Page 31

“Turning a corner on two wheels in this tank? Really Uncle Mick ?”

They were in another one of Mick’s big Escalades, this one pearl-white, and he was speeding down long stretches of rural highway outside of Philadelphia trying with all his might to catch up to the elusive Denny Bengino. Denny was in an SUV, too, and had been spotted by some of their guys, but he lost them. Mick was able to track him based on where his guys said they last saw him, and the chopper Mick put in the air were providing the aerial views that kept him in close proximity to Denny’s Infiniti SUV.

But Reno Gabrini was fit to be tied. He was on the front seat, beside Mick, and he saw up close and personal how just on the verge of total out of control Mick was driving. And he was driving with one hand.

“Are you nuts?” Reno was blaring out as Teddy, Nikki, Sal, and Marco, all seated on the second and third rows, were laughing. “You’re gonna kill us if you don’t slow your ass down, Uncle Mick!”

“I know what I’m doing, Reno,” Mick said, still driving with one hand even has he turned those wildly sharp corners. “I’ve been driving since I was eight. I haven’t wrecked yet.”

“That’s a got damn lie,” Teddy said. “All those wrecks you’ve had, Pop!”

“See, you have had wrecks!” Reno blared.

Mick laughed.

“Just slow down, Mick, okay?” Reno was still insisting. “You’ve got visuals on the man. That chopper won’t lose him. What are you risking our lives for?”

“Ah shut your trap, Reno,” Sal said. “That’s what you get for wanting to be the big man by sitting up front with Uncle Mick. And for that arrogance your ass is going through the windshield first. Your ass gonna soften the blow when our asses fly through.”

Reno looked back at Sal as they were laughing. “You know how ridiculous you sound?”

“You know how ridiculous you sound?” Sal shot back at him.

“There’s that motherfucker,” Mick said, and they all looked out of that windshield. And there it was, that dark grey Infiniti QX60 SUV, speeding around another corner. But Mick was right on his tail and sped around that corner too, forcing Reno to complain some more. But they had him.

And when he ran into a dead end street and turned into what looked like an old, abandoned restaurant parking lot, Mick sped right behind him, hoping to trap him in.

But as soon as Mick drove around back, he suddenly realized he was the one being trapped and it was all a part of Bengino’s plan. Because as soon as he drove back there, a group of capos came out of the back of the building and began firing on the Escalade. But to their shock, Mick didn’t cower and began backing back trying to get away from there. He, instead, floored the gas pedal and ran right into the men. Some of them he was able to knock into the air and then run them over, while Teddy, Nikki, and Marco, and Reno and Sal turned their attention to the remaining gunmen as they began firing on the men at every angle.

And when Denny, seemingly realizing his scheme had backfired, tried to turn his SUV around and get out of the back of that building, Mick would have none of that. He floored his Escalade again and ran dead smack into the Infiniti, causing it to slide sideways until it crashed into a side wall and stalled.

As Denny and Vivian began climbing out of the SUV’s windows, Mick, Teddy, and Marco got out of the Escalade and began running for the two perps since they were who they wanted. Nikki and the Gabrinis were all still shooting it out with the remaining gunmen, providing cover as the others ran down Denny and Vivian.

Vivian and Denny made a hard run for it, but Vivian made the mistake of stopping, and then turning around ready to fire. Marco was closest to him, and would have had to kill his best friend or be killed, but Teddy, seeing it, fired first. Teddy took Vivian out for Marco.

Marco looked back at his father and stumbled, but he knew the job wasn’t finished. He stepped over Vivian, purposely stomping him as he did, and ran after Denny.

Denny was still running hard, and he managed to get as far as the front of the old building, but Marco was younger and stronger and ran him down. When he made that last leap at Denny, he knocked him down and fell on top of him. Then he rolled him over, Teddy ran up and straddled Denny with his body, and put a gun to his temper. Then Mick made it up to the three younger men.

Mick knelt down beside Marco as Teddy questioned Denny. “We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t know everything that’s already happened,” Teddy said. “Now I need to hear it from you. Why did you do it?”

When Denny went to open his mouth, Mick sat his shoe on it. “One lie and I’ll shove my foot up your mouth and your ass. And then I’ll really get to work on you.” Then Mick removed his shoe.

By now, Nikki and the Gabrinis had finished off the gunmen and ran around front to assist Mick and Teddy. But when they saw Vivian dead and Denny pinned to the ground, it was clear they needed no assistance.

“Why?” Teddy asked Denny again.

“Money. Big money. Millions.”

“What you so starved for money for? I never heard of Bengino’s organization in financial trouble.”

“But I am.”

“What’s your poison?”

“Drugs. I sold plenty last year for this cartel, but I came up short this year when I used as many as I sold. And I couldn’t get the money turned over fast enough to risk my death by cartel. So I went to my supplier. He wouldn’t give me drugs, but he’d give me money if I did a job for him.”

“What job?” Mick asked.

“Provide the men to take out your kids,” Denny said. “I got with Denardo, and he took it from there.”

“How much was this supplier willing to pay to take out my children?”

“Twenty five million dollars.”

“Damn!” said Marco.

“All after the job is completed.”

“And when you didn’t complete the job?” asked Teddy.

“I had to try and try again. But all my guys had been killed that I relied on, and then you started picking off the ones that were helping me coordinate.”

“Including Potter Rarsi?” Nikki asked. She needed to know once and for all if he was involved.

A look of hatred came into Denny’s eyes. “He was a has-been that my old man had all this faith in. I should have been boss. But he conned my old man into elevating him. Then he tried to con my old man into elevating Teddy. But I knew, if I took out his siblings, my old man wouldn’t trust him to run his hair dryer.”

“I thought you said you did it for the money?”

“I did. And to discredit Teddy too. That’s why the guy came to me. He knew I hated the Sinatras.”

“Was Potter Rarsi involved?” Nikki asked again.

“No,” Denny said. “I wouldn’t let him in on something that good. Besides, he liked the Sinatras. We were never on the same page. When Renardo gave us the blueprint to attack your safe house, we took Vivian, in case we needed his services again, and we took Potter Rarsi out. I did that part.”

Marco frowned. “What do you mean you took him out? He survived.”

Denny seemed genuinely surprised.

“Potts was shot,” said Teddy, “but Doc says he’s gonna make it.”

“That’s how you found me? Rarsi told you?”

“When Potts said D,” Teddy said, “we assumed he meant Denardo. But it didn’t matter. Both of your asses were involved. Denardo brought us to you.”

“And you’re going to take us to the money man,” said Mick. “Who is he?”

“I never met him. I only worked through his middleman.”

“Who’s that?”

“Josh Lingus.

They all looked at each other. “Never heard of him,” said Mick.

“Wait a minute,” said Teddy, and they all looked at him. “Does this Josh have a woman?”

“Yeah. Caitlan somebody. Why?”

Nikki looked at Denny. “Caitlan Downs?”

“Yeah, that’s the name. Her old man’s the middleman. They live in this regular house in the suburbs like their ordinary people. Ordinary hell.”

“That’s why she bumped into you at the bar,” said Nikki. “They probably were going to try to take you down then.”

Teddy nodded. “Maybe so,” he said.

“Who are these people?” Sal asked.

But Teddy needed to be sure. “Give us the address,” he said, Denny did, and then Teddy stood up. “I know’em,” he said.

Then it was Mick’s time.

Denny was the point man to murder his children.

There was no getting out that alive.

But Denny wanted no parts of Mick’s brand of justice. He adroitly grabbed Marco’s gun and turned it on himself. But Mick shot him before he could shoot himself. Mick shot him until he emptied every bullet. It was overkill and even Mick knew it. But in his mind, Denny Bengino deserved every shot. He came for Mick’s children. He brought it all on himself.