Michael's Cardinal Sin

Law partner Michael Avalov's lifelong premonition of being struck by a speeding automobile becomes a horrifying reality. On his way to defending his prominent church client before a federal Grand Jury investigating an international drug cartel, Michael is finally waylaid by a hit and run assassin. Whether he survives the deadly blow through a combination of Fate, Luck or Will Power ... as well as why he may have been marked for murder ... is revealed in a flashback ... Forty-Something Michael is a rising star in his white shoes Chicago law firm. After work one day in September, 1979, he is confronted at a local Old Town bar by Joe Mantua, an accountant for the Church Archdiocese (a firm client) and a yet unidentified leader of a far-reaching drug cartel called the 'Chicago Outfit.' Mantua is fearful of the recently reported brutal murder of Father Sebastiani, one of Michael's mentors and secretary to the city's Archbishop Cardinal Schubert. Mantua weaves for Michael a fantastic tale about how the cartel is responsible for the crime. He suggests he has proof in the form of a coded diary and ledger secretly compiled by Father Sebastiani with his help. Not only does the Sebastiani-Mantua diary and ledger supposedly detail the Outfit's past drug deals, but curiously calls out Cardinal Schubert as a cartel Kingpin. Is the Cardinal being framed or is he a cartel player? It remains a mystery for now. Mantua only supposes the cartel ordered Sebastiani's death because of his greed in skimming its drug profits and explains the diary was intended to be an 'insurance policy' in case his scam was ever discovered by the cartel. It (scam) was (discovered), but it (diary) wasn't (an effective insurance policy). For a hefty fee, Michael agrees to help protect Mantua from the cartel by using his influence with federal law enforcement agents and City Hall contacts. Mantua, in turn, gives Michael instructions on how to obtain the diary that night at a nearby greasy spoon. Michael advises Mantua to remain underground until he can bring him out of the cold and safely into authorities' hands. Little did Michael realize how deep these waters would prove to be ...