“If I tell they’ll go after my family,” Charlotte responded.
“Don’t tell and I’ll go after your family,” Mick said.
“It was some man.”
“What man?”
“Some man, Mick. I don’t know him.”
“Describe him,” Mick said.
“Short. Stocky. The thug type. He’s new on the scene. Never seen him before in my life, how am I to remember details?”
Then she looked at Mick, her cheap makeup pooling around her eyes in a black blob of mess because of the tears she couldn’t stop shedding. “I needed the dough. They offered me a couple thousand to make that phone call and then disappear for a little while. I was in no position to turn it down.” She began rubbing her arm. Mick and Roz both knew the signs. She needed a fix so bad she could taste it.
“Where did they find you?” Mick asked.
“Where you used to find me. In Queens at Danny’s. Only I don’t work the backrooms anymore, where the big wigs go. They got me working the front. Their bj special.”
“Did the guy who paid you have a name?”
“If he did he never told it to me. He just gave me the script. Told me to make that phone call and read it word for word. And that’s what I did. That’s all I did. He didn’t even want. . . .” She paused. “And he paid me.”
Mick exhaled. He knew she had nothing to give. And then he stood up. And began heading out. Roz followed him.
“Keep her here,” he said to the guard at the door, “until I’m sure she’s not lying to me.”
“Will do, Boss.”
“Mick?” Charlotte called out.
Mick and Roz both turned back toward her. “What?” Mick asked.
“Could you help me out? All that money’s gone and I need some help right about now. If you let’em get me some, I’ll suck their dicks.”
Mick’s jaw tightened. Charlotte used to be a high-class whore. Now she was just a junkie, blowing dicks for blow. He turned back toward the guard. “Get her what she needs,” he said as he and Roz began leaving again. “But no payback,” he added.
“Yes, sir,” the guard responded. “That mouth ain’t touching my dick anyway,” he wanted to say.
The Gabrinis rode back with Mick and Roz and the entire conversation centered on who could be behind it. Names were being tossed around, and then quickly eliminated, until Reno said what Charlotte had said.
“Whoever it is,” Reno said, “he’s new on the scene. And rich and powerful as a motherfuck.
And suddenly it hit Mick and Roz at the same time, but for very different reasons.
“New on the scene,” Mick said as they looked at each other. “He’s new on the scene!”
“Who’s new on the scene?” Sal asked.
“And that lackey who does his dirty work for him,” Roz said, “handed Charlotte a script, and ordered her to read it word for word. That’s Billy,” Roz added.
“Who’s Billy?” Reno asked.
“Even before we made it,” Roz continued, “he would sometimes ask me to pretend to be his secretary calling about a gig. And every single time, I mean every time, he’d give me a script, and tell me to read it word for word too. Those were his exact words. ‘Read it word for word, Roz.’”
“Are you two lovebirds gonna tell us who you’re talking about?” Reno asked. “Or are we supposed to guess?”
“Billy,” Roz said. “We’re talking about Billy Lancer.”
“Well gotdamn!” Reno said. “Even I heard of that guy!”
Sal was shocked too. “Billy Lancer? What the fuck would Billy Lancer have to do with any of this? Isn’t he that fat cat Hollywood director, or whatever he is, who puts out all those blockbuster movies?”
“And he’s new to the scene,” Mick said again, still in his own world with Roz.
“New to what scene?” Tommy asked.
“Our scene,” said Mick. “He suddenly decided to come see Roz and offer her some role of a lifetime right around the time all the shit started hitting fans.”
“He was right in my face,” Roz said, “and I didn’t see it.”
“It’s the harmless theory,” Mick said. “You knew him when he was a struggling actor and was harmless as a dove. But now his ass a wolf. When he looked you up about playing some part in some play, it seemed natural. You thought that same dove was coming to see you, not the big bad wolf he’d become, whose motives were no longer pure.”
“If they ever was,” Sal said.
Roz frowned and shook her head. “And I couldn’t see it because I needed what he was selling. I needed that attention.”
Mick took her hand and held it.
“But I still don’t get it,” Tommy said. “They came for Roz after Hammer and Amelia’s reception. Didn’t you say that helicopter targeted Roz’s limo, Uncle Mick? If he wanted to get you out of the way to get next to Roz, which appears to be your theory, then why would he make her a target?”
“Because of what happened at Big Daddy’s house,” Roz said.
All of the Gabrinis looked at Roz. “What happened?” Reno asked.
“Mick kicked his ass a little,” Roz said, “and I didn’t stand by Billy.”
Sal smiled. “So he was through with you just like that?”
“Billy didn’t want me,” Roz said. “He wanted the ideal of me. His wife just died. He was free. He thought I could be bought and paid for just like everybody else in his world.”
“Damn,” Reno said. “And we’ve got to go after him. It’ll be like going after Pamela Anderson or somebody.”
Sal frowned. “Pamela Anderson? Are you fucking kidding me? Going after a billionaire blockbuster-maker like Billy Lancer is the same thing, in your little pea brain, as going after some Baywatch babe? Reno, get a life man. Get a fucking life!”
“My ass got a life. You get one!” Reno fired back.
“No matter what,” Tommy said to Mick, “you can’t go after him right now, Uncle Mick.”
Mick looked at Tommy. It was obvious to everybody just how pissed he was. Waiting to exact his revenge wasn’t something he was accustomed to. But Tommy was the brains of the family, and he listened.
And Tommy held firm. “Too much heat right now, Unc,” Tommy said. “You’ve got to wait until after the trial. Get past the trial, and then get to him. Because Reno’s right. He’s too big. You aren’t taking him down for the count, so we can forget that. You’ll just have to take him down after you beat that rap.”
“And if I don’t beat it?” Mick asked.
A dead silence came over the vehicle. Nobody wanted to even entertain that thought. Least of which Roz. “You’ll beat it,” Roz said, and everybody seemed to sigh relief. “But Tommy’s right. He think he’s being slick. Let’s let him stay in the background and continue to think that way. But no moves until we get that trial off of our plate.”
Mick loved the way she said our, and he squeezed her hand.
“Tommy’s right,” Sal said, echoing Roz. “But then again, Tommy’s always right. That’s why he’s my big brother.”
Reno frowned. “So what he’s your brother? He’s not just my cousin, he’s my best friend!”
“Since when does a cousin and best friend trump a brother, motherfucker?” asked Sal.
“Since right now,” said Reno.
“Shut the fuck up, both of you!” said Mick, frowning.
“But Tommy’s still right,” Roz said firmly. “We’ve got to make sure you’re safe first. Then we worry about Billy.”
Mick let out a harsh exhale. He knew they all were right. But that didn’t mean he liked it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
The first of the three agents grabbed Teddy by his coat lapel and threw him into the chair behind the table. The interrogation room was tiny, on purpose, because they wanted their suspects to feel closed-in. Trapped. But Teddy wasn’t going along. “I want to call my lawyer,” he said.
“Tough,” said the second agent. He sat on the edge of the t
able beside Teddy, so close to him that Teddy could smell the onions on his breath. ATF was lead on the interrogation, but the FBI special agent in charge was still in charge. He stood back, against the wall, watching Teddy more than he was watching his colleagues.
“When somebody says they want to see their lawyer, you’re supposed to stop the questioning and let me see my lawyer,” Teddy said. “That’s my right as a citizen of the USA!”
The two ATF agents laughed. “You gangsters know all about your rights, don’t you?” the second agent said. “Don’t give a fuck about anybody else’s rights, but you know your rights.” Then he stopped smiling and grabbed Teddy by his coat lapel again. “I don’t give a fuck what you want, Sinatra. It’s what I want that matters in this bitch. And I want answers.”
Teddy looked him dead in the eye with a look almost as cold and menacing as his father’s. “You know who I am, right?” he asked him.
The agent, seeing that look and realizing who he was actually dealing with, released his suit coat and sat up. The first agent, sensing Teddy’s intimidation was working, stepped in. “We know who your ass is,” he said, “and we don’t give a shit. We need answers. You aren’t leaving this room, or seeing any lawyers, until we get those answers.”
Teddy looked over at the first agent. “What kind of answers?”
“Like you said,” the first agent said, “we know who you are. You’re his number two. You’re his underboss. You’re the heir to the throne. But on this day, in this time of life, that’s not a good thing anymore. You’re in as much hot water as your old man is in.”
Teddy stared at him. But he was nobody’s fool. The first two agents were just the front men. He looked, instead, at the man who was actually in charge. “What do you want from me?” he asked him.
The special agent pushed away from the wall, walked over to the table, and sat in the chair across from Teddy. “It’s a simple proposition, Mr. Sinatra. Your life and your father’s life, or your father’s life alone. That, in essence, is what it comes down to. If you testify against your father, we won’t come after you. Because we do know who you are. You were there while your father ran the largest arms dealership in the world. You were there while your father took out anybody who stood in his way. They weren’t good people. They were trying to take him out most times I’m sure. But that doesn’t excuse his behavior. And you were right there, Mr. Sinatra. We also know you were there when the DiGenovas were murdered. We know that too. Oh, your old man tried to make it look like a murder-suicide, but we know better.”
Then the agent in charge leaned forward. His voice was as calm as his words were deadly. “You can either go down with your father,” he said, “and your father is going down. There’s no question about that. No matter what you do, your father is going down. You can go down with him, or you can save yourself. That’s the choice you have. The only choice you have. There are no other option on the face of this earth.”
Teddy stared into that agent’s eyes. But unlike with that agent’s colleagues, Teddy was the one who blinked.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
They walked across the grounds of their vast estate arm in arm. Security was at an all-time high, so they weren’t alone, but nobody was in earshot. And the music that blared over the estate sound system, some random, comforting elevator music, helped too. For most couples it would be an ordinary thing, walking across the grounds of your estate with your wife. But for Mick, at that time in his life, it was everything.
“Deuce is back in Philly,” Roz said.
“How is he?” Mick asked.
“He’s fine. That old man takes a licking and keeps on ticking.”
Mick smiled. “That’s why, when I first met you, I took him off of my security detail, and put him on yours. We’ll go see him when this all dies down. If it all dies down.”
“It will,” Roz said with confidence.
Mick looked at her with a side eye that made his sleepy eye look closed. “You make it sound as if I don’t deserve punishment.”
“Your ass deserve plenty of punishment,” Roz said. “But that’s not the point. You don’t deserve this punishment. That’s the point.”
Mick grinned. “Your logic escapes me.”
“Me too,” Roz said with a smile, “but it’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”
Mick laughed.
Just as he was leaning his head back in laughter as he walked, arm in arm, with his wife, Charles came out from a side door looking for the pair. When he saw them, and saw Mick actually laughing despite the circumstances, he smiled too. And went back into the house, into the equipment room, where the stereo systems were housed.
“But you know what’s funny?” Mick asked Roz.
“What?” she asked him.
“Those four counts of murder they’ve brought me up on?”
“Yes?”
“I didn’t do it. DiGenova’s wife killed him and their children, then she turned the gun on herself. Now I did shit in my time. I did. But I didn’t do that shit.”
“That’s what I was talking about!” Roz said, although she had no clue Mick hadn’t committed those crimes. Then she looked serious. “But really, Mick? You didn’t do it?”
“It was a murder-suicide. Now, mind you, I planned to handle whatever business I had to handle when I got there, yes, I did. But the wife took it out of my hands. That’s the truth.”
Roz was pleased. “If you beat the murder rap,” she said, “then you could be home free.”
Mick smiled. “I don’t know about that. Money laundering and racketeering aren’t exactly misdemeanors. But I get your point. It will most definitely help.”
Roz leaned against him. “I’m liking you more and more, Mister,” she said, and Mick smiled.
And when they made it up to the manmade lake on their property, they stood at the shore staring out at the beautiful water and the cascading waterfall in its center. And Mick could hold back no longer. “Thank you, Rosalind,” he said to her.
Roz looked at him. “For what?” she asked.
Mick didn’t answer immediately, which was his way. But he was trying to get out of his way. He answered her. “Thank you for not deserting me,” he said.
Roz’s heart squeezed. She knew how much it took out of him to say that. “Oh, honey,” she said, leaning closer against him. “I’ll never desert you, Mick. Please don’t think I ever will do that. I wasn’t trying to desert you during our separation. I just needed time to find myself. To decide what I will and will not put up with from you.”
Mick was afraid to ask it, but he asked anyway. “What have you decided?” he asked her.
Roz hated to admit it, but she was going to tell the truth. “Everything,” she said.
Mick looked at her. “What do you mean?”
Tears welled-up in Roz’s eyes. She hated that she was so emotional lately! “I’ve decided that I will put up with everything from you,” she said.
Mick was stunned. Her words, her tears, broke his heart.
“When you treat me well,” Roz continued, “I’ll put up with that. When you treat me not so well,” she further said, “I’ll put up with that too.” Then she frowned. “When you’re there for me and the children, and when you aren’t there for us, I’m going to put up with all of that too.”
Mick turned her toward him and placed his hands on her upper arms. “You hear me and you hear me well, Rosalind Sinatra,” he said to her. “You will not allow me to do that to you. You hear me? You’re too wonderful a woman, the best woman in this entire world, to let me do that to you! Say you won’t let that happen.”
But Roz wasn’t going to lie. “But it won’t be true, Mick,” she said to him. “I realized it when I was in that limousine, and you were willing to die for me. I was trying to tell you to leave, that it was hopeless, that there was no reason for both of us to die. I wanted to remind you we had children that needed at least one of us. But then I realized, in that moment, something profound about us
.”
Mick was confused. “What did you realize?” he asked her.
“That we got a whole lot wrong in our relationship,” Roz said. “But we got one thing right.”
Mick wanted to ask what that one thing was, but he didn’t. He knew she would tell him.
“We got love right, Mick,” she said. Then she placed her hands on his lower arms. “Our love for each other,” she said, “is what fuels us. It’s what kept us together all these years. And sometimes love has everything to do with it. Sometimes love does trump everything else. That’s us. You were willing to die for me, or die with me if you couldn’t save me, and I realized I would have been willing to do the same for you. Which makes us horrific parents!”
Mick smiled. But then he nodded. “I understand what you mean,” he said. “You’re wired like me. The children come first. We understand that. But when it comes to your life in my case, or my life in your case, we aren’t going to do it. We can’t let the other one go down. I understand what you mean, sweetheart. I understand what you mean.” And he swept her into his arms.
And it was at that very moment that they realized the sound system was playing their song. He didn’t know how that happened, since Stevie Wonder didn’t put out elevator music. But his recording of Murden/Miller’s For Once In My Life, was being played over the sound system.
And Mick and Roz, like two teenagers at prom, and despite all that was going on around them, danced. They slow-danced. They could have danced all night.
“For once in my life,
I won’t let sorrow hurt me.
Not like it’s hurt me before.
For once I have someone I know won’t desert me.
I’m not alone anymore!”
But their all-night dance ended almost as quickly as it had begun when Joey, who stepped outside of the main house with his cane and was stunned to see his parents out there dancing like that, sent word to the grounds chief to bring his father in. The grounds chief hurried over.
Mick Sinatra: Needing Her Again Page 16