It was early in the morning when the phone rang. I tried to put the pillow over my head and drowned out the sound but I just couldn't so I slid over to the night stand and picked up the phone...

"Yeah, who is it?" I asked with a hint of annoyance.

"It's Tommy. You gotta get down to the compound quick. The Boss has been shot. Doesn't look too good for him." He said with anguish on his voice. I sat up quickly and I was alert.

"What fuckers took a shot at him?" I asked as I was unable to control my tone. I could feel my blood boiling.

Slowly the other man on the line replied, "We don't know Tom, they shot him while he was at his sister's house. His fucking sister's house Tom! The woman's children saw it too. It's all over the news and we don't know who did this or how it could have happend." The man sounded as if he were about to break down into tears. I couldn't stand people who were soft. It pissed me off cause you can't have men that are soft. It makes them a liability.

"Ok, who was on protection duty?" I asked with a softer tone trying not to upset the man anymore.

"It was your man.......Chris. Him and Paulie. But he called in sick. So we had another guy doing it. They got taken out before they knew what hit them." Tommy answered. I dropped the phone for a second and then raised it back up to my ear.

"I'll be right over." And I hung up the phone. I walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of pants and pulled them on. Then I grabbed my coat and Fedora and headed down to the streets below. The drive over to the Compound felt as if a millennium had gone by. When I pulled into the driveway and then out of my car at the entrance of the main building the faces were all grim. I walked slowly into the building and then into the big furnished office. 

"Take a seat Tom." The big Underboss of the family, Sonny Ricci said with authority. I took a seat immediately and I looked at Sonny. "Tom, I know what you're thinking about Chris already, but we'll handle that, you don't have to...."

I stood up and interrupted him, "He betrayed my trust and I want to take him out myself. But with what he did he will be very jumpy, can't get too close to him. Probably got bribed big time to leave the guy with inexperienced protection. So he is greedy. We need to offer him something that he can't refuse......to be Made. He won't be able to resist." I saw a smirk appear on Sonny's face.

"That plan will probably work. Take somebody you trust with you and get the job done. No mistakes Tom. Or you'll be the one that is sleeping six feet under." His face was very serious and he turned to the window. A sign of dismissal and I walked out. I walked to the kitchen and I picked up the phone and dialed the number of somebody I knew I could trust.

"Hello? Who's callin?" Hector said on the other line.

"It's Tom. The boss has been shot. I need you to come pick me up at the compound, we got a job to do. I'll explain on the ride." I hung up the phone and then I dialed Chris' number.

"Hello?" Chris asked cautiously.

"Hey Chris, its Tom. I got some bad news and some good news. The Dons been shot....." I paused and all I got as a response was a "shit" and then heavy breathing, "The good news is that with a war in the near future the family needs more button men. So you're gettin Made!" I said with enthusiasm to keep him convinced.

"Made? Me? Really? Wow, what an honor Tom. So do I gotta go to some initiation or something. God me a Made man. This is the best day of my life." He finally stopped giving me a chance to speak.

"Yeah, but we gotta do it now. I'm gonna come over to pick you up with Hector. Be ready for us." I said and hung up the phone after about five "thanks you's" from Chris. That fucker was gonna get it. The drive over went fast, and I got to explain everything to Hector. He just nodded and kept driving. I knew that the kid didn't like it but he knew that Chris had to be six feet under today. When we pulled up to Chris' place he was already outside with a nice suit on. And I thought to myself, "What a pity to get such a nice suit covered in blood."Chris ran over to the car and got in. We drove to the designated house and pulled into the driveway. We slowly walked into the house and when we got into the room where everyone was supposed to be and it was empty, Chris knew what was happening. He turned around quick and Hector pushed him to his knees.

"This is from the Don." I said as I pushed the barrel of the gun to his forehead.  He tried to speak but I blew his brains out all over the carpet. Hector jumped back to avoid the skull fragments and blood splatter from getting on him. We walked out of the house leaving the body for the clean up team. When we were finally out on the road I turned to Hector....

"Now we find out who shot at the Don and we take those fuckers out."

To Be Continued......

You lead a very hectic life Mr.Hagen, I pray that your Don pulls through this and i sincerely hope you get the bastard that shot him.

"Chris was, for the time that i did know him, a good man. The thing is aint no one man perfect you know and everyone makes a mistake just dont do it with something like that to the Don."

Turns his eyes to the sky

"We all will die one day, i guess the thing is what will we be remembered for. Tom you are my best friend always been there for me."

Can't wait for the next part, I wanna find out who shot the Don!  Very well written Tom.

Tom took another drag on his cigarette and then finally put it
out. It had been 9 days since the Don had been shot and 8 days since he
had blown Chris' head to bits. And the family was having a hard time
finding the people who organized the hit. But they hadn't tried
anything else since their rat had been found. I looked over at the
clock and it read 12:37. I had a couple of hours till the Don was
brought home for protection. He wasn't safe at the hospital and the
Capo-regime's knew that.They had been sending people all over the city
to try to track down the killers. There were only 3 other families in
the city. But it could always have been a family back in Sicily cause
the Don's powerful hand extended back to Sicily.
And the Sicilian families didn't like him muscling in on their own
profits but they couldn't do anything about it. Well not until now
because with the Don out of action they were going crazy over in Sicily,
taking out the men we had their and taking our businesses. They moved
with quick and swift precision. They were at full strength and we were
spread thin. It wasn't looking good for us at all. Then one of the
Capo-Regime's walked into the living room and motioned for me to follow
him.

"Tom, sit down please." Paulie Puzo said to me with a hint of stress on his voice, "You know that we are short on men and we need those men to have leaders to help them during this war that is to come....." He paused for a moment to see if I could pick up on what he was about to say next. I smiled and he knew that I understood what was happening, "Tom, we would like to you to be Capo-Regime along with the rest of us. You will not have as much say as us because we have had the position much, much longer than you." He chuckles and then continues with all seriousness. "Now you will have your own regime to lead in this fight. You will follow our orders and try to keep your men safe and make sure they are doing there jobs. We have felt that you deserved this promotion for a  while but......with your last service we knew where your loyalty lied....With the family." He smiled as he stood and walked over and gave me a hand shake and then when I turned around I was greeted by many of the high ranking men of the family who gave me hand shakes and a kiss on the cheek as it was a thing these guys did, not something I really ever did myself.

"Well as my first act as Capo-Regime I would like to name my right hand and my most loyal man....Hector. He has been there for me and he proved himself with the killing of Chris. We will lead our regime in the utmost Sicilian way. We will not break omerta and I swear on my own soul that my regime will personally kill the bastards that shot the Don." They all nodded with approval but some didn't like what I just said.

"Tom, do not take the shooting of the Don as personal. You of all people should know how it is. It was business, not personal. Now you should go and meet your men at your safe house. We hand picked men from each regime to join yours and make it strong, but we made sure your guys were still under your leadership." And with that I walked out of the room and out of the building. Mario was waiting at the car for me. He drove me around now a days. He did all the small tasks I needed to be done, like phone calls and such. He was only 16 years old so I didn't want to get him involved in this stuff. I got in the car and we drove to the safe house in silence. All the way there I thought to myself. "You are all fucking stupid if you don't take this personal. I do and I will shoot everyone of the bastards that did this in the head. Make them beg and cry for their lives and when they wait for my answer I'll let the gun do the talking......."

TO BE CONTINUED........