Chapter 14 - The Man With Two Badges
Evelyn recognized the room.
“Old Federal Records Annex.”
Closed building on the West Side.
Scheduled for demolition.
Angelo had chosen a government facility no longer regularly staffed.
Fitting.
A man protected by both criminals and law enforcement hiding between the worlds that created him.
The live feed remained open.
Angelo sat across from Dominic.
“No weapons visible.”
Evelyn said.
“That means nothing.”
Luca replied.
Angelo looked into the camera.
“You have the file now.”
“Good.”
“Bring Daniel Dawson’s flash drive.”
I stepped toward the screen.
“What do you want with it?”
He could not hear me.
Angelo continued.
“Claire comes alone.”
Luca laughed once.
“No.”
Angelo seemed to predict that too.
“If Luca comes, Dominic dies.”
“If federal agents come, Dominic dies.”
“If Vanessa comes—”
He smiled.
“Dominic dies slower.”
Vanessa flinched.
Then Angelo said, “Salvatore may come.”
Everyone looked at Salvatore.
His face changed.
Angelo wanted him there.
“Why?”
Luca asked.
Salvatore seemed to know.
“Because I recruited him.”
Silence.
“What?”
“I recruited Angelo thirty years ago.”
Salvatore sat down.
“Anthony wanted someone inside federal investigations.”
“Angelo joined law enforcement.”
“Then became an informant.”
“He fed information in both directions.”
“So he worked for the government and for you.”
Evelyn said.
“Yes.”
“For years.”
“How many cases were compromised?”
“I don’t know.”
She stared at him.
“You expect immunity?”
Salvatore smiled tiredly.
“No.”
“I expect prison.”
That answer surprised her.
“I am seventy-one.”
“I have spent thirty years pretending survival is the same thing as living.”
“I’m tired.”
Luca looked at his uncle as though seeing him clearly for the first time.
Salvatore continued.
“Angelo changed when Anthony wanted out.”
“He realized the information itself was more valuable than either side.”
“He began selling secrets.”
“Cases.”
“Witness identities.”
“Sealed warrants.”
My stomach turned.
“My father?”
“Daniel discovered Angelo’s protected-source status.”
“That is the name he found.”
The sentence from the motel photograph finally made sense.
YOUR FATHER DIDN’T DIE BECAUSE HE FOUND THE MONEY.
HE DIED BECAUSE HE FOUND THE NAME.
Angelo Ferraro.
A federal informant secretly operating inside Moretti security.
If Daniel exposed him, cases stretching back decades would collapse.
People in government would go to prison.
People in the Moretti organization would go to prison.
Everybody had a reason to silence him.
“How many people knew?”
I asked.
Salvatore answered.
“Anthony.”
“Me.”
“Judge Hayes.”
“And at least one federal handler.”
“Who?”
“I never knew.”
Evelyn’s face hardened.
“Then Angelo’s meeting could be a trap for me too.”
Luca looked at her.
“You stay out.”
“No.”
“If your agency has a leak—”
“That is exactly why I go.”
I looked at the live feed.
Dominic lifted his head.
His face was bruised.
But his eyes moved toward the camera.
Then toward something offscreen.
Three times.
Left.
Pause.
Left.
Pause.
Down.
Evelyn noticed.
“Morse?”
“No.”
I remembered Dominic’s photograph.
He communicated through what looked wrong.
“Camera position.”
Luca understood.
“He wants us to notice something left of the camera.”
We enlarged the image.
A reflective cabinet door.
In it, barely visible, stood another man.
White shirt.
Gray tie.
Federal credentials clipped to his belt.
Evelyn went pale.
“You know him.”
Luca said.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“My supervisor.”
Deputy Director Martin Cole.
The man Evelyn had been reporting every development to since dawn.
She slowly removed her phone.
Then shut it off.
“We have our leak.”
The live video changed.
Martin Cole stepped into frame.
No reason to hide anymore.
He looked directly at the camera.
“Evelyn.”
May you like
Then smiled.
“I assume you finally noticed.”
