Abate the Nuisance Read online

  Abate the Nuisance

  A Judge Roth Thriller

  By

  Bill Sage

  © 2018 Deacon-Spratt & Lobart Press

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN: ——

  ISBN 13:——

  Cover Design: Craig White Illustration

  Author photo by Michael Sage Photography

  Formatting by Polgarus Studio

  Edited by Bryon Quertermous – The best in the business.

  A debt of gratitude to Ninsky Kaye, Latore Miquel, Mich Detroit, Eduardo Grant, and Bubba Craigster for all their encouragement.

  A special thanks to my wife Judy for standing by me. She is my only true love and constant companion.

  Table of Contents

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  1

  Newport Beach, California – August 1983

  JUDGE AL ROTH KNEW SOMETHING WASN'T right. He first noticed it when he and his old 12th Street Gang pals were having a drink before the ceremony.

  Though Hack and Ben didn't say anything, he could sense something was troubling them. It was the way they were whispering and looking at him. He figured they must have a legal problem and needed his help.

  But discussing the law was the last thing he wanted to do.

  Not on this day.

  Ever since he met Linda Burns, Al wanted her to be his wife. After a year and a half, that was finally coming true.

  On a sunlit afternoon, they tied the knot in the garden of Judge Mahler’s home. He performed the marriage under a huppah. Canopy.

  Jake Gertner was the best man. He flew in from Detroit and stayed at the Irvine Marriott. He was an independent contractor with a "unique specialty." That’s what he and Al called it. Others, who knew what he did, never talked about it. At least, not when Jake was around.

  After the ceremony, the wedding party and guests drove to the Newporter Inn, not far from Mahler’s home.

  When everyone arrived, Linda took Al around to meet her relatives. Al liked them, except for her Uncle Max, who he thought was a real schmuck. He owned a pawn shop in Santa Monica. A short and partially bald man, he was an unrestrained kibitzer—a person who gives unwanted advice.

  Going back to their table, Al stopped at the bar to get a glass of rye for himself and a white wine for Linda.

  Sitting down again, he said, "I brought you a Chardonnay."

  "Thanks, I can use one. Let's just relax before we talk to my mom and dad."

  Just then, Al glimpsed Hack and Ben making their way over to their table. When he caught their eye, they glanced at each other, then looked away. From the way they looked and acted, he could tell something weighed heavily on their minds.

  When they reached his table, Hack said, “Linda, you look beautiful."

  She smiled and touched his hand.

  "Is it okay if we talk to Al for a few moments?" His tone was grim. “It’s—”

  “Can it wait?" Al said. "Linda and I promised her mother and dad we'd talk to them for a while.”

  "Oh, Al, that's okay," Linda said. "We can do that later."

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah, go ahead. I want to talk to my sister anyway.”

  "It won't be long," Ben said.

  "No problem," she said getting up.

  After she left, Hack said, "Is it okay to talk here?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "It's about you and Jake."

  I thought it was about you guys.

  Glancing around the table, Al said, "Yeah, go ahead. Everyone's either at the bar or talking to each other."

  Hack paused a second. Leaning in, he said, “Remember Gus Steiner from the Vets Club, the old Purple?”

  “Almost senile?”

  “Yeah,” Hack said, nodding.

  “What, he died?”

  “He called me last night. I couldn’t understand what the hell he was talking about. He was rambling, going from one thing to another. Then after I quieted him down, I started asking him pointed questions.”

  “Gus Steiner… This better be good.”

  “Gus told Fred Lambert things about you and Jake,” Hack said.

  “What things?”

  “That you two are long-time friends, did a lot of stuff together.” Then after pausing, he said, “The Pontiac robbery.”

  “What?”

  “Apparently, ‘Fatboy,’ hired Lambert to see what he could dig up on you and Jake. Trying to show you were the guy telling Jake what to do. You know, in that murder trial Goldman had in your court.”

  Lambert was a crooked Detroit cop who had a lot of dealings with Gus. After retiring from the police department, he became a private investigator.

  Hack said, “So Lambert takes advantage of his friendship. Buys Gus a few drinks, softens him up. It works. He tells him all that shit about you and Jake.”

  Al was stunned, just sat still.

  Ben said, “He even told him about you shooting the old man and Jake killing the owner.”

  “He could try to use that shit to blackmail me.”

  “Yeah, but once you tell Jake, Goldman will be history,” Hack said.

  “If I let him.”

  "Yeah, of course. That's what I..."

  After a few moments, Ben said, “What about the Pontiac shit?”

  “Inadmissible hearsay evidence that won’t get him anywhere. But don’t get me wrong. I don’t appreciate that asshole calling the Pontiac cops and telling them that Jake and I robbed the store. Hearsay or no hearsay.”

  Ben said, “We wanted you to know as soon as possible. Too bad it’s on your wedding day.”

  Nodding, Al said, “That’s okay. I mean what else could you do?”

  Ben looked down and there was silence for a few moments.

  Al saw Linda heading back to the table.

  "Okay, that's it," Hack said. "We're gonna head over to the bar. Jake's over there."

  “It’s nice to just be alone,” Linda said.

  Nodding, Al said, “Finally.”

  "So what was so important?"

  "Nothing really. Hack's having a legal problem. A room addition. Wasn't a big deal at all."

  "That's good."

  Several minutes later, Al started laughing. Then pointing to the dance floor, he said, “Look at your Uncle Max. He’s dancing, making faces and shouting at your father. What a schmuck.”

  “He’s really a sweetheart. It takes time to know him.”

  “I can only take a minute of that guy.”

  “I’ll run interference for you.”

  “If not you, I’ll call on Jake.”

  Shaking her head, Linda said, “That’s not funny.”

  “If you think Max is a sweetheart, I can say the same thing about Jake.”

  “Max sells guns, Jake uses them.”

  Al chuckled. “That’s good, honey. Really good.”

  “It’s rubbing off,” she said, smiling.

  2

  AL WAS BARELY PAYING ATTENTION. He and Linda were talking to her mother and sister Marcia. But all he could think about was Goldman and the Mangano murder trial.

  Al manipulated that trial earlier in the year. Jake needed the defendant Mangano out of jail, so he could complete a contract to clip him. If he didn’t finish him off, they threatened to put a contract on him.

  Al came up with a strategy to get Mangano out of jail. To accomplish that, he fed Jake things Goldman should do during the trial. Jake passed them on to him, but said he was getting instructions from the Syndicate Commission.

  Despite what Jake said, Goldman wondered if it was Roth. He seemed to be the logical guy. He was the judge on the case. He'd know what to do.

  But when Goldman thought about it, he wondered how would a Mafia hitman know a Superior Court Judge? And in all his conversations with Jake, he never mentioned Roth’s name.

  There didn’t seem to be a connection between the two.

  The trial finally ended in Roth declaring a mistrial. Then he let Mangano post bail.

  That’s when Jake whacked him.

  Goldman was so disrespectful during the trial, Roth gave him 30 days in jail for contempt of court. It was the most disruptive and contentious trial Roth had ever presided over.

  To make it look like he was listening to the table conversation, Al smiled or nodded whenever he saw Linda smile or nod.

  “Your father and I are so happy for the t
wo of you,” Linda’s mother said. “I know you’ll be very happy together.”

  When Al didn’t respond, Linda said, “Did you hear what my mother said?”

  Nodding, Al said, “Of course.”

  Linda knew better. “She said she was happy for us.”

  “I know, and I was going to say that now Linda won't have to worry about jury duty or traffic tickets anymore.”

  “Al’s just trying to be funny,” Linda broke in.

  Marcia and their mother smiled.

  Her mother said, “I like his sense of humor. He doesn’t take himself too seriously.”

  After a few minutes, Linda’s mother and Marcia left to talk to other people.

  Al took a drink of water, then stood up. “It’s good to stretch.”

  Linda stood up, stretched too.

  “I didn’t want to break away when your mother was here, but I really gotta go to the restroom,” Al said.

  “Poor baby.”

  “I know," Al said, smiling. "I’m gonna go now. Then I think I’ll talk to Jake for a couple of minutes. I want to make sure he’s not drinking too much. I won’t be long.”

  “Okay. I’ll be here or at one of the tables.”

  As Al was leaving, he patted her behind, which he thought was better than any lingerie model's.

  He went to the bar, grabbed Jake by the arm. Whispering, he said, “We need to talk.”

  Jake nodded once. He never asked any questions when Al said those four words. Jake downed his drink. “Let’s go.”

  Al turned toward the kitchen and they walked over in that direction. When they were a few feet away from the swinging doors, Jake eyed Al and nodded to his left. “That’s better.”

  They walked over to a corner. Stopped and looked around. Then Al gazed at Jake and sighed.

  “What’s going on?” Jake asked.

  “You remember Fred Lambert?”

  “The guy who looked like a gorilla? Used to be a Detroit cop?”

  “He was hired by our friend Goldman." Then Al related what Hack and Ben told him.

  "Steiner needs to keep his mouth shut."

  “Right now we need to focus on Goldman."

  “Well, I’m here for the wedding, so I’ll take care of that asshole too.”

  “Yeah, but I think we need to wait."

  Jake gave Al a questioning look.

  "We don’t know who he’s talked to or what he’s up to. If he’s already gone to the police or the judicial commission, knocking him off now isn’t gonna do us any good. They’ll already know, and suspicion will fall on us. It would make things worse.”

  “We had our chance," Jake continued, “but you didn’t want to give me your ‘proscription.’ You fucked up and now we have this.”

  When Al gave Jake his approval to do a hit, he liked to use the Latin word Roman Caesars used when they condemned their enemies to death.

  Al looked at Jake for a moment. “We'll get him, but first let’s step back and analyze this. We can’t make any mistakes.”

  Jake scoffed, shaking his head.

  “Jake, listen to me for a minute. When you analyze this like I’m saying, you realize Goldman doesn’t really want to take us down. Maybe that’s part of it, but that's not his main objective. He wants to use what he's learned to extort me. In trials he'll have in my courtroom. Something for himself.”

  “If he’s dead, we’re still better off.”

  Al didn't say anything.

  “You know I’m right,” Jake said.

  “But we're acting in the dark. We don’t know shit. Who he’s talked to, what he intends to do. We could go off and screw everything up. We need to get intel, find out what he’s up to.”

  “You mean tail him, shit like that?”

  “Yeah, see where he goes, who he talks to.”

  Jake paused a moment. “You sure that’s what you wanna do? I mean—”

  “Yeah, I don’t want to go off and shoot blind.”

  “I think you’re making a mistake. But if that’s what you wanna do, think it’s important, I know who can handle it.”

  “Great. Who?”

  Before responding, Jake eyed Al for a second. Al knew he thought waiting was the wrong strategy.

  "Okay...," Jake said. "The guys I have in mind are ex-LAPD.”

  "Hmm, that sounds good.”

  “They work for the organization. Doing some protection but mainly supplying information and shit like that. They still have their sources and know how to do stakeouts.”

  “Can they tail Goldman, see who he talks to and maybe tap his phone?”

  “Not a problem. Those guys owe me.”

  Al stared at Jake with a curious look.

  “I did shit for them in the past. You don’t need to know what. They were thankful and would be more than willing to return the favor.”

  "Okay, do it."

  “I’ll stay out here a few days longer and get shit going. I’ll let you know as soon as I find something out.”

  “Okay, but remember, for now, we only want to get information.” Al paused. “Ya folla?” he asked in the manner of Doyle Lonnegan in the movie, The Sting.

  “Al, I got it. You don’t have to worry." After pausing, he said, "Yeah, I folla.”

  Sometime later in the evening, Jake, who was sitting next to Al, rose from his chair with a glass of rye in his hand.

  When Ben saw Jake standing up, he tapped a fork on his water glass. But it wasn’t necessary, the room was already paying attention.

  Jake paused as he looked at Al and Linda, then he swallowed and started his toast.

  “This is a happy day for all of us. My great friend Al Roth and the beautiful Linda, who I now know and love, are finally married. But I gotta be honest, I’m a little sad. My brother is gone. He’s got a new best friend.”

  Some people laughed. Most glanced at Al and Linda, who were smiling. When Al turned to look at Linda, he saw a sad glint in her eyes. She put her hand on his.

  “Al was the guy who kept me from getting hurt. I mean really bad sometimes,” Jake said, continuing his toast. “In Detroit, in the army, and even nowadays. Too much to talk about right now.”

  Jake, don’t hold back, we’re all friends and family here. Go ahead, tell them about Gerard, Pontiac, Paris, and all hits you’ve done.

  As Jake paused, Hack and Ben were staring at Al. They were the only ones who really understood what Jake was talking about. They knew how tight Al and Jake were and all the unlawful things they’d done together.

  Jake swallowed and looked at Al and Linda again. “He’s always been my hero. And even though he’s now a judge, he doesn’t forget his friends.”

  Linda squeezed Al’s hand.

  “I have to say that now that I’ve met Linda,” Jake went on, “I don’t know who I love more. I think it’s her.”

  Most people laughed including Al and Linda.

  Lifting his rye glass, Jake said, “Join me in a toast to Al and Linda, the greatest fuh—,” he caught himself. “The greatest and best couple in the world. Linda and Al Roth, husband and wife.”

  Then he downed his glass.

  Everybody held their glasses up and joined in the toast.

  Linda took a sip of wine, then kissed Al on the lips. “Now our families are joined. My relatives and your friends.”

  Al knew she was teasing him about the sharp contrast between the two. Chuckling, he said, “Hmm, let’s see.” Then he paused a few seconds, appearing to be pondering what she said. “Well…some of my friends are bad guys…and the others aren’t much better. I’m afraid you’re getting the raw end of the deal.”

  “Maybe, but I have to say, I do love Jake more than Uncle Max.”

  “Jake will be happy to hear that. He wasn’t sure.”

  “Tell him he’ll always be number two. I know how it is with you two.”

  “I love you, baby.”

  3

  “LET’S START WITH THE SHORT cause matters,” Judge Roth said. He was on the bench, looking down at a stack of files.