Reno and Sal Gabrini: Fire with Fire

by Mallory Monroe

  “We’ve traced every GPS device,” said Robby. “Somebody’s disabled them all, just like they did the security around this entire estate. We can’t even get a read of their whereabouts even before the attack, let alone now. We don’t know shit!”

  “Mother fuck!” Sal was walking so fast his men couldn’t keep up. “They’re messing with the wrong motherfucker now. The wrong motherfucker!”

  Sal entered his home in a mad dash, and it was a madhouse. He sent out the call, and they came in force. His entire crime family, every lieutenant in the Vegas area under his command, had already arrived. Even a forensics team on his payroll was on scene dusting for prints. But other than the press of people, the downstairs of his home looked normal.

  But he knew Gemma had not been downstairs. She and Lucky had been upstairs. And he headed in that direction.

  But Robby grabbed him by the arm of his suit coat. Sal looked at him. “You need you to prepare yourself sir,” Robby said.

  Sal stopped. “Prepare myself for what?”

  “What had to have been a mighty struggle upstairs. Mrs. Gabrini fought for her life, sir.”

  Sal’s already wary heart began to pound. Robby made it sound as if she fought and lost. But Sal knew better than that!

  He took those stairs two at a time. And when he entered the master bedroom, he stopped in his tracks. Because Robby had not overstated it. That room looked as if a Cat-5 had torn through it. Gemma threw everything at those bastards except the bathroom sink.

  But Robby was wrong about her motive. She fought, not for her life, but for their son’s life. Sal knew it like he knew his name. Because he knew Gemma. She fought those bastards to save Lucky. She wasn’t letting them take their child without giving as good as she was getting.

  But that only meant that they ended up taking both. They didn’t kill them. Sal knew neither was dead. He could still feel both of their spirits deep inside of him. And he actually took some solace in knowing that Gemma was with their son.

  But it was a devastating solace, Sal thought, as he walked around that room, his hands in his pockets, checking out the damage. At least that was what his men thought he was checking out. But in truth, Sal was checking for blood. He wanted to see if he saw the least sign of blood being shed. He found bullet holes. And plenty of them. All coming from the closet area, where the door had been knocked down, as if that was where the shots originated. The shots were fired toward the bedroom entrance area where the door had been knocked off its hinges. But what shocked Sal most? Not a tap of blood found anywhere!

  “Sal?”

  Sal turned. It was Neeco, his father, with a bag filled with the hot breakfast he had gone to retrieve. Bruce by his side.

  “What happened?” Neeco said. “What’s going on? They said Gemma’s gone. Gemma and the baby. That true?”

  Sal hated to admit it. But it was true. He nodded. “It’s true.”

  “But where are they?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “This is crazy! Who would take them? An enemy of yours?”

  Sal looked at his father. Was he going to blame him too? If so, get in line, Sal thought. Sal knew it was his fault. “Probably,” he said.

  Neeco shook his head. He was a soft-spoken, sweet man who understood his son was mob. He understood there would be tough days. But he always thought the blowback would be about harm to Sal. Not to his wife and child.

  Sal saw his distress. “Go put the food in the kitchen, Pop,” he said. “I’ll bring them back alive, don’t worry.”

  Neeco gave a weak smile. He trusted and believed in Sal. But all those dead bodies out front. All the carnage. He never dreamed it would get this real!

  Neeco and Bruce did as they were told, with Neeco’s face a mask of concern, and headed back downstairs.

  Sal’s cell phone began ringing seconds later. Sal pulled it out quickly, praying that somehow it was Gemma. But it was Reno instead. “Hey.” Sal’s voice was deflated. Drained.

  But Reno, still at his penthouse, still tied to his bed, was nearly jumping out of his skin. Stef had his cell phone to his mouth, the phone was on Speaker, and he was giving Sal the business. “What the fuck gives you the right to tell my men to tie me up? What the fuck is your fucking problem, Sal? Who do you think you’re dealing with? I’ll kick your ass and you know it! Tell them to untie me and untie me now, you limp-dick motherfucker! Tell them now!”

  Sal didn’t respond, but had walked to the bed because he saw that the lockbox was opened. He saw where Gemma’s loaded gun was gone. Which meant she was the one doing the shooting. But with so many shots fired and no blood found anywhere, he wondered, how could she have missed that many times?

  “Sal?” Reno was still on the phone. “You hear me, Sal?” Then Reno frowned. “Where’s your ass anyway?”

  Sal stood erect, his face a mask of worry, but worrying about Reno was last on his list. “They took Gemma,” he said.

  Reno frowned. “What?”

  “They took Gemma and Lucky. They took my family.”

  Reno couldn’t believe it. His men looked at each other: shocked too. “What do you mean they took your family?” Reno’s heart was hammering. He loved Gemma and Lucky as if they were his own. “Who took them?”

  A weary look appeared in Sal’s eyes, and he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “I don’t know,” he said so low nobody could hear him.

  “What?” Reno asked.

  And it was then, for some reason even Sal didn’t understand, did his composure snap. “I don’t fucking know!” he yelled, his body shaking. Robby Yale and the other men in the room with him stood erect, in case they had to protect him from himself.

  But Gemma was gone. His child was gone. Sal was unhinged. “How the fuck am I supposed to know who? If I knew who you think I’d be talking on some fucking phone with you? They’re gone. Gemma called screaming that they were taking Lucky, but they took her too!”

  Reno was floored.

  “I thought Pump’s death contained this shit, Reno,” Sal said. “I thought it was over. When is this shit going to end? When is this shit ever going to be over, Reno?”

  Reno knew Sal was talking about way more than Pump Futarda. Sal was talking about their way of life. Being a Gabrini. Being a fucking Gabrini with a family!

  And Sal’s next words proved Reno’s suspicion was dead on.

  “They took my family,” Sal said. “They took my family, Reno. Those fuckers took my family!!!”

  And Reno himself, the undisputed head of the Gabrini side of the family, just laid there. He was worried sick about his own son. And he had every right to be worried. Dommi had been arrested because of the position Reno himself had placed him in. But now Sal’s son, and his wife, were in jeopardy too. Deadly jeopardy.

  He had no words.

  None.

  What the fuck was he going to say?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  The limo carrying Tommy Gabrini was heading to the PaLargio when the call came in.

  “Hey, it’s me.”

  “Reno? I’m heading your way now, buddy.”

  “We’ve got a problem, Tommy.”

  “Yeah, you and your confessing ass. I know already. That’s why I’m in town.”

  “Somebody snatched Gemma and the baby.”

  Tommy’s smile changed into a frown. “They what? When?”

  “Just now. I don’t know! I just spoke with Sal. Somebody snatched them.”

  “Where’s Sal?”

  “At his house. I just got off of the phone with him.”

  Tommy removed his cell phone from his ear. “Take me to my brother’s house,” he ordered his driver. “As fast as you can.”

  “Yes, sir,” the driver replied, and the limo immediately picked up speed.

  Tommy placed the phone back to his ear. “Does he know anything?”

  “He doesn’t know shit. Neither do I.”

  “Fuck! “What about Dommi?” Tommy asked.

  “Th
ey got my ass tied up, on all of your orders, they claim. I haven’t been able to get there to even see my son!”

  “You were going to confess. We can’t have that.”

  Reno exhaled. It was Sal’s family he was most worried about. “What about Mick?” he asked. “They said he’s on his way to Vegas too.”

  “He is.”

  “We’re going to need more security.”

  Tommy agreed. “I’ll set it up,” he said. “How’s Sal taking it?”

  “How do you think? He’s devastated. Gemma and Lucky? I couldn’t find the words to comfort him. There’s no comforting him right now. Not until he finds them.”

  Tommy knew it too.

  “And why the fuck you ordered my own men to detain me like I’m some fucking dog?” Reno asked.

  But Tommy, not about to order Reno’s men to release him, had already ended the call.

  And was calling Sal.

  Trina and Dommi were entering the master bedroom at the same time Reno was ending the call with Tommy.

  “Nobody gives a shit,” Reno was saying as Trina and Dommi entered the room.

  When Trina saw him, and saw his men surrounding the bed, she was stunned. “What the fuck?”

  “He’s out,” Reno said, relieved.

  “What’s going on here?” Dommi asked. Even he couldn’t believe it.

  “Untie him!” Trina ordered.

  “We can’t, ma’am,” Stef Siranno said. “We have orders.”

  “Orders?” Dommi and Trina asked in unison. Then Dommi pulled a knife out of his pocket.

  Trina frowned. “Where on earth did you get that?”

  “One of the kids in juvie gave it to me,” Dommi said, and began cutting the rope that held Reno down himself. “They search you going in, but they don’t search you going out.”

  When he finished cutting the rope, and Reno began rubbing his wrists, Dommi pointed the knife at Reno’s crew. “You’re fired,” he said angrily. “And you’re fired. For tying up my dad, all y’all motherfuckers fired!”

  “Not so fast, gangster,” Reno said, still rubbing his wrists. “They were under orders.”

  “Whose orders?” Trina asked. “Not mine. Not yours.”

  “Sal’s. Tommy’s. Mick’s. All those fuckers.”

  Trina frowned. “But why?”

  “They didn’t want me to go downtown and confess.”

  Trina and Reno glanced at each other. Only they, and Dommi, knew the truth. “Oh,” she said.

  Reno began getting out of bed. “We’ve got to get to Sal’s house.”

  “Sal’s house?” Trina asked. Why in the world would they suddenly need to go to Sal’s?

  “It’s Gemma,” Reno said.

  “Her ass didn’t even show up downtown. I don’t know what happened.”

  “Somebody snatched her and Lucky,” Reno said.

  Trina’s heart dropped. “God, no! When?”

  “I don’t know all the details.” Reno looked at his men. “You did what you were supposed to do. When I’m down, Sal is in charge, even though it was his ass who put me down. But I understand why he did it.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Stef Siranno with relief in his voice.

  “Put heavy security on this penthouse,” Reno said to Stef. “Four men deep on every pressure point.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Now get out of my fucking face and get it done.”

  Stef didn’t delay. He and his men took off after what they would tell anyone was their most stressful gig to date.

  “Who would kidnap Gemma and Lucky?” Trina was asking as she and Reno began heading out of the bedroom.

  “Yeah,” Dommi said, following them. “Lucky’s just a kid. Who would kidnap a kid?”

  Reno glanced back at Dommi. “You okay?” he asked as they made their way downstairs.

  “Yes, sir. I’m okay.”

  “What happened? They dropped the charges?”

  Dommi shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know,” he said.

  “He’s out on bail,” Trina said.

  Reno stopped and looked at her. “Bail?” He was shocked. “They let that shit go through?”

  “Not for that. They dropped the murder charge.”

  “Oh, thank God!” Reno felt as if that burden was lifted at least. But then he frowned. “If the dropped the charge, why is he out on bail?”

  “That flat-face prosecutor got angry because they didn’t have shit on him, so at the last second she decides to file charges in that school fight Dommi was in.”

  “That school fight? You’re shitting me!”

  “They filed assault and battery charges against him, Reno, I shit you not. The kid Dommi threw over that bannister now has back issues. He pressed charges.”

  Reno shook his head. “He wants back pain? I’ll give him back pain!”

  “Expect a law suit once the criminal case finishes. A law suit we will absolutely settle.”

  “Settle? I’m not paying that pariah a dime!”

  “Dommi threw that child over a bannister, Reno,” Trina said. “Even by your standards that’s excessive. We will settle that lawsuit. I just hope they don’t throw the book at Dommi.”

  “For a school fight?” Reno asked as he placed his hand around her waist and they began walking again. “They’ll drop those charges too. I’ll have to have a conversation with the so-called victim.”

  Trina looked at her husband. “Reno!”

  “Just don’t worry about that shit right now,” Reno said. “They’re just trying to fuck with us. Don’t worry about that. Gemma and Lucky? That’s who you worry about.”

  And as soon as he said it, that was when Trina realized the gravity of what was happening at Sal’s house. They did not delay.

  But Jimmy and Sophia walked in as they made it downstairs and began walking toward the foyer. When Sophia saw Dommi, she broke away from her big brother and ran to the brother she often called a thorn in her side. “Dommi!” she cried as she ran. She threw her arms around his waist.

  Dommi was smiling, and he shook his head. “Kids,” he said.

  Sophia looked up at him. “Are you okay?” she asked him.

  “I’m cool,” said Dommi, and he and Sophia began sharing their equally exciting horror stories of the day.

  But Jimmy had that scene at Sal’s house on his mind. And there was nothing exciting about it to him. “Mom, Dad, you heard?” he asked them.

  “About Gem and Luck?” Reno asked. “We heard.”

  “It’s a horrific scene over there,” Jimmy said.

  “What do you mean?” Trina asked.

  “They piled the bodies of his guards, and I’m talking every guard on site, on the front porch. You should have seen it.”

  “Did Soph see it?” Reno asked him.

  Jimmy nodded. “I tried to shield her, but I’m sure she saw something.”

  Reno and Trina let out a collective sigh. They were terrible parents, they both thought in that moment. One minor child just getting out of juvenile detention. Another minor child forced to view dead bodies. What kind of parents were they???

  “Security has already been beefed up,” Reno told Jimmy. “But your brother and your sister are your responsibility, and yours alone.”

  “I understand, sir.”

  Reno squeezed Jimmy’s shoulder. He had turned out to be a young man he could count on.

  But Sal needed them more right now. Reno and Trina took off.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  “Three minutes to landing.”

  The guards on the ground were anxiously awaiting the arrival. For most, it was business as usual. But for a couple of rookies, it was special.

  “I used to read about him when I was a kid,” one of the young bodyguards said. “A guy once told me there was nobody scarier. Now I get to be on his security detail?”

  “Don’t get too excited, Rambo,” said one of the veteran guards. “It’s only for a day.”

  “But it’s Mick Sinatra!
I have been chosen to be on the security detail for Mick the Tick fucking Sinatra! I’m going down in history, man!”

  The older bodyguards laughed. “And they say the future is in good hands,” said one. “I say the future is fucked.”

  They all laughed again.

  But the timing they had been given was accurate to the second. Because at exactly three minutes from their initial warning, the huge private plane landed at McCarran, and Mick Sinatra, in a brown Armani suit that fit his muscular body as if it had been stitched on his skin, stepped out of the plane. He stood at the top of the steps, as if he was surveying the security layout, and then, apparently satisfied, began walking down.

  Four bodyguards were positioned at the foot of the plane, and all four escorted him across the tarmac to one of the ten SUVs that lined the VIP wait lanes. He had been in the air, on his way to Vegas, when Tommy phoned and told him the new news. Dommi’s horrific situation, to his shock, wasn’t the family’s most pressing issue. Finding Gemma and Lucky now were. It was, even for a seasoned veteran like Mick, an amazing turn of events.

  The rookie that was excited to be a part of the detail was a rear-end part as Mick hopped into the third SUV, not the tenth one the rookie was a part of, and held on as the convoy escorted him across town to Sal’s house. Security was beefed up at Mick’s house in Philadelphia, as it always was whenever he was out of town. But when Tommy phoned him with the news, he ordered his oldest son and heir apparent, Teddy Sinatra, to be in charge of family security. Tommy beefed up his family security too, when he got the news, as none of them knew where this threat was coming from.

  They all had originally thought Pump Futarda’s death would mark the end of any idiot trying anything else on the family, but they all were apparently wrong. The Vegas crew relaxed for a second, and now Gemma and Lucky were gone.

  That was why Mick never relaxed.

  That was why he knew, had he been here, those fuckers would have never even thought about trying something so daring. They snatched Sal Gabrini’s wife and kid? What were they nuts? Didn’t they realize who Sal Gabrini was? Didn’t they realize what that meant?

  Mick leaned back. It was an affront to Sal what those jokers did. It was an affront to the Gabrinis and the Sinatras alike. It felt like a personal affront to Mick himself.