Мэри Эндрюс - The Newcomer

Vikki rolled her eyes. “Totally.”

“Chuck said he knew some girls who worked at a strip club over near MacDill. That’s the air force base. He wanted to have some drinks and get laid, and I thought, okay, whatever. But that’s when I turned my phone on and saw the text from Tanya. So we headed back over to the beach, to check things out. But the motel parking lot was crawling with cops. I said we should stop, but Chuck insisted we should go on back to Tampa.”

“As if,” Vikki said. “I’m sure you were super worried about Tanya.”

“I knew Tanya could handle things.”

“But the loot was back at the Surf, right?” Joe put in.

“The plan was we’d go back over there to the motel after things quieted down, and we’d get the stuff and blow town.”

“But even the best-laid plans, right?” Vikki said.

“Huh? Anyway, we went back over to the club, and Chuck got shitfaced, and when he got like that, he turned mean. Like, crazy mean. We were on the way out of the club with the girls, and the bouncer said something to Chuck, and the next thing I know, that crazy bastard pulled a knife on the bouncer. The dude was half his age and twice his size! Then the cops came and things were getting real. I managed to slip away in the confusion.”

“Lucky you,” Joe said. “So, Tanya’s in jail in St. Pete, Chuck’s in jail in Tampa, and you’re footloose and fancy-free. But you still don’t know where the loot was hidden. Am I right?”

Rooney rubbed his jaw again. “I don’t have to talk to you people. I’m in pain here.” He reached for a cord tethered to the side of his bed and made a show of pushing the call button. In another minute, the door opened and a nurse popped his head in.

“Everything okay in here?”

“No,” Rooney said. “Isn’t it time for my pain meds yet?”

The nurse looked at the chart clipped to the wall near the door. “Not quite yet.”

“How about something for my anxiety?” Rooney whined. “I feel like my blood pressure’s about to shoot through the roof here.”

“I’ll talk to the doctor when he makes rounds,” the nurse said.

“Never mind,” Vikki Hill said. “We’re leaving now.” She stood up and helped herself to another piece of candy. “But we’ll be back.”

59

FBI AGENT ALEX GARCIA WAS leaning against the wall outside a curtained-off alcove in the emergency room. He was still wearing the aviator sunglasses, but the loud plaid shorts had been replaced by staid khaki pants and a navy polo shirt.

“Joe, meet Agent Garcia,” Vikki Hill said.

“Good job out there today,” Garcia said, shaking Joe’s outstretched hand. He nodded at Vikki and jerked his thumb in the direction of the alcove. “He’s all yours. I’m gonna take off now.”

Evan Wingfield was handcuffed to a gurney in a curtained-off alcove in the emergency room. His left foot was heavily wrapped and bandaged and his eyes were closed.

“Looks like he’s asleep.” Joe leaned over the bed, and with his thumb, opened the suspect’s eye.

“Wake up, asshole,” he said loudly.

Wingfield turned his head slightly. “Enjoy the joke while you can. I’m suing both of you for wrongful arrest and assault. And that’s just for starters.”

“Boo-hoo,” Joe said.

“Maybe you’ll become a jailhouse lawyer while you’re locked up in prison for the rest of your life,” Vikki mused. “I mean, from what I hear, you only get paid for billable hours in packs of cigarettes and commissary Hot Pockets, but it’s probably a rewarding way to fill all those empty hours.”

“Yeah. Sadly, I think his days as a dance instructor are probably over,” Joe added.

Wingfield sighed heavily. “You’re wasting your time here. I’m not talking to you.”

Vikki nudged Joe. “Waste of time? When is it a waste of time to see a murdering piece of shit chained to a hospital bed?”

“With a bullet hole in his foot,” Joe agreed. “It’s a beautiful thing. Day. Made.”

“Anyway, since we were in the neighborhood, we just stopped by to fill you in on the news,” Vikki said. “I just got off a call with Cheryl Shapiro. She’s the assistant US attorney in New York who’s been heading up the investigation into your illegal Airbnb enterprise. Did I mention you’ve been the subject of a nearly-two-years-long grand jury investigation?”

Wingfield shrugged. “Fishing expedition. My real estate investments are entirely legal.”

Vikki wagged her finger in his face. “You’ve turned whole apartment and co-op buildings into illegal hotels, which is illegal in itself. And then, to keep the city from shutting you down, you bribed corrupt city council members and two city housing inspectors to look the other way. I’m sure you must remember my quote ‘predecessor’? Not the brightest light on the Christmas tree, that one. Or the most discreet. Bought himself a BMW convertible with the cash you slipped him at that diner you love so much. And yeah, we’ve got that on video. Along with all the meetings that you and I conducted there.”

Evan Wingfield stared at her, but said nothing.

“It’s called racketeering, slick, and you can look forward to being prosecuted under the RICO Act.”

“He might not know what ‘RICO’ stands for,” Joe reminded her.

“Oh yeah. It’s the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act,” Agent Hill said.

“Anywho, according to Ms. Shapiro, those indictments are scheduled to be unsealed next week. In addition to the original charges, by the way, you’ll be charged with solicitation for murder, in connection with trying to hire a hit man to kill Letty Carnahan.”

“Dog and pony show,” Wingfield said.

Joe glanced at Vikki Hill. “Did you deliberately save the best for last? I’ve been waiting for you to tell him about the murder charge.”

The FBI agent’s tone changed in an instant.

“Earlier today, when she spotted you limping off the beach, Maya was really, really upset.”

“You put her there to see that on purpose,” Evan said angrily. “What kid wouldn’t be upset at seeing their father wounded? That was damned cruel. You had no right to expose Maya to that kind of trauma.”

“Actually, that was an accident. Maya wandered away from her babysitter because she was looking for some kittens on the property,” Joe said.

He flexed and unflexed his fingers. “Did you hear what she said when she saw you? ‘No Daddy’? Maya was terrified because she knows what you are. A murderer. She saw you kill her mother. Yeah. She saw the whole thing. She told us how you showed up at Tanya’s house. She woke up when she heard the two of you fighting downstairs.”

Wingfield’s eyes flickered for just a moment with a hint of emotion. “Never happened.”

“You thought Maya was with Letty for their usual Sunday-morning playdate, right?” Joe asked. “But Tanya put her off, because Maya hadn’t slept well. Nightmares. Your four-year-old was already having nightmares over your custody battle,” he said. “Tanya texted Letty that you were coming over that morning, because you’d agreed to let her move to LA and take Maya with her.”

“Tanya was delusional. I never told her that,” Wingfield said.

“Delusional or not, she agreed to see you, alone, at home. Without her lawyer present. According to Letty, her sister was afraid of you. She wouldn’t have let you in the door otherwise.”

“Letty Carnahan is still bitter that I dropped her for her sister. She hated me, poisoned Tanya against me. She killed her sister and abducted my daughter. And probably, now, she’s poisoned my own kid against me.”

“No,” Vikki said, poking Wingfield’s chest. “ You poisoned Maya against you. She heard you verbally abuse her mother on many occasions. And then, that Sunday, she heard the two of you yelling downstairs. She came out into the hallway just in time to see you hit Tanya and knock her to the floor, killing her. And then she went and hid under her bed, because she was afraid you would come after her.”