Her Protector

by Mallory Monroe

  “Okay, I usually am,” he admitted, “but not this time, Baby girl. This shit ain’t on me this

  time. But you’ve got to get that money for me. Beg, borrow, or steal it. You gotta get it!”

  Nikki was about to tell him how impossible that was when she suddenly saw his eyes grow

  larger than they already were. And then she saw him leaning as if he was going to duck down.

  Her instincts kicked in and before he could yell, get down! she had already dropped from the

  stool and was on the floor.

  And just as she had dropped, the bullets started firing into the club from the street. Bullet

  after bullet after bullet. Tosh made it to the floor just after Nikki, but knew how close he came.

  He knew he could have easily been hit by multiple bullets in the barrage of bullets that came

  their way.

  And was still coming their way! It was a drive-by shooting where the shooter didn’t just

  drive by, but parked on the avenue momentarily, and fired round after round after round. He

  was sending a message, and the message was loud and clear even to Nikki: don’t fuck with us.

  We are willing to kill your ass. Don’t fuck with us!

  But as the barrage kept coming, Tosh and Nikki began crawling around the front of the bar

  to the area behind the bar. They couldn’t risk making a run for the back rooms because the

  bullets were flying too recklessly. A ricochet alone could have taken either one of them out.

  Their backs slammed against the back of the bar counter and they remained there, huddled

  side by side, as the bullets sailed through that window mercilessly.

  Nikki couldn’t recall feeling more helpless! She wished Teddy was there. Had he been there

  he would have been firing back. He would have been on top of her making sure she wasn’t hit.

  He would have been waiting for the second the bullets stopped, and then he would have run

  out of that club and ran those assholes down.

  But her father was not a violent man. He was a criminal. He’d engage in illegal activity with

  the best of them. But he was not a man given to killing people or drive-bys or anything near

  this level of violence. At least Nikki didn’t think he was!

  Then the shooting stopped. Tosh started to stand up, but Nikki held his arm back down.

  And they waited. But no more shots were fired. Then they both stood up.

  But as soon as they stood up, more shots were fired and they dropped back down. But this

  time the barrage was even deadlier. This time the barrage wasn’t coming from one gunman,

  but what felt like a small army of gunmen.

  And father and daughter were trapped.

  Because Nikki knew like she knew her name that those gunmen weren’t just trying to shoot

  up the place.

  They weren’t even sending a message as Nikki had thought.

  They were shooting to kill.

  Her father wasn’t exaggerating this time.

  He was in trouble, and had just plunged her into his trouble too.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  The car drove up to the security gate and was let in automatically. Paulie was what they

  called a special guest at the compound. He was a snitch that came and went regularly with

  intel, and there was never any reason to do anything but let him in. For the two guards joking

  with each other at the gate, this time was no different. They let him in.

  Paulie Bryce drove through the gate and made his way across the slanted driveway to a side

  entrance that led into the main house. This was the entrance for all the men who worked for

  Milo. Paulie got out of the car and, as he always did, entered MJ’s home through that side

  entrance.

  Milo Jalarni was in his billiards room, shooting pool with one of his capos, when Paulie

  walked in.

  “There you are,” Milo said as he shot a ball into his right corner pocket.

  “Why you put it like that, Boss?” Paulie asked as he plopped down in one of the arch-top

  chairs. “I was dealing with the Sinatras. They’ve never been what I would call fast to do

  anything.”

  “But you picked up Gio?” Milo asked.

  “Me and Craig, yeah,” Paulie said. “Just like we planned. And we took him to Teddy’s

  house. Just like we planned. But guess who showed up before we could get everything in

  place?”

  Milo and his capo both looked at Paulie. “Who?” Milo asked.

  “Mick Sinatra.”

  Milo was surprised. “Mick? Fuck. What happened?”

  “We figured we had to do it anyway. Gloria was at the house, too, and Mick’s old lady. If

  we didn’t go through with it; if we didn’t put pressure on Mick’s daughter to stick to the story,

  you’d be screwed.”

  Milo knew it too. “So what happened?” he asked.

  “We picked up Gio like we planned, and took him to Teddy. And you know what happened

  after that.”

  “They iced him?” Milo asked.

  “You know it.”

  “And they never suspected you or Craig?”

  “Never.”

  “Then where the fuck is Craig? I told both of your asses to hightail it over here as soon as

  you were off duty. Where’s Craig?”

  “Off duty for life,” a voice said.

  It wasn’t Paulie’s voice, nor Milo or his capo. They all turned quickly toward the door.

  When Milo saw Teddy and Mick standing there, he dropped his pool stick in shock. Paulie rose

  to his feet. And his capo reached for his weapon.

  But Teddy already had his weapon drawn, with a silencer attached, and shot MJ’s man

  before he could make any moves. And then he warned Milo. “Don’t even try it,” he said.

  Milo held up his hands. “What, Mick? You’ll shoot me? You’ll let your boy stand up here

  and shoot me, Mick? We had a truce! What you doing breaking the truce?”

  “We aren’t breaking shit,” Mick said. “If anything was broken, your ass broke it. Now sit

  down.”

  Milo sat down in the chair against the wall. “How did you get in here?”

  “We caught a ride in Paulie’s trunk,” Mick said.

  Milo was astonished. “Why didn’t you say something?” he asked Paulie. “What the fuck’s

  the matter with you?”

  “They got papers on me,” Paulie said. “What the fuck you think?”

  Milo knew what papers Paulie meant. Mick and Teddy had his family: his wife and children.

  The wife might not have been enough for Paulie to go through with it, but his children would

  have been.

  Milo looked at Mick and Teddy. “So you’re playing dirty now? Kidnapping a man’s family?

  His kids? What do you want?” he asked them. “This place is like Fort Knox. You can’t touch me

  here, and you know it. What do you want?”

  Teddy walked over to the dead capo and picked up his gun. Then he looked at Milo. “Why

  did you start this war?” he asked him.

  “I didn’t,” Milo said.

  “Who did?” Mick asked.

  Milo stared at Mick. And then smiled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Who has you so frightened,” Teddy asked, “that you would risk a war with Mick Sinatra,

  and have the nerve to touch Mick Sinatra’s daughter? Who’s got you running scared like this,

  Milo?”

  Even Mick could tell Teddy had hit a nerve. He saw the change on Milo’s face. But Milo

  attempted to recover, and smile it off. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said again.
>
  To even Mick’s surprise, Teddy fired a shot that barely missed Milo’s head. Milo slanted his

  body furiously to avoid the bullet. And he frowned. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Teddy?”

  he yelled. “What the fuck is your problem?!”

  “If you yell again and one of those Fort Knox motherfuckers come in this house,” Teddy said,

  “it’ll be your last yell. It’ll be your problem. Now answer our questions. Who are you working

  for?”

  When Milo still refused to talk, Teddy hurried up to him and placed his gun at his head.

  “Who?!”

  Mick knew MJ well enough to know that he wasn’t going to let it linger. If he was leaving

  this earth soon, he wasn’t going to allow himself to suffer. “Untouchable,” he said.

  Teddy looked at Mick. Did he know who that was? Mick shook his head. Teddy looked at

  Milo. “Who the fuck is Untouchable?” he asked.

  “That’s all I know,” Milo said.

  “Why would you call him Untouchable?”

  “Because he is!”

  “Who is he, Milo?” Mick began walking further into the room. “You know who he is. And

  I’m not asking you again.”

  Milo was cornered. Teddy could see that he realized just how cornered he was. But when

  Milo still didn’t answer him, he knew something else. “You don’t have any fucking papers,”

  Mick said since Milo had no family. “What else could this person have on you?”

  Milo’s eyes glazed over.

  “What does this fucker have on you?” Teddy asked it too.

  “Gio was supposed to handle your daughter,” Milo said to Mick. “That’s how I planned it.

  He needed skin in the game, and that was how I was going to keep him under my control. But

  that wasn’t good enough for him. He said I needed skin in the game. I needed to get more dirt

  on me. I had to handle Gloria Sinatra.” Milo looked at Mick. “And that’s what I did.”

  Mick took his expensive shoe and kicked Milo with an uppercut to his chin. Milo rocked

  sideways, but didn’t fall. He held onto his now bleeding chin. “I had that coming to me,” he

  said. “But what’s done is done, right?” he asked.

  Teddy grabbed Milo by the catch of his collar and jerked him to his feet to show him what

  he thought of his flippant attitude concerning his sister, but that was when he saw the red laser

  on Milo’s forehead. And he knew what it was immediately. “What the fuck?” Teddy said. Milo

  was in somebody’s bullseye!

  “Pop!” Teddy yelled as his body contorted sideways to avoid what he knew was a bullet on

  its way. Mick hit the deck, too, as the bullet sailed through the window of the billiards room

  and ripped open Milo’s forehead.

  Paulie hit the deck and covered his own head.

  And then they waited for more bullets to sail. Milo had an army guarding his place, after

  all. And somebody had just taken out their general.

  But no other bullets came. Not one.

  Teddy looked at Mick. And Mick looked at Teddy. And then they both got up. Teddy

  grabbed Paulie up and held him in front as their shield, and they took off.

  They made their way out of the billiards room, which was off from the front of the house.

  Mick, with his gun drawn, went to the living room window and peeped out. What he saw

  astounded him.

  “What is it, Pop?” Teddy asked as he held Paulie in front of him.

  But Mick didn’t answer. He hurried to the front door and flung it open.

  When Teddy, with Paulie, made it outside, he saw what Mick had seen and he was

  astounded too. Every one of Milo’s men had been taken out. Just as their men had been taken

  out at that hotel. A professional hit. With silencers. Without a trace of their assassins.

  Mick and Teddy looked at each other. Who the fuck would pull that shit, they wondered.

  And why the fuck would they spare them?

  “Were we at war with Milo,” Teddy asked his father, “or was Milo at war with somebody

  else, and was drawing us in it for his own protection?”

  It was Mick’s thought too. It was the only thing that made sense. But that didn’t mean they

  understood it.

  Cars began arriving at Milo’s estate. But it was Joey with Mick’s men. The plan was for

  them to stay out of sight until they were contacted. Or, if they received no word in fifteen

  minutes after Teddy notified them that they were exiting Paulie’s trunk, then they were to get

  onsite without delay. They arrived onsite without delay.

  When Joey saw the carnage, they assumed they were too late. When he saw his father and

  brother standing at the entrance to Milo’s estate, he was too baffled to assume anything.

  Then Teddy looked at Paulie. He was hired by Gio, so he felt no allegiance to him

  whatsoever. But any betrayal pissed him off.

  “I did everything you told me to do,” Paulie said to Teddy. “Spare my life!”

  “I’ll spare your family’s life,” Teddy said. “They will be immediately released without harm.

  On that you have my word.”

  “And my life?” Paulie asked anxiously.

  “You double-crossed us,” Teddy said as if his fate was obvious. “What the fuck you think?”

  And as Paulie backed away, and then tried in vain to make a run for it, Teddy took him out.

  But as Teddy and Mick rode away from Milo’s estate, sitting in the back of a chauffeured-

  driven SUV, they still had more questions than answers. But both men were on their cell

  phones as they rode home, trying to get as much intel on what could possibly be going on as

  they possibly could. Did anybody know who Untouchable was? Had anybody ever even heard

  of him? Mick was calling across the country. Teddy was calling his own contacts too. Joey was

  in the SUV making calls too.

  But as Teddy ended a call, and before he made another one, he was introspective. Maybe it

  wasn’t a nickname. Milo called the guy or gang or whomever had him over a barrel

  untouchable. But what the fuck did that mean? As far as the mob world was concerned, Mick

  Sinatra was untouchable. And Teddy, as his son, was too.

  But before he could make another phone call to see who else was big enough in the mob

  world to be considered out of reach, his cell phone rang. When he looked at the Caller ID and

  saw that it was his man in New Orleans, he answered quickly. “What you got?” he asked him.

  “There’s been a drive-by shooting,” his man said.

  Teddy’s heart dropped. “A drive-by?”

  Mick and Joey looked at him.

  “Who was involved? Is Nikki alright?”

  “Miss Tarver was involved.”

  “Is she alright, motherfucker?” Teddy screamed. “Is she alright?”

  “Let me call you back,” Mick said to his contact on his cell phone, and ended the call.

  But Teddy wasn’t letting up. “Is she hurt?” he was asking his man. “Did somebody harm

  her?”

  Mick took the phone from Teddy and put it on Speaker.

  “We have no news,” Teddy’s man was saying. “We don’t know anything yet, sir.”

  Teddy was about to jump out of his own skin. “What the fuck you mean you don’t know

  anything? How did you find out about the drive-by?”

  “It happened at her father’s club. The cops were on the scene before we could get inside,

  and they wouldn’t let us in. We don’t know what’s happening, Teddy! We don’t know shit

  yet!”

  T
eddy couldn’t believe it.

  “Do we have anybody with the New Orleans PD?” Mick asked the crew chief over the

  phone.

  “No, sir,” his man said. “Nobody.”

  Teddy knew he had to control himself. “Stay at the scene,” he ordered. “My father’s plane

  is back so I should be there in a few hours. But you find somebody, bribe somebody, do

  whatever the fuck you have to do to find out about Miss Tarver. You understand me?”

  “Yes, sir. We’ll pull out all the stops, sir,” his man said.

  Teddy ended the call. “Why the fuck they haven’t pulled out all the stops already,” he was

  asking, although the phone call had ended.

  “Settle down, Teddy,” Joey said.

  “Easy for you to say,” Teddy responded. “Get me to the airport now!” he ordered the driver

  and the driver immediately complied.

  Then Teddy exhaled. “Nikki’s in New Orleans,” he said.

  “That I know,” said Mick.

  “There was a drive-by shooting.”

  “I know that too. What I don’t know is why.”

  “Neither do I. Neither do those fuckers I have on the ground. But I’m going to find out.”

  “What do you mean?” Joey asked. “You realize we’re at war, Teddy?”

  Teddy was calling Nikki’s cell phone. He was getting no answer. “I know that shit,” he said.

  “What are you telling me what I already know? But I’ve got to go and make sure she’s alright.”

  But Joey would have none of it. “We have too many unanswered questions, Teddy, and

  your ass is supposed to be leading this charge. You’re willing to put our entire organization at

  risk for that girl?”

  It was a stark decision, and Teddy knew it. He knew what the stakes were if he abandoned

  the family just when everything had gone south. But the answer, for him, was an easy one.

  “For Nikki,” he said, “yes.”

  Mick stared at his son. There was a time when he thought Teddy would die alone, just as he

  almost did. Now he was all in. “Then you should go,” Mick said. “I’ll hold it down here.”

  Teddy felt a sense of relief. “Thanks, Pop,” he said.

  “Boy-oh-boy,” Joey said. “If that was me, and I abandoned the family at a time like this, Pop

  would beat me from now to next Tuesday!”

  But as quickly as relief came for Teddy, dread reappeared in his heart and he quickly called