Chương 9
Rafe’s voice lowered. “You came here without permission. You knew about the vault. You knew which apartment held the boy. Do not speak to me about tests.”
For the first time, Domenic looked old rather than powerful.
He picked up the cannoli and handed them to Elena. “They’ll go bad.”
She did not take the box.
He left it on the counter.
After the door closed, Finn came back from the hallway.
“He looked at Bear,” he said.
Mave knelt as far as her ribs allowed. “I know.”
“Does Bear have another key?”
“I hope not.”
Rafe turned to one of the guards. “Search the apartment.”
“For what?” Elena asked.
“Anything that arrived before us. Cameras. Transmitters.”
The guards began with the smoke detectors and vents. Twenty minutes later, they found a listening device beneath the kitchen table.
It had been fixed there with gray adhesive and wired to a battery pack.
The apartment belonged to Rafe’s company. Access records showed Carlo had entered two weeks earlier for a routine security inspection.
Mave stared at the small black device inside an evidence bag.
Finn had sat at that table. He had talked about his heart, his father, and the hidden key.
Rafe called Ortiz.
By midnight, the secure apartment had become another crime scene.
They moved to a hotel under police escort. The hotel manager recognized Mave, pretended not to, then offered an upgrade. She refused. Elena accepted because Finn wanted a bathtub large enough to float two plastic cups like boats.
Rafe took the adjoining room.
Mave objected until Ortiz told her the alternative was two uniformed officers in the hall and a marked cruiser outside.
“You’re using him as free security?” Mave asked.
“I’m using the fact that whoever planned this expects his security to be competent,” Ortiz said.
“They expected that at the restaurant too.”
Ortiz rubbed her forehead. “I haven’t slept since Tuesday.”
“It’s Thursday.”
“Thank you, Ms. Donovan.”
The detective started toward the elevator, then turned back. “Salcedo has agreed to speak tomorrow.”
“What changed?” Rafe asked.
“Someone deposited money into his daughter’s college account six hours after the attack. The transfer came from a shell company already linked to a federal harbor investigation. His lawyer believes cooperation may keep the daughter from being charged with receiving criminal proceeds.”
“Will it?” Mave asked.
“No one has charged her.”
“So they frightened him.”
Ortiz held her gaze. “Yes.”
“Does that bother you?”
“It bothers me less than photographs of your son in a killer’s locker.”
She left.
Salcedo’s interview took place behind two layers of glass at the county courthouse. Mave watched from an adjoining room with Ortiz, Agent Pike, and a prosecutor whose suit jacket was too tight across the shoulders.
Rafe was not permitted inside. He waited downstairs.
Salcedo looked smaller without the server uniform. His right wrist was wrapped from Rafe’s hold. He asked for coffee, then did not drink it.
“I was hired to hit the girl,” he said.
“Kill her?” the prosecutor asked.
Salcedo stared at the table. “Make it look like I meant to.”
“What does that mean?”
“I swing. She goes down. There’s panic. Maybe she dies, maybe she doesn’t.”
Mave’s stomach tightened.
“Who hired you?”
“Carlo.”
“Carlo Bell?”
“Yes.”
“On whose orders?”
Salcedo looked toward the observation glass. He could not see Mave, but his eyes settled where she stood.
“Domenic.”
The prosecutor asked him to say the full name.
“Domenic Colazo.”
“What was the purpose of the attack?”
“Make Rafe think the Morettis came after his sister. He hits back. People die. Domenic steps in when Rafe gets arrested or loses support.”
“And Ms. Donovan?”
Salcedo rubbed his wrapped wrist.
The prosecutor repeated the question.
“Carlo said the waitress might move.”
“Might move where?”
“In front of the girl.”
Mave felt Ortiz look at her.
“How would Carlo know that?” the prosecutor asked.
“He watched people. Said she always stepped between trouble and whoever couldn’t handle it. Drunks. Angry customers. One time a guy grabbed a busboy.”
Mave remembered the busboy. Seventeen, new to Boston, frightened he would lose his job if he defended himself.
Salcedo continued. “If she moved, I was supposed to hit her again.”
“Why?”
“Domenic wanted what her boyfriend took.”
“Jamie Donovan?”
Salcedo nodded.
“Did they know the evidence was hidden in the stuffed animal?”
“Not until the apartment.”
The room became very still.
“Who listened to the device?” Pike asked through the intercom.
Salcedo looked toward the speaker. “Carlo.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did Domenic plan after learning about the key?”
Salcedo’s mouth moved, but no words came.
The prosecutor leaned closer. “Your cooperation agreement depends on full disclosure.”
Salcedo closed his eyes. “Carlo said he would take the boy if the box had already been opened.”
Mave reached the door before Ortiz caught her.
“Finn is with Elena and two officers,” Ortiz said.
“Carlo knows your procedures.”
“He knew restaurant security. He does not know where we moved them this morning.”
“You told me the hotel was safe.”
“It was until Salcedo confirmed the threat.”
Mave shoved Ortiz’s hand away. Pain exploded through her shoulder, but she kept moving.
Rafe was in the courthouse lobby when she reached the elevator. He saw her face and stood.
“What happened?”
“Carlo is coming for Finn.”
Rafe took out his phone.
Mave grabbed it. “Not your men. Call Elena.”
He did.
Elena answered on the second ring. Finn was with her in a cardiology clinic near Kenmore Square. The appointment had been scheduled months earlier. Ortiz had assigned two plainclothes officers.
Rafe put the call on speaker.
“Leave now,” he said.
“We’re in the exam room.”
“Take the back stairs. Don’t use the main lobby.”
Mave heard paper rustle, then Finn asking why.
Elena said, “We’re playing a game.”
“I hate games where adults whisper.”
A door opened on her end.
Then someone shouted.
The line went dead.
May you like
Mave stopped breathing.
Rafe was already moving toward the courthouse exit. Ortiz came from the elevator behind them, calling the clinic and dispatch at once.
