CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Patrick Donahue and Beppie Gastone sat in the middle of the basement with guards on both sides. Mick, Roz, and Big Daddy stood in front of them. Reno was on one side of the room and Sal was on the other side, and both were watching the two prisoners intensely. For the longest time you could hear a pin drop as the two men, who both looked terrified, stared from one face to another face. But nobody said a word.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Mick pulled out his revolver and shot both men in the knees.

Both men screamed out in pain, with Patrick so overcome that he fell out of his chair holding his knee. But the guard grabbed him and sat him back in his seat.

"You shot me!" Patrick said as if it never occurred to him that such could be the outcome. He was already so badly beaten he could hardly see.

"Boss, please," Beppie said, begging for his life.

But Mick didn't want to hear it. "Here's the deal," he said. "If you tell any more lies to me you will be shot until you are dead. I won't give you a warning. I won't ask you to brace yourself. I'll load your asses up with bullets until it's over. Now who was it that ordered you to claim Monk Paletti and Trevor Reese met with you? And I know that A.I. video is bullshit, so don't mention it," he warned Patrick. "Who ordered those names to be used?"

They both looked even more defeated than they did when the Sinatras and Gabrinis first entered that basement. And Beppie, who knew Mick never lied, gave up the game first. "Carlton Rickie," he said. "He had just gotten out of the joint. He said Junno was giving him rope."

Roz frowned."Rope?"

"That means he could freelance," Mick said.

"Who's Junno?" Big Daddy asked.

"He runs the Costantino crime family," said Mick. "The assholes that tried to ambush me years ago."

"When Bella saved your life?" Roz asked.

Mick nodded. "That ambush, yes."

Big Daddy and the Gabrinis looked at him. Bella saved his life? That was news to them.

"Was Junno involved?" Mick asked Beppie.

"I don't know. He didn't tell me none of that."

Then Mick looked at Patrick.

"Don't lie, Patrick," Roz warned him. "You will die if you lie."

Patrick exhaled. "Carlton Rickie hired me too. He said he had the mob behind him, but he didn't say which mob. He was the one that paid some guy to pretend to be Trevor Reese coming to my hotel room."

"Did you ever meet with Trevor? Or with Monk Paletti?"

"No.Just Rickie.Nobody else."

Then the door opened, and Nikki peeped in. She looked at Mick. "A moment?"

Everybody knew Nikki would not disturb Mick like that unless it was vital. Mick and Roz, along with Reno and Sal, went out of the room.

"What is it?" Mick asked her.

"One of our guys, a corrections officer, got Pock McCanns talking."

"Who's Pock McCanns?" Roz asked.

"The man that attacked Ursula. What did he say?" Mick asked.

"He said he lied about Big Daddy being involved. He said he was ordered to lie."

"Ordered by who?"

"Carlton Rickie."

Reno nodded. "So now we know it was Rickie doing the dirty work. Everybody's pointing in the same direction."

"He wasn't doing that shit alone," said Mick. "Forget the money. He didn't have the reach."

"Unless it was the Costantino crew," said Sal. "They ain't much, but they got reach."

"He also said," Nikki continued, "that he knows who shot Mrs. Jenay."

When they heard that, everybody went still. "Who?" Big Daddy asked her.

"A guy named Sugar Rossi."

"Rossi?"

Everybody looked at Sal. "You know him?" Big Daddy asked him.

Sal nodded. "Yeah I know Sugar Rossi. He used to run hookers for the Costantino family. But that was back in the day."

"But like Carlton Rickie," said Reno, "he was tied to the Costantinos too."

But Mick was looking at Nikki. "There's more," he said.

"Yes, sir. Pock McCanns claim to know where we can find Sugar Rossi. All he asks in return is protection in prison."

"After what he did to Teddy's mother?" asked Reno. "Oh he'll get protection alright."

"Where did he say we can find him?" Mick asked.

"The Alberdeen projects. Apartment 169. Ground floor."

But Roz was worried. "It could be a setup, Mick."

"He's in custody," Sal said. "He set us up he's dead. Why would he do that?"

"Sal's right," said Reno. "He's a mob guy. He knows better."

"Reno and Sal, you stay here with the family," Mick ordered. "Nikki, you come with Charles and me."

"Nikki?" Sal asked, surprised. "I'm pulling rank here. What the fuck Nikki can do that I can't do?"

Mick gave Sal a look that brook no debate. And Sal raised his hands. "Alright already. I'll play the nursemaid. The third most powerful mob boss in the world, but I'll play the nursemaid."

But Reno looked at him. "I thought you said you wasn't in the mob at all," he said, reminding Sal that he always denied any mob ties whatsoever, even though they all knew it wasn't true.

"Kiss my ass, Reno," was all Sal could think to say. "Kiss my ass."

Roz gave Mick a kiss, instead, and begged him to be careful.