Mick Sinatra: The Harder They Fall (22 page)

“Dapper
Tom,” Mick said.
 
“It’s always good to
see your gorgeous face.”

“Uh-oh,”
Tommy said playfully.
 
“Don’t tell me
those bullets changed your orientation.”

Everybody in
the room laughed.
 
Mick had to smile at
that too.
 
“Yeah, right,” he said.
 
“Get the fuck out of here!”

Tommy
grinned.
 
“Good old Uncle Mick.
 
His lips are never far from the F word.
 
Yeah, he’s back,” he said, they all laughed
again, as Tommy made way for Reno.

“Hey, there,
Michello,” Reno said.
 
“What’s going
on?
 
You need to get out of this bed.”

“Who let
this loser in?” Mick asked, as he and Reno smiled and shook hands.

“I tell you,
bud,” Reno said, “you’re a wonderful sight to see.
 
You just gave us the best going away gift we
could have ever hoped for.”

“Going
away?” Mick asked.
 
“What going
away?
 
You just got here.”

“No,
your
ass just got here,” Reno corrected
him.
 
“We been here.”
 
Then Reno squeezed his hand.
 
“Glad to have you back.”

Mick felt
Reno’s love.
 
It was his connection to
Reno that led him to connect with Tommy and Sal.

Sal
, Mick thought as Reno moved aside and Sal walked up
to the bedside.
 
Of all of the Gabrinis,
his relationship with Sal was by far the most contentious and complicated.
 
The fact that both of them ran massive
underworld syndicates had something to do with it.
 
The fact that both of them were stubborn
asses who were constantly in conflict had everything to do with it.

But of all
of the Gabrinis, for some strange reason Mick loved Sal the most.
  
And that was why, when Sal accused him of
being in cahoots with Joey over that kidnapping scheme, it broke his heart.

Sal felt
awkward as hell.
 
But his relief that
Mick was okay overcame his awkwardness.
 
“Hey,” he said.

Ordinarily,
neither man would be given to public displays of emotion.
 
But this was not an ordinary moment.
 
Mick had been pulled back from certain death,
and Sal didn’t hesitate to come to his aid.
 
And Mick knew what it felt like to love a child.
 
Sal probably would have accused the Pope of
kidnapping if there was a scintilla of evidence in that direction.
 
He just wanted his child back.
 
And he got his child back.
 
And he spared Mick’s child Joey because Mick
asked him to.
 
They both knew they had to
move on.

That was
why, when Sal reached out to shake Mick’s hand the way Tommy and Reno had, Mick
pulled Sal into his arms.
 
Everybody in
the room were relieved.
 
Especially Big
Daddy, who knew how painful Sal’s accusation had been for Mick.
 
But once again, Mick forgave Sal.
 
They held onto each other for a long time,
and then they let go.

But Sal
wasn’t going to let it end without those words being spoken.
 
It was important to him.
 
“I apologize to you, Uncle Mick,” he said
heartfelt.
 
“I should have never come at
you the way I did.
 
I was wrong.”

Mick felt a
swell of emotion.
 
He nodded.
 
“Your apology is accepted,” he said.
 
“The deed is forgotten.”

Sal
smiled.
 
Joey felt the time was now.
 
He decided to step up too.
 
“I apologize, Sal,” he said to him.
 
“What I did was wrong.
 
Can you accept my apology?”

“No,” Sal
said bluntly.
 
Mick had been accused of
doing something he didn’t do.
 
But Joey
did what he was accused of.
 
That was a
different level for Sal.
 
“One day I’ll
accept that apology,” he added.
 
“One day
I’ll wipe the slate clean and we can move on.”
 
Then he looked at Joey with hard eyes.
 
“That day ain’t today.”

Joey’s heart
sank.
 
“Why are all of you men so hard
hearted?” he angrily asked.
 
“I made a
mistake, geez.
 
I admitted my mistake.
 
Why can’t you just forget about it?”

Everybody
looked at Joey.
 
Sal wanted to lash out,
but for Mick’s recovery sake he didn’t.
 
But he made himself clear again.
 
“Don’t push it, kid,” he warned.

“Come on,
Joey,” Teddy said, leaving the room and grabbing his brother with him.
 
“Let’s give them some space.”

Joey
reluctantly left.
 
Mick felt bad for his
son, but he had to learn.

Then Roz
arrived with the twins, Mick saw that they were fine, and then he was back in
survival mode.
 
He needed to have a word
with the Gabrinis.
 
After everybody left,
they got down to business.

“What do we
know?” Mick asked them.

“Not a damn
thing,” Sal said.
 
“Nobody knows
anything.”

“And those
who may know something,” Tommy said, “aren’t telling us.”

“Roz seems
to think they could have been targeting her,” Reno said.

Mick
nodded.
 
“Yeah, I see where she would
think that.
 
She was the target
earlier.
 
They wanted to tear her down to
get to me.
 
And that may be what’s going
on here.”

Tommy
studied Mick.
 
“But?” he asked him.

“But that’s
not what it feels like to me,” Mick said.
 
“They weren’t trying to take her out, or me out.
 
They were trying to take us both out.
 
And probably the twins right along with us.”

“Geez, don’t
say that,” Reno said, running his hand through his already ruffled hair.
 
“Child killers too?
 
Give me a break!”

“Teddy was
in charge?” Mick asked.

“Yeah,” Sal
said.

“How did he
do?”

There was
hesitation.
 
Then Sal spoke up.
 
“He dropped the ball security-wise,” he said
honestly.
 
“But other than that he did okay.”

Mick was
concerned.
 
“How did he drop the ball?”

“He failed
to secure you and the family at the hospital.
 
He relied on the local police to be your guards.”

Mick
frowned.
 
“Who was guarding Rosalind and
the twins?”

“The cops,”
Reno said.
 
“Big mistake.”

“Big fucking
mistake,” Mick said angrily.
 
“Ted knows
better than that.
 
And where was my
people?”

“He ordered
all of them to hit the streets,” Sal said.
 
“To search down intel.
 
He figured
the number one goal was to find the assholes who pulled this stunt.
 
But Tommy schooled him.
 
He now knows security is always first.”

“What about
my men?
 
What about Danny and
Angelo?
 
Why didn’t they school him?”

“They said
he was in charge and they took their walking papers from him,” Reno said.

“Bullshit,”
Mick said.

“We know,”
Tommy said.

“What I
think is going on,” Sal said, and everybody looked at him, “is
self-preservation.
 
I think Danny and Ang
figured you wasn’t getting out of this alive, and Teddy was going to be the
boss.
 
I think they were all about protecting
their position in the organization, not protecting your family.”

Mick
exhaled.
 
When he was back on his feet
again, he had a lot of restructuring to do.
 
Beginning with those two assholes.

Then he
looked at the Gabrinis.
 
“So you guys are
getting out of Dodge?” he asked.
 
He was
smiling, but they could see the apprehension in his eyes.

“Not today,”
Tommy responded for all three of them.
 
“We want to check on a few more leads.
 
Just to make sure we aren’t missing anything.
 
We’ll pull out tomorrow.”

Mick
appreciated it.
 
“Okay,” he said.

After word
got out that Mick was back, every major mobster on the east coast, with others
making the journey from the west coast, arrived at his bedside.
 
They were all packing, but they had to leave
their weapons at the gate, as they paid their respects to the biggest boss of
them all.
 
It was a lot of work for Roz,
as she had to host all of these mobsters, but it was worth it.
 
They lit up Mick’s world.
 
They gave Mick a chance to ask questions, to
find out what they knew, to feel like his old self again.

Three of the
biggest names in the business, the heads of the Renault, Vietti, and Parusshi
crime families, arrived within minutes of each other, and they were
particularly appreciated when they came to pay their respects.
 
Because they were completely plugged into the
Philly underworld and would know things the average boss wouldn’t know.
 
Mick and the Gabrinis were hoping they could
shed some light on the situation.
 
The
Gabrinis even stuck around, delaying their flight, to see if they had any
news.
 
Big Daddy and Brent, however, had
already gone.

And after
the mobsters were introduced to Roz, and Roz led them upstairs to Mick, she
stayed around too.
 
She was as hopeful as
the Gabrinis.
 
They needed answers.
 
They needed news.

But after
nearly an hour of laughter and conversation, it became painfully obvious even
to Roz that they were in the dark too.
 
The mobsters knew no more than the rest of them knew.
 
Mick and the bosses continued to talk, but it
was time for the Gabrinis to go.

After they
said their goodbyes to Mick and his visitors, Roz walked them outside to their
waiting limousine.
 
It all felt so
bittersweet to her.
 
Roz was grateful
that they stayed as long as they stayed.
 
She knew they had families and lives to live too.
 
But with Mick down, they gave her that sense
of peace and security.
 
They made Roz
feel that it was all going to be alright.
 
Now she felt as if her security blanket was being snatched from
her.
 
It needed to be snatched.
 
She had no business depending on a blanket
anyway.
 
But it still left its sting.

“Don’t
worry, Roz,” Sal said as their luggage was being placed in the limo.
 
“He’ll be back on his feet in no time.”

“With no
answers still,” Roz said.
 
“That’s going
to be the hard part.
 
Mick doesn’t like
confusion.
 
He likes clear paths.”

Sal
nodded.
 
“I can believe that.
 
No mob boss likes murkiness.”
 
Then Sal caught himself.
 
“But what do I know about mob bosses?” he
asked, as he slung his own luggage in the vehicle.

Tommy and
Reno looked at each other, shook their heads, and laughed.

Inside, the
undeniable mob bosses were about to leave.
 
They had gathered around Mick’s bed to shake his hand and wish him
well.
 
And they were still trying to
figure out who could have pulled this off.

“Maybe it’s
not a mobster at all,” Renault said.
 
“Maybe that’s why we’re drawing blanks.
 
Maybe it’s closer to home.”

“Like who?”
Vietti asked.
 
“His own son’s in
charge.
 
Surely you aren’t suggesting
Teddy had something to do with this?”

“I’m a boss,
what can I say?” Renault said.
 
“I think
everybody’s capable of everything.
 
Including our own sons.
 
Especially if they know getting rid of the old man means they gain
power.”