David Baldacci - Daylight

Puller took out his phone and punched in a number. “Well, you can explain your technique to NYPD, how about that?”

“You don’t really want to do that.”

They turned because this came from Sands, who had regained his composure and was looking at them imploringly. “These are business associates of mine. They really weren’t going to hurt me.”

“Which I can’t say for you two,” the same man said, rubbing his cheek again.

Pine said, “Either one of you know Tony Vincenzo?”

The men glanced at each other until the bleeder said, “Who?”

Puller put his phone away and looked at Sands, who said, “This has nothing to do with Tony. They don’t know him.”

Pine turned her attention to him. “But you do?”

“I know him, yeah,” he said grudgingly.

Puller glanced at the two men. “Beat it.”

The men looked in surprise at each other and then hurried off, disappearing into the mist as quietly as they had emerged from it.

Sands pushed off the wall and straightened out his clothes. “Thanks for the help. I’d buy you a drink, but I have someplace I have to be.”

Puller hooked him by the arm. “You do have a place to be. Speaking with us. Let’s go.”

Sands strained against him. “This is a free country and I’ve done nothing wrong. So get your damn hands off me.”

Pine stepped forward. “Or we can call up your grandfather and let him know what our investigation has uncovered about you.”

“You think he’d care?” sneered Sands. “Why don’t you call the asshole who happens to be my father and see what you’d get there?”

“Maybe they won’t be interested, but the police probably will. Those guys weren’t collecting for a charity. How much do you owe them?”

“Why are you guys giving me such a hard time?”

Puller remarked, “We know what you’re involved in, Jeff. And people have died. What makes you think you’re special?”

“Who’s died?”

“Tony Vincenzo’s father. And a woman named Sheila Weathers.”

Sands looked panicked. “Sheila! You’re lying. She was just—”

“Just what? Just at that penthouse the other night? So was I. She’s dead. I saw her body.”

“You’re lying.”

“We can take you right now to the morgue to see her corpse. It won’t be pretty because they’ve already autopsied her. I have the report on my phone. You want to see the pictures?”

Sands shook his head and put a shaky hand to his face. “No . . . I . . .”

“Let’s go get a cup of coffee. There’s an all-night place right around the corner,” said Puller.

They walked off into the darkness.

CHAPTER

43

IT TOOK ONE FULL CUP OF COFFEE before Sands would even look up at them.

The place was a dive, but pleasant enough, and not too crowded at this hour. Both Pine and Puller had kept an eye out for the two men who had gone after Sands. If they were out there, and they probably were, they were good at staying invisible.

“You want something to eat?” asked Pine, who cradled her coffee and let the steam rise to her face, helping to cut against the rawness outside.

Sands shook his head, dumped some sugar into the cup the waitress had just refilled, and said, “Sheila was nice.”

“She told me she was sort of dating Tony.”

Sands pushed a hand through his thick, tousled hair. He looked like a Kennedy, thought Pine. Handsome, charming, connected, and sometimes getting into serious trouble.

“I guess she was. But we all hung out.”

“She worked at Fort Dix, in the commissary,” said Pine. “At least that’s what I was told.”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“So why did a girl like that warrant a pass to Billionaires’ Row?”

“Because I said she could. Same as Tony.”

“Same as Lindsey Axilrod?”

“Lindsey? Why are you mentioning her?”

“Because she was the one who set me and Sheila up. She helped whoever killed Sheila.”

“No way, I don’t believe that,” he said heatedly. “Lindsey’s cool. She wouldn’t do something like that.”

“And how do you know Lindsey?” asked Pine.

“We . . . we just met. The way people do.”

“Why do I think she sought you out?” said Pine.

“Why would she do that? She’s just an IT worker at Fort Dix.”

“I went to the penthouse with Lindsey. She got in because of her connection to Tony. Or at least I thought that then. She pointed out Sheila to me there. We arranged to meet with her later. Lindsey and I were getting into what I thought was an Uber that Lindsey ordered. The next thing I remember I was waking up next to a dead Sheila, and Lindsey was nowhere to be seen.”

“Maybe they got her, too.”

“No, I later went to her house. No one answered my knocks, so I called the cops to do a welfare check. When they got there she spoke to them through a doorbell camera setup and told a bullshit story about her mother being ill and her having to go out of town. She never mentioned what happened that night. She’s in this up to her eyeballs. And she’s not just an IT person. She fooled me and she apparently fooled you.”

Puller put his coffee down and leaned forward. “So what exactly is going on, Jeff?”

Sands looked nervously at him. “Look, I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“The truth would be really good.”

“How’d you even find out about me?”

Puller said, “I had a talk with your godmother. She was very worried about you. She asked me to check on you. So here I am, checking on you.” He paused. “She really does care for you, Jeff.”

“Yeah, I know Aunt Gloria does. She’s really the only one, after my mom died,” he added miserably.

“Lots of people have shitty lives, Jeff,” said Pine. “But you’re young, you’ve got money, unless those clothes you’re wearing are knockoffs. You’re attending one of the best colleges in America.”

“I got in because of who my grandfather is, that’s the only reason. I didn’t even want to go, but he insisted. He said I had to make something of myself.”

“Maybe he genuinely means it.”

Sands chuckled.

“What’s the joke?” asked Pine.

“The only thing he’s ‘genuinely’ concerned about is that I might do something to mess up his good name.”

“I heard that he plans to retire after his term is up,” pointed out Puller.

“He’s also planning to join this big-ass lobbying firm to fund his golden years. Anything messes that up, he’s SOL.”

“I thought members of Congress had to wait before they could lobby the government,” said Pine.

“The way it was explained to me, he won’t be directly lobbying anyone. But a wink, a nod, a phone call, a whispered word. That shit’s easy to get around. It’s why they wrote the law that way. To make it look like they were doing something positive, only there are holes in it big enough to drive a semi through.”

“You seem to have checked that out pretty thoroughly,” noted Puller.

“I like to know what I’m dealing with,” said Sands.

“Meaning what exactly?”

“Meaning exactly what I just said.”

“So would drug dealing qualify as besmirching the family’s reputation?” asked Pine.

“Who says I’m dealing drugs?”

“You say you’re not?”

“No, I’ll just sit here and confess to two feds. You want it in writing or is verbal okay?”

Puller leaned in even further. “I’m going to tell you something and I want your opinion, all right?”

Sands looked surprised by this but nodded. “Okay.”

“Tony Vincenzo is a pill maker. That’s beyond doubt. I’ve got two of his stooges cooling their heels in the stockade at Fort Dix. Plus, we found a ton of evidence at his dad’s old home. That’s the first point. The second point is we have encountered extraordinary opposition from both state and federal platforms to our investigation. My question to you: Why would a run-of-the-mill drug op trigger so many players on the other side with the intent of burying the truth?”