her coffee shop and sat at the counter. A few other mobsters were there quietly talking about their last big job or planning their next big job. Innocence lit a cigarette, drummed her fingers on the counter and waited for the phone to ring. Every step of her plan was being carried out. The ticking of the clock on the wall reminded her it was only a matter of time before the counterfeit money was in the hands of the top soldiers who worked for The Godfather and delivered to the big man himself in a briefcase Innocence personally picked out for him.

The phone rang and Innocence reached across the counter to pick it up. It was Cory_Chase checking in to tell her his part of the plan was done. By the end of the day a percentage the counterfeit money the drug dealers were paid with would be kicked up as earnings and tributes. “Thanks, Chase.” Innocence said on the phone. “Caffrey hasn’t checked in yet, but I should hear from him soon. I’ll call you later after I take care of the last part.”

Caffrey was studying the list of businesses Innocence had gave him. There was a lot of high end stores and restaurants that had to be real money makers. Too bad all these owners were under the wrong protection. The current Godfather of Los Angeles was slipping and losing his grip on the city. The routes of his collectors became too routine and made it easier for Caffrey to have time to 'intervene.' First stop was an expensive clothing shop. It was one of the Godfathers more profitable buildings and they were scheduled to come and pick up in about an hour and a half after Caffrey was scheduled to stop by.

While dollars was driving caffrey was inspecting the cash that Cory's family was making. It amazed him how real the bills looked and felt. Nearly undetectable unless you were actually looking for the money to be fake. Why the hell didn't he think of this.

"Here Boss." Dollars said as they pulled up in front of the shop. He put the car in park and walked around to the back passengers side to let Caffrey out. It wasn't something Caffrey asked Dollars to do nor ever did. Dollars just knew the importance of making Caffrey look, well, important. Caffrey took out a significant chunk of the fake bills, put them in a envelope and stuck the wad in his inner jacket pocket. Caffrey then Got out the car and approached the store while fixing his three piece suit. 

As they approached the building Caffrey slowed down to allow Dollars to open the door. When they made it in Caffrey signaled to Dollars to wait by the entrance, this way he can keep an eye out just in case the runner showed up early. 

Caffrey looked around the shop and there were only a couple of shoppers. It was a small building but you could tell the merchandise was expensive. Caffrey approached the counter to talk with the cashier.

"How are you doing today mam? Mind if I speak with the owner?" He said, taking a look around the store. 

"The owner isn't available right now but I would be happy to help you with whatever you need sir." The young cashier said with a pleasant smile. Caffrey knew the owners were never available to regular customers. Thank god he wasn't regular.

"Its ok, they should be expecting me. Tell them Caffrey is here bearing gifts from Innocence. They'll know what I mean."

The cashier lost her smile as she looked at Caffrey. "I'm sorry sir." She said with a nervous laugh. "Please, follow me." 

She had led him into the back office where there was a woman sitting at a desk. The woman looked like any other business owner, going through paper work, stressing. When she looked up and seen Caffrey some of her worries seem to fade away. 

"You must be Caffrey." She said as she stood up to shake his hand. She signaled to the chair for Caffrey to sit down. "Innocence told me you would be stopping by. You guys are cutting it pretty close don't you think?"

Caffrey unbuttoned his jacket and sat down. "It wouldn't be a bad thing if they ran into me here. They would just think I'm trying to shake you down and be even more happier when you handed them their money." He said with a laugh. "So, did Innocence run the whole thing down to you?" Caffrey asked as he got up and made his way to the shop owners liquor cabinet. The owner of the shop leaned back in her chair.

"Yes she did. I must say it actually sounds like a good deal but what makes you guys so positive it will work though?"

Caffrey finished pouring himself a glass of Scotch straight up and headed back towards the desk. He reached into his jacket pocket and tossed the envelope on the table. "Take a look at that and tell me if you think it will work." He sat back down and took a sip of his drink while watching the lady look through the bills. 

"Your right. I can't tell at all. So after I give this to them, then what?" She asked

"You don't have to worry about anything at all. Just hand them the money and we keep our arrangement. From now on this shop is under Innocence's protection. We'll stop by to pick up our fee that she arranged with you and business goes back to normal. If you ever even SEE any of the current Godfathers men near your shop you call this number." Caffrey wrote down a number and slid it to the woman. "You shouldn't worry about seeing too many of them though because they should all be locked up after trying to bribe their Cop buddies with that funny money. You have any questions?" Caffrey took another sip of his drink before standing up and placing the glass on the desk.

"No but please tell Innocence thank you. That bastard would still be bankrupting all the local business if she hadn't stepped in. I'm sure the other stores will be on board with this. We can finally go back to making money also." She said and leaned back even further in her chair. It looked like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"Good. We'll be outside until after the deal goes down to make sure it went smoothly. I'll send someone to pick up our protection fee in two weeks. Consider the late collection a gift for showing your loyalty to Innocence." Caffrey said and headed to the door to let himself out. As he walked through the store he caught the eyes of the young cashier that had helped him. He nodded in her direction and she smiled back as he walked out the door followed by Dollars.

They sat across the street in the car and waited for the Godfathers runner to come and pick the cash up. When the man finally pulled up Caffrey noticed it was a prominent member of the current godfathers family. This was perfect. The man had been in and out of the store no longer than 5 minutes before he got in the car and drove off laughing with his driver. 

Caffrey hopped out the back seat and walked to the corner to use the Pay Phone. "Boss?" He said as Innocence picked up. "It went exactly to plan. One of his top Button Men grabbed the cash and obviously couldn't tell the difference. Rumor has it he'll be visiting the Police Chief at the end of the day to pay his dues."

Dino had been under strict unstructions from his boss Cory Chase, instructions that he got from the soon to be Godmother of Los Angeles, Innocence. Innocence had been in the running for Godmother for some time now and her time was coming very soon. Dino was going to see that it happened. Dino had fallen in love with Los Angeles ever since he had his first meeting with Cory Chase not too long ago. He felt like he was already starting to fit into this thing that these businessmen and women had. This lifestyle had been something that Dino had respected for a very long time. But these instructions were very precise. Print out some fake cash and sell it. Buy some white powder with it, and maybe something junkie's could melt on their spoons. Dino didn't exactly know where to begin concerning the drugs, but making the funny money had been a piece of cake. He was rolling in the stuff. Filthy rich as they said back in the old country. Dino lit up a cigarette with a matchstick and left his apartment. His destination was the warehouse that the funny money was still being printed in and he needed to pick up about fifty grand to set up this coke deal. He had a bad feeling that it was going to go wrong, that the Godfather of Los Angeles knew something was going to happen. 'Fuck him..' That's what Dino found himself thinking as he drove down to the warehouse to pick up the cash that would already be waiting for him to take. He parked his car up outside and went into the warehouse.

"Eris, you got that fifty grand ready yet? These fucking addicts are expecting me. But listen, if I don't come back within two hours, let Innocence and Cory know that I've either been taken to see the big man or I'm already dead. I'm counting on you Eris."

Eris handed Dino the briefcase containing the fifty large ones that was worth buggar all and Dino patted her shoulder and flashed a quick smile at her. She looked worried and Dino didn't like it one little bit. Not that there was actually anything that he could do about it though cause he was already pushed for time as it was. He left the warehouse with the cash and got into his car. He went down to a place called The Den were all the well known druggies stayed and done their business deals. He looked the place up and down nervously before going inside..

After being up all night executing her plan to make The Godfather's life a living hell Innocence went home to make breakfast for her kids. The simple tasks of frying bacon, mixing pancake batter and yelling at her smart mouth daughter didn’t take her mind off the last step of her plan.

“Have a good day at school.” The mobster told her children as they ran out the door after breakfast. As soon as they were safely on the school bus Innocence closed the door and picked up the phone in the kitchen.

Although law enforcement officers took an oath to protect and serve the community most of them were bigger crooks than mobsters. The few that wouldn’t take bribes were referred to as untouchables. When Innocence heard The Los Angeles Police Chief couldn’t be bought she assumed he was one of the untouchables. It didn't take long to discover that was far from the truth.

“Hello, Chief Peterson.” Innocence said on the phone when The Police Chief answered her call. The mobster carried dirty plates from the table to the sink and said, “I’m a reporter from the LA Times. I’m writing an article about organized crime. Rumor has it you’ve never taken a pay off from people allegedly associated with the mafia.”

“That rumor is true.” The Chief of Police confirmed. “I’ll never take a dime from criminals. My job is to uphold the law…” As he went on to talk about his morals and duty to the citizens of Los Angeles Innocence smirked and leaned against the kitchen counter. After the long winded spiel he said, “What did you say your name is, Miss?”

“I didn’t.” Innocence replied coldly. “Get off your moral high horse, Chief. You’re not Elliot Ness. I have proof The Godfather of Los Angeles paid for your house, your car and rent on the apartment where your mistress lives. I also know you’re expecting a big payment from him today.”

Over the phone Innocence heard a long sigh from The Police Chief. “What do you want to keep it out of your article?” He asked. “Name your price.”

“I’m not a reporter.” Innocence informed him. “I am the leader of Familia de Angeles." The mobster paused to let her revelation sink in then continued, "What I want from you is the largest sting this city has ever seen.”

Later that evening after making dinner her kids complained about Innocence went to her coffee shop. At one of the tables Cory_Chase, Caffrey, Dino-DeLuca and a few others were waiting for her.

“It’s done.” The organized crime boss told them and smiled as she sat down. “Twelve of The Godfather’s members were arrested. More will probably get thrown in the slammer tonight. The Feds are involved because of the counterfeit cash. They searched The Godfather’s house and found the briefcase of funny money from the bank.”

“They arrested him too?” One of the mobsters at the table asked.

“No.” Innocence answered and shook her head. “They can’t find him. The son of a bitch will probably be on the lam until we find him and I take him out.” The leader opened her purse and took out several stacks of money. She put a stack in front of everyone at the table and said, “Nice work, Familia.” When Cory_Chase picked up his stack of money and examined it Innocence laughed and said, “It’s real. I promise.”