Date:  March 1^st, 2011

I stand in the shadows of Mercer County Waterfront Park, staring at my target’s vehicle, a Mercedes S 65 AMG.  Such a beautiful car, and yet I think to myself of the potential dirty and incriminating evidence that it could possibly hold about the General Manager.  Although it looks even more dazzling in this heavy downpour, I shiver as I continue waiting for my target to emerge from his late night at the stadium office.

What I wouldn’t do for a cup of Jenny’s coffee right about now… the way she brews even the simplest cup of coffee amazes me.  Anytime I am forced to brew it up myself in the morning the odd day she has off, it ends up tasting horrible.

It has been over a month now since I was first visited by the strange pair of C.I.A. agents; Mr. Jennings and the Commissioner of baseball affairs of the Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance, John Rodriguez Sr. Since accepting their proposal to watch over and investigate the New Jersey Hitmen’s new General Manager Michael Czosnyka, I have been able to find out some frightening new information and details about the possible Pruszkow mafia connections the GM might have.

Using a tip I had received from John, I was able to bug a conference room ahead of time where the Commissioner and some of the leagues owners, managers and spokesmen were to meet and hold a brief preseason meeting to talk about some of the coming year’s changes and league happenings.  It was here that Mr. Czosnyka seemed to have finally faltered and cast some doubt upon himself regarding whether the rumors were true.

I pull my tape recorder out of my coat’s pocket and replay a portion of the meeting, in which Michael clearly sounded agitated and upset.  “I would like to begin by saying that all these fictitious rumors running about that the New Jersey Hitmen are under the control of the local mafia is just ridiculous. I will not stand for such slandering rumors!  My colleagues and I are in no way associated with that organization; we are just fans of the game looking to get this fine city another championship and…” there is some whispering and then a slight pause… “If we could keep the questioning to baseball… that would be appreciated.”

And there it is; that cold and piercing voice. I regret not being able to set up any video surveillance on such short notice.  I have only been able to work with the information that John had been able to provide me of the man that was on Mr. Czosnyka’s coattails all night long.  Mr. Kuklinski was the name that John gave me.  He described him as a tall and slender gentlemen, very pale and quiet with a menacing look in his eyes.  It was this man that realized that something was not right about the room and hurriedly ushered Mr. Czosnyka out the door late in the evening.

I am afraid he noticed my recording device, but that’s what I get for working so quickly to try and get it set up.  Now I have to deal with the fact that Mr. Czosnyka might know he is being watched.  What worries me the most though, is who he might be.  If my sources are correct and he is the son of Richard “The Iceman” Kuklinski, then I have bigger things to worry about… like my own well-being in this case.  As I continue to watch the exit, I can only hope that Mr. Kuklinski is not with him and that John was incorrect in what he had heard.

As time continues to slip by, I go over some other interesting leads while I wait.  Mr. Jennings gave me information about rumors that there had been certain players positioned amongst various teams to do some scouting for the mafia.  Now that Mr. Czosnyka has positioned himself as the General Manager of the Hitmen, it has been brought to my attention that he might look to acquire these players.  How much I can trust Mr. Jennings’s information I have yet to know, but it is something to keep an eye on.  While to a regular sports fan this is nothing more than one team trading a player for another to make their team better, to an investigator like me, seeing a gathering of unsavory characters only adds fuel to the fire that there might be something going down soon.

I continue to ponder over my gathered information as the back door to the stadium opens.  Through the rain and darkness I can make out Mr. Czosnyka as he rushes through the downpour to his car, thankfully no Mr. Kuklinski in tow.  It’s about time I get out of this rain and get back to my car as well.

Strange… Mr. Czosnyka is not leaving.  He pulled up to the door he recently came out of.  There is another man getting into the car now.  I sigh to myself as it is clear that the lanky individual is none other than Mr. Kuklinski.  Interesting, though, that he would have Mr. Czosnyka pulling up for him; I guess Kuklinski must hold more authority in the mafia than Czosnyka.  As they pull away, I only begin to realize just how dangerous this case has become.  I will need to start carrying my firearm around with me now just in case, which is not something I particularly like having to do.

Now that I have confirmed that indeed the Iceman’s son is Mr. Czosnyka’s “assistant”, I am going to need to rethink my approach to tailing the General Manager.  There is a chance that the scare at the preseason meeting will induce Kuklinski to keep his distance from Czosnyka.  He will be keeping an eye out for anyone who might look suspicious, if not have some other thug do it for him.

I look around a couple times to make sure that the coast is clear as a make a quick dash through the rain back to my old Crown Victoria.  I’ll have Jenny type this up first thing in the morning, confirming that Mr. Kuklinski has been brought in to work with Mr. Czosnyka.  Out of the corner of my eye I spot another car sitting not too far from mine that had not been there previously.  Bad thoughts begin creeping into my mind that maybe I was noticed.  Maybe this is why they took so long in the office before coming out.  I can’t see anyone in the car through the darkness, though.  I get into my car and slowly pull away with one eye fixed on my rear view mirror.  So far so good; I am almost out of view and no movement by the car.

As I am about to take my eye off the rear view mirror, I think I see the car drive away in the opposite direction of me.  No lights were turned on though.  Were my eyes playing tricks on me because of my nervousness?  Then I see the distinct glow of taillights as he turns away… all my fears come to a realization with the distant lights… crap…