CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Gonna stay over?” Teddy already knew what the answer was goingto be, but he asked it anyway.
Nikki placed the meatball in hermouth and began chewing.
“Nick? Gonna stay over?”
When Nikki finished chewing, sheleaned back. They were at Teddy’s house,at his dinner table, after both of them had had a long day at work. “No, I’m not staying over,” she said.
“You never do lately. Why not?”
“You know why not. We need to set a date, Teddy.”
“And we will. I just need to get some things lined upfirst.”
“You’ve been saying that for toolong,” Nikki said.
“I’m still pulling thingstogether. Once I get some things linedup, I’ll be better situated for marriage.”
“What kind of things?” Nikkiasked. “Like leaving your father?”
Teddy hesitated, and then answeredher. “Yes.”
Nikki shook her head. “He’s not going to like it, Teddy.”
“He didn’t like Gloria leaving him,either, but ultimately he let her do it.”
“She wasn’t his underboss. She wasn’t his second-in-command,” Nikki saidand then realized she was hearing something. She stood up from the table and looked out of the dining room window.
“What?” Teddy asked.
“We’ve got company.”
“Who?”
“I’ll give you a hint. Tank. As in Cadillac. As in Escalade.”
Teddy removed his napkin from his lapand tossed it on the table. When helooked through the window and saw his dad’s truck, he exhaled. “It took him long enough,” he said, and thenheaded for the front door.
When Teddy made it outside, he sawMick sitting behind the steering wheel of the SUV with both hands on thewheel. Teddy knew he was too full ofpride to just ring the bell and come inside to see who he really came to see,so Teddy made his way over to the truck and got in on the front passenger seat.
For a few moments, nothing wassaid. His father was in that broodingmood he often got into when he was troubled. Teddy waited for him to speak.
Mick finally looked at his son. “Any word on Charlotte?” he asked.
“Nothing yet, but I’m on it. We can’t seem to find her ass.”
“All this shit going on,” Mick saidas if he was mumbling.
But Teddy heard him. “What do you mean?” he asked. “What shit?” When Mick didn’t respond, he frowned. “You think that call from Charlotte is connected to that explosion, andthe raid?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on, Pop. Charlotte? Her ass good for only one thing, and it’s all in the bedroom.”
Mick leaned back, and exhaled. “Just find her,” he said.
“I don’t understand why she wouldpull a stunt like that,” Teddysaid. Then a though occurred to him, andhe looked at his father. “If it was astunt.”
Mick looked angrily at him. “Kiss my ass,” he said.
“It’s just weird, that’s all I’msaying, Pop. You have to agree it’sstrange that she calls out of the blue like that when you and Roz already---”
Mick looked at him. “Roz and I are already what?” Mick asked hisson.
“Nothing,” Teddy said. Mick was the king of denial when he wanted tobe, and Teddy wasn’t getting his head blown off for nothing. He moved on.
“Tell me some news,” Mick said. “What’s going on?”
“They haven’t found her, that’s thenews. She used to hang out over inQueens,” Teddy said. “At some club overthere. I’ve got the guys checking theretoo.”
“We get bombed and lose more than afew guys. We get raided, in Rome and Belarus,forcing us to shut down operations, and ATF has a big chunk of my shit, andyou’re worrying about that bitch? Justfind her and let me worry about her!”
“I’m only worried about her,” Teddysaid, “because those raids and ATFwasn’t the reason why Roz left you. I’mworried about Roz.”
Mick exhaled. He was worried too. He looked at Teddy. “How’s she doing? And my children?”
Teddy hunched his shoulders. “Okay, I guess.”
Mick frowned. “What do you mean you guess?”
“I haven’t seen or spoken to them,”Teddy said. “So I guess they’realright.”
Mick didn’t understand. “You haven’t seen them? Aren’t they here with you?”
“They were, yeah.”
“Then where are they?” Mick askedwith just enough hysteria in his voice to make Teddy acutely aware of just howmuch Roz’s short absence was already affecting him.
“She didn’t want to stay here,” Teddysaid. “I mean, she wanted to, but Ithink she felt she needed more than what I could give her. She needed some advice. So they stayed overnight here, and left earlythis morning. It’s summertime. School’s out. The twins will be okay.”
“Where did they go?” Mick asked.
Teddy knew he wasn’t going to likeit. And he hated being themessenger. “She decided to go to Maine,Pop. To Jericho. She and the twins went to Big Daddy.”
Mick’s jaw tightened. Roz knew how he hated anybody in hisbusiness, and that included his big brother. And the idea that she would leave the state, with his two children, and nottell him anything about their whereabouts angered him.
But mostly being without Roz was thereal trigger.
He slammed the palm of his hand onthe steering wheel.
But then his cell phone beganringing. Hoping it was Roz, he grabbedit quickly and looked at the Caller ID on the SUV screen. It wasn’t Roz. But it was a call he knew he needed to take.He pressed the Speak button. “Yeah,Lew?”
It was his international securitychief. “DiGenova’s back in the States,”Lewdy said.
“Where?”
“He’s home.”
“Now?”
“Right now.”
“Good work, Lew,” Mick said, sat upstraight as if it was the best news he could have hoped for, and ended thecall.
“Let’s go,” he said to Teddy.
Teddy looked at him as if he wasinsane. “Go? Now?”
“Yes, now. When the fuck you think I’m going to go? He’s right where I want him. You think I’m going to forget about it?”
“No, Pop, but . . .” He exhaled. Nikki wasn’t going to like it. “Ineed to get some hardware.”
“I’ve got plenty,” Mick said.
“Could I at least tell Nikki I’ll beback?”
“Tell her over the phone,” Mick said,pulling out of his driveway, and then speeding off.
Teddy shook his head. “And you wonder why Roz left your ass,” hesaid boldly.
Mick looked at him with a terrifyinggaze, but it wasn’t as if it was a lie. She told him herself he didn’t treat her right. Teddy was accentuatingthe point. He ignored him, and spedacross town, to Frankie’s.
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