Крестный отец

           "Tothemthat’sIrish,"Michaelsaid."Theywon’tgotoyouandtheywon’tgotoNeribecauseNeriwasacop.Plusbothofyouaretooclosetome.Theycan’ttakethatgamble.RoccoLamponeisn’tcloseenough.No,itwillbeClemenza,TessioorCarloRizzi."

           Hagensaidsoftly,"I’mbettingit’sCarlo."

           "We’llsee,"Michaelsaid."Itwon’tbelong."

           Itwasthenextmorning,whileHagenandMichaelwerehavingbreakfasttogether.Michaeltookaphonecallinthelibrary,andwhenhecamebacktothekitchen,hesaidtoHagen,"It’sallsetup.I’mgoingtomeetBarziniaweekfromnow.TomakenewpeacenowthattheDonisdead."Michaellaughed.

           Hagenasked,"Whophonedyou,whomadethecontact?"TheybothknewthatwhoeverintheCorleoneFamilyhadmadethecontacthadturnedtraitor.

           MichaelgaveHagenasadregretfulsmile."Tessio,"hesaid.

           Theyatetherestoftheirbreakfastinsilence.OvercoffeeHagenshookhishead."IcouldhaveswornitwouldhavebeenCarloormaybeClemenza.IneverfiguredTessio.He’sthebestofthelot."

           "He’sthemostintelligent,"Michaelsaid."Andhedidwhatseemstohimtobethesmartthing.HesetsmeupforthehitbyBarziniandinheritstheCorleoneFamily.Hestickswithmeandhegetswipedout;he’sfiguringIcan’twin."

           Hagenpausedbeforeheaskedreluctantly,"Howrightishefiguring?"

           Michaelshrugged."Itlooksbad.Butmyfatherwastheonlyonewhounderstoodthatpoliticalconnectionsandpowerareworthtenregimes.