The suspect nodded nervously again.
“Bovenconti didn’t hire you to do shit,” Teddy said.
“Dad!” Joey complained.
But Mick gave him a look that shut him up.
“You know Bovenconti didn’t hire you,” Teddy continued. “And I know Bovenconti didn’t hire you. Who hired you?” Teddy asked. “And you’d better tell me the truth.”
Then Teddy pulled his gun out of the suspect’s mouth. “Who hired you?” he asked again.
The suspect hesitated yet again, but then he spoke up. He knew what Teddy was capable of. “They did,” he said.
Teddy frowned. “Who the fuck are they?”
“Them,” the suspect said and nodded his head. Teddy and Mick both looked to where the suspect was nodding. He was nodding toward Joey and the Bevin twins.
Teddy was floored.
Joey was angry. “That’s a lie!” he yelled. “That’s a bald-faced lie! I didn’t hire him! He knows I didn’t hire him. That’s a lie!”
But as soon as Joey turned toward his father, to plead his case, another explosion occurred. But this one wasn’t with explosives. It was with a truck, a big Ford F-250, that plowed through the front of the safe house and landed, like a sudden missile attack, inside the house. The men inside of the truck jumped out with automatic rifles and fired away!
Mick, Teddy, and Joey all were diving for cover as soon as the truck broke through, and they pulled out their weapons firing back.
The guards inside the safe house were diving and firing at the intruders as well, and the Bevin twins were firing too.
But the Bevin twins weren’t firing at the intruders. They were firing at the Sinatras! They were running to take their position behind the truck and were firing at the men they just moments before worked for.
Teddy was so angry that he made it his mission to stop those twins. And he managed to shoot one. Big-Eye Bevin fell before he could make it behind that truck.
And the shootout was on. Teddy, Mick, and Joey, along with the guards, were on one side of the gun battle, in position behind the couch and chairs and whatever they could get behind, while Ron Bevin and the men in the truck were on the opposite side of the battle.
Joey was shooting and shooting, and so were the guards. But one guard, and then the second guard, were quickly taken out. They were no match for the firepower coming at them.
On the other side, Ron Bevin and his men were shooting for their lives. They were going to fight to the death. But Mick and Teddy were pacing their shots. Mick wanted to tell Joey to ease the hell up, too, but it would give the game away. At least Teddy understood, Mick thought. At least Teddy understood!
And their strategy of taking cover and pretending to fight without putting up much of a fight, paid off. It paid off in spades when Ron Bevin and the men behind the truck, along with Joey, all ran out of ammo.
Mick and Teddy Sinatra weren’t about to give anybody a chance to reload.
It was their time to fight to the death.
And they did. Mick and Teddy came out from behind their sheltered place firing. They killed the men in the truck before they could run out of the house, and Teddy was just about to take Ron Bevin out too.
But Ron dropped his weapon, and he threw up his hand. “I surrender!” he yelled. “Don’t shoot me, Teddy. I surrender. Please don’t shoot me!”
Teddy and Mick stopped firing. They needed to hear the story. They needed to hear just how this shit could have happened.
In the melee, Caulfield, the arsonist and their original suspect, had been killed. Both of the safe house guards had been killed. But once Joey saw that his father and brother had secured the room, and they were back in control again, he came out of hiding. And he came out angry. He came out and ran to Ron. He was about to knock him out, but Teddy grabbed Joey and stopped him.
“We need to know why,” he said to his little brother. “Forget the pride and emotion, Joey. Forget that shit. We need to know why!”
And Joey understood, at that moment, just what his father meant. He understood why Teddy was in charge.
But Teddy had little patience for a turncoat like Ron Bevin. He went up to him, his gun still pointing at him, and asked one simple question. “Tell me who before I blow your fucking brains out,” he said. “Who hired you?”
Ron was defeated, but he knew he had to tell the truth. “Malidec,” he said.
If there was a name that Teddy, Mick, and Joey would have never expected to hear, it was that name. “Malidec?” Teddy asked. “Detective Malidec of the Philly PD?”
“He’s mob masquerading as a cop,” Ron said. “He wants to take over. He wants your territory. He wants it all.”
“Why would he hire you?”
“Because I was on the inside,” Ron said. “I had Joey’s complete confidence.”
“Fucking asshole!” Joey yelled, unable to tamp down his emotions. “I trusted you!”
Mick pulled Joey back before he did something stupid. Mick placed his arm around Joey’s waist and kept it there. Teddy was steering this ship exactly the way Mick wanted it steered.
And, true to form, Teddy suspected that there was more. “Malidec is the mastermind?”
“Not just him. It’s the whole East Coast Mafia. Guys nobody’s never heard of. They’ve all band together to take you down. You and your old man. They were supposed to take out both of you today.”
“How would they know if this ambush worked?” Teddy asked.
“Me and my brother were supposed to call and tell them when it was over.”
“Call now,” Teddy said. “Tell them we were hit, but you don’t know if we survived. You got out.”
“And if you try something funny,” Joey said, “I’ll kill you personally.”
“Call him,” Teddy said. “And Joey’s right: no bullshit.”
Ron Bevin made a phone call. “Put it on Speaker,” Mick ordered.
Ron placed the call on Speaker. “Malidec,” the voice said over the phone.
“It’s Ron. It’s over.”
“And the outcome?” Malidec asked.
“We hit them both. But I took off. I don’t know if they’re dead.” Then he added, heartfelt: “They took out my brother.”
“Good job,” Malidec said. “And don’t worry. You’ll be greatly compensated for your loss. Come tonight. Eight pm. At the warehouse. We’re supposed to meet there to discuss where we go from here. I’ll have your money at that time.”
And the call ended.
“What warehouse?” Teddy asked, grabbing the phone.
“On Roladeck,” Ron said.
Mick exhaled. “Let’s go,” he said. “We’ll set up early. And take him with us,” he added. “He’s our ticket in.”
Joey grabbed Ron angrily by the arm and escorted him out of the safe house. Mick and Teddy headed out too.
“You believe Bevin?” Teddy asked his father.
“Do you?” Mick asked Teddy.
“We heard that phone conversation. We have to go see.”
“I agree,” said Mick. “But I hate like hell these kinds of journeys.”
“What kind? Where there’s uncertainty?”
“Where there are too many risks,” Mick said.
And as soon as he said it, gunfire erupted again. Another ambush.
But this time, with the very first shot, Mick Sinatra went down.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
It happened so suddenly neither brother could react. Like their father, they heard the first shot. But unlike their father, that first shot hit Mick squarely in the chest, and it began to buckle his knees. Simultaneously, he knocked Teddy down, and Joey down, and was going down himself. Then the second shot came. That shot hit Ron Bevin in the head, and he fell. And then a third shot. It hit Mick again to the chest. And he was out.
Teddy and Joey didn’t know who was firing those shots, but Teddy began shooting in the woods that surrounded them, where the shots rang out. Joey grabbed his father’s g
un and was shooting too. They were mad men they were shooting so rapidly and angrily. Until Teddy held up his hand. For silence. And then they heard footsteps in the woods, as if the perp was running away.
While Teddy moved toward Mick, Joey made a move to run after the perp. But Teddy stopped him. “Help me with Dad,” he yelled to his brother.
“He’s getting away!” Joey yelled.
“Fuck him!” Teddy screamed from the top of his lungs. “Help me with Dad!”
It was only then had Joey realized what he was about to do. He was about to leave his injured father to run after somebody else! Was he insane?
He quickly did as he was ordered and helped Teddy try to get their father on his feet to get him in the SUV.
But Mick was way too big.
Because Teddy was big, too, he was able to take his father by the shoulders, and he began dragging him toward the SUV. “Grab his legs!” he said to Joey. He knew his brother was thin and small, but he had to help. “Lift his legs!” he ordered.
And Joey lifted his father’s legs. He saw that his father had lost consciousness and he began crying. “Don’t leave us, Dad!” he cried. “Don’t leave us!”
With Joey relieving the pressure of Mick’s dragging legs, Teddy was able to drag his father to the SUV. And it was all a sense of urgency for Teddy on every hand. He was afraid, like Joey, that his father could clock out on them. He was afraid that the gunman was reloading, or that he was repositioning for a further attack. He had to get his father out of there. He had to get his brother out of there. He had to get out of there fast!
And once again, Teddy felt as if it was all on his shoulders. Because, considering Joey’s state, he knew it was. And he did what he had to do. He found Herculean strength to lift his father up and drag him inside that SUV. Teddy jumped over the seat to get behind the wheel, while Joey got in beside his father. And the SUV took off.
Teddy backed up, swerved in a turnabout, and then headed out of the woods. “Where’s your gun, Joey?” he yelled. “Keep your eyes open and have your gun ready in case that gunman is still out there! This shit ain’t over! Stay ready!”
Again, Joey woke up out of his emotional stupor, and he once again lifted the gun he had taken from his father and began searching around for any sign of trouble.
They found none. They were able to drive out of those woods, onto the city streets, and Teddy drove his badly wounded father, as if he was driving life itself, to that hospital.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
“I thought you were off already.”
“Man, I wish! I just clocked in.”
“What’s going on? I see Ralph is here too, and he usually works the graveyard shift!”
“They calling all us in. Supposedly some big wig’s in the hospital. They want as much Security on duty as possible.”
“A big wig? Who?”
“Hell if I know. But the last time I remember this many security guards on duty at the same time was when a prime minister was here. And that was a long, long time ago.”
They were standing near the entrance doors of the Philadelphia hospital: two security guards taking a smoke break, when three black SUVs arrived. One guard elbowed the other one. “Check this out,” he said, as the SUVs stopped at the entrance and men hurriedly jumped out.
The door was opened to the middle SUV and Roz Sinatra, along with two nannies and Mick and Roz’s twin toddlers, Duke and Jacqueline Sinatra, hurried into the hospital. Then a second group of SUVs arrived just behind it, and Gloria and Nikki stepped out, and hurried into the hospital, too.
“All black women,” one guard said. “You noticed that? This big wig must be a brother.”
“Wonder who it can be?”
“Hell if I know,” the guard said again. “But I hear he’s big.”
But inside the hospital, it wasn’t about how big Mick was, or how powerful. It was all about how he was withstanding those two bullet wounds.
Roz, along with the toddlers and their nannies, was the first off of the elevator, and Joey and Teddy were there to meet her. Gloria and Nikki stepped off behind her.
“Where is he?” Roz asked urgently. She looked as if she was going to pass out to Teddy.
“He’s in surgery, Ma,” Teddy said. “No word yet.”
“And you two are okay?” Roz asked, looking more at Joey than Teddy. She knew Teddy was always okay.
“We weren’t hit,” Teddy said.
But Roz could see the fear still in Joey’s eyes. She pulled him into her arms.
Gloria, instead, hugged Teddy, and then, with her stepmother, gave Joey a hug too. Nikki, careful to be respectful of his stepmother and sister, waited until Gloria stopped hugging Teddy and moved to Joey. Nikki then walked over to Teddy.
It was Teddy who pulled her into his arms, and gave her a big, smothering hug. He already knew he needed her. But in times like these, when he saw his father fall, he needed her like he needed his own body.
When she was able to pull back from his embrace, just enough to look into his eyes, she placed her hands on the sides of his face. “I was so scared,” she said. “When those guys came to your father’s office and told Gloria and me that we had to go with them, I was mortified. But they said it was on your orders.”
Teddy was nodding. “It was. When something like this happens, we aren’t sure if more attacks might be coming.”
“What happened?” she asked.
But Roz had turned to Teddy. “Who have you called?” she asked him.
“Big Daddy and Amelia, of course.” Big Daddy Charles Sinatra was Mick’s oldest brother. Amelia was his kid sister. “They’re on their way.”
“What about the Gabrinis?”
“Uncle Tommy is out of the country. It’ll be another day before he can get here. But he’s coming as fast as he can get here. Uncle Reno and Uncle Sal are on their way.”
Roz nodded. “That sounds good, Teddy. We’re family. We stick together at a time like this.”
“I agree.”
“Where’s the waiting room? After all the times I’ve had to come here, I should know exactly where that place is by now. But I don’t remember.”
“I’ll show you, Ma,” Joey said, as he placed her arm in his.
Roz, Glo, and Joey, along with the nannies and Duke and Jacqueline, began walking toward the private, VIP waiting area. Teddy placed his hand around Nikki’s waist and they followed behind. And Teddy didn’t hesitate to tell her what happened. It felt good to be able to tell somebody. “We were ambushed,” he said to her. “Twice.”
Nikki’s heart sank. “Twice? Geez, Teddy!”
“I’m okay,” he said, leaning her closer against him. “Don’t worry, Nikki. I’m okay.”
“But your father isn’t,” Nikki said.
Teddy’s heart sank. But they were two people who kept it honest. “No,” Teddy said. “He isn’t.”
Five hours later and the automatic doors to the hospital slid open again, and Big Daddy Charles Sinatra, who had been in Arizona on business, and Amelia Sinatra, who had been with him, along with casino mogul Reno Gabrini and his cousin mob boss Sal Gabrini, all hurried in at the same time. They hurried on and off the elevator, and down the hall to the VIP waiting room.
When they arrived, Roz and Gloria hurried to them, and there were hugs all around. “How is he?” Big Daddy asked Roz.
“Still in surgery,” Roz said.
Big Daddy sighed. He had hoped for better news.
“He was hit twice?” Amelia asked, worried sick herself.
Roz nodded. “Yes. But he’s going to be okay.”
Amelia hugged her. “I know he will too!”
Then Roz looked at her. “You okay?” she asked Amelia.
“I’m good.”
“How’s Hammer and the little one?”
“They’re fine. I was in Arizona with Charles on business when the call came in. I had Hammer’s private plane so it was nothing for me and Charles to get here.”
And the conversation continued. Nikki stayed in the background. This was definitely a family affair and she halfway expected to be asked to leave, especially when one of the men kept eyeing her suspiciously.
Finally, he spoke up. “Who’s this?” Sal asked Teddy.
Teddy took Nikki’s hand and helped her to her feet. “This is Nikki Tarver, Uncle Sal,” he said. “She’s my lady, and my assistant. Nikki, this is my cousin, although we call him Uncle Sal.”
“I remember. You told me when we were in L.A. the first time. You said men of high esteem in your family are always referred to as Uncle rather than cousin.”
Teddy smiled. “Good memory,” he said. “And yes, I know. It’s a family thing.”
Nikki smiled. “Nice to meet you,” she said to Sal.
“Ah ha,” Sal said, unsure if it was nice to meet her. “Think she can wait outside?” he asked Teddy.
But Teddy shook his head. “No, sir. She’s not waiting outside.”
Reno looked over when Teddy made that statement. He was getting as tough as his father. He was growing into his role as Mick’s number two. He liked it.
“She’s been vetted, I take it,” Sal said.
“Fully,” said Teddy. “Pop vetted her too. And you know how Pop does it.”
“No stone unturned,” Sal said with a knowing nod. “Mick drives me crazy with his vetting process. I know.”
Then Big Daddy and Amelia looked over. “I heard my brother’s name,” Big Daddy said. Then he looked at Nikki. “You must be Nikki.”
Sal looked at him. “How did you know about her?” he asked.
“Mick told me about her,” Big Daddy said. “He said she’s got what it takes.”
Sal and Reno both looked at Nikki. Nikki felt on display, and it was a little unnerving, especially when she allowed herself to consider the power of those people in that room. But she kept her head high.
Amelia Sinatra made her way over to Nikki and Teddy. “Who’s this?” she asked politely.
“Teddy’s old lady,” said Sal. “And don’t worry. Mick already vetted her.”
Teddy Sinatra_Chains For Love Page 17
