The Butterfly Conspiracy

The Butterfly Conspiracy

James R. Nelson
                                                                    

Chapter 1

It was a short, wet cab ride from West 76th to Penn Station.
 
A breezy summer shower pelted the cabbie as he unloaded one large suitcase and a smaller carry-on.
 
Stephen and his parents dashed from the cab to the dry sanctuary of the terminal.
 
Stella, Stephen’s mother, was rattling off a list of do’s & don’ts faster than Stephen could comprehend them, all the while dabbing at the corners of her eyes with a lace handkerchief.

    
“And remember, call us the minute you get to Uncle Phillip’s.”
  

She then flung herself at Stephen, wrapped her arms around him and sobbed hysterically,
 
“I really can’t believe you’re leaving already!
 
You just got home.
 
Martin, why are we doing this?”
 
She asked her husband.

Her sentence was cut short by another outburst of crying and Stephen was engulfed in a cloud of Arpege perfume.

“Mom, please!” Stephen choked.
 
“I’m about to miss the train!”

Stephen wiggled out of his mother’s grasp. The clamor in Penn Station seemed to be growing as more and more passengers dashed in from the rain.
 
Pools of water formed where travelers were shaking off umbrellas and stomping wet feet.
 

Stella Moorehouse loosened her grip on her son. “But Stephen, I hate to see you go.
 
You just got home three days ago.”
 

Stella abruptly turned to face her husband. “Martin, I know we thought this was the best thing to do for Stephen’s sake, but, now that I think about it, sending him to your uncle, when he just graduated from the academy is probably a bad idea.”

Martin scowled at his wife.
 
“You know as well as I do that Stephen will have a wonderful time with Uncle Phillip.
 
It’s all arranged.
 
We agreed that, under the circumstances, it would be good for Stephen to get away.
 
You couldn’t ask for a better place for a young man to spend a summer.
 
Why coop him up in this dirty, crime- ridden city? Anyway, in just a few weeks, we’ll be headed up to see him, just as soon as I finish my first draft.”

 
   
“Well then,” Stella snapped, eyes flashing, “I think we should cancel his trip completely.
 
We can all go up together in a few weeks, as a family!”

    
Stephen held his breath.
 
He could see his newly formed summer plans, his freedom, start to unravel before his eyes.

    
“No, Mom. I think Dad had a great idea.
 
Just think about all that clean air.
 
I can go hunting and fishing with Uncle Phillip.
 
I can see animals in the wild. This is going to be quite an adventure for me.”

    
“Hunting?” Stella turned with an incredulous look. “Fishing? You grew up in a penthouse in
New York City
. Wild animals? You don’t have a clue of how to survive in the wilderness.”

    
“I won’t be living in the wilderness,” Stephen countered.
 
“Did you forget where Uncle Phillip lives, the mansion and estate?”
 
 
Stephen was actually hoping to be surrounded by
Hollywood
beauties, rather than wild animals, but he understood that argument would do even less for his cause.

    
“Stella, we’ve had this discussion over and over,” Martin interrupted.
 
“This is neither the time nor place to rehash this. Stephen has a train to catch. We have tickets to visit him in five weeks and we will all be coming back to the city together.”
  

    
“I think it’s more of a drafty castle than a mansion, if you ask me. It looks like a prop from one of those cheesy movies your uncle keeps cranking out.” Stella remarked, still not placated.

    
Martin glanced at this watch.
 

“It’s time to board the train, Stephen.
 
You need to get going”.

Stephen breathed a sigh of relief.
 
He wrapped his arms around his mother, planting a big kiss on her cheek “Love you, mom. I’ll miss you both.
 
Please don’t worry.
 
I’m looking forward to my summer in the woods!”

Stephen turned to his father and shook his hand.
 
  
“Thanks for arranging this, Dad.
 
I’ll look forward to seeing you and mom in a few weeks.
 
Hope you make good progress on your new play. I’ll call you when I arrive.”

With a quick wave, Stephen grabbed his bags and headed towards Train 49, the Lake Shore Limited.

Chapter 2

    
Paulie De Luca straightened his tie in the mirror. At 6’2” and 240 pounds, he was all muscle.
 
Paulie flexed his arms and watched as his suit coat tightened around his biceps.
  
His reflection showed a nose broken at least three times and a thick scar under his chin.
 
This did not bother Paulie.
 
He knew his tough looks were an asset in his profession.

Ever since he was a kid, Paulie wanted to be a ‘made man’.
 
After supper, sitting on the porch with his older brother, he would watch the young mob guys go by wearing expensive suits, driving fancy cars and flashing wads of cash.
 

But it was the women that got to Paulie most of all.
 
The mob guys always had nice women. They were stylish, their nails always done and oh, they smelled so good.
 
These guys seemed to have all the things that were lacking in the De Luca household.
 

Paulie’s mother had run off with a
New Jersey
truck driver from
Hoboken
when Paulie was only seven.
 
He lived with his bitter old man and his older brother, Frankie, since then.
 
Now, at 34 years old, Paulie had almost made it, but not quite.
 
He recently had a little problem with the cops that delayed his advancement with the boys.
 
 

How was he to know that the storefront he had picked to shake down was a front for the cops?
 
That little mistake had cost the mob a lot of money and delayed Paulie’s career path for at least a year.
 
In fact, he was still running around doing favors, trying to get back in the family’s good graces.
 

Paulie went downstairs and made a call.
  

“Al, how many suits should I pack?” Paulie asked.

“Where am I going to?” Paulie asked.

“It don’t matter!
 
You go where the kid goes. Paulie,
                    
                            
 
Mr. Sabatini, is giving you this opportunity to get right with the guys.
 
Don’t blow it. Cuz, guess what?
 
You ain’t getting another one, you big muscle bound piece of shit.”
 

Al slammed down the phone.
 
He needed to get Paulie out of town fast.
 
Paulie didn’t know how pissed off Mr. Sabatini really was.
 
Al always liked Paulie, he had taken him under his wing.
 
By the time Paulie got back, things should have cooled off quite a bit.

Paulie knew it was a big deal.
 
This was his big break.
 
He had a feeling if he did good on this job, he wouldn’t have to be doing any more shit jobs on the street.
 
He would probably be in. With that in mind, Paulie packed all his suits and a pair of patent leather shoes, then he tossed in pair of snakeskin shoes just to be safe.

He got a chair from the kitchen and stood so he could reach the ceiling tiles in the living room.
 
Counting to the fourth tile from the corner, he slid it aside, feeling around until his fingers found a hidden box.
 
He took it down and replaced the tile.
 

The box was dusty.
 
Paulie found a towel and wiped it clean.
 
He opened the box to make sure everything was in place.
 
This was his tool kit.
 
The blindfold was there next to several coils of rope and a pair of brass knuckles.
 
A small revolver was under a false bottom.
 
He took the box and jammed it into his carry on bag.
 
  

Paulie reached under his bed and pulled out his most prized possession – a huge book entitled ‘Kensington’s North American Lepidoptera Field Guide’. The book was at least four inches thick and considered by many to be the premium butterfly identification book in print.
 
Paulie had stolen it from a book store on
Thirty-Third Street
.
 

He had become fascinated by butterflies when his 4
^th
grade class had taken a field trip to
Central Park
and a state biologist had shown the class how to collect the insects.
 
Since that day, Paulie had amassed a huge collection of his own.