Page 26 of Nikki Sinatra: For Her Lover

Nikki knew that Emilio’s car had made a left hand turn so she turned left too. She sped along the highway as Teddy called for Marco to get to Mick’s house to supervise security and protect the family. Mick was looking hard for Emilio’s car.

“Coming to my house,” Mick kept saying, as if their attack was a personal affront to his reputation. “Putting a hit on my men at my house?” He was still furious.

“There it is!” Nikki said and slammed on brakes. Teddy slammed against the back of the front seat.

Nikki backed up quickly and turned down a side road where she spotted the getaway car. She sped behind it.

In the real world there was no way a tank of an SUV like Mick’s Escalade would ever catch up to that small car Emilio was driving, but all of Mick’s fleet of Cadillacs were custom made. Nikki was able to fly.

“Be careful, Nikki,” Teddy was saying.

But Mick was impressed. “Keep it floored,” he said. Living on the edge was his stock and trade. “Don’t let that motherfucker get away!”

Nikki wasn’t about to. She flew through those side streets almost as fast as Emilio was flying.

But she knew she needed a break. Even tricked-out, no way was that Escalade catching up.

No matter how fast she went, the laws of physics prevented it.

But she was going to be in position when that break came.

That break didn’t come for miles. They were already on the outskirts of town when the chase began since Mick lived far away from any other homes, but now they were out of town as they continued to chase Emilio.

Teddy phoned Marco again, to make sure he was on his way, and he was. “What’s happening?” Marco asked.

“I’ll fill you in later,” Teddy said. “Just get there.”

“I’m on it, Pop. I’m on it!”

Teddy was pleased to know that he had a son he could rely on even though Marco was a grown man when he found out he even existed. He ended the call.

“I thought you wrecked his Bugatti,” Mick said.

“He’s got my ‘Vet,” said Teddy. “We rode in Ma’s Bentley to your house.”

“And that’s the last time your ass better be behind that wheel,” said Mick as Nikki, still giving chase, turned another corner so sharply they nearly tipped over.

“Careful, Nikki,” Teddy insisted. He lived on the edge, too, and pushed the envelope as much as he could just like Mick, but not when his wife’s life was involved. He couldn’t be as protective of Nikki the way Mick was of Roz, but he wanted to be.

But when Emilio turned onto a long road surrounded by nothingness, Mick and Teddy knew immediately that this was the time to act. Given how fast that car was going and Emilio’s expertise behind the wheel, they knew without saying a word to each other that this might just be their last opportunity.

“Look in the back, Ted,” Mick ordered as he pressed the overhead button that opened the double sunroof.

Teddy reached in the back, pulled the lever and pulled out not one, but two fully loaded, fully assembled assault rifles.

He tossed one to his father and kept one for himself.

And as Nikki continued to fly behind that Emilio’s car, Mick and Teddy both stood up, their bodies halfway out of the SUV and aimed their weapons.

“I got left, Pop,” Teddy said as he aimed for the tires on the left side of the car. Mick aimed for the tires on the right.

As soon as that getaway car turned another corner and they were able to get a good look at those tires, neither man hesitated. They fired out a volley of shots that hit the target more than they missed it.

Mick hit both of his and Teddy followed suit and all four tires on that car immediately began to deflate. And Emilio began losing control.

As he began swerving from one side of the road to the other side, Nikki began catching up. But when Emilio looked as if he was losing the battle, Mick yelled out. “Get closer, Nikki!”

Nikki floored it, getting right behind the car as Emilio was struggling mightily to keep that car on the road.

“Get right up on it,” said Mick, “and attach it.”

Teddy understood why his father was asking her to do such a thing, but his heart was hammering. “Be careful, Nikki,” he yelled out. “If you can’t do it, back off.”

It was a command he would have never given to any other second-in-command and he and Mick knew it, but Mick didn’t object. He agreed with Teddy.

But Nikki never liked the training wheels both men kept on her, and she was glad to do the deed.

It took several attempts, as the car wasn’t going in a straight line, but was still swerving.

But as soon as she saw that opening, she took it.

She rammed into the back of the car. But instead of backing off, she attempted to steer it to a stop which, she knew, was Mick’s point.

She also knew it might not work because there was nothing to force the stop but slowed momentum.

Which was exactly what happened. The car began to slow down.

The fear was that Emilio would regain control and attempt to speed away. But Mick and Teddy disabused him of that notion when they began firing shots on either side of the car, making clear that if he tried to flee he would be dead.

Emilio was apparently no fool, Nikki thought, because as soon as that car finally came to a stop, he placed his hands out of the windows and into the air.

Nikki came to a stop too. Mick and Teddy hurried out. But it was Nikki who got out faster and beat both men to the driver side of that car.

She flung open his car door, grabbed his skinny ass out, and threw him against the side of the car.

And for the first time in over a decade, other than that moment at the train tracks, they were face to face.

And he smiled that reptilian smile she hated. “If it ain’t Nikki Baker in the flesh,” he said. “You ran away from me the first time. Why so courageous now?” Then he looked at Mick and Teddy running up. “Oh how I wonder if it’s because you have your husband and your boyfriend for back up.”

Nikki punched him so hard the sweat flew from his face. Even he was spreading that bullshit too? “You got jokes,” she said. “We got guns.”

Teddy grabbed him by his shirt. “Bring your ass on,” he said as he began dragging Emilio to the Escalade.

Nikki could feel Mick’s stare, but she dared not look at him. All of it, from her ever getting involved with a slimeball like Emilio to his little comment about her relationship with Mick, was shameful to her.

“Good job, Nikki,” Mick said to her.

When he said those words, she looked at him. Was he truly unbothered by all the death she’d caused the family? By her past? By all the ridiculous rumors that were flying around?

To her surprise, when she looked into his eyes, she didn’t see the judgement she expected.

She didn’t see his grief over the fact that he thought she was smart when the evidence showed that she was dumb as rocks to fool around with a drug dealer like Emilio Cabrera and become his drug mule.

But she saw concern in his eyes. True concern. And she appreciated it. She needed it.

“Thank you, sir,” she said, trying with all she had to maintain her brave front and never disappoint him again. And then she followed Teddy to the SUV.

Mick walked slowly back to the SUV as he watched Teddy put Emilio inside and Nikki walk up behind him.

Teddy wished Nikki had never gotten involved in the family business, but Mick wished neither one of them had ever gotten involved.

Now they had a baby too. A precious little girl.

Nikki was blaming herself for the carnage, but at the end of the day, in totality, it was never anybody’s fault but Mick’s.

His heart was heavy.