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° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° Double Cross The Animal could dream all he wanted, but Raymond Patriarca had other plans. The Irish mob war had cost the Office countless millions in lost revenue. The Wild West had shipped East during the war, and what was once a mob boom town had now become a ghost town as the steady flow of money slowed to a trickle. Fear of violence had kept people away from gambling parlors, race tracks, and mob-controlled bars. Patriarca and his underbosses Henry Tameleo and Jerry Angiulo needed to get business moving again, and a gunslinger like Barboza had become a burr under their saddle. The same was true with law enforcement. Suffolk County district attorney Garrett Byrne had made it a top priority to take Barboza off the streets. Cops began harassing the Animal at every turn. Joe stopped driving his “James Bond” car, as it had become a magnet for police . They had even given the automobile its own code—66. The Animal had to adapt to his new environment, so he began traveling by cab and subway; when he needed a car, he made sure that he never used the same vehicle twice. He also relied more heavily on tipsters to keep him one step ahead of the law. One evening in the fall of 1966, Joe received a phone call from a detective friend who told him that police were staking out his headquarters and that they planned to arrest him the minute he was on the move. “The heat’s on. They wanna catch you, Nicky (Femia), and Chico (Amico) with guns,” the detective whispered into the phone. “The word is out to get you guys off the street one way or the other.”73 At the time, Joe was driving a friend’s black convertible, which had a trunk loaded with handguns and an M-1 rifle. Barboza ordered his men to dispose of all the weapons before they picked him up for a ride into the city. Normally he would not venture away from his headquarters unarmed , but the mob war was over now and the heat from law enforcement 14 No one man should have all that power° kanye west 134° casey sherman was indeed on. Police spotted the black convertible later that night as Joe and his crew pulled up to a local bar. Officers jumped out of their vehicles with weapons drawn and ordered Barboza out of the convertible. A detective working with the district attorney’s office was also on the scene. The police officers shoved Barboza up against the side of the car and searched his body. They did the same with Nicky Femia and Chico Amico but found nothing. An exhaustive search of the car found the same. Barboza smiled as he stood by watching the spectacle. After about an hour, the frustrated officers were forced to let Joe and his men go on their way. Barboza made sure that the tipster got an extra $100 for his effort. A few days later, Barboza was having a drink with his crew and counting his blessings at the Intermission Lounge on Washington Street in Boston. A friend walked by Joe’s table and motioned him to meet outside. Once there, the friend informed Joe that a mob killer was on his way to Boston to take him out. Fuck him, Joe thought. He can die like the rest. The friend said the contract had been paid by Rudy Marfeo, who blamed Barboza for his brother’s murder in Providence a few months earlier . Joe began to connect the dots in his mind. Why would Marfeo blame him for a murder that had been so clearly orchestrated by Raymond Patriarca ? Maybe Patriarca himself is behind the bait and switch, Joe thought. By blaming Barboza for the hit on Willie Marfeo, Patriarca could get Joe killed without having to order the hit himself. For the first time in a long time, the Animal felt vulnerable. He hadn’t been carrying a gun for the past two weeks and contemplated borrowing one from his friend. Finally, he decided against it. If the cops found a gun on him now while he was still on bail in the Pearson stabbing case, they could toss him in jail and forget about him. The Animal would have to send one of his men to find this mob killer and take care of him. Joe left the Intermission Lounge with Nicky Femia, Tashi Bratsos, and another...

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