1931 The Grand Punk Railroad: Local Read Online Free Page A

and, um, get away from here. I mean, we’ve g-g-g-got to run!” Jacuzzi panicked, his steps unsteady.
    Mystified, his friends inquired: “Huh? Why?”
    Giving up on fleeing, Jacuzzi ran in place and raised his voice:
    “L-l-listen, do you know why I told you not to use g-g-guns today?”
    His friends said whatever they wanted: “Wasn’t it ’cos you’re scared of gunfire, too?” “Because it was a waste of bullets, right?” “Hya-haah!”
    Weeping and raging at the same time, Jacuzzi stamped his feet even more furiously.
    “Because if we made too much noise, the police or the other Russo Family members would catch on! A-a-a-and you went and detonated a bomb… Hurry,
hurry
, we gotta get out of here! Everybody hurry!”
    No sooner had he spoken than he took off into the depths of the alley, running for dear life.
    “Oooooooooohh”
    A general cry of admiration went up.
    “Huh! Was
that
why!”
    “Jacuzzi’s awesome! What a smart guy!”
    “That’s our boss for ya!”
    Praising Jacuzzi, they all took off after what was probably the worst crybaby delinquent boss in Chicago.
    Illuminated by the flames, he looked for all the world like a poor little lamb being pursued by a horde of demons.
    “B-b-by the way, Nice. About the train tomorrow…Jon says there’s only room for about five people in the cheap compartments. So that’s me, you, and Donny, and then you pick out two more likely-looking guys.”
    “Will that be enough?”
    “Y-yeah. It’s not as if we’re going to do anything with the train itself; we’re just helping ourselves to the treasure in its freight room, so it would be more unnatural to have a lot of people, wouldn’t it? Besides, Fang and Jon will be on board already.”
    “Okay. Tomorrow afternoon at four o’clock, then, at Chicago Union Station.”
    After saying good-bye to Nice and the others, who were going to get ready, Jacuzzi felt great unease and anticipation about the following day’s plan.
    “I wonder if it’ll go all right. I wonder if it’ll be okay. Still, to think we get to ride the transcontinental limited express, the
Flying Pussyfoot
… I’m already looking forward to that. I haven’t seen Fang and Jon in a while, either; I hope they’re doing well.”
    As he looked up at the starry sky, Jacuzzi thought about the friends who’d be on the same train with him, and the plan they’d be forcing through the next evening.
    The plan for their first-ever train robbery.



PROLOGUE III
TERRORIST GROUP
    December 29, 1931Noon
    In a wasteland a few dozen miles south of Chicago, an abandoned factory stood quietly.
    Inside, in one of its larger halls, a group of more than fifty people stood in well-ordered rows. Each of them had an appearance that was completely different from ordinary people, and their bold, cunning eyes produced a tone halfway between the military and the mafia. Surrounded by the ash gray of the floor and the dull gray of the walls, their ranks were enveloped in abnormal silence.
    Breaking that silence, one man spoke. He stood in front of the assembled, his sharp gaze holding a dark, quiet flame.
    The man—Goose Perkins—delivered a line that was truly popular in that era, the golden age of the mafia—or at least, that would seem so, given the portrayals that would arrive from the movie industry in later years:
    “Gentlemen, I regret to inform youthat there is a traitor in our midst.”
    The silence of the ranks was unbroken. Paying no particular heed to this, Goose loudly continued his speech.
    “A short while ago, our great leader, Master Huey Laforet, was apprehended by the government’s swine. Our great master is about to be judged by the benighted masses’ chaotic law!”
    His tone was gradually growing stronger, but there was no change in the dark light in his eyes.
    “However, that is an issue of no consequence! Through the maneuver which will be executed tomorrow evening, we will retake Master Huey without fail! The problem lies in the