Chapter Twenty-Two

 

"Wow," said Lily. "I'm surprised he didn't shoot you."

"Me too," I agreed. We both rested our arms on the edge of the spa's pool. I kicked my legs, half floating, while Lily sipped soda through a red and white-striped straw.

"I mean, it would have been dumb if he had, given that Maddox and Farid would have shot him a bazillion times."

"Not before Solomon did. He saw Zach through the rear window and crept up behind him while Zach was trying to work out what I knew and whether he should ditch Vanessa and just get out of there." I paused and took a deep breath. The memory of that chalet wouldn't leave me any time soon. "He already had her car keys but she knew where he was going. If he left her behind, she could have told us where he went."

"Do you think he would have killed her in the cabin she rented?" asked Lily.

"Maybe, if he got tired of her or she started to smell a rat. He told her so many lies. They were just going to lie low a while but there're plenty of places to hide a corpse in the woods."

"You have such a dark imagination."

"Thank you," I said, taking another refreshing sip.

"Are you sure you don't want to hang out later too? We can put a photo of Zach in the garage and throw axes at it."

I frowned in alarm. "You have axes?"

"Sure!"

"We need to talk about this someday," I told her. "I have to go to the hospital after we leave. Austen said Sophie woke up yesterday and apparently, wants to talk. Solomon is coming, and Maddox and Farid are eager to interview her too."

"Jord isn't thrilled that the FBI swooped in and took the case."

"Once it turned into a federal crime, they didn't have a choice," I told her. "For a long time, solving that case looked like Mission: Impossible."

"Then you turned it into Mission: Possible. That's my girl," said Lily as she fist-bumped me.

"Jord is going to get a lot of credit for his investigation," I said. "I heard the DA is delighted. He has so many serious charges to throw at Zach Gallo. Real headline stuff."

"Great. I had to retire the sexy bank robber outfit thanks to this case, but maybe I can get it out again."

"If you do..." I started.

"Yeah?"

"Never tell me. Promise me, Lily. Please! I don't ever want to hear about it."

Lily rolled her eyes. "You should nearly get shot more often. I like it when Solomon sends us both to the spa. Has he considered buying shares in it?"

I laughed and splashed her with water.

~

Solomon was waiting for me at the entrance to the hospital. "How was your day of relaxation?" he asked.

"Perfection. Thank you." I raised onto my tiptoes and kissed him. "Lily appreciated the invitation. We swam, got massages, and I thought of how great our marriage is. How're things in the ICU?"

"No idea. Sophie was moved to another room now she’s awake and she and Austen are waiting for us. From what I hear, be prepared to expect quite a story."

"How's Austen?"

"I'm not sure. Relieved, disappointed, afraid, happy."

"All at once?"

"It's possible, if you can believe it." Solomon slipped his hand around mine.

"I'm not sure anyone will thank me for my contribution to the case," I told him as we took the stairs.

"Vanessa Reyes might. I'm told she cut a deal with the Feds. No jail time, just probation, and she's told them everything they need to prosecute the Montgomery heist. She gave up the rest of the crew too. A couple of them worked at Sky Outdoors with her and Zach, and one of them was the sloppy shooter. Her voluntary cooperation seriously helped her."

"Wow."

"How did you work out Thomas Mackleton being her brother?" asked Solomon.

"I didn't. Not until I saw her face fall when I told her he was dead. Then it clicked. Vanessa. The robbers' Army training. Nessa the sister who escaped to the Army. Thomas wasn't so lucky but she came back for him. She introduced him to Zach. I don't think she had a clue what Zach was really like."

"I watched Garrett interviewing her. I got the impression she knew nothing about Sophie or the Gallos’ life in Milwaukee."

"Really?"

"She said she would never get involved with a married man."

"That was the least of her problems," I scoffed.

We walked down a long corridor and turned the corner, following the signs to the room number Austen gave Solomon.

"You know this isn't really the conclusion to the case I expected," I told him as we neared the room. "I quickly guessed there was something strange about Sophie's fall but I tried not to believe Austen's suspicions had any basis. I feel so bad for him."

"He wanted the truth. You gave him that. Sophie should have, but you did."

"I think she planned to eventually. Hey, I want a nice case next time."

"Is there such a thing?" Solomon stopped. "We're here. Are you ready for this?"

"Nope," I said as I pushed the door open. When we stepped in, I was surprised to see Austen perched on Sophie's bed, one foot on the floor, her hands folded in his and resting in his lap. Maddox and Farid both leaned against the wall and Jord was sitting in an uninviting chair.

"Hi," I said, trying to temper my curiosity. "You're awake. It's so nice to meet you, Sophie."

"Yes, I am," said Sophie, her voice hoarse. Austen reached for a tumbler of water on the stand next to the bed and held the straw to her lips. She sipped and rested her head on the pillow. "You must be Lexi Graves. Apparently, you worked everything out."

"I'm not sure I worked out everything. I'd like to hear it from you."

"We've already talked," said Austen. "I think you'll be interested to hear what Sophie has to say."

"Then let's get started," said Maddox.

"I am Sophie Gallo," she said, "But you're right, I'm not Sophie, the sister. Zach was my husband until I supposedly died. Officially, anyway. His sister stole my car one night. Not the first time, I should add, and I know she was high because I saw her earlier that day and she was already wasted. She came by the house, demanding money and I said no and told her to leave, but on the way out, she must have grabbed my keys because minutes later, I saw her peel out in my car. Zach and I went after her. She was going so fast that she crashed and we watched my car blow up. Zach said we should pretend she was me. She was my height, my size, and driving my car. It would solve all our problems, but he really meant his problems. I didn't want to go along with it but there was a small life insurance policy for me and we were broke. Zach was a dreamer but a gambler too. He spent everything we had and then some. He owed money to loan sharks. One turned up at our door and grabbed me by the neck and said the next time he came around, he'd take off my finger. Zach said it was the only way to get everyone off our backs. I was so isolated and scared of him, I just obeyed whatever he said."

"You never considered leaving him?" asked Jord.

Sophie shook her head. "No. I already lost my job and most of my friends had distanced themselves so Zach convinced me it was just the two of us. My mom recently died and my dad remarried and our relationship was never good anyway. I was just tired. No, I think I was depressed. And Zach hit me a few times too. I just wanted everything to stop. A new start seemed like a good idea."

"Did you know about the bank robbery in Milwaukee?"

"No. I found out later, but at the time, no. I thought Zach was contracting for an old Army buddy. He was, I guess, just not in the legal sense. After we left, we kind of bummed around a while, looking for somewhere nice to live but Zach didn't like anywhere. He always managed to do something that riled people's hackles, so we just kept moving. And then we found this little town in upstate New York. I liked it and wanted to stay. Then I found a whole sack of money! I confronted Zach about it, assuming it was the money from my life insurance policy, except it was too much. Zach confessed he gambled the insurance money and lost it so I asked him where the hell this money came from and he started to hit me and hit me again. He broke my wrist." She stopped, breathing hard as she regained her composure. "I knew he stole it and after I looked online, I found out about the bank robbery so I knew that had to be it. He didn't want to start a new life anywhere or even try to solve our problems. He robbed a bank and just wanted to live on the run with me. Faking my death turned out to be a bonus."

"Sophie hid the money," said Austen.

"Why?" I asked.

"It was wrong," said Sophie. "It was stolen. I couldn't... I couldn't let him keep it but I didn't know what to do with it. I thought about mailing it back but I was afraid I'd leave my fingerprints or something. Then Zach burned down the cabin we were renting. He smoked sometimes and lit a cigarette and set the place on fire. I was in the bedroom when I awoke and smelled the smoke. I got the money bag and threw it out the window before I climbed out and ran to the car. We were already mostly packed up to go. I just put the cash in the trunk when Zach came staggering out, drunk as always. I think he expected me to die in there, for real. He started raving about going back inside to get the money but the fire was too intense. He said we had to get out of there. He went crazy, saying everything was ruined and that money was the key to our future. I didn't tell him it was stashed in the trunk. As soon as I could, I repacked the money into my bag and threw the other bag away while he slept off the booze."

"Where did you go next?"

"We kind of wandered around for a while, picking up odd jobs that paid cash here and there, not that I could work because of my broken wrist. We slept in motels but Zach got paranoid. He said people were looking at us funny and he didn't like anyone talking to me. He decided we should go to a small city where we could become anonymous. The best place to hide, he said, was in a crowd of people, and I was getting so tired of running."

"You came to Montgomery," I said.

Sophie nodded. She paused to sip the water Austen offered her. "We had no money except for the little bit we made doing odd jobs. Zach didn't want me to work anywhere. He hated seeing me work anyway. He always said I was rubbing his face in his shortcomings since I landed better jobs than he could but I was still less than nothing to him. Plus, he used to turn up at my old job and embarrass me. What could I do now?" She stopped, coughing, and Austen wrapped his arm around her. "I was pretending to be the other Sophie Gallo. My sister-in-law barely had any qualifications, no resume, and nothing that said she could do anything. I couldn't be me anymore. Then Zach came up with a brilliant idea, a scheme so crazy that he claimed without a doubt, it would solve all our problems. I should have left him the moment he announced it."

"He was abusing you," said Austen. "Where would you have gone?"

"I could have gone somewhere," she said, holding back a sob. "I should never have done what I did."

"What did you do?" asked Maddox.

"This," she said, glancing at Austen. "I nearly ruined an innocent man's life."

"Tell them everything," said Austen.

"Zach saw Austen’s picture in a newspaper. He read a report about his business and realized Austen was a big deal. He started researching him and soon became obsessed. He learned that Austen was single and pieced together all the things Austen liked. He decided Austen would like me." She stopped to catch her breath again and I wondered if we should take a break but Sophie seemed more eager to talk. Plus, no one was stopping her; we were all rapt.

"Zach said Austen had so much money it wouldn't hurt him to share it. At first, he just wanted me to get to know him and introduce them. Zach planned to tell him about some non-existent business deal and hoped Austen would invest. Then Zach realized Austen was a bigger fish if he married me. He said I had to convince him to fall in love with me. I had to get a job that would appeal to Austen's status and interests and start doing things he liked and... I wanted a job! I wanted to work again so I got a job volunteering at the museum.

I figured I could do that for a little while before getting a real job. Zach stopped hitting me and I started feeling better. I thought about ways to leave him but I knew I couldn't."

"Why didn't you?" asked Maddox.

Sophie’s gaze flicked to him then back down to the blankets again, shame filling her face. "I was trapped. Zach said I would go to prison if the insurance fraud came to light. And he threatened to tell the cops I gave his sister the alcohol and drugs so I would be prosecuted for manslaughter since my car was the one she was driving. I was so afraid I just did what he told me to do." She tightened her grip on Austen's hand. "We set up both opportunities for me to meet Austen. For a while, I thought, maybe I could convince him to loan me the money to escape, but every time I opened my mouth to ask him, I thought about what Zach said. And... and I liked Austen. I didn't want him to think horrible things about me. That I was a thief or a killer. Austen was, is, so kind to me. He always has been. He's had nothing to do with this, you must believe me! He didn’t know anything about the money!"

"We know," I said. "I also know you signed a pre-nup that precluded you from getting a penny from Austen. If Zach's plan was to take his money, why did you do that?"

Sophie stared at her blanket, her shame coloring her face. "I fell in love with him. I think Zach realized that because he started threatening to tell Austen everything. He said he would kill him too, and me. Insisting on a pre-nup was the only thing I could think of to protect him. No matter what Zach threatened to do, he'd never get a penny out of Austen through me. And the longer I stayed with Austen, the kinder he became, and I started to see how terrible things were, how manipulative Zach was. Then, one day, I found something."

"Go on," said Austen.

"An annulment certificate," she said. "Zach annulled our marriage right after we said our vows and never told me. When I found out, I was so shocked. I thought I was married to that bastard. Instead, he duped me. I could have left without staging my death!"

"Why would he do that?" I asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he regretted it. Maybe there was another woman. I have no idea. But I saw an opportunity to right a wrong although I think I got it all wrong." She yawned shakily.

"Since Sophie’s marriage to Zach was annulled, she was free to marry me," explained Austen. "She used her own birth certificate, not her sister-in-law’s. We are legally married. I think."

Sophie clasped his hand harder. "I should never have done that to you though. I should have told you everything up front."

"You wanted to," he said. "I knew you wanted to put more distance between you and Zach. You kept saying that. I should have put you on a plane and hidden you somewhere he could never find you. Especially with the baby."

Sophie's hand slipped to her stomach. "I knew I couldn't hide the baby forever. I told Zach I'd had enough. I told him I was staying with Austen and would tell the police everything so he could never come near me again. I had the cash as evidence of what he had done. That's when he smashed my head into the banister and pushed me down the stairs. I remember the most searing pain, then nothing. He left me there to die in Austen's home."

"Our home," said Austen. "I've already told Sophie the rest. How Zach wanted to know who would inherit the money if I died. And he came here to kill her when it looked like she would awaken soon, and probably would have tried to kill me too. Maybe not then, but eventually. If not for Manny, he might have succeeded."

"I am so sorry," sobbed Sophie, a weak hand rising to cover her eyes as her jaw wobbled.

"I think Zach realized his scheme to fleece Austen went off the rails quite a while ago," I told them. "That's why he devised the scheme for the bank robbery. He reeled in another woman and engaged her brother to join the team. Probably gave them wild stories too. I'm almost certain he killed her brother."

"We ran ballistics on the gun he had with him when we took him into custody," said Maddox. "It came up as a match to the bullet removed from Mackleton. That's good enough for me."

"He was going on the lam with a woman and we're not confident that she would have survived very long since he was eliminating anyone who could report him," I told them. "But he can't be charged with what-ifs."

"We don't need to," added Maddox. "Zach Gallo was charged with so many crimes, the DA feels like it's his birthday."

"What happens to Sophie now?" asked Austen.

I glanced around, looking for any indication of the answer. I had no clue.

"Nothing. She'll be required to testify against Zach of course, without any spousal privilege to spare him." Maddox turned his attention to Sophie. "You weren't involved in the bank robberies so we'll take your testimony, and you never committed bigamy. If Austen chose to divorce you for fraud, it’s a reasonable possibility, and the insurers will certainly want their money back on the policy they paid out to Zach."

"That sounds bad. I don't want my baby born in jail." She gripped Austen's hand harder. "You'll look after him or her always, won't you?"

"You'll do that as our baby's mom," said Austen. "I'll get the best lawyers for Sophie and make sure the policy Zach cashed in is paid back in full. I don't blame Sophie for any of this."

"You don't?" she whispered hoarsely, staring at him, hot tears filling her eyes.

"No, sweetheart. You did your best in a terrible situation and everything you could to protect me. It might not have started out that way but if your actions weren't coming from love, then I don't know what love is," said Austen. "Thank you, Lexi, for all of your help. You did exactly what I needed from you."

"You're welcome," I said, taking that as my cue to leave. I nodded to Solomon and we both moved toward the door. Before leaving, I turned back, "I hope everything works out for the two of you. I really do," I told them.

"Thanks," said Austen. "From both of us."

"Let's all take a break now," said Jord. "Rest up, because I'll need to talk to you both again soon."

"I'll walk out with you," said Maddox, stepping behind us as we filed from the room. He ushered us through and closed the door. We took off down the corridor before locating a quiet place to talk.

"That is an amazing tale," I said. "I think I believe her."

"Me too," said Jord.

"Did the coin turn up in Zach's possession?"

"It did," said Maddox. "With all the hallmarks of Joe Bagshot's involvement."

"Bagshot made a helluva mess by dying," added Farid. "All kinds of people wanted his stash."

Maddox laughed. "I bet he'd love knowing about all the chaos he caused. Anyway, an insurance policy paid out on the coin years ago, so it won't be returned to the owner but the insurers are very happy to take custody of it. I have already submitted paperwork to that effect. Apparently, several armed guards are on their way to retrieve it."

"Who hired Zach?"

"Even Zach doesn't know. He said it was all done by burner phones and wire transfer. We have a team tracing the wire transfer but it's been shunted all over the world from one shell corp to the next. Someone knew exactly what they were doing."

"They had to know Zach in order to approach him," said Farid. "I think he’s hiding more than he's admitting."

"And the rest of the crew don't know who called the shots?"

"Nothing," said Maddox. "Zach called all the shots. They just got paid and walked away. It seems only Mackleton didn't do his job properly; instead of ditching the van, he kept it. Probably too lazy to walk home and figured no one would notice. Zach found out and knew Mackleton could be traced to Vanessa and her to him so he shot him."

I winced. "And Charlie?"

"Claims to know nothing at all," said Jord. "Says he only asked you guys to step in to eliminate the bank’s employees as suspects."

"Yeah," I scoffed.

"I have no doubt he was simply opportunistic. Seems his pension was mismanaged and his golden parachute for years of service is much smaller than he anticipated. It was all over the news. Even Dad knew about it. He read it in the newspaper," explained Jord. "Charlie wanted a better retirement for his years of service and figured no one would miss a coin that was hidden in a vault by a deceased man. I figure after he regained consciousness, he probably searched for the coin and realized it was gone so he knew exactly what was stolen."

"I sensed he didn't want us to look too closely at the item we were supposed to be looking for," said Solomon.

"Anyway, we can't charge him with anything," said Jord. "He'll probably get a nice thank you card from his employers and should consider himself lucky."

"We should change banks," I told Solomon.

"On it," said Solomon.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to question Sophie about all the places they went to between Milwaukee and Montgomery. I suspect there might be other robberies we don't know about yet," said Jord.

"I'll join you," said Farid. With a wave, they both took off.

"What do you really think of Sophie's story?" asked Maddox.

"I think she endured some very unhappy years and is very lucky Austen is as crazy about her as she is about him," I said.

"It blows my mind," said Solomon. "What a way to meet."

I laughed. "They're going to be one hell of an anniversary story. To think I once thought my meeting you was crazy."

"You? Which one of us are you referring to?" asked Maddox.

"Yeah. I'd like to hear the answer to that," said Solomon.

I smiled and hooked my arms through theirs. "You know exactly whom I mean."