“I have patients, Mr. Messick. Your wife is one of them.”
“Her family is with her now. You might want to come back later.”
She walked past Diesel and me and straight into Maisie’s room.
“Bitch,” I said under my breath.
“She might be, but damn, she’s a pretty one.”
“Hadn’t noticed.”
“Listen, there are some things I need to bring you up to speed on. Since Al and Mary are with Maisie, and now the doc is too, I thought you might be able to get away for a few minutes.”
While I didn’t want to be away from my wife any longer than necessary, Diesel wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important.
“I’ll just check in, and then, yeah, we can talk.” I handed him back the bag with the photo. When I gave it to her, I wanted to be able to sit and talk about what that night meant to me and, I hoped, to her.
When I stuck my head in the door, Mary was sitting beside Maisie on the bed, stroking her hair. My heart nearly burst with joy when I noticed her smile at something Al said. The psychologist was smiling too.
“Sorry to interrupt. I have something to take care of real quick, but I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Maisie held her hand out to me, and I walked over to the bed, leaned down, and kissed her.
“I’ll wait until you get back to tell them,” she whispered.
“I’ll hurry.”
Diesel was standing by the elevator when I returned. “Better to go downstairs.”
Instead of stopping on the lobby level, Diesel pressed the button for the lower parking garage. When we stepped out, I saw a black SUV parked a few feet away and got in the passenger side.
“What have you got?” I asked when he was seated on the driver’s side.
“First, Manhattan’s soon-to-be-former district attorney was arrested this afternoon on charges of bribery, public corruption, obstruction of justice, and violation of oath of office in connection with Edwards’ securities fraud indictment.”
“No shit? He buried it?”
“Tried to, anyway. He and Edwards go way back. Childhood friends, I guess.” He shrugged. “Next up is we got an ID on the guy you took out in the tunnel. Name’s Tony Paularino. He had strong ties to the Bonanno family, if you know what I mean.”
The Bonannos were one of what was known as the Five Families—the major organized crime families of the Italian-American Mafia. They operated mainly in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island, but also had influence in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Westchester County.
“Why was Edwards working with a guy connected to one of the five families? Not to mention bribing the Manhattan district attorney?”
“The fucker is psychotic.”
“Don’t even suggest it. I don’t want him getting off on an insanity plea.”
“Before I forget, there was also an ongoing FBI investigation into March’s connection to the Bonannos.”
“Who is March?”
“The Manhattan DA.”
“Did Agent Davies tell you all this?”
“It was like she won the damn lottery when she made the connection between March and Edwards. The feds have been trying to prove the Bonannos had March in their pocket for months.”
“What about the other victims?”
Diesel shook his head. “I don’t think it was Edwards, Range. Neither does Agent Davies. More likely it was a copycat.”
“Even with the Hanover connection?”
“Could be a coincidence. A high percentage of high school graduates in the Adirondack area end up there or in Burlington at the University of Vermont.”
I studied him. “You’re sure?”
Diesel shook his head. “I’m not. What I said is I don’t think it was him.”
“How did Edwards get mixed up with the likes of Paularino? Was it March’s connection to the Bonannos?”
“This is where it gets interesting. You told me Maisie was in a relationship with Edwards when they were in college but she ended it when she found out he was seeing someone else. Well, apparently, it wasn’t just anyone else. It was Tony Paularino’s cousin.”
“Lemme guess. She’s also connected to the Bonannos?”
“Tony’s mother’s sister married Tito Bonanno.”
“Jesus. Tito’s an underboss.”
“Now you know what I meant by strong ties.”
“Who’s with Edwards now?”
“We brought in a couple of guys.”
I hung my head and shook it. I didn’t want to know the details of the interrogation. What I wanted was to tie him to the other murders and put an end to the Adirondack serial killing.
“What makes you think he isn’t responsible for the other victims?”
“Working theory is that he heard about the other kidnappings, probably from March, and that’s where he got the idea.”
“The idea? You mean to kidnap Maisie? Why?”
He looked out the driver’s side window, then back at me. “We have reason to believe he intended to use the ransom money to disappear.”
“And take her with him?”
“There’s evidence to strongly suggest it.”
Fuck. I couldn’t even let myself think about that scenario.
“What’s Onyx’s take?”
Diesel looked out the driver’s side window for the second time.
“What?”
“He’s one of the guys we brought in.”
Onyx Yáñez had a lot of talents that had made him very valuable to the CIA back in the day and more valuable to K19 now.
When I told Maisie I’d follow him into any battle, anywhere, anytime, I meant every word. Until the plane crash that had almost ended his life, he was a pilot—once one of the most revered fighter pilots in the military. He was also an explosives expert and, most importantly to this investigation, a master interrogator. If anyone could get Edwards to talk, he could.
“I gotta get back up there.”
Diesel nodded.
I grabbed the bag with the photo, opened the door, but didn’t get out. “What’s the evidence?”
“What do you mean?”
“That he intended to take her with him?”
“Ranger—”
“Tell me.”
“Fake passports, other identification.”
“For?”
“A husband and wife.”
26
MAISIE
Ranger did a good job of hiding it, but I knew something was wrong the minute he returned to the room. More wrong than when he’d left.
He walked straight over to the bed and leaned down to kiss me, just like he had earlier.
“Hi,” I said when he pulled back and looked into my eyes.
“I love you.”
I brought my hand to his cheek. “I love you too.”
“I have something for you.”
“What?”
He pulled a bag from behind his back and handed it to me. When my grandmother got up from the other side of the bed and sat in a chair, Ranger sat on the opposite side of me.
I reached in and pulled out a frame. In it was the photo he’d shown me on his phone.