Slash did not get wind of his release date, he would be ok.
However, that was not the case. A month before Joey was scheduled to be released, Slash discovered where he had been moved and quickly took steps to get close to him.
Pushing his wagon filled with books, Slash came alongside Joey's cell. "Hey, Joey, you want any books?" Slash asked as he stared at the man in the cell.
Joey got up and walked over to the cell door. "Sure. Do you have the book, Dead Men Tell No Tales?” Joey asked in a whisper, barely audible, while staring into his eyes.
Slash's confidence began to wither as he realized this man was not backing down now, with his menacing stare revealing his demonic intent.
"Who... Who's the book by?" asked Slash.
"I believe it was written by Frank Sabrisio," replied Joey, again whispering. "You ever heard of him?" Joey asked Slash in a very low voice.
Now backing up slightly from the cell door, Slash responded with, "I... I don't believe I have."
"Oh, pity. I am sure you would enjoy it. Especially at night, when you are all alone. By the way, I have some real good friends living in Chicago in the Chinatown district. Isn't that where your mother lives?" Joey asked, once again in a very low voice so that no one else could overhear what he was saying. "Have a good day, Mr. Genova," Joey said as he stared at Slash and smiled.
Slash stared back as a chill ran through his body. This son of a bitch just threatened his mother.
Slash moved closer to the cell, and in a controlled voice said, "You listen up you fucking bastard. I don't know what your shit is, but nobody threatens my family. Your days here are now numbered," he told Joey.
Joey stared back at Slash, smiled, and once more approached Slash."Well then if you are man enough to come after me, I look forward to it. And when I am done with you, I will make sure my friends pay your mother, your sister, Brenda, and your daughter, Eileen, my respects," Joey told Slash in a cold and calmed voice.
Slash hesitated as he suddenly realized who this man was. Like a wave rushing to shore it all came back to him now.
There was another rumor about how the Sabrisio family became extinct, and it involved the man at whom he was now staring. Slash's blood ran cold, as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Only now did he realize the danger he had put himself and his family in.
"I'm sorry, mister... I... I didn't mean anything. I... I wasn't thinking." Slash told Joey, now stuttering some.
"Have a good day," Joey told him as he turned his back on Slash, going deeper into his cell.
"You won't be getting any static from me, sir," Slash told Joey with a shaking voice as he quickly pushed his cart along.
Present Day
The black man stared at Joey and mumbled something about not giving a shit and went to the opposite corner.
Joey stared out beyond the bars separating him from freedom, wondering if he would ever get to the other side. Suddenly, a guard approached his cell. "Escalla!" he shouted out.
"Yeah," Joey responded.
The guard opened the cell and led Joey out. "Come with me," the guard told him as he handed him a couple of papers. This came easy for Joey after twenty plus years of being told what to do and what not to do.
The two men walked along a narrow corridor which ended at a closed solid gate. The guard motioned to a camera staring down at them from the upper right corner of the wall. The gate cranked open with a clanking noise. Both men walked through the opening. A man at a desk reached for the papers Joey was carrying.
"Joey Escalla?" he asked.
"Yeah," Joey replied.
"Sign here," the man said pointing to where Joey was to put his signature. Joey signed and stepped back.
The guard turned to Joey and grabbed the handcuffs that bound him and unlocked them. "Looks like you are a free man," the guard said nodding toward the outside. Joey stared at him and then approached the front door where another guard stood. As Joey embraced the freedom awaiting him, the guard opened the door and Joey stepped through.
"Hey, Escalla," Joey heard someone yell.
Joey turned and saw another guard approaching him with a bag. "Don’t you want your stuff?" he asked Joey.
"Yeah, sure," Joey responded as he grabbed the bag. He looked in the bag and all he found was some old clothes and a wallet. The wallet contained a driver’s license and a social security card with the name Joey Escalla on it. There was nothing else in the bag. Joey turned and continued his trek toward the door that was now being held opened by the other guard.
"Good luck, Joey," he heard someone say. Joey did not turn and simply kept walking.
Once past the doors he looked around and found himself on the other side of the fence that surrounded the penitentiary. He didn't remember coming in this way, so it was a surprise to him.
"Guess things change after twenty two years," Joey thought to himself. A short distance away, he saw a bus stop and headed toward it.
Joey Escalla was finally a free man. When he first made his deal with the feds he figured he would be out in just a few years, never thinking they were going to slap him with homicide, resulting in his spending over twenty two years in the slammer.
"Wonder what Theo has been up to?" he wondered.
Joey faked his death because he knew Theo would be watching, and once Theo thought he was dead he would move on and get out of town. Theo had saved his life on several occasions and he owed him that much.
"Just didn't know it was going to last twenty plus years. But hell, such is life and now I am free once again. Twenty two years older, but free nonetheless," Joey thought to himself while all the time smiling.
So as this life ended for Joey Escalla, a new life began for the man known by his few friends as Nick Costello.
OCTF Alert
New York/October 25, 1984
The FBI, working with the local police and several other government agencies had started inputting the data from their paper records into computers. During that process, they discovered that a Joey Escalla, listed as dead, was also in the witness protection database. This same Joey Escalla entered the witness protection program because he provided the FBI with information that could have easily led to his mob style execution; at least that was what the FBI believed. He claimed that Nick Costello was the man responsible for the execution of the Sabrisio brothers and he feared for his life. As a result, he asked that they fake his death and put him under witness protection, and in exchange he would provide them with valuable information about the Sabrisio and Giovanna families. Instead of life in prison, he got 22 years at a Wisconsin Federal penitentiary for his involvement with these crime families. Joey asked that they keep his identity secret and that he serve his time away from the general prison population. As a protective measure, and in cooperation with the FBI and the staff of the Florida hospital where he had been admitted with gunshot wounds, Joey faked his death. It was the FBI's understanding that he received the wounds at the Sabrisio home when it came under attack by Nick Costello and other members of his gang.
This information, sent to Captain John Connolly in the form of an internal alert notice, was sitting on his desk; buried among all of his other papers.
On October 25, a week after his meeting with his two agents, Captain John Connolly almost jumped out of his chair when he discovered the notice. He immediately ordered Agents Sam Williams and Sheila Connors to Wisconsin to interview Joey Escalla. Unfortunately, it was two weeks after Joey Escalla left the Wisconsin penitentiary, having completed his twenty-two year sentence.
Awaken
New York City/October 1984
Nurses P. Church and C. Parry had been making the rounds on the ICU floor of Belleview Hospital for over ten years. They would start at the east wing