They were done taking chances.  After calling in even more reinforcements, they were taken, under the heaviest of security, to a secure location in the mountains.  A location owned by Mick Sinatra.  And not only had Mick the Tick provided the ultimate safe house they needed, he also provided, in addition to their own men, his men.  And he had an army in Rome.  They were well fortified.

The first thought was to get the wives out of the country.  Tommy and Sal would have liked nothing better than to put both ladies on a plane and get them out of here!  But they were not allowed to leave, not until after the Inquest and a finding of fault, or, more likely, no fault, was entered.  Not even the crooked head policeman could get them out of that requirement.

They stayed together, but as they entered the four-bedroom cabin, and settled together in the parlor, everybody still felt uneasy.  Especially Sal.

“Is it odd to you, too, Tommy?” Sal asked after Grace handed him, Tommy, and Gemma glasses of wine.  Grace sat on the edge of the chair beside Tommy.

“Isn’t what odd?” Tommy asked.

“That even Uncle Mick, with all of his reach in this city, don’t know shit about any Venetti either?  Just his name.  That’s all his men know.  They heard his name before.”

Tommy nodded.  “It’s odd, alright,” he said.  “But that’s why we can’t go by that.  I’ve chased that phantom shit before.  The best thing we can do is forget the name, and focus on the motive.”

“Which we don’t have a clue,” Gemma said.

“We’ve got some clues,” Grace said.

“Like what?”

“That fucking grandfather,” Sal said.  “That’s what!”  Sal had not spoken to anyone about Neeco, and he wasn’t going to until he had Gemma lone.  “I don’t believe for a second he’s some innocent, concerned grandfather who wants his grandson to help out,” was the way Sal chose to put it.  “Fuck that shit!  I don’t believe that for a second, not after what went down as soon as we left his house.”

Grace looked back at Tommy, whose legs were crossed as he sipped his wine.  “I agree with Sal,” she said.  “This is getting to be too coincidental even for me.”

Tommy exhaled.  “That’s why I ordered them to pick him up.”

Everybody looked at Tommy.  “You ordered who to pick whom up?” Gemma asked.

“I ordered our men to pick up Cassius.  The grandfather.”

Gemma frowned.  “But why?  You think he was behind these attacks?”

“We don’t know,” Sal said.  “That’s the point!  We don’t know shit, we’re in a foreign country.  We can’t take any more chances.  It’s good his ass is coming here.  He’s number one on my shit list.  He’s my number one suspect.”

“But to bring him here,” Grace said, “to our secure location.  Is that wise?”

“We have no choice,” Sal said.  “He’s the only link we have, and we aren’t about to go on his territory.  He has to come on ours.”

“But will he bring Venetti’s people with him?” Grace asked.

Tommy shook his head.  “No, babe.  He’s going through twenty car changes before he gets here.  He’ll come alone.”

“Okay,” Grace said.  “Sounds good to me!”

There was a knock on the parlor door.  “Come in!” Tommy yelled.

The door opened and a member of the Security staff held up a phone.  “It’s for you, sir,” he said to Tommy, “on a secure line.”

“Who is it?” Tommy asked.

“Mick Sinatra, sir,” the staffer replied, and Tommy motioned for him to bring the phone.

“Put it on Speaker,” Sal said, and Tommy complied.

“Hey,” Tommy said into the phone.  “Thanks for the accommodations.”

“I take it all personnel were in place?”  It was Mick’s voice.

“Everybody,” Tommy said.  “We are well protected here.”

“That’s good.  That was a motherfucking close call, Tommy.”

Tommy nodded.  “I know it.”

“You’ve got to be more careful.  Rome still has some wild west in it.  You should know that.”

Mick could be highly critical if a situation went south.  “Yeah, I should have remembered that.”

“Where the fuck is Sal?”

“Where the fuck you think?” Sal asked.

“Your ass should have seen it coming.  What kind of mob boss are you?”

Everybody smiled.  Mick joking around was rare, and he only seemed to do with Sal.  He had a love and respect for Tommy, but he seemed to have an affection for Sal.

“I got news for you, Uncle Mick,” Sal said, grinning too.  “My ass is not a mob boss, okay?  I don’t know where you got that shit from!”

Grace and Gemma looked at each other.  Gemma shook her head.  “Don’t listen to him, Uncle Mick,” she said.  “He knows what time it is.”

“Yes, he does,” Mick said.

“I know what time it is alright,” Sal said.  “It’s time for you to mind your fucking business, Gemma!”

Everybody, including Gemma and even Mick on the phone, laughed.

But then the conversation turned serious.  “The children are good,” Mick said.  “I just got off the phone with Reno.  He moved them to the PaLargio where security can be tighter.  I’ve got some of my men over there, too.”

“That’s great, Uncle Mick,” Tommy said.  “Thanks.”

“Call me if you need me to get there.  I’ve got every man I have in that region of Europe on the case, searching for that Venetti motherfucker.”

“What have they found?” Tommy asked.  “Anything?”

“They haven’t found shit,” Tommy said.  “I’m beginning to believe Venetti doesn’t exist.  Or he’s such a local that he’s buried by loyalty, and too far off the grid.”

“Yeah, we kind of reached that conclusion too.  Even one of the guys who worked for him admitted he’d never eyeballed him before either.”

“That makes everything more difficult,” Mick said.

“I couldn’t agree more.”

“What’s the plan?”

“Get Cassius Gabrini here,” Tommy said.  “That’s already in the works.”

“You believe he’s involved?”

“We don’t know, but it sounds plausible,” Tommy said.

“Then don’t take no for an answer,” Mick warned.  “And call me if you need me there.”

“Thanks, but until we get more intel, we’re going to just be spinning wheels.  We’ll let you know if we need your expertise.”

And then they all said their goodbyes, and the call ended.

“What do we do in the meantime?” Grace asked.

Tommy rose to his feet.  “Get some sleep,” he said.  “Cassius is going to be changing cars all night long.  But he’ll be here in the morning.”

They all knew Cassius was the best chance they had of getting answers.  They also knew they all were emotionally exhausted and would be good for nothing, and wouldn’t know what questions to ask, if they didn’t get some rest.

They retired to their separate quarters.