Big Daddy Sinatra_Bringing Down the Hammer Read online

  But Charles was shaking his head. “Not like this,” he said. “No. Not like this.” Then he looked at Brent. “Ready?” he asked him.

  “You guys can wait in my office,” Brent said to Jenay and Robert. “Pop won’t be long.”

  Robert smiled. “They’re getting rid of us, Ma,” he said. “But come on. We’re both more popular around him than either one of them. Let’s get a drink.”

  “The only drink you’re getting in my police department is coffee,” Brent said. “I don’t care who you are.”

  Robert and Jenay laughed. And headed down the hall. But Jenay looked back at Charles. He looked so worried that it worried her.

  Eddie sat at the old metal table with his legs and arms outstretched. And even though he was in a world of trouble, he didn’t look defeated. He looked relaxed. He looked, to Charles, that he still thought it was a game.

  Charles sat at the table across from him. Brent closed the door and leaned against it. Letting a civilian interrogate a suspect was highly irregular, and totally out of bounds, but he trusted his father unconditionally. And if his father said shit was connected, then, in Brent’s mind, shit was connected. He just wanted to see if his old man could get a confirmation from Dorgin.

  For several moments Charles just sat there, leaned back in his chair with his legs crossed. Brent could tell Dorgin was uncomfortable with the silence, but he knew that was his father’s way. He didn’t know enough to talk. He needed Eddie to talk.

  And, like most suspects when that silence was more painful than spilling their guts, Eddie talked. “Jenay okay?” he asked.

  Charles knew that fucker didn’t give a damn about Jenay, but he played along. “She’s fine,” he said. He expected Eddie to say, yes, she is, in that joking way of his, but he didn’t. He didn’t even smile.

  And another long series of nothingness continued. Until Eddie started talking again. “I’m no killer,” he said.

  Again, Charles played along. “I know you aren’t, Eddie. That’s why I couldn’t figure out why you would pull a gun. You disrespected my wife and I was calling you on it. You knew that was all that was about.”

  “But it’s not,” Eddie said. “You don’t understand. It’s not about that at all!”

  Brent stared at Eddie. Was he about to tell what was really going on? He expected his father to egg him on, to get him to keep talking, but Charles did no such thing. He read Eddie to be a man eager to spill the beans, but only on his own terms. Charles waited.

  And waited.

  And then Eddie spoke again. “They made me do it,” he said. Brent was shocked. He looked at his father. Hurry and ask, he wanted to scream.

  But Charles remained cool. “Who made you do it?” he finally asked.

  “They made all of us do it,” Eddie said.

  Brent stood erect. All?

  Charles was excited too, but he knew how to suppress it. “All of us?” he asked. “Who’s all of us, Eddie?”

  Eddie wiped both hands over his face. For the first time, they could see the strain on his face. Then he spoke again. “They ordered that kid Steeny to court and then rape your daughter.”

  Charles heart dropped. “Who ordered it?” Brent asked. He couldn’t help himself.

  But Eddie ignored him. “If that didn’t work, and it didn’t, then his father was supposed to carry out an attack. But it kept getting more aggressive. That’s why Steeny should not have failed. But he failed because he’s no rapist. He recruited some joker to do it instead. He told the guy they were going to have a threesome. But that only made it worse for the rest of us because it all backfired and Steeny and that kid he recruited were hospitalized. And then, instead of just raping your daughter, Steeny’s father was ordered to kill you.”

  Brent was angry. He wanted answers! He began to move toward the table, to get more aggressive himself with the questioning, but Charles held up a hand and held him back. Charles knew Eddie would keep talking, but only on his own terms.

  And soon, Eddie was talking again. “His father was no killer, either, but he knew he had to do it. There was no way out. He had to do it! But he did it ass-backwards too. Shooting up the house. What kind of stupid shit was that? And then he ran. And lost control of his truck.”

  Eddie shook his head. Regret filled his eyes. “So that left me. They failed. The son got badly injured, by you by the way, and his old man got killed. By you, too, in a roundabout way. Everything failed. Then it was up to me.”

  “What were you supposed to do?” Charles asked.

  “Earlier, for insurance, and before the rape attempt or anything else went down, they forced that old optometrist to sell me his half stake in that property next to your hotel. They wanted an inside man. I wouldn’t have to do anything unless father and son failed. And they failed miserably. It was all up to me.”

  “And you failed miserably,” Charles said.

  Brent wondered if his father’s bluntness would shut Eddie up. But it didn’t. “You’re right about that,” Eddie said. “So they forced me, at that meeting I already had planned with you and Jenay, to take you out. First, they wanted to just harm one of your loved ones. But then they wanted to harm you. I don’t know what changed, but something changed. And I was the vessel. They ordered me to get it done.”

  Then Charles finally asked the question Brent had been longing to ask. “Who ordered you?” Charles asked.

  They expected Eddie to take his time answering like he had been doing. But not this time. He answered right away. “The Feds,” he said. “The FBI. Who else?”

  But Charles and Brent were shocked. “The Feds?” Brent asked. “But why?”

  “Because they knew our secrets,” Eddie said as if it was obvious. “And they gave us a connection to you Sinatras. Steeny had been recruited to seduce your sister. I once fooled around with Jenay, which gave me a ready-made connection. I assumed my assignment would have something to do with her, but it didn’t. They wanted me to take you out,” he said, nodding at Charles.

  “But why?” Charles asked, echoing his son’s question.

  “Because they knew our secrets,” Eddie said again. “We weren’t killers and rapists, no, we weren’t. But we were crooks. All of us in our own way. Only the Feds weren’t going to just make us pay for the crimes we committed over our lifetimes, they were going to make us pay for crimes we didn’t commit. Crimes of unsolved double homicides and major drug felonies. Shit like that. Oh, yeah. They had us over a barrel, alright, and they knew it. They had us good.”

  “Do you know who these FBI agents were?” Brent asked.

  Eddie shook his head. “Now you know better than that. The guys they had talking to us probably weren’t even on the books as agents. Just some operatives, as they call them. No, I don’t know any of them and wouldn’t be able to pick them out of a lineup if asked to do so. I’m just waiting for the charges to come.”

  “So am I,” Brent said. Because then he would act. Then he would take those crooked G-men to task. Steeny and that gang-raping pal of his were still hospitalized, but they both were under arrest and in Brent’s custody. Now Eddie was in his custody too. He felt as if he had all the pieces to the puzzle. All he needed was to find out what agent was going to bring charges against the threesome. “You did the right thing telling us,” he said to Eddie.

  But Charles was still apprehensive. Eddie could be telling them the truth, but not the whole truth. Or he could be telling them a pack of lies.

  Charles still had his doubts.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The family met up at Charles and Jenay’s and everybody settled in the family room. Tony Sinatra, the next oldest of the children, was seated in the wingback chair, while Charles was slouched down on the sofa, sandwiched in by his two grown children he would probably never be able to shake: Donald and Ashley. Sitting on his lap was Bonita, who was pretty much bored with it all and asleep. And sitting on the floor, between his legs, was Jenay. She ceded her position beside Charles because she knew
their children. They were spooked by what happened at Shandra Lai and wanted to be as close to their father as they could possibly be. She felt the same way. She was still spooked, too, by that gun at his head.

  “What did Brent say about it, Dad?” Donald asked.

  “He wants to file a complaint with the local field office of the FBI and go with it on that level, but I told him he’d better not.”

  “Why not?” Donald asked.

  “Because the Feds aren’t going to tell a Sinatra a damn thing,” Jenay said. “He’ll be wasting his time, and it’ll will put a spotlight on all of us. Including the Gabrinis.”

  “But then what can we do?” Ashley asked.

  “Good question,” Charles said. “And when I get a good answer, I’ll clue you in on it.”

  Ashley smiled. “No, you won’t.”

  Charles had to smile too. “No, I won’t,” he admitted. “But I’ll be thinking about you, sweetie.”

  They all laughed. Even Jenay.

  “Where’s Brent and Bobby?” Tony asked. “Why aren’t they here?”

  “Where’s Sharon?” Ashley asked. “Why isn’t she here? She’s your girlfriend, isn’t she?”

  “That’s not his girlfriend,” Donald said. “They’re just friends. Come on, Ash!”

  Tony stared at his kid brother.

  Ashley stared at him too. “Come on what?” she asked Donald. “Sharon Rachel is Tony’s girlfriend! Why are you acting like it’s so impossible?”

  “Because it is!” Donald said.

  “Why is it impossible, Donnie?” Tony asked.

  “Because!” Donald was grinning.

  “Because why?” Tony asked.

  “Look at you and look at her. I’m sorry. You can do way better than her!”

  Ashley shook her head. “Boy please,” she said. “You are so ridiculous you don’t even realize how ridiculous you are.”

  “What?” Donald didn’t see where he’d said anything wrong. “I’m just telling the truth.”

  “Looks aren’t everything, Donald,” Charles said to him.

  “I didn’t say they were. But Tony’s different. He’s freakishly good looking. He’s the best-looking boy you have, Dad, and that’s saying something! He could give Ashley and Carly and Nita a run for their money. That’s all I’m saying. A guy who looks like him should have the best. Sharon Rachel is nice and all, but she’s . . . she’s . . .”

  “Don’t you dare call that lady ugly,” Ashley warned.

  “Plain,” Donald said. “And I mean really, really plain.”

  Jenay rolled her eyes. “Don’t mind that boy, Tone,” she said. “Sharon is a beautiful soul, and that’s what matters in this life. But is she alright?”

  “She’s okay,” Tony said. “She had to go back home to take care of some business, that’s all. She should be back any day now.”

  “Oh okay,” Jenay said. “Good. But in answer to your question,” she added, “Brent had work to do at the station, that’s why he’s not here, and Robert had a rotary club event he had to attend. But he did come by the jail to make sure Charles was okay.”

  “He doesn’t seem to be doing very much, does he?” Tony asked. “For a mayor, that is.”

  “I tell him all the time,” Jenay said. “He thinks he doesn’t have to do anything. But he does if he ever expects to run for reelection someday. You have to do the groundwork for reelection almost immediately. I tell him that all the time.”

  The sound of a car pulling onto their driveway could be heard. Jenay looked up at Charles. “Expecting somebody?” she asked him.

  “No, I’m not,” he responded.

  Tony stood up and walked over to the window.

  “Who is it, Tone?” Charles asked.

  Tony turned from the window and looked at the others. “It’s Uncle Mick,” he said, surprising everybody. “You knew he was coming, Dad?”

  Charles was shocked. “No,” he said. “I didn’t.” Then he exhaled. “Escort him back here,” he ordered.

  Tony headed up front to do as he was told.

  Jenay looked at Charles. “He must have heard about what happened,” she said.

  “Either that,” Charles said, a look of concern on his face because he knew his kid brother never ever just came to visit, “or something else happened.”

  Jenay understood what he meant, and she was concerned too.

  And when Mick’s big form entered their family room, his mere presence seemed to overtake it. Like the syndicate he ran with an iron fist, Mick’s relatives had an outsized respect for him too. Many of them, like Charles’s children, kind of feared him as well.

  Although nervous at the reception she might receive, Ashley nonetheless got up, hurried over, and happily gave her uncle a hug. Donald got up, too, and happily gave him what he considered to be a manly handshake/half hug. Mick wasn’t that kind of touchy-feely man by any stretch of the imagination. He was, in fact, the exact opposite. But he allowed Charles’s children to display some affection towards him without recoiling or otherwise discouraging it. He didn’t necessarily like it. But he allowed it.

  “Hello, Michello,” Jenay said with a big smile. Although he might not have been the bearer of good news, she was still genuinely glad to see him.

  He even smiled at her: a rarity for him. “What are you doing on that floor?”

  “Charles, child. He always wants me beneath him.”

  Mick laughed. Charles smiled. “Believe that shit if you want. Have a seat,” he said to his brother.

  Mick sat in the seat Tony had vacated as Ashley and Donald went back to sit down too. But Charles handed Bonita to Ash. “Put her to bed,” he said.

  “Come and help me, Donnie,” Ashley said as she took her kid sister in her arms. They began to leave the room.

  But as she was about to pass Mick’s chair, he took her by the arm and stopped her. “Are you okay, Ashley?” he asked her as Tony took one of the now-vacant spots beside his father.

  Ashley was surprised by Mick’s concern. She knew he cared, but she also knew he rarely showed it. “I’m doing good, Uncle Mick,” she said. “Thanks for asking.”

  “If any shit like that ever happens again,” he said, “and you can’t reach your father, call me. No matter where I am. I’ll get help to you.”

  Ashley beamed with affection for her favorite uncle. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

  Mick released her arm. You are welcome,” he said.

  And Ashley couldn’t resist. “How’s Teddy?” she asked him.

  Donald laughed. Teddy was Mick’s hunky oldest child. “She has a crush on Teddy,” he announced.

  Ashley frowned. “I do not! He’s my cousin, stupid!”

  “But you were adopted, stupid,” Donald said, “so he’s not your blood cousin, stupid!”

  “Call her stupid again,” Charles said, “and I’ll kick your ass.”

  “But she called me stupid first,” Donald complained.

  “And?” Tony asked.

  Donald looked both innocent and annoyed, the way he always looked when he didn’t know how to respond. Then they all laughed. “They’re just messing with you, boy,” Jenay said. “Y’all go on and put my baby to bed.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Donald said.

  “But in answer to your question, Ashley,” Mick said, “Teddy’s alright. He’s running my day-to-day, so he’s busy. But he’s okay.”

  “That’s good,” said Ashley. “Tell him I said hello,” she added, and she and Donald, bickering as they left, walked out.

  But Mick was already looking at his brother. “I heard you had another close call today,” he said.

  “You heard about that?”

  “I heard about it.”

  “How?”

  “I sent a few guys to hang out here after that fool tried to harm Ashley, and after his father shot up your house,” Mick said. “They aren’t here to intervene, unless absolutely necessary, but they are here to report. They reported it to me.”

/>   “And that’s why you came?” Jenay asked in a gushing tone. “To see about your big brother? Ah, that’s so sweet!”

  “I don’t know about all that,” Mick said, and Tony laughed.

  “Did they tell you what that guy told Brent and me?” Charles asked.

  “The guy who pulled the gun?” Mick asked. “No. What did he tell you?”

  “He said that shit’s related. The guy who tried to harm Ash, and his father, and the guy who pulled the gun on me were all recruited by our very own FBI.”

  Mick was surprised. That was news to him. “Recruited to do what?” he asked.

  When Charles didn’t want to say it in front of Tony and Jenay, Mick understood. He knew what.

  “They were going to frame them for terrible crimes if they didn’t carry out their orders,” Charles said. “They tried to carry them out, all three of them tried. All three of them failed.”

  Tony, who once attended seminary school, did the sign of the cross across his chest. He was a trained clinical psychologist. He heard what his father and uncle were saying, but he heard what they weren’t saying too.

  Mick looked at his brother. “You alright?” he asked him.

  Charles nodded. “I’m okay,” he said, although Mick could tell he wasn’t. For a man with his temperament, many thought Charles loved mixing it up with the bad guys. But Mick knew better. He knew his brother had an aversion to upheaval.

  “But that didn’t bring you here,” Charles said, who knew his brother even better. “Did it?”

  Mick exhaled. It was only then could everybody see the distress on his face. “No,” he said.

  Charles and Jenay both braced themselves. Tony did too. “What’s happened?” Charles asked him.

  “It’s Amelia, Charles,” Mick said.

  Charles’s heart dropped, and Jenay and Tony stared at Mick. “What about Amelia?” Charles asked. You could hear a pin drop when he asked it.

  “She’s missing,” Mick said.

  Charles was shocked. “Missing?” He reached down and lifted Jenay up to where she was sitting beside him. He placed his arm around her waist. For some reason, he wanted her close. “What do you mean she’s missing?”