Julia’s note: I always had two endings for this story. I finally decided to go with the happier ending for part 6, but although this is a darker one, it’s pretty good, so I figured I should post it as well. Let me know which ending you prefer.

At the end of our Honeymoon week, we packed up in our room and checked out of the resort. We got on our jet and arrived back in Vegas in the late afternoon. A huge crowd and paparazzi were waiting for us at the casino front entrance, so we decided to go around to the rear, but Joey and his security team were waiting for us at the front. I texted him our change of plans and told him to meet us at the rear entrance. We parked at the rear of the casino, got out of the limo, and were helping the driver unload our luggage when it happened.

A dark sedan pulled up behind us, and two men with masks got out. They both pulled handguns and started shooting at us. Sammy immediately saw what was happening and pushed me behind him. They opened up on Sammy, and he crumpled and fell to the ground, as well as the limo driver. They jumped back into their car and sped away.

I knelt at Sammy’s side, and he looked at me and smiled, “I love you so much, Tammi. Tell my lawyer to implement Plan B.”

He closed his eyes and sighed. A pool of blood formed around Sammy, and he was dying. I quickly got my phone out, dialed 911, and told the operator that someone had shot my husband and he was dying in front of me.

“Please send an ambulance to the rear entrance of the High Roller Casino.” I didn’t know what else to do.

Joey rushed to my side and asked me if they had shot me too. I told him I was ok; Sammy had used himself as a shield to protect me from the gunfire. He looked at the pool of blood forming around Sammy and checked for a pulse.

“He’s still got a pulse, Tammi. Have you called 911?”

“Yes, an ambulance is on its way. Hang in there, Sammy, don’t let the bastard take you.”

I kissed Sammy and held his hand. It felt like hours, but an ambulance finally arrived on the scene. By now, people from the casino and other bystanders were gathered around us as the ambulance pulled up. The medics rushed over to Sammy and told me to stand back. They performed first aid to stop the bleeding, got him on a stretcher. Joey and I accompanied them to the hospital in the back of the ambulance. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, but Sammy still had a pulse, though it was very weak.

On the way to the hospital, they fought to keep Sammy alive. His heart stopped once, and they defibrillated him to bring him back. We arrived at Emergency, and they immediately wheeled Sammy into surgery to save his life. Joey and I were left alone in the waiting room, but soon other Casino managers started showing up. Trixie and June were there, and most of the dancers and Sammy’s casino management staff. We all waited and prayed together for Sammy to make it. I was getting a cup of coffee, not knowing what else I could do, and I remembered Sammy’s last words to me before he closed his eyes. I asked Trixie if she knew the number for Sammy’s lawyer, and she sent it to my phone.

I called him up, and he answered, “Hello, this is Milton Schwartz.”

“Hi Milton, I am Tammi Giancana, and they shot Sammy.” He replied that he had just seen it on the news. I then gave him Sammy’s message. “I don’t know what this means, but Sammy asked me to tell you to implement Plan B. Do you know what this is?”

He told me it was a plan Sammy had created plan B if something like this happened to him, and he would start Sammy’s plan immediately.

“I wish you and Sammy the best of luck, and I hope he can pull through this. But I have much work to do, and I will have to say goodbye.”

After his brief explanation, he hung up the phone, leaving me to wonder what Sammy’s plan was.

I took my coffee back to the waiting room, and about an hour later, a doctor came out, and he had a sorrowful look on his face. I rushed over to him and asked him how Sammy was doing.

“It’s not good, he told us. Sammy had five serious bullet wounds, he is still fighting for his life, and his heart stopped several times on the operating table. He has lost a lot of blood, and we have blood transfusions going on into him as we speak to try and bring him back. That’s all I can say. For now, we still have much work to do so we can stop all the internal bleeding. Right now, he may recover, and we will do our best, but he doesn’t have very good odds at the moment.”

I told him, “Sammy would always bet on a long shot, and he would do everything he could do to pull out of this. Sammy is a fighter and won’t go down easily.”
Sammy was in surgery for 10 hours. A team of doctors had operated on him all night. A different doctor came out to see us the following day. He looked more haggard than the first doctor last night. He told us that they did everything they could for Sammy, but his injuries were just too severe, and he had lost too much blood.

“I’m very sorry, but Sammy didn’t make it.”

I collapsed, crying on the floor. My Sammy was gone. The bastard had taken him away from me. I was so distraught all I could do was sob and cry. Trixie and June helped me to my feet, and they took me home to the casino. I spent the rest of the day crying, and I was just too upset to function. Yesterday I was on top of the world, and today I am at the lowest point in my life, mourning my husband’s death. I didn’t sleep very well that night. I had nightmares watching those goons gun down Sammy, over and over.

Morning came, and I had a horrible headache. Trixie walked into the bedroom. She asked how I was feeling, and I said, I feel terrible. She sat down beside me and held my hand. I stayed overnight to keep an eye on you. It was an awful thing what happened to Sammy. I hope they catch the guys who shot him. I sniffled and agreed with her. She told me she had some breakfast sent up, and it’s in the other room. Why not get up and eat something? I had nothing but a couple of cups of coffee in the last 24 hours and realized I was hungry.

Trixie and I shared breakfast, and I told her I wanted to go back to the hospital and see Sammy’s body. I have to see him; I can’t believe he’s dead.

That afternoon Joey drove us to the hospital. Trixie and I could view Sammy’s body in the hospital morgue. I slowly walked beside his body and kissed him. I held on to his hand and softly spoke to him.

“Sammy, I miss you so much, and I don’t know what to do without you. I love you, and I need you, and I wish I could make you come back to me.” I stroked his hand, closed my eyes, and cried. Trixie held me up and hugged me as well.

Just as I was sobbing, Sammy’s lawyer called me on my phone.

“Hi Tammi, this is Milton Schwartz. I’m so sorry about Sammy. You must be feeling terrible. Would you mind if we talked a little, or would you like to call me back at a better time?”

I sniffled a little but told him, “It’s ok, I can talk to you.”

“Tammi, I need to see you as soon as you can come up to my office. I have to go over a few things with you, and I have to show you Sammy’s will.”

I sniffled a little more and replied, “How about tomorrow? Could you text me directions to your office as well?”

“That’s no problem, and I will do it now. Again, I’m so sorry for you, dear. It must be heartbreaking to lose Sammy so quickly after you were just married.”

The next day, Joey drove me over to the lawyer’s office. Joey wouldn’t let me out of his sight now, as he felt he had failed Sammy.

I left Joey in the waiting room and went into the lawyer’s office. Milton Schwartz had been Sammy’s lawyer for years. I trusted him completely. Milton asked me to have a seat and asked me if I wanted a coffee or a glass of water.

“No, thank you, I’m fine, Milton.”

Milton got right to the point. “I am sure you remember calling me about implementing Plan B.”

“Yes, I remember that. Could you explain to me exactly what that was?”

“As you realized, Sammy had many enemies out there, but he gathered a huge amount of evidence against them all for years. Plan B was to inform them of the evidence on them, and if they tried to kill Sammy, everything he had on them would go out to the police in the event of his death. But they moved too quickly and killed him before we had a chance to tell them of Plan B. The evidence against these guys would put them all away for life if it got out. Do I have your permission to give the police all of the evidence Sammy built up?”

“Those bastards took away my Sammy. The least we can do is take away their freedom and put them all away for life.”

Milton told me he thought I would feel this way.

“I will send a package to the FBI Organized Crime Division, which also contains a safety deposit box key to a large box in a Vegas bank that has much of the evidence Sammy had built up over the years. The safety deposit box also held an index documenting the evidence along with a key and address to a storage locker in Vegas that contained photographs, film, wiretaps, and quite literally, a ton of physical evidence against them. This evidence will exterminate the mob left in Vegas and have far-reaching effects that will go back to New York, LA, and Chicago. I am sure we are going to hear about this in the paper. The mob will be on the run now, thanks to Sammy.”

“Unfortunately, it won’t bring him back to me, but revenge is sweet, knowing those guys will all be in prison soon.”

“Now on to the next item. Last month Sammy had me draw up papers, and he signed a new last will and testament. Tammi, Sammy has left everything he owned to you as his sole heir.”

I was stunned. I didn’t know what to say. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“No, Tammi, I am quite serious. I need you to sign these papers, and everything Sammy had in the world now belongs to you, just the way he wanted.”

Epilogue

It’s now been a year since we buried Sammy. I still remember his funeral. All those mob assholes showed up to pay their respects, and boy did they all pay.
Just after the funeral ended at the cemetery, the FBI and police moved in and arrested all of them. I had the satisfaction of watching them being all led away in handcuffs and taken into custody.

Hundreds of Mob associates were arrested in Vegas and across the country. They have been in the news for months as the police, district attorneys, and the FBI had a field day charging these guys, using the evidence Sammy built up. When the trials started, they couldn’t do anything against the presented mountain of evidence. And one by one, down they went.

It didn’t bring back my Sammy, but I was hoping he was looking down from somewhere and telling me, great job, kid!

I hope that Sammy wouldn’t mind, but I have a new boy-toy in my life. You must remember Tony. Well, he took it upon himself to do everything in his power to comfort me after Sammy’s death. I know we have an 8-year age difference, but neither of us seems to mind, and he will do anything for me. And I mean anything.
Running the casinos is more fun than I ever imagined. I am still singing every night in the lounge, but I had to stop performing as a showgirl, as I was just too busy with the day-to-day operations of all of the casinos. I miss it, and now and then, I will drop by and practice with the girls. I promoted Trixie to VP of Casino Operations, and she is now my right-hand girl.

Remember Sammy’s goons, Vince and Nunzio? They are working for casino security now and still love to beat up assholes whenever they get the chance. They love me too, like everyone else here. Joey told me he would never let me out of his sight. He still blames himself for Sammy’s death, even though I said to him that those goons might have shot him as well if he had been there. Sammy left me with big shoes to fill, but I am doing my best. I still miss him terribly, but Tony tries his hardest to keep this girl happy.

I just received a telegram from Sammy’s uncle Vincent. Unfortunately, there was a family tragedy. His son and daughter-in-law died in an auto accident, and they left behind two small children, a boy, and a girl. Sammy’s uncle had written me, asking if I would consider adopting them and provide Sammy with a living legacy. He felt that he was too old to take care of them. I thought about it for a minute and called him up.

“Hello, Vincent? I’m Tammi Giancana. I received your telegram, and I want to give you my condolences for your loss. I know too well how this feels. I am also honored that you would ask me to adopt your niece and nephew. I would be more than happy to adopt the children, as Sammy would have done so too. I will contact my lawyer to start the adoption process and make flight arrangements with my pilots to fly there for the parent’s funeral and return with the children. Once again, I am so sorry but will see you soon.”

I hung up the phone and told Tony of my plans for the children. He was happy too and told me he loved kids.

I must go, Tony is back with a glass of champagne for me, as we are watching another mob conviction on the news, and we want to celebrate.

The End