“Is he back in town?” Teddy asked without breaking his stride.
“Yes sir, he’s back.”
Teddy knocked once on the double doors and then invited himself inside, closing the doors behind him.
Mick was seated behind his desk, in his suit and tie, with his reading glasses on as he typed into his desk computer. Teddy always found his father the businessman as an odd look for a man as vicious as he could be. But unlike the rest of the family, like his cousins mob boss Sal Gabrini or even casino mogul Reno Gabrini, he somehow pulled it off. The world at large knew him best as Fortune 500 corporate titan Mick Sinatra, the founder and CEO of Sinatra Industries. The underworld knew better than that.
Mick didn’t look up until his son had made his way to his desk and plopped down, slouching down, in the chair in front of the desk. Then he looked up and leaned back. “How many timesI got to tell your ass I don’t mix this shit? You could have called me.”
“What I got to tell you can’t be told over the phone.”
When Teddy said those words, Mick took notice. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“There’s been a sighting, Pop.”
If Mick was in a mob war, he’d immediately know what his son was talking about. But there was no war. “Who?”
Teddy still couldn’t believe it. “Cleopatra Burgess.”
Mick just sat there. His eyes were riveted on Teddy. “What are you talking about?”
“Cleo Burgess, Pop. She’s supposedly alive.”
Mick’s heart skipped a beat. And he removed his glasses. “What did you just say to me?”
“She’s alive, Pop. No joke. She’s alive.”
Mick was now so frowned that his face looked distressed. “How the fuck is she alive? What are you talking about? They lit up her ass two years ago behind that shoe factory near the Badlands. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“You saw her?”
“Not me, no. But Robby Yale saw her with his own two eyes.”
“Robby?Where?”
“In Vegas.”
Another weird response. “Vegas? Her ass wouldn’t step foot in Vegas after what she did to Sal’s men. What was she doing in Vegas?”
“How should I know any of that, Pop? He just laid eyes on her.”
Mick had to settle back down. “Did you call Sal?”
“Yeah I called him. He’s out personally looking for her as we speak. Which is crazy in and of itself. Sal Gabrini on thechase? That don’t make no sense to me, Pop. Nothing about that girl ever made sense to me.”
But Mick was more concerned about logistics. “If Robby saw her,” he asked, “why didn’t he detain her?”
“He tried to. He saw her going into the mall in Vegas, so he ran in behind her. But she was gone. He tore that place up, but he never found her.”
“His ass should have kept looking. He knew the backstory.”
“Oh yeah? Why don’t you fill me in on it? What’s the back story, Pop? Robby said all he knew was that she had a beef with Sal. But that’s all he knew.”
“I want you to get to Vegas and help them find her.”
“Me? Pop, we got container issues from Barcelona to Greece and you want me inVegas?”
