Page 42 of Nikki Sinatra: For Her Lover
“Remember when I had Hoke look into Juda and Emilio and Jackson Reeves?”
“Jackson Reeves? Him I know,” said Mick.
They looked at him. “You know Jackson Reeves?” Nikki asked.
“He used to run drugs out of Miami years ago. But he got locked up on an L-WOP. I haven’t seen him in a long time.”
“But that’s who Emilio used to work for. He worked for Jackson, and Juda worked for Emilio. Then Emilio took over when Jackson got locked up and everybody was working for him.” Then Nikki looked at Teddy. “But what did Juda tell you?”
Teddy leaned back. “He didn’t tell me any of this shit. Hoke told me before we came over here that Emilio’s not dead.”
Roz was audibly aghast. Mick was inaudibly so. Nikki was angry. “He’s not dead? You’re saying Juda lied to me?”
“Apparently so. An attempt was made on Emilio’s life, we got that on video in some parking garage, but Emilio took out the hired gun himself.”
“But why would this Juda person lie?” asked Roz.
“The money,” said Nikki. “I owed him ninety thousand dollars after I confirmed Mill was dead. For a guy like Juda, that’s a lot of cash.” Then Nikki leaned back too.
“So where do we go from here?” Roz asked.
“Your ass staying out of it and I mean that, Rosalyn,” Mick said. Then he looked at Teddy and Nikki. “We ran the backgrounds on the army that showed up at that trailer last night. They were all your garden variety criminals who were paid handsomely to do the job.”
“Were they locals?” Teddy asked.
“Every single one.”
“So he didn’t bring the army with him,” said Nikki. “That’s a good sign. This may end sooner than I feared if he doesn’t have backup.”
“He killed three of my men. He’s on the clock now. I want him found and I want him found yesterday. If he thinks he’s out for revenge, then revenge he will get. In reverse,” Mick said.
Nikki’s heart grew faint. More carnage. More of their men would have to die all because of her. She looked at Mick. “With all due respect, sir, those were my men too. I supervise them. I was their boss. And since I’m the reason they’re dead, I’m going to be the one to find Emilio and find out why. You can help me if you would like, but it’s my job, it’s my duty, to handle this.”
Teddy and Roz couldn’t believe Nikki went there. They looked at Mick. They knew he could explode on her for even suggesting he would follow her lead. Even Teddy, who pushed back against Mick more than any other member of the family, never went that far. And they could tell he was pissed by the set of his jaw. But it was Nikki after all.
It took a minute as Mick sat there, his legs still crossed, his eyes still staring into Nikki’s. But then he spoke. “We’ll figure it out together,” he said. “You, me, and Teddy. But I don’twant any bullshit, Nikki. If there’s more to this situation, you’d better tell it now. You decide to tell it later, or if I find out on my own, I’ll kick your ass.”
Nikki nodded. “Yes sir.”
Mick sounded tough to the untrained ear, and the last part of it was absolutely tough, but Teddy and Roz heard the first part of it too. Thewe’ll figure it out togetherpart. That part didn’t sound anything like Mick. That part had them staring at him as if they were staring at a brother from another galaxy.
But Roz heard the additional first part too. “What do you mean you, Nikki, and Teddy will figure it out together? What about me?”
Teddy grinned. “I’m sure he meant you too, Ma.”
Mick looked at Teddy. “Didn’t I tell you to keep my wife out of you and Nikki’s shit? Didn’t I tell you that?”
“Ma brought it up! She’s the one who wants to participate.”
“I don’t give a fuck what she wants. I’m telling you what she’s not going to do. You keep her out of this.”
“You need to tell her to stay out of it then,” Teddy shot back.
Roz frowned. “He don’t need to tell me agotdamn thing. He’s not the boss of me.”
Teddy looked doubtfully at Roz. “So you’re saying you will be participating?”
Mick looked at Roz as if he dared her to defy him.
