Page 21 of Teddy Sinatra: Go Your Own Way
For the first time, they all could see Mick disarmed. He even unfolded his arms. “Rarsi? Get the fuck out of here!”
“That’s the name he gave me.”
“Did you investigate it?”
“Of course I did Pop.”
“And?”
“And I found nothing yet. I just got the word from Bugs last night. But I’ve got a team on it trying to find any connection at all between Rarsi’s organization and the three capos that died.”
“And I added an additional team to make sure there were no connections between any of our other capos, either, and Rarsi,” said Nikki. “I didn’t want us to just focus on the ones that died.”
Mick nodded for the first time, as if he approved of her overreach. Nikki was Mick’s favorite no matter how much Nikki denied it. Teddy knew the truth.
And that was mainly why his jaw tightened when his father nodded his assent. Teddy would not have approved an additional team when he needed every available man to find out who was really behind those threats to their shipments, which he was convinced wasn’t going to be Rarsi. There was no way he was going to believe Rarsi was behind it. But anything was possible.
But to his surprise, Mick agreed with his assessment. “Rarsi isn’t behind this. Bugs is full of shit if that’s his intel. But somebody paid him to make that claim.”
“That’s why I have a detail on his ass too. But nothing so far on that end either.”
Nikki was surprised that both Mick and Teddy would be so dismissive of any involvement of Potter Rarsi. But she was getting used to being left out of the history. They let her in only when necessary. And they wondered why many of their men were still not accepting of a woman,and a non-Italian one at that, as their underboss.
Mick exhaled. “Why, if you didn’t know who were behind the threats, did you suddenly decide to launch those ships?”
Everybody looked at Teddy. Including Nikki and Monk. A pained look came over Teddy. “I decided it was long enough. We weren’t getting anywhere and we needed to get back on the seas. It was my call. I made the call.”
“And it backfired spectacularly,” said Mick.
“So I was damned if I let them go and damned if I let them stay,” said Teddy.
“Your ass was damned by letting them stay in the first place!” Mick nearly screamed it out. He was unleashed. “What’s wrong with you? My syndicate does not kowtow to anybody, you stupid fuck! As soon as that first threat came you should have launched. You should have got bomb experts in there to make sure it was free of explosives and then you hit the seas in a show of force that would have been the end of it!”
“I did get experts in.”
“But you stayed put even after they cleared the vessels? Why, Teddy?”
“Because his gut was telling him that explosives were on those ships and the experts were missing them,” said Nikki. “And guess what? His gut was right.”
“So what happened to his gut today? Why did he overlook his gut today if he was so right?”
Teddy leaned his head back. “I was tired. I made a decision when I was too tired.”
Everybody knew how hard Teddy worked. Mick knew it too. But that was no excuse to him. He worked his ass off too.
Then Teddy looked at his father. “It was the wrong decision, but you act like I did it on purpose. I had been thinking about launching for days. So I made the call. But I had been thinking about it all along. It wasn’t some impulse. I don’t operate like that and you know it. What do you take me for?”
“You’re a motherfucking fuck-up, that’s what I take your ass for!” Mick yelled at Teddy. “All those men dead. All of my top ships destroyed, including my biggest one. Thank goodness no pick-ups had occurred when it happened or my ass would have been in jail!”
“Mick, settle down,” Roz said.
But Mick wasn’t about to. “Leaving my ships dockside for an entire week like we’re scared of those motherfuckers! I don’t kowtow to anybody and your ass knows that. By my count, and I obviously don’t know the full extent of your shit yet, but by my count I’ve already lost a hundred million dollars from your refusing-to-sail bullshit decision alone. As if I would bend to anybody on the face of this earth! But your ass been bending all week! And you didn’t bother to consult me about this shit? Three of my top lieutenants dead and I’m a fucking afterthought to you? And you have the nerve to ask mewhat do I take you for?”
“Okay Mick settle down,” Big Daddy intervened. “It’s done now. We can’t unbreak this shit, it’s broke. We need to find out what’s happening and how to put a stop to it before more happens. So stop with the personal attacks. Teddy don’t deserve that.”
“Fuck Teddy!” Mick yelled.
“Fuck you!” Teddy yelled back, nearly jumping up from his seat. “I work for you like I’m yourgotdamn slave. Day in and day out, when I can hardly stand up, but I still work. Ten men can’t do what I’m doing, but I’m a fuck-up? You wanna work twenty hours a day running the largest syndicate in the world, then you be my guest. Knock yourself out.”
