Oz was impressed. “You’re really on your own now, aren’t you?”
“Totally,” said Gloria. “My father is not on board at all with my decision.”
“What about your mother?”
A sad look appeared in Gloria’s eyes. “She’s a fashion designer busy with her fashions. She’ll agree to anything right now. She’ll stay onboard if Dad doesn’t make her change her mind.”
“He controls her too?”
“He’s her financial support whenever her fashion line doesn’t sell according to plan. So yeah, he controls her.”
“Your father—” Oz began saying, but then he heard a gunshot and, without hesitation, pushed Gloria’s head down. “Get down!” he yelled as his back windshield shattered.
He hit on the gas even as he looked through the rearview to see who was shooting at them, but all he saw were headlights coming toward them.
He slung a corner, quickly, knowing he had to get some distance between himself and the chase car, but all he got was those headlights slinging that corner, too, and heading straight for them again. And then there were more shots.
But when Oz turned another corner as sharply as he could, and those headlights did the same, he realized this wasn’t going to work. He had to change the narrative.
“Hold on!” he yelled to Gloria, who was on the floor with her head completely covered.
“I am!” she yelled back.
But Oz was already in the midst of his decision. Instead of speeding away from the car behind them, he suddenly turned his car around to where he was now facing them, and he began speeding straight for the chase car.
The driver of the chase car, not expecting it, was stunned. “What’s that fucker doing?” he yelled, but he couldn’t hesitate or they were surely going to have a head-on collision.
He turned his car around, too, in the opposite direction, and began speeding away. The chaser was now the chased, and Oz wasn’t about to let them get away.
They drove through those long country backroads of Apple Valley as if they were on a racetrack. Oz was not letting up for a second.
Just behind Oz was Leo Ducetti and his men. They had been ordered to stay with Gloria, but to stay out of sight, and they had kept that order. But Leo hadn’t expected that turn of events. While his driver had to do a U-turn to keep up with Oz’s Porsche and the car Oz was now chasing, Leo was calling Mick.
“Somebody’s taking shots at them,” he said as soon as Mick answered his call.
“Taking shots?” Mick’s voice couldn’t hide his concern. “You’re telling me somebody’s trying to take out my daughter? What the fuck are you calling me for? Take their asses out!”
“We’re trying to take’em out, sir, but he’s driving too fast. We can’t get close enough.”
“Who is it?”
“We don’t know. But we think they’re after Drakos.”
“Drakos? I thought you said his ass was the leader of that mob?”
“That’s what we think, yes, sir. We don’t know who this other group is.”
Mick couldn’t believe it. “A fucking mad house! Where’s my child?”
“She’s in the car with Drakos. But he’s handling it, Boss. He’s handling it.”
But just as Leo was saying how Oz was handling it, the car that Oz was now chasing turned a corner way too sharply and began spinning out. By the time Oz turned that same corner, the car was flipping several times.
“That’s right, motherfuckers,” Oz was yelling. “You’re getting what your ass deserves!”
And then the car landed in a ditch.
Gloria looked up when the car stopped and saw Oz reaching beneath his seat to a compartment. He pressed a button and a gun fell into his hand. “I’ll be back,” he said like he was the Terminator, and hurried out of the car. When he ran to the car, he saw that the gunman was dead, but the driver was still alive. He immediately placed his gun in the driver’s head. “Who sent you?” he asked him.
The driver was moaning and groaning. He was on the verge of dying, and Oz knew it. “Who sent you, motherfucker?” Oz yelled. But it was too late. The driver died in his arms.
Oz was angry. Was he one of Mick the Tick’s men?
But while he took that moment to ponder that thought, a third man Oz didn’t realize had been thrown from the vehicle was crawling out of the dry ditch behind the vehicle with his gun ready to fire. And as soon as he was able to maneuver his badly injured body good enough to take a shot at Oz, he took his shot.
But another shot was fired, too, and took the gunman out. Oz ducked when he heard both shots that rang out at the same time. The one that was aimed at Oz missed wildly. The one that was aimed at the gunman, was spot on. Oz looked at the downed gunman, and then he quickly pivoted to see who had shot him.
When he saw Gloria standing there, with a gun in her hand, he was floored. He couldn’t believe it. She was Mick Sinatra’s daughter, which might have explained her accuracy, and he knew he shouldn’t have been surprised. But he was. He stood there stunned.
And he wasn’t the only one. Leo and his men had turned that same corner and caught the action just as Gloria was firing her shot. And they slammed on brakes.
“She shot him!” Leo yelled into the phone. “She shot him, Boss!”
“What are you talking about? Who shot whom?”
“Gloria. Your daughter. She shot the gunman. The others in that car appears to be dead from the accident. But there was one left. One about to take Drakos out, but Gloria took him out. She took him out. The threat is over.”
Mick, who was riding in the back of his Escalade, had to remove the phone from his ear to compose himself. The blow by blow Leo had been giving him was killing him. But now it was over? He put the phone back to his ear. “Are you certain there isn’t a back channel?”
“We’ve got another vehicle canvassing. There’s no one else around. The threat’s over and Gloria’s okay.”
“Thank God,” Mick said. Then he added: “Where’s Gloria now?”
“Drakos is running to her, and hugging her. And now he’s on his phone.”
“Was Drakos hit at all?”
“No, sir. Thanks to Gloria.”
“Okay, good. Good. What about you? Was your cover blown?”
“No, sir. We’re still far enough away.”
Mick had taken her to the range, as he had done all of his children at some point. “Get out of there then,” he said, “but stay close.”
“We’ve got to find out who’s after Drakos,” Leo said. “He’s apparently got some very aggressive enemies. Think we should call in Teddy?”
“No,” said Mick. “I’ve got reinforcements on their way already. Don’t you worry about that. My daughter’s safety is your only worry. I’ll handle Drakos.”
“Yes, sir,” Leo said, and Mick ended the call.
He leaned his head back.
“Everything okay, sir?” his driver asked him.
But Mick didn’t respond. His heart hadn’t stopped hammering yet. His family in danger was what he feared most in this life. But Gloria didn’t buckle under pressure. That he was pleased to know. Very pleased.