By the time Teddy and Nikki arrived on scene, one of the Sinatras big cargo ships had already exploded on the dock of the bay, and firemen were out in force doing all they could to contain the blaze.  Cops were out in force, too, questioning deck hands.   But most of those cops were questioning Joey.  They knew it was his job to run the docks for Mick Sinatra, and they’d had Mick in their crosshairs for decades.

Fortunately, Teddy also noticed, the lawyers were right beside Joey, limiting what he was going to tell.

Teddy, in a snazzy suit and tie – his standard work uniform, got out of the Corvette quickly.  Although he was transfixed by the fire, he wasn’t so thrown that he couldn’t walk around to the passenger side of his car and open the door for Nikki.

Nikki, who took her cues from Teddy and dressed up for the occasion too, stepped out in a gorgeous pair of slacks and blouse, along with a blazer thrown over her shoulders.  She stepped out looking at that fire.  Her already big eyes became even larger when she saw the ferocity of that blaze.

But when Teddy reached for her hand, and held it tightly, her attention reverted to him.  “That’s your ship?” she asked him.

“One of them,” Teddy said, unable to take his eyes off of the fire too.  “I’m in charge of all of them.”

It was only then did Nikki realize that there were a fleet of cargo ships in that bay, and Teddy was saying he was in charge of them all?  She knew Mick Sinatra’s organization had to be enormous.  If he was the king of the mob bosses, as those articles alleged, he had to have serious skin in the game.  But an empire this vast?

She heard what Teddy had said, but she also heard the part he didn’t say.  “Your father isn’t going to like this very much,” she said.

Teddy smiled a smile that was more bitter than joyous.  “No, he is not,” he agreed.  “He’s not going to like me very much either,” he added, and began walking parallel with the ship: his eyes still glued to that ship.  His hand still holding Nikki’s.

Nikki had to hurry to keep pace with her distracted partner, and she could feel his distress with every step he took.  Teddy was a daddy’s boy, Nikki thought as she walked beside him.  She picked up on that obvious fact as soon as Mick Sinatra laid him out with one punch.  Although Teddy jumped right back up, the way he should have, he didn’t even attempt to strike his father back.  No other man on this planet, she believed, would get that same consideration from Teddy.

And it wasn’t just Ted.  Although all of Sinatra’s grown children appeared to love and respect him, they appeared to be terrified of him too.  Even Roz, Nikki noticed, knew when to hold’em with that man.

But Nikki felt it was Teddy, because he was the oldest, and because his father had put him in charge of seemingly everything, who probably bore the brunt of Mick Sinatra’s violent outbursts.  The man that held her hand, she was beginning to realize, had an awful lot to deal with.

Not that she was immune to guys with a lot to deal with.  She wasn’t.  Every guy she’d ever been involved with had baggage. And plenty of it.  But Teddy didn’t just have baggage.  Teddy Sinatra, like that ship, had more like cargo than baggage!

And Teddy, like that ship, was the biggest fish in the sea as far as the cops were concerned.  Because as soon as one of them got wind that he was on the scene, he immediately went to the supervisor on sight.

“Teddy Sinatra,” was all the cop had to say.

The supervisor, a plainclothes detective named Malidec, looked over, saw Teddy, and immediately began heading his way.

“Shit,” Teddy said when he saw the cop coming.

Nikki looked too.  “A cop?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Just the man I wanna see,” Malidec said with a big smile, as he approached Teddy.

“What do you want?” Teddy asked.  “You know my kid brother runs these docks.”

“And you run him,” the detective said.  “Which means you’re the one who really runs these docks.”

“Fucking twisted logic,” Teddy said.

“Fucking twisted family,” Malidec replied.

Teddy’s anger rose.  “Are you here to investigate a fire, or to harass me?”

“Maybe both.”

One of the attorneys on the Sinatra payroll had already left Joey’s side and was hurrying over.  Teddy would be the prize those cops wanted.  He would be the next best thing to getting Mick Sinatra himself.  That lawyer had to run immediate interference.  It was his job.  “Is there a problem, Mr. Sinatra?” he asked as soon as he arrived.

“No problem with me,” Teddy responded.  “What about you, Detective?  You’ve got a problem?”

“No problem,” the detective responded.  “Just want to know what you know about this fire.”

“Nothing,” said Teddy.

“Nothing at all?” asked the detective.

“Nothing at all.”

“Sure about that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be sure about it?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe you started it.  Maybe your old man needs the insurance money.”

Teddy frowned.  “Fuck you!” he said.

Malidec smiled.  “What do you know about this fire?” he asked again.

“Asked and answered!” the lawyer said.  “This is getting to be harassing behavior, Detective,” he added.  “I’m sure Mr. Sinatra has the Commissioner’s home phone number, and he won’t hesitate to use it.”

That was how those Sinatras survived, Malidec knew.  They had friends in high places.  And like all the other detectives on the force, he knew when to back off.  He looked at Teddy, then looked at the fact that Teddy was holding Nikki’s hand, and then he walked away.

The lawyer shook his head.  “Asshole,” he said.  “Sorry about that, sir.  Malidec’s had it in for your old man for years.  But his bark is worse than his bite.”

“You just get back over there and keep Joey in line,” Teddy ordered.  “Keep his mouth shut.”

“Yes, sir,” said the lawyer, and hurried back toward the interrogations.

But as Teddy and Nikki continued to stare out at the blazing ship, Detective Malidec began to stare at Nikki.  A second detective on scene moved over to him.

“What you staring at?” the second detective asked.  Then he looked too.  “Now that’s a good-looking woman.  I like her face.  She’s classy looking.  Who is she?”

“Don’t know.”

“Teddy’s old lady maybe?”

“Maybe,” Malidec said.  “I never seen him with a woman before so I don’t know his taste.  But he’s holding her hand awfully tight.”

“And they match,” the second detective said.  “I heard Sinatra was big as a log down there.  He’d need a woman her size to be able to take it all in.”

Malidec looked at him. “Big as a log?  How the hell you hear something like that?”

“I hear things.”

Malidec continued to stare at him.

“What?” he asked.  “I’m just saying she could be his old lady.  That’s all I’m saying!”

“Just cut the Dr. Phil crap and get the photographer to discreetly take some photos of her,” Malidec ordered.  “The kind we can run through the trace.  I don’t know who she is right now.  But I’ll soon be knowing her entire life story.  Let’s just hope it’s juicy.”

The detective smiled.  “Sure thing,” he said, and went to find the photographer.

 

It would be several hours before the fire was considered contained, and the firemen, with their bright red engines, and the cops, with their photographs of Nikki, had all gone back to their day jobs.  The deckhands in the employ of the Sinatras were trying to get what they were able to salvage of the containers before the blaze went out of control, onto their other ships.   Joey was busy supervising the massive transfer, and Teddy was getting a blow-by-blow of exactly what all happened.

Nikki, left to her own devices, began walking around further away from the activity.  Teddy kept looking away from his briefers to keep his eyes on Nikki, but every time he looked he was satisfied.  She was walking around, but within eye sight.

But as she walked further outside of the restricted area, impressed with the enormity of the Sinatra operation and curious how it all looked so legitimate when it obviously couldn’t be.  But that was what kept the Feds away, she suspected: nothing concrete to pin on them.

But as she walked she noticed something that seemed, at least to her, out of the ordinary.  A man walked off of one of the ships further away.  What struck her was how he walked off.   It seemed as if he had been hiding on that ship until the coast was clear.  What also struck her was the shoes he wore.  He stepped off of the ship as if he was a regular deck hand.  But what deck hand, she wondered, wore Ferragamos to work?

Her suspicion was confirmed when the man looked over and saw her, and she clearly was already seeing him, and a look of panic suddenly appeared on his already red face.  For a moment she expected him to give her an explanation.  But he didn’t say a word.  His panic won out.  And he took off running.

Nikki took off running, too, in the opposite direction toward Teddy. “Teddy!” she yelled.  “Teddy!”

Teddy’s briefers had only just left his side, and he was about to go to Joey to get a damage assessment.  He didn’t hear her yells – there was too much noise for that to happen.  When he looked up to check on her once again, he saw her motioning to him.  He took off running too.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he made it to Nikki.  His heart was pumping fast.  “What’s wrong?”

“That guy,” Nikki said, pointing backwards, toward the man who was running away.  “He just came off of that ship over there.  He saw me and then he took off.  I think he’s up to something!”

“Get Joey,” Teddy ordered as he prepared to run after the man, “and tell him to stay with you.  Get Joey!”  And then he left her side and took off after the man.

Nikki felt she would be better off by herself, protecting herself, instead of relying on Joey, but she did as she was ordered.  Teddy knew his kid brother better than she did.  She hurried to get Joey.

Teddy hurried, too, but by the time he saw the man in question he was already turning a corner near the old buildings that used to house docking stations.  Teddy knew he had to rely on his speed alone to catch him.  And he was determined to catch him.  The fact that he could be the arsonist and could have been in hiding until he felt he could get away clean, was reason enough.  The fact that he had startled Nikki sealed the deal for Teddy.  In his mind, he was going to catch that motherfucker.  There were no ands, ifs, or buts about it.

It was a tall order.  Teddy was well behind at first.  But after he cleared the old station house, and saw the man running toward the main road, he was able to put on the after-burners.  He caught him.  He relied on his speed and agility and was able to run the older man down.  He leaped onto the man’s back, and they both crashed to the ground.

Teddy quickly turned him around.  He wanted to see if he knew the asshole.  But he didn’t.  He never saw him before.

Teddy grabbed his collar.  “You were on my ship,” he said.  “What the fuck were you doing on my ship?”

“I wasn’t on any ship,” the man insisted.  “You have the wrong guy!”

Teddy slammed the guy’s head into the ground, causing him to scream in pain.  “What were you doing on my ship?” he asked him again.

“I wasn’t on your ship!  I’m telling you the truth!  I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Teddy stopped.  And frowned.  “What the fuck?” he asked.  And then he leaned down and sniffed the man’s shirt.  And he smelled it.  He knew the smell of explosive concoctions.  Demolition: he had to do a few for his old man.  He knew what those materials smelled like.  And he panicked.  Joey was still near those ships.  His men were still near those ships!  Nikki was still near those ships!

Teddy stood up quickly.  He couldn’t allow this fucker to get away, but he had to get to Nikki.  He had to get back to those ships.

He pulled out his loaded gun, the one he had retrieved from his Corvette after the cops left, and he shot the man in his right leg.  The man grabbed his leg and shrieked in pain.  But Teddy knew he still could hop his ass away from the scene.  And that was why he shot him again, in his left leg, causing the man to nearly pass out.  It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it would have to do.

Teddy took off running.  And there was no faster way: Teddy had to put on those after-burners again.

 

Nikki had found Joey and told him what Teddy had told her, and Joey, to Nikki’s surprise, didn’t hesitate in complying.

“Which ship was he on?” Joey asked her.

“That one down there,” Nikki responded, pointing to the ship the man had departed.

“Come on,” Joey ordered her, as he headed toward the ship.

Although Nikki wasn’t accustomed to being ordered around by two different men in the span of a few minutes, she complied again.  She was out of her depth, and Joey was the man Teddy had put in charge of her safety.  She was going to do as she was told.

Joey looked at Nikki as they walked toward the ship.  “You think I don’t like you.  Don’t you?” he asked her.

“No,” Nikki said.

“Come on!” Joey said with a grin.  “Why you lying like that?  You’re telling me you haven’t thought about how I feel about you?”

“I haven’t thought about you at all,” Nikki said.

“Ouch,” Joey responded.  “You strike back.”

Nikki smiled too.  “And don’t you forget it,” she said.

But when Joey and Nikki looked up and saw Teddy running toward them, pointing at that ship, Joey frowned.  “What is he saying?” Joey asked.  They couldn’t hear a word Teddy was yelling.

But Nikki didn’t have to hear him.  She saw him pointing at that ship.  Teddy was a lot of things, she realized, but a drama king wasn’t one of them.

She quickly grabbed Joey and began moving away from that ship.  But just as she did, the ship exploded with an explosion that rocked the docks.  Everybody took cover.  And they weren’t nearly as close as Nikki and Joey.