CHAPTER NINE

The sunlight that flickered in from the second-floor window of the dust-filled warehouse was the only light in the room as Mick Sinatra sat in front of Jonah “The Whale” Tella with his legs crossed and his eyes filled with skepticism. Teddy Sinatra, his oldest living son and the head of his crime syndicate, stood to the right of his chair, while Nikki, the underboss, stood to his left. All of the capos that were in on the capture were waiting outside.

Jonah Tella, a big guy, had already been worked over pretty good by those capos, but Mick had been called in because he had a story to tell.

“You gotta promise me life, Micky.” Jonah Tella’s eyes were nearly swollen shut. “You promise, on your word, that I won’t die and be allowed to leave without any more abuse because that’s what it was: you see what your men did to me like I’m not Jonah Tella anymore? Like they’re equal to me?!”

He settled back down as it was obvious he had no-one’s sympathy in that room. “We go back a long time, Mick. Back when we were gun runners for the same organization. You know me. You know I ain’t got no beef with you. But Teddy T and Nikki, they got these guys screwed in the head. They got them thinking the friend is the enemy and the enemy is the friend.”

“In your case that’s true,” Teddy said.

“Bullshit!” Jonah spat out. “That’s bullshit. I got no beef with your old man and Micky knows it.”

“Then how did our cargo get on your ship?” Teddy shot back. “How did that happen?”

“I don’t know how it happened. I was questioning my guys about it when your dumbass capos shot up my place and grabbed me. I didn’t have time to get any answers.”

“You’ll live,” Mick said to Jonah.

Teddy and Nikki were surprised. They looked at each other.

“What’s the story?” Mick asked his old friend.

“No more abuse from your capos?”

Mick had said all he was going to say about it. Jonah exhaled and sat up straight to relieve some of the pressure on his ribs from all those body blows he endured. But he knew he had to get on with it. Mick the Tick was the coldest bastard he’d ever known. He went hard even when he didn’t have to.

He got on with it. “Nails is back,” he said.

It was such a shocking thing to say that as soon as Mick heard it, he went still. He could not move a muscle. Teddy thought his father had forgotten to breath in that moment. He looked at him. Nikki did too.

But then Mick exhaled. “How do you know this?” he asked Jonah.

“I got guys over in Palermo. More than a handful spotted him around the area. Then wise guys started turning up missing. First in Palermo, then Naples. Then Perugia. Then Turin. Now all over Rome.”

“Any bodies found?”

“One in every town. Just one.”

“Let me guess,” said Mick. “No fingernails. No toenails.”

Jonah nodded his head. “That’s his M.O. That’s his M.O., Micky.”

“Or a copycat,” said Teddy.

“Ain’t no copycat doing this, Teddy T,” Jonah said with exasperation in his voice. “You think I’d bother your old man if it was a copycat doing this shit? Ain’t no copycat! You know why? Because everywhere guys are missing, somebody spotted Nails in that area. Every single time. And these ain’t no foil-on-the-head-Elvis-is-alive conspiracy nutjobs either. These are respectable men that seen his ass. And the way those nails were snatched off?” Jonah shook his head. “Nobody do’em that way but him, Micky.”

“You seen it for yourself?” Nikki asked.

“Hell yeah I saw it. I went to Turin and saw what he did to the guy there. He was a personal friend of mine that turned up dead. And I’m telling you it was Nails that done it. I know his work like the palm of my hand.”

Then Jonah shook his head. “I’m not ready to deal with that asshole again. The world ain’t ready for that again.” Then he looked at Mick. “Are you? Because if he’s coming for anybody, he’s coming for your ass. You were the one that ran him underground.”

Mick knew it too. But unlike Jonah, he wasn’t ready to panic. “You studied his pattern?” Even Mick respected Jonah Tella’s ability to spot geographic patterns that nobody else could spot.

“You know I studied it. I stayed over there damn near a month studying it.”

“Where next?”

“Still Europe. He’s got a lot more hell to raise in Europe. But it’s just a matter of time before he hit the States again.”

“How long you figure?”

“Month. Maybe two. But if he’s hungry enough, if he’s bitter enough, if he’s vengeful enough it could be as soon as after the holidays. But I haven’t seen any indication of any movement like that yet.”

Mick exhaled again. And then stood up, which caused Jonah to flinch. You could never tell with Mick the Tick. He looked up at him trembling inside.

But Mick kept his word. “Let him go,” he said to Teddy. But then he looked at Jonah and pointed his finger at him. “Find out who among your guys stole my cargo, get it back to me, and punish their asses.”

“I will, Micky. You know I will. I don’t play that shit. I was trying to find out what happened when Teddy ordered his guys to kidnap me.”

“If it happens again,” Mick added as if Jonah hadn’t said a word, “then I’ll permanently kidnap you. Capece ?”

“On my life, Micky, it won’t happen again.”

Mick stared at Jonah a moment longer, remembering those good old days himself, and then he walked out of the room, his dress shoes kicking up dust and pounding down hard on the hardwood floor.

“Lucky bastard,” Teddy said to Jonah. Then he looked at Nikki. “Untie him.”

Nikki gave Teddy a look that could melt steel as she went over to Jonah. Teddy stood there momentarily looking at his wife and the second in command of the organization he led as if he had no clue why she was so disdainful of him lately. And then he hurried out of the room to catch up with his father. He knew there would be further instructions.

Jonah, who caught Nikki’s cold look at Teddy, was grinning. “Where’s the love?” he asked sarcastically. “Instead of Cupid drawing his bow, he’s pulling out knives.”

Instead of loosening Jonah rope, Nikki tightened it, causing Jonah to scream out in pain. “ Ouch Nikki !” he cried out. “What’s wrong with you?!”

It was Nikki’s time to laugh.