CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The next morning Teddy Sinatra, the head of the Sinatra Crime family, along with his underboss and wife Nikki, sat at the center island in the kitchen of his father’s house. They had only been there a few minutes, but they were already unable to shield their ears from the bouncing bed upstairs that sounded like his father making love to Roz. They could barely hear it when they first arrived, and they paid it little attention. But the bouncing increased to such an extent that they couldn’t help but pay it complete attention. Now it sounded to Teddy as if they were going to fall through the ceiling if his father didn’t let up.

“Damn!” Teddy said when his father didn’t let up. “Does Pop ever get enough? You’d think he’d get tired of that shit as much as he has to have it.”

Nikki gave Teddy a sidelong look. “I know you’re not talking about what Boss has to have when you have to have it twenty-four-seven-three-sixty-five.”

“Don’t even try that, Nikki. Pop’s got me beat by leaps and bounds. And bedsprings too,” he added, and they laughed.

And then the bouncing became even louder. “Well damn!” Teddy said, looking up at the ceiling.

“Think maybe we should wait outside?”

“Maybe Pop should ease the hell up! That’s what he should do. I hope he don’t be this bad when the twins are here.”

“Where are they anyway?” Nikki asked.

“They’re spending Spring Break in Florida with Gloria,” Teddy said. Then more hard bouncing upstairs. “Damn, damn, damn!” Teddy said again and Nikki laughed. “It’s a wonder Roz can walk half the time!”

“He probably forgot he told us to be here at 8am sharp.”

“His ass don’t forget nothing,” Teddy said. “I asked if it could wait until this afternoon, but he said no. He wanted us here first thing this morning. So we’re here. And he’s still at it. But that’s Pop. The world revolves around him. Or so he thinks.”

But it would be another ten minutes before the bed bouncing eased and then completely stopped. It would be another eight minutes before Mick Sinatra and Roz, Teddy’s stepmother, made their way downstairs and into the kitchen too.

Roz wore a bathrobe. She wasn’t trying to pretend it wasn’t what it was, and Mick wore a pair of pants and a pullover shirt. It felt strange to Nikki to see her father-in-law dressed so casually. It almost never happened!

They all sat at the kitchen table.

“What’s the final number?” Mick asked Teddy.

“Fourteen. But it could get as high as twenty. We just don’t know yet.”

“How did it happen?”

“Still don’t know that either. It can be as simple as some asshole clicking on an email link they got fooled into clicking on, and they assessed data that way. Or it could be more sophisticated than that. Nikki’s been on it all night. We’ll both be on it all day. But we got nothing so far. All we know for certain is that the cargo due in to the Port of Spain is missing. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Fourteen up to twenty shipments potentially may either be missing, too, or at risk of going missing. We’re backtracking to find out which is which.”

Mick exhaled as Teddy’s phone rang. Assuming it was one of their capos with new intel, Teddy answered without checking the Caller ID.

“Oh hey, Frankie,” Teddy said as Mick gave him the hand swipes across the neck, shut it down motion. “Listen, I need to call you back. I’m meeting with Pop.” But then Frankie “The Monk” Paletti said something that Teddy couldn’t dismiss. “He what ?”

When Teddy, who was not a histrionic guy, showed that level of drama, they knew it was something big. “You got to be shitting me! What for? Ah man. Right. What about June? He’s at your house too? Oh good. Okay, Frankie. Yeah, you do that,” he added, and then ended the call.

“What was that about?” Roz asked him.

“Brent arrested MaKayla.”

Roz and Nikki both looked at Teddy strangely. “He arrested her?” asked Nikki. “What for?”

“That’s the even crazier part. They’re saying she killed a judge.”

“ Whaaat ?” Nikki was floored.

“That’s some bullshit right there,” said Roz. “I don’t believe it for a second.”

“Neither do I,” said Nikki.

“Neither do I,” said Teddy. “MaKayla of all people? That’s nuts! I’ll probably need to go to Jericho to see what’s going on.”

“I’ll go with you,” Roz said.

“So will I,” said Nikki.

“No you won’t,” Mick said bluntly. “None of you are going anywhere near Jericho. You and Teddy,” he said to Nikki, “are keeping your asses right here in Philly to find out what the fuck is going on with my shipments.”

Teddy despised the way his father spoke to Nikki. There was something inside of him that made him know it was a matter of time before he and his father would have an explosive confrontation about that very issue. But he also knew Nikki was the underboss of his father’s syndicate, and he was the boss. He had to take his father’s lashes, and so did she. But it was just a matter of time, even though this was not that time. He held his peace.

“If they can’t go,” said Roz, “I’ll go and see what’s going on.”

“You aren’t going anywhere near Jericho either,” Mick said. “You have a Broadway show in two weeks. You’re in deep rehearsals. Deuce will continue to drive you to New York for your rehearsals, and you’ll continue to focus on that.”

“But what about MaKayla?” Roz asked.

“You can call her. You can encourage her. But you aren’t going there. If they need help of any kind, Charles and Brent both know how to pick up a phone and give me a call.”

That sounded callous even to a tough broad like Roz. “They shouldn’t have to pick up a damn phone to call you,” she said. “You should be calling them!”

But then she realized that wasn’t like Mick at all. She stared at him. “You already knew MaKayla had been arrested. Didn’t you?”

Mick didn’t respond, which let everybody know he already knew.

“Damn, Pop,” Teddy said, “why didn’t you just say that?”

But Roz knew Mick all too well. “They already have help,” Roz said. “Don’t they, Mick?”

Mick nodded his head. “Yes. Gemma’s been asked to represent MaKayla. Reno and Sal are going with her. They’re expected in Jericho this morning.”

Nikki smiled. Nothing got past that man!

But Teddy and Roz were pissed. “You could have just told us that,” said Teddy.

“You need to cut that shit out,” said Roz.

Mick looked at her. “What shit?”

“Noncommunication,” Roz said as she took a finger and pushed it against his forehead. “That’s what shit!”

Then Roz shook her head. “That poor girl,” she said. “And Brent! Arresting her. But it’s so Brent. He’s just like Big Daddy. I can just kick his ass.”

“He’s a lawman,” said Mick. “And he’s that rare one that’s not corrupt. What do you expect?”

“Family first,” said Roz. “That’s what she expects.”

“There ya go, Ma,” Teddy said, pointing at Roz in agreement. “That’s it.”

But Mick was already standing up, which prompted all of them, except Roz, to stand too. “You and Nikki get to work,” he said to Teddy. “I want to know where every single one of my shipments are and I want to know by close of business today.” Then he looked at Roz. “Deuce will be here soon. Get dressed.”

“And what are you going to do?” asked Nikki with a smile.

“None of your got damn business,” Mick responded, not smiling at all.

Which angered Teddy. “Kiss my ass, Pop! Don’t you talk to my wife like that!”

Teddy was saying what Nikki wanted to say, and they both waited anxiously for Mick’s retort.

But Roz didn’t fret it. She knew Mick respected anybody with the balls to stand up to his ornery ass. And Teddy T had plenty balls. Mick respected that. He respected Nikki, too, or neither one of them would have any power whatsoever in his syndicate. And they both knew it. That was why Mick didn’t lash back at his son, and his son and daughter-in-law didn’t take it there either. They both left.

Roz looked at Mick. “Keep that shit up and you’ll die a lonely old man. Your children will all desert you.”

Mick stared at her. “Will you?”

Roz stared at him. “No. But keep it up. That can change on a dime,” she added, and headed back upstairs.

Mick exhaled. He then called the security detail he kept in Jericho and ordered them to assist Reno and Sal in any way they needed assistance. And also to keep him posted too. He felt bad for MaKayla. She didn’t deserve to be raked over the coals like they were doing to her. And although Brent was a good man who believed in the rule of law, he also was a family man who believed in his wife. He was going to play it cool for now. But when that coolness wasn’t enough, Mick knew that he knew who to call.