Chương 10
“Marco knew where they were before the police unit arrived,” he said.
Nora sat opposite him.
“Or someone in dispatch leaked it.”
“Marco said he had police friends.”
“Yes.”
“You believe Sophie now?”
“I believed she saw Marco. Belief isn’t proof.”
“He sent men after her.”
“We can prove men came after her. Connecting them to Marco takes work.”
“He will not give you time.”
“He doesn’t control time.”
Vincent looked at her.
“Everyone controls a little.”
Nora drank her coffee and winced at the taste.
“Your people are gathering tonight.”
It was not a question.
Tony’s head turned.
Vincent said, “Who told you?”
“Your people.”
“Which ones?”
“The frightened ones.”
Tony leaned forward.
“What gathering?”
Vincent kept his eyes on Nora.
“At the social club.”
Tony’s face darkened.
“You didn’t tell me.”
“I’m telling you now.”
“When?”
“Eight.”
“That’s five hours.”
“Yes.”
“Marco called it?”
“No. I did.”
Nora set down her coffee.
“Why?”
“Because if I don’t, he will.”
“You think you can settle this internally.”
“I think forty men who depend on the same structure are waiting to see whether Marco or I controls it.”
“This isn’t a board dispute.”
“No. Board disputes have more lawyers.”
Tony stood and walked toward the window.
Nora said, “If you go into that room and threaten witnesses, destroy records, or retaliate against Marco—”
“You’ll arrest me.”
“I’ll try.”
Vincent looked at her.
“You’ve been trying for years.”
“Not hard enough.”
“That must bother you.”
“It used to.”
“What changed?”
Nora glanced through the door at Sophie.
“You people started feeling less important than the damage around you.”
Vincent looked at the floor.
A maintenance worker pushed a wide mop past them. The wheels on the bucket squeaked every few feet. He paused to replace a trash bag, glanced once at Vincent, then continued without recognition.
Vincent had spent most of his life in rooms where everyone knew his name.
The anonymity felt almost clean.
Nora said, “What happens at eight?”
“Marco will deny everything. Half the men will believe him because belief protects their income. Some will believe me because fear is a habit. Others will wait for blood before choosing.”
“And what will you do?”
“I haven’t decided.”
“That’s not reassuring.”
“It shouldn’t be.”
Tony turned from the window.
“Boss, Marco has captains behind him. Frankie. Maybe Paulie’s crew. If this is about the drug routes, men are making money we didn’t know about.”
“We know now.”
“They won’t give it back because a child walked into dinner.”
Vincent looked at Sophie through the glass.
“No.”
Tony lowered his voice.
“They may kill her to make the accusation disappear.”
Nora’s jaw tightened.
Vincent said, “That is why Marco cannot leave tonight with authority.”
“And how do you remove it?” Nora asked.
Vincent’s hand moved toward his gold watch.
The face had stopped at one-seventeen.
Sophie’s blood had seeped into the crown and damaged the mechanism.
He had worn that watch for twenty-nine years. His wife had given it to him before their marriage failed, before their daughter learned to drive, before Vincent began pretending objects could outlast the people attached to them.
He unclasped it and placed it in his palm.
“By telling the truth,” he said.
Tony stared at him.
Nora gave a short, humorless laugh.
“Which truth?”
“All of it.”
No one spoke.
The maintenance bucket squeaked again farther down the hall.
Tony sat slowly.
“You don’t mean that.”
Vincent turned the watch over.
Tiny streaks of dried blood remained between the links.
“Marco built the routes inside my company. He bribed people, altered invoices, and ordered Elena killed. To prove that, I have to show how the company actually works.”
Nora’s expression became unreadable.
Tony said, “That opens everything.”
“Yes.”
“Freight. Construction. The union loans. Cicero.”
“Yes.”
“People go to prison.”
“Yes.”
“You go to prison.”
Vincent closed his fingers around the watch.
“Probably.”
Tony stood again.
“Then Marco wins.”
“No.”
“He takes the organization while you hand the police a rope.”
“There won’t be an organization to take.”
Tony looked as though Vincent had spoken in another language.
Nora watched both men.
“You have records,” she said.
“Some.”
“Where?”
“Safe locations.”
“How many?”
“Enough.”
“Are they complete?”
“No.”
“Would they corroborate Elena’s invoices?”
“Yes.”
“Would they implicate you?”
Vincent met her eyes.
“Yes.”
Nora leaned back.
“You understand I can’t promise you immunity.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“I can’t promise protection for everyone who cooperates.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“I can’t stop federal agencies from becoming involved.”
“I know.”
Tony walked several steps away, then returned.
“You decide this in a hospital hallway?”
“No. I decided it years ago and spent the years since avoiding it.”
His voice remained quiet.
Tony’s face tightened.
Vincent continued.
“When Lucia died, I banned poison because it let me blame one product instead of the life around it. Marco understood that. He knew I would never examine a refrigerated truck marked medical supplies because the label made me sick.”
Tony looked toward Sophie’s room.
“You didn’t put the drugs there.”
“I built a business where no one asked what senior men did.”
“You had rules.”
“So did Elena.”
Tony sat down again.
Nora picked up her coffee, then set it down without drinking.
“What happens at the social club?” she asked.
“I give Marco one chance to tell the men what he did.”
“And when he doesn’t?”
“I tell them the company books go to you.”
“You already called the meeting. Marco knows something’s wrong. If he thinks you’re cooperating, he won’t come.”
“He’ll come.”
“Why?”
“Because he thinks I care more about appearing strong than being right.”
Nora studied him.
“Does he know you?”
“Yes.”
“Then maybe he’s correct.”
Vincent almost smiled.
“Maybe.”
Sophie opened the hospital room door.
All three adults stopped talking.
She looked at Vincent.
“Can you fix this?”
She pointed at the gold watch in his hand.
He held it up.
“It may need a jeweler.”
“Why did it stop?”
“Blood got inside.”
May you like
She frowned.
“Mine?”
