“I can’t feel sympathy for him, Carol. Never.”
“I’m not asking you to. But we need to understand the man at that moment in time because it will help us better arrive at what he might have done with your sister.”
Pine’s expression became agitated. “To finish our line of reasoning, if he didn’t kill her or abandon her, he might have given her to someone, like you suggested.”
“Human trafficking, then?”
“No, to take a page from your book, in coming to understand the man, I doubt Ito knew anything at all about human trafficking. Now, his brother might have, but he was dead by then. And I don’t see Ito gabbing it up with the dregs of the organized crime family his brother once worked for in order to get input on where to sell little kids.”
Blum said, “But if he gave her to, say, a family, wouldn’t Mercy just tell the family who she was and that she had been kidnapped? The account of what happened I’m sure made the press all over Georgia, if not the country. Her picture was probably everywhere. They either would have taken her in and then called the police, or just called the police right off the bat when Ito came by with her.” She hesitated and then plunged on. “So maybe Ito gave her to someone by prearrangement.”
“We just discussed that—human trafficking.”
“No, not human trafficking. Just a family perhaps in desperate need of a child.”
Pine looked at her. “What? But they would know—”
“They would know only what Ito told them. He could have lied about her background, how he came to have her. Maybe they thought they were doing good by taking her in.”
“But wouldn’t Mercy have rebelled at that? Told them who she was, what had happened to her, just like you said, Carol? Now you’re arguing against your own position.”
“No, I’m just trying to look at it from different perspectives. Now, even a precocious six-year-old can be made to believe and accept things that no adult ever would,” said Blum. “We don’t know what Ito told her. That her life could depend on her accepting her conditions. Or he could have threatened harm to you or her parents if she didn’t do as she was told.”
Pine sighed and slumped back against the car seat. “All of that makes perfect sense. Maybe more sense than any other explanation.” Pine fell silent, but as she sat there her expression changed, evolving from hopeless to curious.
“What?” said Blum, who knew her so well.
“Two questions. First, in the letter Bruno Vincenzo said he got screwed over. What do you really think he meant by that?” When Blum shook her head, Pine said, “I think he didn’t rat my mom out because he wanted to cut a deal and save himself. Only that deal didn’t happen. I wonder why.”
“And the second question?”
“One I’ve voiced before: How the hell did Ito Vincenzo know we were in Andersonville, Georgia?”
CHAPTER
18
THIS SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED. You shouldn’t be dead.
John Puller was staring down at the body of CID Special Agent Ed McElroy.
My agent, my responsibility. Buck stopped with no one other than me. No excuses.
His wife, and now widow, had been notified of his death and was on her way here to confront the absolute worst reality a spouse would ever have to face.
Puller left the facility and returned to his car. He drove across town to the police building, where he had been informed the investigative unit that was handling the shooting and Jerome Blake’s death was stationed. He met a stonewall at the front reception desk despite showing his creds, badge, clear connection to the case, and earnest manner in wanting to understand what was going on with the local side of the investigation.
The sergeant, who was called in to handle the situation when Puller had deemed the first two officers insufficiently senior and uninformed, seemed finally to take pity on him.
“Army, huh?” said the man, giving Puller the once-over with a pair of scrutinizing eyes.
“Chief warrant officer.”
“West Point?”
“No. I’m enlisted. Noncommissioned officer. My father went to West Point, but I chose another path.”
“My youngest boy’s in Iraq now,” the sergeant said, letting his guard down a bit. “Been there about six months now. Did you fight over there?”
Puller nodded. “Came back with metal inside me I didn’t start out life with. But it was a privilege and honor to serve my country.”
The cop, hefty and broad shouldered but with a softening expression on his features, nodded. “Hope my boy comes back in one piece.”
“Nothing about combat is safe, but the Army takes great pains to train their people for every situation and provide the best equipment to do the job.”
“Good to know, Agent Puller. And we all appreciate you serving our country.” He looked around. “Um, look, let me check on something. You hang right there, sir.”
While he stepped away Puller eyed the small space. It had photos of the current police commissioner, mayor, governor, and president. They all smiled at him from their official portraits. He had nothing to smile back about. What was happening to him right now made no sense, but it apparently made perfect sense to others. And that disturbed the hell out of him.
“Can I help you?”
Puller turned to see a petite young woman who looked to be in her late twenties standing behind the desk, the hefty cop nowhere in sight. She had large brown eyes and short dark hair that revealed a slender, freckled neck. The ID lanyard around that neck identified her as being with the public affairs office. The large eyes were looking at him questioningly.
Puller came forward and put out his hand. “CID Special Agent John Puller.”
She didn’t shake his hand. “I know who you are, Agent Puller. I’m just wondering why you’re here. I’m very busy, so I hope it’s nothing complicated because I really can’t spare the time. I’m sure you can understand.”
Every hair on the back of Puller’s neck stood up at her mindless and condescending statement. “One of my men was shot last night here in Trenton. I’m working the case in conjunction with the local police here.”
“I’m aware of the unfortunate death of Agent McElroy.” She stopped there and continued to stare at him as though challenging him to come up with a reason why their conversation should be extended.
“We’re doing the post on him now. We’ll have a bullet to provide to your unit to match to the murder weapon, which you have in your custody.”
“There’s no question about who killed your agent and what gun was used to do it,” she pointed out.
“There are a great many questions to resolve,” replied Puller. He took a step forward, cutting in half the distance between them. He glanced at the name on the lanyard. “So, Ms. Lanier, I’m here to discuss the investigation with your people. That’s how it’s done on a joint case like this. Surely you’re aware of that.”
“I wasn’t aware it was a joint case.”
“How can it not be?” Puller shot back in a harsher tone than he probably intended at this point in the sniffing-out exercise that was taking place between the two. “A federal agent was shot and killed. One of your men shot the alleged killer. I’m sorry if you don’t want to hear a complicated case, but this clearly is one.”
“He shot the shooter—saving an FBI agent in the process, if I recall correctly.”
“Maybe.”
“What do you mean, ‘maybe’? It’s clear that’s what happened.”
“I wish it were as clear to me. But that’s why we investigate. So I’d like to talk to him and—”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you need to talk to him?”
The question was so odd and out of bounds that it gave Puller, a seasoned investigator if ever there was one, pause. “He fired his weapon. He was involved in what happened. He might have seen things pertinent to the investigation.”
“I believe he filed his report.”
“Can
I see it?”
“I’m not sure that’s possible.”
“And I’m not sure what you’re saying makes any sense at all. You can’t deny me a look at his report.”
She shrugged off this rebuke.
“Difference of opinion.” “Difference of reality,” said Puller, taking the kid gloves off because it was clear that approach was akin to attacking an aircraft carrier with a jet ski.
“I don’t like your tone.”
“And I don’t like being cut out of an investigation in which I have a clear reason to be involved.”
“You may not understand how we do things here.”
“On the contrary, I’ve worked two cases with the Trenton police and three with the New Jersey State Police and one case with the Newark cops. I received nothing but the highest professionalism and the fullest cooperation, with the result that we successfully cleared every single case.”
“Well, I think we have things well in hand on this one. We have the shooter. He’s dead. Case couldn’t be clearer. It’s over and done with.”
“Excuse me, are you a trained investigator? Because your ID says ‘public affairs.’ ”
“I have been briefed on the matter.”
“Which is more than I can say,” retorted Puller.
“I think you know all you need to know about the case. It’s been resolved, Agent Puller. You can freely move on to other unsolved cases.”
“Your opinion on the matter, unfortunately, carries no weight with me since you were clearly plucked out to come here and tell me absolutely nothing.”
“I’m doing my job,” she shot back.
“So am I—at least I’m trying to, but you’re not helping.”
“I didn’t know that it was my job to help you. But, regardless, I wish you good luck in whatever you’re doing.”
Puller held out his card. “If anything occurs to you, I’d appreciate a call.”
She didn’t take it. Lanier turned and walked back through a doorway, closing it hard behind her.
A moment later the hefty cop appeared from another door.
“How did it go, Agent Puller?” he asked hopefully.
“It didn’t,” replied Puller as he turned and walked out into a gathering storm. It was not nearly as intense as the one going on inside his head.
CHAPTER
19
OVER THE PHONE JACK LINEBERRY sounded weak and a bit depressed. He’d known both of Pine’s parents for decades. Pine had recently learned that he’d worked with a government agency back then on the sting operation against the mob in which Pine’s mother acted as a mole. Lineberry had been sent to Andersonville to watch over them, a mission at which he’d failed. Since then, he’d become extremely wealthy through an investment company he had started.
And Pine had also learned that Jack Lineberry was her and Mercy’s father, having conceived them with their mother before she met the man Pine thought had been her father, Tim Pine.
“Jack, are you okay?” asked Pine in a worried tone.
She had put her phone on speaker so that Blum could listen in.
“Just a bad day. Some infection, they said, and a bit of pain accompanying.”
“Wait a minute, are you still in the hospital? I thought they were releasing you.”
“They’ve assured me it’s nothing serious, but they are keeping me a while longer, as a precautionary measure.”
“Are they sure it’s not serious?”
“Yes, just typical postsurgery stuff, but I’m feeling claustrophobic. I just want out of here. Hence, my mood is not all that good.”
“Hang in there, Jack. They need to make sure you’re good to go.”
“Where are you?”
“Trenton.”
“Ito Vincenzo, then?” he said.
“Yes. We’ve found out a few things and had some curveballs thrown our way.”
“Such as?”
Pine said, “Such as Ito’s grandson, Tony, is a fleeing fugitive. And Ito’s son and Tony’s dad, Teddy, was just murdered in prison shortly after I spoke with him.”
To his credit, Lineberry did not sound shocked by any of this. “Life is full of curveballs, Atlee,” he said quietly. “And I surely speak from experience on that.”
“Which is why I’m calling you for some help.”
Lineberry said, “Your call could not have been better timed. It will give me something to do while I wait for the next bad meal they’re going to serve me today.”
Pine told him about the letter they had found in Evie Vincenzo’s closet.
“What?” gasped Lineberry. “That sounds like Bruno knew about your mother’s working with us.”
His heavy breathing was making her worried. Pine said, “I don’t think you’re in a condition to hear any more.”
“No, no, I’m . . . I’m fine, please go on.”
“I take it you didn’t know that Bruno might have known about my mom.”
Lineberry said disgustedly, “Bruno Vincenzo was a cold-blooded killer. If I had known that, I would have pulled the plug on the whole op in a New York minute.”
“He said he didn’t rat out my mom, but that he was screwed over. He made it sound like he had worked a deal where he would get some sort of immunity but that it didn’t come through.”
“I can’t believe that, I really can’t. But you have to understand that I was kept out of the loop on the legal end of things. I’m not a lawyer. My job was to watch over your mother. Any deal would have to have been made with the prosecutors, the folks at the FBI, and ultimately the Justice Department. Not with me. But still, I would have been made aware of it, or at least I should have been. Bruno knowing about your mother’s real role comes squarely down on the operation’s side. That was my jurisdiction. If the lawyers did cut such a deal and didn’t tell us? Well, it would have been incredibly stupid. If we had known we would have changed how we engineered the whole op. I guess we could have used Bruno as an asset. Not that I would have ever trusted the son of a bitch.”
“He eventually did turn state’s evidence,” pointed out Pine.
“Right, only to save his own ass. And he failed at that, and you won’t find me crying over it. That guy probably had the blood of at least fifty people on his hands. Good riddance.”
“But assuming that Bruno’s having found out about my mother’s undercover status was relayed to the prosecutors, why wouldn’t they have struck a deal with him? I mean, he had leverage. He could have blown the whole investigation, like you said. He could have put my mother’s life in danger. They might not have had a choice but to go along.”
“Her life was already in danger,” noted Lineberry.
“In more danger, then.”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Atlee. I wasn’t in those discussions, if they did occur.”
“It seems clear that was why Ito did what he did. To avenge Bruno.”
“Look, don’t assume that Bruno was telling the truth in that letter. It could have just been sour grapes on his part. And he deserved what he got. Like I said, the number of people he killed while he was in the mob? And how he killed them? It was nauseating. The bastard!”
“Okay, Jack, just calm down. The last thing you need is to get all worked up.”
She could hear him take several deep, calming breaths. “I’m sorry, I don’t usually let it get to me like that. I’m good now. Continue on with your questions.”
“You’re sure?” she asked.
“Yes. Quite sure.”
“Okay, moving on, you said that, at least initially, my family was in witness protection?”
Lineberry said, “That’s correct. After your mother served as an inside source for law enforcement, her identity was leaked, and threats were made. The decision was made to put all of you into witness protection.”
“How was her identity leaked?” asked Pine.
He didn’t answer right away. “That is something we never determined, although we did an exhaustive investigation.�
�
“Did you make the assumption that her identity had been leaked because of the threats?”
Lineberry coughed and said, “Exactly. That was the surest proof of all.”
“What was the nature of the threats?”
There was a long moment of silence.
She said cautiously, “We can do this another time, when you feel better.”
“No, let’s just push on.” He cleared his throat. “The first threat came in the form of a letter that was mailed to the apartment in New York where you were living at the time. The location of that apartment was a secret, but nonetheless there it was. It was a clear death threat. The decision was made to move all of you into witness protection.”
“Why send a letter and essentially warn us, instead of coming there and trying to kill my mom?”
“I could never figure that out. It might have been done to intimidate, which it did. And also cause us to move you, which we did. We never determined why that was advantageous for whoever sent the letter.”
“So they knew of her identity even though she never testified in court?” she asked.
“Your mother ‘testified’ to federal authorities in quite a few lengthy interviews, which in turn led to other witnesses who did testify in exchange for plea deals. She also provided recordings she took secretly while in the presence of numerous mob bosses. Those recordings were validated by other sources and entered into evidence. It was all legal and aboveboard, but we took great pains to keep her identity secret. She was our best shot at taking the families down. We had to keep her safe. And in the end, many of the mob just took deals because the evidence was overwhelming. Most of the older members we arrested ended up dying in prison. As far as I know, the younger ones are still in prison, right where they belong.”
“Okay, tell me about the first witness protection experience.”
“You were relocated to Hudson, Ohio. It’s a suburb of Akron. It was far removed from New York City. We thought you all would be safe there.”
“But we weren’t.”
Lineberry said, “No. One night, about two months after you arrived, there was a home invasion. Two men with guns.”
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