Dina Santorelli

by Baby Grand

  "Phillip, I want to talk with you about something. I was going to wait, but..."

  The front door to the mansion opened and closed, making the outside noise grow in intensity, but then die down again quickly. Maddox unfolded his umbrella and walked into the room.

  "Governor? Hello, Katherine... I'm sorry to interrupt."

  "That's all right," Phillip said. "How is it out there?"

  "Insanity," Maddox said. "Between the rain and the picketers... And the news continues to report sightings of Charlotte all over the country. I just don't understand it."

  "It happens all the time," the governor said. "People want to help, feel like they're a part of the solution."

  Katherine shook her head. "They end up being part of the problem."

  "They mean well," Phillip said.

  "That's true," Maddox said. "You just never know when the right lead is going to come along."

  Maddox had been a trouper through all this, working round the clock since TMZ.com broke the story. He'd come as a package deal with Katherine on her first day of work back when Phillip was running for the assemblyman spot—"a bonus," as she referred to Maddox, who had worked with her as an independent PR consultant. Phillip had no problem with Katherine bringing her own people as long as they did the job, and in the years since, Maddox had proved to be a deft public relations specialist with an uncanny ability to feed the voracity of the media with no qualms about being the bad guy, whether it was telling out-of-line reporters to take a hike or limiting press access on a whim. Maddox took the brunt of the heat, leaving Phillip virtually unscathed by public opinion. "You won't regret this," Katherine had told him on that very first day. And Phillip never did.

  "Sir, are you familiar with a Robert Scott?" Maddox asked.

  "Who?" Katherine asked, letting go of Phillip's hand.

  "Robert Scott."

  The governor shook his head.

  "Well, he called this morning to speak with you and was told repeatedly that you were not available for obvious reasons and that he should make a request in writing and that we would get back to him. Apparently, he's being persistent."

  "Really?" Katherine asked. "What do you mean?"

  "He's at the security gate."

  "He's here?"

  "Yeah. Here's his business card." Maddox handed the card to Katherine. "He's a lawyer with Worcester, Payne & Leach in Manhattan."

  Katherine thought for a moment. "Wait a minute. I know that firm. Phillip, don't we know that firm?"

  "Katherine, we deal with a lot of lawyers."

  "I know, but it sounds so damn familiar." Katherine peeked out the window, but with so many people and umbrellas, it was difficult to see anyone in particular. "Which one is he, Lenny?"

  Maddox stood next to Katherine. "Hmmm... Oh, that's him, at the right side of the door to the security office. You see him? Tall, brown hair, he's got his foot on the gate?"

  "Oh yes, I see him now. He's a young guy."

  "I'd say mid-thirties."

  "Really?" Katherine turned to Phillip, who was again staring at the clock. "Phillip, don't you find this unusual? This Scott person from Manhattan driving all the way up here without an appointment? I mean, doesn't he read the paper or watch the news? All he has to do is open his eyes to know something is going on right now." She looked again out the window. "He seems so... unfazed."

  "He's a bit of a freak, if you ask me," Maddox said as his cell phone rang. He put it to his ear. "Yeah? ... You're kidding? ... All right, I'll call you back."

  "What is it?" Katherine asked.

  "Mr. Scott apparently just mentioned that he has an idea that might help us find Charlotte." Three federal agents, who had been standing nearby, approached the window and peeked outside.

  "What?" Katherine looked at Phillip, whose attention was finally secured. "Is he for real? What do we do?"

  "I say we just say, 'thanks, but no thanks' and send him on his way," Maddox said.

  The governor got up and stood with Katherine and Maddox near the window.

  "What do you think, Phillip?" she asked.

  Phillip stared through the small slit in the drapes. "I'm inclined to agree with Len."

  "So there you have it," Maddox dialed his phone.

  "I'm curious though," Phillip said.

  "Barry? Wait, hold on a minute," Maddox said into his phone.

  "Do we know exactly what kind of ideas Mr. Scott has about the disappearance?"

  "You're joking, right, governor?" Maddox said. "I can't believe you're really going to entertain this. If you want opinions, you can go turn on Fox News."

  "What is it you said just before, Len?" Phillip said. "That you never know when the right lead is going to come along?"

  "Ugh, I hate it when I'm right," Maddox said and spoke into his cell phone. "Hi, Barry, can I talk to Special Agent Wilcox? Thanks... Hi, it's Leonard Maddox. The governor would like to know if you have taken a statement from Mr. Scott ... Yes... All right... Hold on."

  "So what is it?" Katherine asked.

  "According to Wilcox, Mr. Scott seems to think that Charlotte's disappearance might have to do with Gino Cataldi's execution tonight."

  The words came as a sucker punch for Phillip Grand, who very well could have fallen over had he not been leaning against the wall. He was so stunned by the suggestion, and its implications, that he didn't notice that Katherine appeared to have had the same reaction. "The Cataldi execution? Did he say what the connection could be?"

  "I told you, governor," Maddox said. "He may as well have said that Charlotte's disappearance is linked to the death of Elvis Presley. Can we send this kook on his way now?"

  That was the last thing Phillip wanted to do. Somehow this Scott fellow had put two and two together, and Phillip wondered if anyone else out there had done the same. He needed to know for sure what he knew, or thought he knew, and put the kibosh on his theories before they made their way into the press, all of whom right now were within earshot of Robert Scott and could jeopardize his daughter's safety.

  "Send him in," Phillip said and returned to the main lobby.

  "What?" Maddox said.

  "I'd like to hear what this man has to say."

  Maddox looked at the First Lady. "Katherine..."

  Katherine stared out the window at Robert Scott, who had uttered the very thing that had been on her mind for the past two days. "Phillip, are you sure?" she asked.

  "Yes, I am."

  Katherine shrugged her shoulders. "I guess we have nothing to lose."

  Maddox relayed the governor's request into his phone and stood by the front door. "They said it will take a few moments while they search him and run his credentials."

  "All right," said Phillip, who was hoping to bide some time in order to come up with something credible to say.

  Katherine stood next to her husband. "Who do you think this guy is? Do you think he really knows something?" Inside, she was a mix of strong, contradicting emotions—validation, humiliation—that her hunch may have been right.

  The front door opened. "Well, we're about to find out," Phillip said.

  Bob, his face and collar tinged with rain, strode into the mansion with the bravado of a man who had been inaugurated there himself and as if he weren't being escorted by six federal agents. Special Agent Wilcox led him straight to the governor, who, Bob thought, looked taller and much thinner in person.

  "Mr. Scott? I'm Governor Grand."

  Bob stepped forward. He was wearing a dark-blue suit he had bought off the rack at Brooks Brothers the night before, and he was carrying his briefcase, which he set down on the floor—a few papers were left sticking out after the security guard had ransacked it.

  "Governor, what a pleasure to meet you," he said, shaking his hand. "I'm sorry it's under these inauspicious circumstances."

  "Thank you. I appreciate that," Phillip said. "This is my wife, Katherine."

  Bob nodded. "Ma'am." Katherine nodded in return.

  "So what is
this I hear?" Phillip said. "That you know something that can help us find my daughter?"

  "Governor Grand, I must be frank," Bob said. "My primary reason for wanting to see you was with regard to the legal roundtable you are currently assembling. I think I would be a tremendous asset."

  "Oh, Lord," Maddox said, sitting on one of the lobby's folding chairs.

  "But," Bob added quickly, "that's not the reason I came. I drove up here to offer my services to help in the investigation in any way I can. I have an exemplary record at Worcester, Payne & Leach, and..."

  "We have our own lawyers and investigators, Mr. Scott," Phillip said.

  "Wait a minute, now I remember why that law firm is so familiar," said Mrs. Grand, who had been standing beside Phillip. "You worked with the NAACP last year as part of Tay Jackson's defense team. The papers said that it was because of your firm that Jackson didn't get the death penalty."

  "Yes, that's right, Mrs. Grand. We're very good at what we do."

  "You realize I was on the opposing side," Phillip said. "That man murdered an innocent girl in cold blood."

  "Yes, I know, but we were hired to do a job, and we did it," Bob said. "Actually, speaking of capital-punishment cases, that's why I wanted to speak with you in person."

  "You think Tay Jackson has something to do with Charlotte," Phillip said.

  "No," Bob said. "But I'm thinking Gino Cataldi does."

  Phillip kept his eyes steady on Bob. "Yes, that's what I was told."

  "The timing of the disappearance seems very coincidental..."

  "I think the Albany police department considered this," Phillip said, "and thought there was nothing there."

  "Actually, that's not true, Phillip," said Katherine, who was eager to hear Robert Scott out. "There was nothing in Nurberg's report about Gino Cataldi, other than a notation of the execution tonight along with dozens of other items on your agenda this week."

  "It is certainly a possibility," Bob said. "I did a little reading last night on the Cataldi crime family, and there seems to be a history of witness tampering that..."

  "Mr. Scott, I sure hope this isn't some left-wing attempt to save another man—one who has killed at least two people and has a long, long history of crime in this state, I might add. If you are here for a stay of execution..."

  "Who? Me?" Bob's smile faded. "Are you kidding? I say, 'Kill the son of bitch.'" The profanity slipped out, but Bob hoped it would be seen as proof of his fervor for capital punishment or his conservative allegiance. "You know, it's no skin off my nose. I'm just trying to help."

  "I don't know, Phillip," Katherine said. "That's an interesting idea."

  "Katherine, please... If this was in any way related to Gino Cataldi, don't you think we would have heard something by now?"

  Katherine nodded. "That's true," she said. "We haven't gotten any demands of any kind."

  "Mr. Scott, you think capital punishment is the only hot-button issue in this state?" Phillip said. "Last week, my office was threatened when word got out that I was vetoing the No-Divorce Bill, which, as I see it, is really a Pro-Divorce Bill, since New York has one of the lower divorce rates in the country. And the week before that, I riled up the wrong people in the legislature by vetoing a stack of spending bills two feet high. Now, I hope you'll forgive me for not seeing this connection between a condemned eighty-plus-year-old man who hasn't tasted freedom in more than thirty years and the disappearance of my daughter."

  "Governor Grand, my apologies if I spoke out of place," Bob said. For the first time since he arrived, he felt the weight of the air in the room.

  "I know you mean well, Mr. Scott, but things are very tense, and this is just more complicated than you can know." Phillip held up Bob's business card. "I will hold onto your card and certainly keep you in mind for the legal roundtable. I do appreciate your initiative and concern. Please know that it hasn't gone unnoticed." Phillip stuck out his hand.

  Bob brightened as he shook it. "I appreciate that, Governor."

  Special Agent Wilcox stepped forward. "Governor, if it's all right, I'd like to speak with Mr. Scott and get a more detailed statement and get his contact information."

  "Whatever you think is necessary, Agent Wilcox," Phillip said.

  "Thank you, sir. Mr. Scott, would you come with me?"

  As Phillip watched Bob trail Wilcox, Maddox and a cluster of dark suits into the dining room, he hoped that he had spooked him enough to keep him quiet, but massaged his ego enough to keep him loyal. Still, it worried Phillip that Wilcox was giving him some additional attention.

  "Something tells me that won't be the last we hear of Robert Scott," Katherine said.

  "Yeah, I get the same feeling," said Phillip.

  Katherine's cell phone dinged, indicating she had a text message. It had been dinging regularly for the past twenty-four hours with inquiries from the media, political colleagues, and well-wishers. She glanced at the caller ID and froze: The text was from Don Bailino.

  Shielding the screen with her hand, she opened it.

  CAN WE TALK?

  She typed quickly:

  IT'S NOT A GOOD TIME.

  The phone dinged again.

  ARE YOU OK?

  I WILL CALL U LATER, Katherine wrote and then erased the message thread and put her phone into her jacket pocket as Phillip put his arm around her.

  "What was it you wanted to discuss?" Phillip asked. "Before?"

  "Oh, it's not important," Katherine said. "It can wait."

  Chapter 48

  The heavy rain started up again as Jamie sat on the main floor of the log cabin looking out the glass back doors. Large puddles had formed all over the pebbled driveway, making it look like a minefield. Charlotte sat next to her, ripping pages out of a magazine that had been on the recycling pile. Other than the intermittent shredding, it was quiet, and, true to Bailino's word, Jamie hadn't seen Leo all day.

  Benny was sleeping on the sofa behind her, and Tony was on Facebook again—he had been sitting there for half an hour and commented on at least twenty posts, as far as she could tell.

  "Are you hungry?" Joey stood in the kitchen.

  Jamie shook her head.

  "What about her?" Joey pointed to Charlotte, who was arranging all of the scrunched up pages around her into groups.

  "She had her bottle about an hour ago," Jamie said, looking at the little girl. "She seems fine right now."

  "Crap, where's the sound on this thing?" Tony said to no one in particular. A Yahoo news page was coming up on the screen. "Oh, here it is." As Tony turned up the volume, a news reporter was speaking. "...identified as Robert Scott of Worcester, Payne & Leach, a Manhattan law firm that specializes in high-profile criminal cases. Why Scott had been called to the..."

  "That's too loud," Joey said, stepping over to lower the volume.

  Jamie sat still, her face toward the back doors, but her eyes watched the footage of Bob walking into the Executive Mansion in Albany, which was being shown on a loop. What was he doing here, Jamie wondered. Had he seen her post? Would he be coming for her? There was a flutter of excitement in her belly when she had a frightening thought: What if Bailino had seen this news report as well?

  A bolt of lightning shot through the trees, and the log cabin lights went out.

  "Fuck," Tony said. The computer screen dimmed as the machine switched to battery power. "Where's the fuse box?"

  "It's downstairs," Joey said. "I'll go. I know where it is." He opened a cabinet and grabbed a flashlight.

  "Son of a bitch," Tony muttered, looking over at Benny, who remained asleep on the couch. "Fuckin' guy can sleep through anything." He stood up and stretched his arms. "Joe, what if it's not just the house, but the whole area? I'm supposed to play in a poker tournament this afternoon. This battery won't last forever."

  "Power down now, and save your battery," Joey suggested. "I'll be right back."

  "This fuckin' sucks." Tony pushed the laptop across the buffet. "What are you looking at?" he
asked Jamie, who averted her eyes.

  Joey was yelling something from the basement.

  "What? I can't hear you?" Tony yelled back.

  "Shut the fuck up, already," Benny said, turning over on the sofa.

  Tony kicked one of Charlotte's piles of paper on the floor and walked into the kitchen. "What?" He leaned his head inside the basement stairwell.

  Nobody else saw it, except for Jamie, because she was sitting so close to the glass doors. When the power blew, the small red indicator light on the electronic lock turned green—probably as a safety precaution. Her mother's words came to her again in a whisper: Driving is easy. Go when it's green, stop when it's red. The real trick is learning to live your life that way.

  Without wasting any time, she stood, picked up Charlotte, pulled on the glass doors, and was half-surprised when they opened with ease, but not before making a heavy dragging sound.

  "What the...?" she heard Tony say as she darted out the door and into the rain.

  The grass was wet and furry under her bare feet, and Jamie ran as fast as she could across the manicured lawn and into the brush and trees, toward the river. The raindrops felt like pellets against her forehead and Charlotte felt like a sack of potatoes in her arms, but she wasn't crying—the little girl hid her head in the crook of Jamie's neck and was holding on tightly. There were yells coming from behind her now and rustling. Don't turn back, she thought. Just go. She ran around trees, hoping they'd shield her from detection as lightning lit up the sky, followed by a quick clap of thunder, and Charlotte held Jamie tighter.

  The river appeared through the brush. It seemed wider and rougher than it had the day before as Jamie ran across the riverbank, ignoring the pain under her feet, trying to keep from slipping. Her steps stomped through the mud and then splashed into the shockingly cold water. More splashes came from behind her as she waded into the river.

  SINK OR SWIM: THE TIME IS NOW TO LIVE THE LIFE YOU DESERVE.

  Random images flashed across Jamie's mind with every push through the water: The swing of the rake... Leo tearing at her clothing... The footage of Bob at the Executive Mansion... Her mother's closet filled with clothes with the tags still on them... I'll take care of you... Charlotte's screaming face as she came up from under the bathtub water. Jamie looked at the little girl: You can do this, I know it. She strengthened her grip on Charlotte and, just as the river was waist high, dove in.