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After Sal saw his son in the Recovery room and saw for himself that he was alert and thrilled that his old man was okay, and was asking constantly for ice cream, he thanked God for several minutes.

He was still amazed that what looked so bad was turning out so good.

He didn’t want to leave his side. He didn’t want to let him out of his sight.

But he had a family to protect.

And vengeance to sow.

And the only way that was going to happen was if he got the man responsible in his anxious grasp.

Amelia wanted to go too, she used to be a major mobster herself (and some in the family believed she still was), but Hammer Reese wouldn’t allow it.

Since they pulled their divorce papers and decided to give their marriage another try, he was being much firmer with her.

She didn’t like it, and smart money was on her eventually leaving Hammer again (or law and order Hammer getting tired of trying to quench her appetite for that mob life and leaving her), but for now she was putting up with it.

She stayed at the hospital. As did Big Daddy and Robby to ensure the family remained fully staffed and protected.

Sal and Reno and Tommy and Mick made their way out of the hospital and hopped into Mick’s big black Cadillac Escalade. Mick was behind the wheel. It was time to go pick up Danny Testa.

“How did you find him?” Reno asked as Mick drove. Tommy was up front with Mick. Reno and Sal were on the middle row behind them.

“You heard him, Uncle Mick?” Sal asked when they got no response. “How did you manage to find Big Dan so fast?”

“That’s my business.” Then Mick looked suspiciously at Sal in the rearview. “What was that meeting about?” he asked him.

That’s my business , Sal wanted to throw back in Mick’s face, but he wanted to live to see his son again. He flipped the script. “Didn’t Monk tell you?”

Reno frowned. “What does Frankie Paletti have to do with your meeting?”

“Monk didn’t tell me shit,” Mick responded to Sal’s question, “and I didn’t ask him to.”

“Didn’t Tommy tell you? He tells you everything else.”

“Don’t include me in that cloak and dagger shit you were up to. I didn’t know anything about that meeting,” Tommy said.

“I’m with Tommy,” said Reno. “Why you didn’t mention this meeting to anybody? Why your ass being so secretive about it? You and Robby both?”

“Keep Robby out of this,” said Sal. “He does what he’s told.”

“But lately you been telling him some wild ass shit to do,” said Reno.

“This is an A and B conversation, Reno. C your ass out of it.”

“Yeah I got your ass right here,” said Reno.

“That’s enough!” said Tommy. “Answer Uncle Mick’s question, Sal. What was that meeting about?”

Sal would rather spar with Reno all day long than incur the wrath of Mick the Tick.

But he saw Mick’s hard green eyes look at him through the rearview as he drove.

Even his sleepy eye was wide open. Sal knew he had no choice but to tell it.

“Danny had this bright idea about the two of us and Frankie Paletti hooking up.”

“What hooking up?” asked Reno. “Like on a date?”

Everybody in the Escalade looked at Reno as if he’d lost his damn mind. “On a date, Reno?” asked an astounded Tommy. “Seriously? You’ve been in that casino too long, bro.”

Mick smiled.

“But now you see what Ievel of moronic man I have to deal with on a consistent basis over here?” asked Sal.

“Ah fuck you!” said Reno. “You’re the one that mentioned hooking up.”

“He want us to form a merger, Reno. That kind of hooking up. One syndicate.”

“One syndicate under who?” asked Reno. “Monk Paletti?”

“Very funny,” said Sal. “Under me, you moron!”

“Call me moron again,” Reno warned Sal, “and you’re gonna find some moron where the sun don’t shine.”

“Are you saying Frankie Paletti wanted this merger too?” Tommy ignored Reno and asked Sal.

“That’s what Danny’s saying. I only mentioned it to Monk in passing. But that was his plan.”

Sal looked at Mick to see if he was angry. He knew he was disappointed. If that merger had happened, Sal would be giving Mick a run for his money in terms of power. They could crown Sal boss of all bosses one of these days.

But Mick wasn’t even looking at him through his rearview mirror anymore.

He was staring straight ahead. Sal and Reno glanced at each other.

Tommy glanced at Mick. His silence spoke loud and clear to them: he was pissed.

He probably thought of the mere suggestion of that kind of heavyweight merger as a betrayal. But Sal meant no such thing.

“It was an intriguing proposition, Uncle Mick,” Sal felt compelled to say. “That’s all.”

Mick looked through his rearview at Sal then. “Bullshit,” he said.

And that was all he said about it. They rode the rest of the way in silence.

But when Mick headed west out of Vegas, toward Pahrump, it began to look like rural land to Tommy. “Where are we going?” he asked Mick.

Sal nor Reno expected Mick to answer. When he was in his feelings it was better to leave him alone.

But Tommy was his favorite hands down. Had it been Reno or Sal asking that question, he would have given them a shut the fuck up chilling look.

But it was his precious Tommy. He answered his question. “A fishing hole,” Mick said.

Tommy smiled. “Big Dan Testa holed up in a fishing lodge? How in the world did you figure this one out, Uncle Mick?”

“When I found out he was involved,” Mick said to Tommy, “I knew he never played the obvious.”

“Yeah, because the obvious would have had him getting as far away from the scene of the crime as he could get. Like Europe or somewhere.”

“That’s what most would do. They’d leave the country until the heat was off.

But that’s never been Danny Testa. He bought a fishing shack back when we used to run together.

He took me to it once when we both had to go into hiding for a few days.

I’m certain he forgot about that. I don’t forget anything,” Mick added and glanced through the rearview at Sal once again.

Sal had it. “What do you want from me, Uncle Mick? I can’t form my own alliances? Is that what you’re saying to me?”

“An alliance is not a merger,” Mick said clearly. “An alliance is a treaty. It’s an agreement that I won’t fuck with you if you don’t fuck with me. A merger is a marriage. Two becomes one. Don’t get that twisted.”

Sal frowned. “What are you worried I’ll become bigger than your ass? Is that what this is?”

As soon as Sal spoke those disrespectful words, Tommy and Reno yelled Sal ! in disgust. Because they knew what was coming. And it came like wildfire.

Mick slung his big SUV to the side of the road, hopped out without even closing the door back, hurried around to the passenger side back door before any of them could unbuckle and get out too, and he grabbed Sal by the catch of his suit coat and flung him out of that SUV.

Although Sal respected Mick above any human being, he wasn’t about to let him manhandle him. He grabbed Mick by his suit coat too, jacking him up too.

And there they were: The two most powerful mob bosses on the planet standing on the side of a rural road about to mix it up as if they were two street thugs. Which they both could be when they wanted to be.

It was tense. So tense that Tommy and Reno had unbuckled and gotten out of the SUV, too, just in case they tried to kill each other.

But cooler heads prevailed. They stared each other down.

They felt each other out. And Mick’s eyes seemed to realize who he was dealing with.

Sal Gabrini was the second most powerful mobster in the world, second only to him, and Mick respected that.

It was hard earned. Sal was one man he was not going to be able to control.

Besides, he’d just been through hell and back. If anybody deserved grace in that moment, it was Sal.

But although Mick knew all of this, it still took a minute before he ultimately let Sal go. And Sal, taking his cues from Mick, let him go too.

Reno and Tommy inwardly sighed relief that disaster was averted as they knew what Mick was capable of and both of them would have come to Sal’s defense. But it wasn’t necessary. All four big men got back into the big SUV, buckled up again, and Mick sped away.

They arrived at the fishing shack on the back side of the pond. Surrounded by thick brush, a carload of Mick’s capos were in their own car staking out the place.

“Any movement?” Mick asked as the lead capo came to his driver side window.

“No sir.”

“Who all are in there?”

“Just Danny. He’s so scared he didn’t let his own syndicate know where he was going to hole up. He ordered his entire crew to get out of town and to not communicate with one another. Hitting Sal Gabrini’s son? That fucker got to be crazy.”

“If he isn’t nuts he will be when I get through with him,” said Sal.

The capo looked toward the back. “How’s Lucky doing, Sal Luca?”

“He’s recovering. He’s doing good.”

“Ah that’s great. That’s real good. I’ll tell the fellars. They really like Lucky. He’s one of a kind.”

“Yes he is,” said Sal.

“How certain are you it’s just Danny?” Mick asked.

“One hundred percent, Boss. He was already here when you told us to check the place out. He’s so confident nobody knows about this joint that he’s been outside twice getting junk from his car.”

“If any of his guys were there they would be making those trips to his car for him,” said Tommy.

“Right,” said the capo. “That’s why we’re certain it’s just him. His fat ass don’t hardly wanna pick up a piece of paper. And he’s always been that way.”

Mick knew it too. He nodded. “We’re going in,” he said. “Get in your vehicle and follow me around this pond. I’ll drive up front, but I want you to park in the back. You’ll be backup if anything goes sideways.”

“And if you hear action inside you come inside,” Reno ordered. “Don’t pull none of that Robby Yale bullshit.”