“You really need to be drinking more water.”
I set the tumbler on the coffee table. Then adjusted the pillow behind Cai’s head.
“Thanks, Mom.” She gave me a weak smile.
She lifted an ice pack up to the bandaged spot on her forehead, looking at me through sleepy, bloodshot eyes. Her left arm was wrapped in gauze and padding and nestled in a sling. Her feet were propped on a pillow on the coffee table, and a stash of pain meds and a blanket and tissues and anything else I could think of to make her comfortable was within easy reach.
Laskin’s bullet had passed through her upper arm, nicking bone in the process, but given what could have happened to her, I was overjoyed.
I sat next to her on the sofa, fretting like a mother afraid to take her eyes off her toddler playing next to the swimming pool. Janek watched from the Barcelona chair nearby, his elbows on his knees, ready to jump into action if needed, and Michael mimicked his energy as he stood next to me, still fidgety from the adrenaline, on alert for a moment of wooziness or new danger.
“How did you know to come?” I said to Michael. “How did you know Laskin was the killer?” I looked at him, trying to fill my eyes with every ounce of the gratitude I was feeling.
“I didn’t. It just turned out to be very lucky timing.” He looked at Cai before continuing. “I’ve been watching Laskin on another matter. He’s implicated in a car fire incident from last year that looks suspiciously planned. A guy burned alive inside the vehicle, and it appears he was zip-tied to the steering wheel. They’re trying to pass it off as a weird suicide scenario, but since the victim is alleged to have had an affair with Laskin’s wife, that story is doubtful to me.”
“Viola.”
Michael lifted his brows, seemingly surprised that I knew more than he thought. “We believe Laskin is Russian mafia, and they are a particularly cold-hearted bunch. Janek told me about your conversation, so I upped my surveillance on Laskin. I was following him, and when I saw you and Cai in the Plaza, it clicked and I knew what he was going to do. I just don’t understand why he would want Cai dead.”
“She was in the way,” I said. “What I know at this point is that Laskin is connected to this real estate development company called APR Holdings. You’re probably aware that he’s the CFO of Selciatto Holdings. Well, the Selciatto crew are also the key players in APR. But they’re hiding that underneath layers of complicated ownership structure. Anyway, they’ve got some major expansion plans. The first part is a project that both Cai and Judge Atkinson were involved with. Although it’s the biggest project they’ve done so far, its real significance was that it was going to be the model for more developments. If they weren’t successful with the first, all the others would be in jeopardy.”
“That requires serious capital,” Janek said.
“Yes, they were working on securing an investor. The investor’s condition was that they use project one as proof of concept. If it worked, then he’d cough up the dough for future developments. Atkinson was taken out because he wouldn’t be bought. Apparently, Atkinson had been accused of taking a bribe in the past. He was investigated and found innocent, but it seems they thought they could influence his ruling, but he wouldn’t go along with it.”
“So they found another solution,” Michael said.
“And the likely back-up judge was more sympathetic,” I said. “Cai was just another obstacle they wanted out of the way.”
“Why didn’t they go after Vogel? That would solve the problem too,” Cai said.
“I’m not sure. Maybe they didn’t have time for the probate hassles or felt they couldn’t influence the outcome. Regardless, the trail of bodies is building, so I assume that would be much harder now.”
“Where does this Abbiocco come in?” Janek asked.
“Peripherally. It’s their clubhouse. The guys associated with Selciatto, Panici, Gaetano, Farnsworth. They’re all in on this. The owners of Abbiocco and The Chicken Shack, Orlando Gaetano, were locked in on the developments to expand their restaurant chains. Farnsworth was in to help with a zoning problem. They’ve all got financial skin in the game.”
“They coordinated a hit list to get a real estate deal done. That’s cold,” Cai said.
“Well, another thing I don’t know is whether Laskin acted of his own accord or if this was authorized by the group.”
“Laskin going rogue would make sense to me,” Michael said. “I’d bet the power struggles inside that little cabal have been intense. And from what I’ve learned, Laskin was making moves with a few of his Russian cronies to take on some city construction projects. They want a bigger share of that pie. It doesn’t sound like Laskin’s loyalties were to Selciatto. He may have been angling to edge his employer out of the way.”
“What about Judge Reynolds? I don’t see how he fits in with this,” Janek said.
“Reynolds had a half-a-million-dollar debt to Selciatto. He was about to file for bankruptcy. This is conjecture, but I’m guessing that loan was to pay for some experimental treatments for his wife’s cancer. They were visiting a clinic in Mexico. I don’t know how Reynolds got connected to Selciatto, unless it was through Panici, or why they thought he needed to die.”
“Maybe Laskin was doing a favor for Panici,” Cai said.
“Or Laskin was creating a debt to keep Panici in line. Rae was one of the wild cards,” I added. “She knows a lot, and she’s peripherally involved in the development project.”
“Well, I should go,” Janek said. “I have a new list of people out in Elmwood Park I need to have a conversation with.”
He stood. Gave Cai a light squeeze on the hand and headed toward the door.
“I should join him,” Michael said. “Are you staying?”
“I’m not going anywhere until the patient here is sick of me.” I smiled and tipped my head toward Cai.
Michael placed his hands on my shoulders, his eyes drilling into mine. “I’m so, so sorry I didn’t take you seriously. Can we talk about it later?”
“Yes, I’d like that,” I said. In that moment, I knew how much I wanted him back in my life.
He smiled. “I’ve missed you so much.” Then he took my face in his hands and kissed me. Kissed me like he meant it.