Prince of the City Page #3

But under the law, I give them junk,

and that's the same as selling.

That's a felony.

So why don't you arrest me right now?

You got the same use for me down

the line as I got with my informants.

But you're United States attorneys.

If you have guilty knowledge of a felony,

and you don't move against me...

...then you're committing a felony,

so don't give me any sh*t.

I mean, everybody's

using everybody, right?

So, what I want is...

And let's get this straight.

If I decide to do this thing,

I will not give up my partners.

I want the unit broken up,

so that they can be protected.

They're not doing anything, but...

We'll transfer them out of SIU.

It's time for normal rotation, anyway.

I gotta think. I gotta have more time.

So who you gonna hurt?

Your partners? Gus? Gino?

- You're gonna ruin their lives?

- Don't be crazy.

I'm not gonna implicate

anybody close to us.

They're gonna break up the unit

and rotate the partners at SIU.

- I'm gonna call the shots.

- You think they're gonna let you choose?

You think they're gonna say:

"Okay, Dan, whoever you wanna

tell us about, you decide"?

Is that what you think?

I know you feel guilty.

Other people are guiltier than you.

Everybody's guilty.

Mary McLenan, you ought to hear her.

"My Neddie, he's snow white.

He's an angel."

Then we're in the bank together,

and she's got 400 $ 1 bills for deposit.

Her angel's been taking

from some old woman...

...doing the numbers in a candy store.

I feel lousy, Carla.

The other night I was with my junkies,

and I got mean.

They break my heart, and I got mean.

Remember what it was like

when I was starting out on the roofs?

How good it felt?

I wanna feel that way again.

This guy, Cappalino, he's gonna

force you to hurt your friends...

...people who've been good to you.

Always when I hear you or Gus or Joe,

any of the guys...

...you always say nothing's worse

than to be a...

A rat.

A rat is when they catch you and make

you inform. Nobody caught me.

This is my setup. This is my action.

And I'm never gonna hurt my partners.

It'll happen.

How are you gonna live with that?

How am I gonna live with you

while you live with that?

When I decide what I'll do,

you can decide what you'll do.

Okay, but not

with the Chase Commission.

And Paige has gotta understand that

I will never, never work against cops...

...who've been my friends

or partners in SIU.

I will never wear a wire against

my friends, betray my friends.

He's got to understand that.

Dan...

...we'll never force you to do something

you can't live with.

I promise you that.

Some of my best work, kid.

Look at this.

I think I'm in love.

- These wonderful ladies are perpetrators?

- Innocent bystanders, Bill.

Those are the famous innocent

bystanders you always hear about.

Now I know I'm in love.

They're all yours, Danny baby.

From me to you.

It's my connection

at the phone company.

That's a serious present, Danny.

Well, Gus, give me the tits.

What's that?

NoDoz? Nine years in Narcotics

and you're taking NoDoz?

Mayo, you a**hole.

I'm busting you for possession.

Hey, that other sh*t

screws up my sinuses.

I'll screw up your sinuses.

NoDoz. Sh*t.

All right, all right.

Give me a break, will you?

Safe house, right?

Feel like I'm in some kind of spy story.

It's the old post office.

We'll work out of here.

- Daniel, we're gonna launder you.

- Squeaky clean.

We want all of it. Everything.

Rick, can I talk to you for a second?

Just so it's clear, Cappalino,

we're in the same boat, right?

You got a wife and two kids,

so have I.

Anything happens to me,

the same thing's gonna happen to you.

You know me

and you know my friends.

- Are you threatening me?

- Absolutely.

Your family will be completely safe, Dan.

Nobody's going to get hurt.

Good, we can both breathe easier.

It's not the best way

to start a partnership.

We're not partners yet.

You ready?

- I did three things at SIU.

- You did three things in 11 years?

Yes.

Start with the worst.

Well, it's been about five years

since I went to confession, but...

Another SIU team

had a long investigation going...

...on a Mafia drug dealer...

...a guy named Simonetta.

But they couldn't get enough

for an indictment.

So they decided to contact Simonetta

and offer to drop the case...

Which was gonna be dropped anyway.

- for money.

Because I got connections, they

asked me to make the deal, which I did.

- How much?

- Ten thousand.

Case was dropped, I got commission.

Bribe solicitation, probably extortion.

What else?

Another case

involving some Mafia guys.

A police lieutenant came to me

and asked me...

...why the detective in charge

wasn't making any arrests.

What was happening was the

detective was shaking the guys down.

This detective was a very tough guy...

...and he was shaking down

some very tough guys, Delicata brothers.

So I set up a meet.

Now, the detective,

he goes right at Louis Delicata.

He says, "Louis, we ain't got you good,

we got you beautiful.

We had a wire on your phone

for a month. A legal wire.

And your brother Tiny

is up to his guinea ass in your sh*t."

Delicata jumps a mile.

He's all shook up because his brother

Tiny was on life parole for murder.

Sitting duck, right?

The detective wants 75,000 in cash,

or he's gonna roll Tiny up.

Delicata gets up from the table

and screams like a woman.

He says, "That f***ing shield you got

ain't no bulletproof vest!

I'd sooner kill you than let my brother

go back to the f***ing can for nothing!

I'm gonna f***ing kill you!"

Then this detective,

he just yawns. Yawns.

Right in Delicata's face.

Right in the f***ing guy's face.

Then he gets me up, goes out,

takes me with him.

I thought I was gonna catch a bullet

in my f***ing back.

We get outside, and I say,

"Listen, man.

Those f***ing guys are killers!

What the f*** are you doing, man?"

He says to me,

"Kid, they're full of sh*t.

They think they're tough,

but we're tougher.

So you go back inside there,

and you make a deal."

So I did.

Delicata gave me $ 7500.

Just a second. I thought that you said

that the detective wanted 75,000.

It was negotiable.

What was the detective's name?

You'll never get witnesses

or corroborating evidence...

...against that detective...

...so there's no point

in me naming him.

What was the third thing, Daniel?

I took 1000 bucks for putting together

Rocky Gazzo and Detective Logan...

...from the Safe and Loft Squad.

I don't know anything about

what they had going.

- And that's it? That's the three things?

- That's it.

All right, Daniel.

Let's say that we do go to work

together, and we make cases...

...they'll be big.

You'll be the state's star witness.

This business with the three things...

...we'll expose them,

we'll defuse them.

You can't be hurt if we back you up.

And we will back you up

if you're telling the truth.

But if you perjure yourself

by so much as one detail...

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