This coup caused the Capadonno’s to make a strategic move. Uprooting from their home in South Philadelphia, the Capadonno’s sought out the quiet refuge of Carrion, New Jersey. The quiet marshes of New Jersey proved to be the perfect location—an epicenter of crime situated between just an hour from Philadelphia, Atlantic City and New York. Leaving the Corelli’s in charge in South Philly, the Capadonno’s oversaw the operations in Philly and Carrion, and now they had their eyes set on Atlantic City and New York. The Capadonno’s would stop at nothing until control was theirs. The Rigatti’s didn’t take too well to this power drive.
Time did nothing to heal the rift between the families. In 1998, Giancarlo Rigatti, son of Gino Rigatti, was shot and killed in a bar in South Philadelphia. Four days later, Miles Capadonno, son of Michael Capadonno, was arrested. He is up for parole in 2015.
As they say on TV, to be continued.
—Handwritten by Federal Agent Tom Cantrocini and contained within the official agency file
PROLOGUE
May 18, 1998
6:37 P.M.
Mi Famiglia Restaurant
South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
THE COOL CROON OF MEL Carter belted from the speakers of the Mi Famiglia restaurant as Miles Capadonno twirled a strand of linguini around his fork. The song “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me” played from the speakers that were situated in the corners of the dining room as the patrons enjoyed their dinner. The song caused Miles to chuckle as he looked up at his girlfriend, whose cheeks were turning pink from embarrassment. Letty Alves looked up at Miles with an innocent gaze. She was a radiant beauty with wavy brown hair and a pair of big, chestnut brown eyes. Despite the glances from other young men in the restaurant, Letty only had eyes for Miles. Sipping on a Shirley Temple drink with an extra maraschino cherry slipped in? Letty listened intently as Miles talked. A lull in the conversation presented itself when a waiter brought a slice of caramel cheesecake to the table. With one lit candle burning from the top of the dessert, Letty smiled, and quietly gushed, “Happy Birthday, Miles!”
Giving her a wink, Miles smiled. “Thank you, baby,” Miles cooed as the restaurant staff sang a raucous rendition of “Happy Birthday.” As the tune ended, Miles glanced up at Letty and smiled as he blew out the candle.
“What I was thinkin’ was, after graduation, while you’re in nursing school, I’ll be helping my godfather run the auto shop part time, when I’m not in class. Once we have enough saved up, we can get an apartment near campus.”
Letty looked up at Miles with wide eyes as a smile grew from her lips. She damn near choked on her drink. Setting her glass back down on the table, Letty smiled from ear to ear, letting her excitement be known.
“Well, yeah! Miles, I’m so excited! Princeton. We’re moving up in the world!” Letty gushed as her brain began thinking of all the things they would need to get to make a house of their own. “It’ll be perfect.”
Miles grabbed Letty’s hand and brought her palm to his mouth. Gently he kissed the inside of her hand, his lips grazing against her palm. As quickly as he touched it, he released it. “Of course it will. But eat first. You’ve barely touched your dinner,” Miles urged.
Letty picked up her fork and broke off a piece of her lasagna. Bringing her fork to her mouth, she glanced casually out the front window of the restaurant. A tall, sturdy-looking teenage boy passed by the window, glancing through the pane of the glass. He ran his hand through his wavy black hair, and his gaze seemed to cut right through Letty. She’d recognize his brooding face anywhere.
As Letty swallowed her food, she mentioned, “Hey Miles, Knox is here…”
“Knox?” Miles replied as he pivoted his neck to get a better look out the window. “He said he had shit to do in Jersey. What’s he doing all the way over here?” Miles wondered out loud.
“Damned if I know,” Letty replied as she continued to eye Knox from her table.
Knox disappeared from the window, and Letty wasn’t sure why his presence unsettled her. Knox was Miles’s younger brother and a good friend of hers. Shaking her head as if erasing the negative thoughts from her brain, Letty let the stress roll down off her shoulders. The second she did, a screeching blast howled as the glass of Mi Famiglia’s front window shattered to bits.
“Letty, get down!” Miles screamed as a bullet careened through the restaurant darting right towards him and Letty.
Barely able to process his thoughts, Miles threw himself over the table. He felt the rush of the bullet careen past him as his heart threatened to hammer out of his chest. Miles pulled Letty to the floor, knocking her from her chair. With all his strength, Miles pulled Letty to his chest, the bullet just narrowly missing his skull by a quarter of an inch. Letty’s head crashed upon Miles’s chest as panic flooded her system. Looking up from the floor, Miles saw three familiar faces outside the restaurant. He immediately recognized his brother, Knox, Vic Schiabetta, an associate of his father’s, and the Butcher himself, Michael Capadonno.
“Miles!” Letty screamed from underneath him, unsure whether he was dead or alive. “Miles!”
“Ssshhhh…” Miles urged. He spoke in a whisper, “I’m all right. Be quiet.”
Letty knew that bullet was meant for Miles. Try as much as she might, she couldn’t stop the scream from crying from her mouth.
“Grab my hand,” Miles said in a whisper. “We’ll go out the back. We have to run back to Corina.”