THE NEXT DAY
“It sounds grim,” I said. “And you can pass on all the heat you’re taking back to me.”
“I can handle the heat, Tank,” the chief said. “That stays on me. But what I won’t tolerate is you going out there out of control. And five dead—ex-cops, to boot—and three in the hospital reads to me like you’re out of control.”
“Those five ex-cops were part of Eddie Kenwood’s crew,” I said. “And, if it means anything, they had come there to kill me.”
“Maybe so,” the chief said. “But, meanwhile, you’re sitting across from me alive and well and they’re getting powdered and dressed in their best suits by a Long Island mortician.”
“I wasn’t the one who took them out,” I said.
“I don’t need a connect-the-dots puzzle to reach that conclusion,” the chief said. “They went down with knife wounds put to them by people who know how to handle a blade. In all the years I’ve known you, the only time I’ve seen a knife in your hand is when you’re cutting into a steak.”
“As for the three yesterday,” I said, “the two I shot were both in self-defense. They were armed, as the report there no doubt states. The weapons were handed over at the crime scene. The third guy in the hospital was put there by one of Dee Dee’s guys. Not by me. And if he hadn’t put him there, the guy would have taken out a federal agent for sure.”
“Look, Tank,” the chief said, “I’m not trying to throw a pity party for any one of these bastards. If the Kenwood bunch had their way, they would have taken you down and it would have been weeks before we found your body. So I’m not losing a second of sleep over them.”
“The three from yesterday were hired hands from the accounting firm we’ve been looking into,” I said. “We were there to meet with a confidential informant. The CI never made it to the meeting. The three that did came looking to do some serious damage. We were lucky. They weren’t.”
“Is the CI dead?”
“Most likely,” I said. “These guys don’t play games—they’ve got too much to lose. The same holds true for Kenwood and his bunch. What’s happened so far might well be just the beginning. I have a feeling it’s going to get a lot worse before both cases are wrapped up.”
The chief took a deep breath and stayed quiet for a moment. “With Kenwood you need to prove that someone else killed Rachel Nieves. And with the firm, as dirty as they may well be, you need to prove they orchestrated the death of your brother and his wife. How close are you to either one?”
“Kenwood killed Rachel Nieves,” I said.
The chief stared at me, then he slammed a closed fist against the top of his desk. “Kenwood? Are you sure? Are you locked-down goddamn sure?”
“I got a confession,” I said. “From Kenwood himself. He was at the meeting in Inwood Park. I guess he figured with five of his surrounding me, I didn’t stand a chance of walking out of there alive, so he might as well come out with it. And he did.”
“Still leaves it your word against his,” the chief said, slowly regaining his composure. “You’re going to need at least one more witness to pin it on him.”
“There was another witness,” I said. “He’s been working with me, helping out on both cases. The U.S. Attorney has agreed to give him blanket immunity. If you can get the higher-ups here to do the same, then we might be able to work out a deal.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” the chief said.
“You’ll need his name,” I said.
The chief smiled. “I have his name,” he said. “There’s only one guy with a crew as good and as lethal as his. And, to top it off, they cleared out the pockets and took all the possessions of the dead ex-cops. That’s not something your regular gangbanger has a habit of doing.”
“Alban doesn’t work for free,” I said. “Not for me. Not for anyone.”
“And we might need one—if not more than one—of Kenwood’s ex-cop crew to flip on him on the Nieves murder in return for a reduced sentence,” the chief said. “Providing any of them are still alive by the time you’re done.”
“I think we’re getting close on the firm, too,” I said. “They wouldn’t be sending three heavy hitters after me if they didn’t feel our heat. Plus, Carmine is working his end.”
“How so?”
“He put a bug into the right ears,” I said. “The mob guys who are invested with the firm have their own accountants looking deep into their numbers. If they find out they’ve been screwed out of even one nickel, they will be less than pleased, and when that happens, blood usually flows.”
The chief nodded. “I’ll clean up the mess you left behind,” he said. “The Inwood situation can be written off as a turf war with some bad badges caught in the middle. And Dee Dee is already at work on yesterday’s incident. Her guy gets jumped by some bad guys, a heroic ex-cop comes to his rescue. Something along those lines.”
“There’s one more thing you need to know,” I said. “Kenwood has something on me. Something big.”
The chief rested his reading glasses on his desk. “What?”
“It’s something everyone close to me needs to know,” I said. “I plan on telling them in a few days. I’d like you to be there. I’ll let you know when. Would do it sooner, but we have a surprise lined up for my nephew, and I don’t want to do or say anything to spoil that for him. Kid’s been through enough shit as it is.”
“Is it back from when you were a cop?”
“No,” I said. I stood and turned to leave the office. “It happened long before I joined the force.”
“Whatever it is, you do seem shaken by it,” the chief said. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d even say you look scared. And that’s a look I’ve never seen on Tank Rizzo.”
I met his eyes and nodded. “You’re right about that, Chief,” I said. “I am scared. Scared to death.”