Chapter 15 - Teaser

The vote was close, here are the totals counting the emails I got: 

1.  Paulo - 23

2.  Luc - 20

3.  Frank and Joe - 18 

Please remember this is a rough first draft, so be kind with your thoughts and comments.

“I’VE GOT FILES, EMAILS, EXCEL SPREAD SHEETS, RECORDS OF BANK TRANSACTIONS, WE’VE GOT FUCKING EVERYTHING,” Paulo shouted.  The men glanced at the monitor and saw him pumping his arms in the air and jumping up and down, as the youngsters stared at him like he had lost his mind.  

Dante looked at Carlo with concern as he said, “What is happening?”

“He cracked it, he fucking cracked it,” Carlo said with a grin as he ran out of the study with Frank and Joe a step behind.  It took Dante and the others several seconds to realize what Carlo was talking about and a proud smile covered Annie’s face as they raced out of the room after them.  They found Paulo still jumping up and down as Carlo engulfed him in a hug, “I knew you could do it, your father says you’re a fucking genius and he’s right.  I’m so proud of you.”

“I need a printer, it’ll be easier if we had hard copies to tie things together,” Paulo said with a smile. 

“Let’s go to the study, we have a printer and another computer in there if you need it,” said Todd as Paulo grabbed his laptop and ran down the hall.  A minute later, the printer came to life as document after document spilled out. 

“I’m printing out the emails first.  If you notice they’re not addressed to a real name, but to code names.  I’ll see if there is a master list of who they belong to,” said Paulo as his fingers flew over the keyboard.  “I’ll also start a program for the IP addresses to see where they’re originating from and we can use that if we need to get their real names that way.”

“Don’t take time to read them; we’ll do that after we’ve sorted them into folders for each code name.  As we open the files we’ll label each document, make copies and put them in each corresponding file,” Carlo said before turning to Todd.  “You have folders or highlighters?”  Todd shook his head and Carlo said, “The youngsters are still out, I’ll have them get some on the way back from Fred’s.” 

Todd added, “Paulo only brought one pack of paper when he set the printer up, so you’d better have them bring paper too.”

Paulo looked at his dad, “This would be a lot easier if we were in my office, I have everything we need; printers, paper, folders, plus twelve large monitors so we can see what’s in the files easier.  Not to mention a computer I built that makes this laptop look like a kids toy.” 

Joe nodded, “Let’s go.  Who’s coming?”  Everyone nodded and they were halfway to their cars before Joe said, “Wait a minute, we forgot the youngsters.”

“Some uncles we are,” Matt said with a laugh.  “The first exciting thing that happens and we forget our nieces.”     

Todd whistled loudly and hollered, “MILLERS LOAD UP NOW.”  Within seconds, the girls were running out of the house, Brianna and Morgan dragging Vin and Dom who were asking what the hell was going on.

“I don’t know, but Daddy said to load up now,” said Brianna as she dragged Vin off the porch.  “He always says when he hollers like that whatever we’re doing we’re to stop and load up.”

“We’re going to Uncle Joe’s, Paulo needs to be in his office and…just get in the vehicle, we’ll tell you on the way,” said Frank as he opened the door and motioned them in.  There was a scramble as everyone piled into two vehicles.

As they pulled out of the driveway to begin the less than five minute drive to Joe’s, Vin asked, “Uhmm Dad, why are we packed in two cars like sardines?”

Frank turned around from the front seat of Matt’s SUV and began to laugh as he said, “Damned if I know, I guess it just seemed easier.”

Dom snorted and said, “Having thirteen people jammed in here and fourteen in the other is easy?  Maybe for you, you’re sitting up front.”    

“Not really… I have your mother on my lap,” Frank responded and grunted seconds later when Rose hit him in the stomach with her elbow.

“I’ll have you know Francesco Carlucci that I only weigh six pounds more than I did when you made your declaration for me.  And that is after gifting you with eight little ones within four years,” Rose said with a voice laced with steel.

“You’d better not even open your mouth Giuseppe Carlucci.  If you do, it’ll be the last thing you utter this evening,” warned Annie from her seat on his lap. 

Joe scented his mates neck and said, “Why would I ever complain that you’re close to me?  Twenty three years you’ve been mine and I want you as much today as I did back then.”  Feeling her relax and lean into his chest he added, “Even if you are beginning to get a middle age spread… there’s just more to love.”  As Annie hit Joe in the stomach with her elbow and the back of her head connected with his forehead, his pain filled grunts and groans filled the interior of Matt’s SUV.

“You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?  And I even warned you to keep your mouth shut,” Annie said with a growl.  “Let’s see how much you like getting to know your left hand again, because you’re not touching me for a while.”

Hearing the girls giggle, Joe said in a teasing tone, “Sweetheart, you know I love everything about you.  I was just teasing …now take that back, you know you can’t go more than a day without me.” 

Annie got even angrier if possible, “Girls, this is a good example of ‘How not to take any shit from your mate’, especially if he’s a Carlucci.  They’ll tease you, aggravate the absolute hell out of you, irritate you to no end and get on your last nerve.  You can’t let them get away with anything, you need to put them in their place constantly or their egos will get out of control.”

Joe cleared his throat and said, “That may be true, but we’ll also treat you like a lady, cater to your every whim, do whatever you tell us to do, protect you until our dying breath and love you like you’re the most precious thing in the world.”

“You’re lucky we’re home,” Annie retorted as she opened the door and got out.  “Another minute of your bullshit and I would’ve hit you again.”  She turned on her heel and opened the door for everyone as Paulo immediately headed towards the new addition where his office was located. 

 

“Give me a sec,” he said, powering up computers, monitors, printers, and several odd looking pieces of equipment.  As Todd walked into the L-shaped room he was in awe of the setup Paulo had.  On the short right wall there were kitchen cabinets, upper and lower, with a small fridge under the countertop and a microwave on top.  On the back wall were two windows with blue plaid curtains and between them was a dry erase board with a table and four chairs underneath.  The left wall had two deep oak shelving units; one containing printers and other electronic equipment, the other with electronics that had been torn apart.  Between them was a smaller window with a workbench underneath with more electronic equipment torn apart and scattered around.  On the last wall, in the alcove of the ‘L’, sat a curved desk with twelve extra large screens mounted to metal brackets that could be swiveled. 

“Dad, can you get me something to drink and a snack, I’m hungry.”  Joe put a bag of popcorn in the microwave and got a Coke which he poured into an insulated cup that said, ‘Is it plugged in and turned on?’  As Paulo sat down he said, “Supplies are in the cabinets, manila folders and notepads in the upper cabinets, highlighters and Sharpies in the second drawer from the right, pens in the first.  There’s colored paper in the bottom, fill printer 1 with light green for financials, 2 with light blue for spread sheets, 3 with light pink for files and 4 with white for emails.”  The men hurried to follow his instructions.  “I’ll print the rest of the emails and also a set for each of you.  I’m going to start opening the financial records.”

The women walked in carrying trays of beverages and snacks and after placing them on the countertop Gina said, “Is there anything we can do?” 

“Right now we’re organizing the emails according to name to start individual files,” Carlo replied and turned to his mate.  “Once they’re sorted, I’ll call you in and we can read them, then we’ll start to go through the files so we have a better understanding of the players.  While we’re waiting can you tell the youngsters what’s going on?  We left in such a hurry they’re probably wondering.”

Gina nodded and said, “Let us know when you need us.” 

Carlo nodded and turned back to the papers in his hands.  After several minutes of silence, he looked at Frank and Joe and said, “I’m going to have the other Level 4’s come over.  There’s too much here to tell them over the bond, I’d rather they read it directly.”  Frank and Joe nodded and sent a message to their mates to expect more company.  “Paulo, we’ll need six more sets of emails.”