Chapter Two Four Chairs in the Basement

Ethan placed cash on the desk. "I need Moretti cash flow. I don't need you in prison." Victor smiled. "Every employer says that." Ethan added a foreclosure notice on Victor's mother's apartment. "I also need to buy this note. Your mother stays. The bank thinks it recovered part of a bad loan. You work for me." Victor's smile vanished. "You are more dangerous than they are." "Then sit on my side." The third chair went to Miguel Alvarez, a Mexican-American from Sunset Park with fast hands and a faster temper. He ran young men who delivered food, collected small debts, and fought when paid. Moretti soldiers had broken his brother's ribs over a parking fee outside a club. Miguel planned to take a knife into a Moretti warehouse.