Body of Trust - Jeannine Colette Page 0,81
a cop, you come in here and try to put me in prison.”
His face is red as he points at my face with every curse. His sneer shows pure disgust, and for the first time since I walked in here, I’m absolutely convinced he’s going to shoot me.
He looks away and seems to be trying to calm himself down. He runs a palm over his thick black hair and adjusts his tie. As his face coloring comes back to normal, so does his demeanor.
“But”—he widens his hands out, as if to clear the air—“we’re all men with two sides, and it has been brought to my attention that your merits should be considered.”
I keep my breathing even as I wait for him to verbally declare my fate.
“I understand our Amelia owes you a great deal of debt.”
I finally speak up, “No, sir. I owe her my life. She took a bullet for me today.”
He nods in agreement. “You don’t look so hot.”
“The Lugazzis weren’t kind with their fists, or their bats, if that’s what you’re referring to. None of that matters. I’d die for her.” My answer doesn’t seem to surprise him.
He smiles. “As I said, you have balls, kid. Raphael knew Amelia was in trouble, but he didn’t know it was with this lotto nonsense. That was a stupid fucking plan, if you ask me. Raphael, Carlo, and I… were bottles deep in Stoli when we hatched that fugazi idea up five years ago. But Carlo wanted it, and he dragged our Amelia in. We didn’t know, but you did. Going to Enzo put your life on the line for her safety. You know that.”
“I do.”
“Why did you do it?”
“I love her,” I answer easily and directly.
He’s quiet in his contemplation. “You see, that’s where things get complicated. I want to teach you a lesson, but your honor for Amelia and the life of her family make this difficult. We have your boss, Salinger. We’re holding on to him until we get your answer. You see, we can get rid of him, and no one will be the wiser. The incident with the lotto never happened, and we can all walk away from this clean.”
His proposition is a considerable one. To pretend none of this transpired, that Amelia didn’t break the law at the hands of criminals, everything could just disappear. I’d love that. For myself and for her. Her record would be clean, and I wouldn’t have to fess up to my part in this plan. I could keep my information about how all of this originally started—over bid rigging—and Evangelista and Sorrentino will avoid prison. Lugazzi is already in jail.
It’s a plan that could set us all free.
“I can’t do that,” I state to Frank’s dismay. “I took an oath to honor and serve. I can’t hide the crimes I saw committed.”
“I was hoping you’d see one criminal going away for life as a good enough trade-off. Lugazzi won’t see the light outside a cell for the rest of his life.”
“Nothing makes me happier, sir, but this is more than that. This is honor. I wouldn’t be the man I am if I didn’t keep my word.”
His chin rises in agreement. He might not like me, and he might still want to have me killed, but at least he respects me.
I continue, “I have to give my statement on Salinger’s involvement. Amelia will be implicated, but I’ll do everything in my power to ensure her name is cleared of any charges. She was the pawn. Unfortunately, I will have to implicate why this all started. The contract bidding will come up. The crimes I was here to investigate will be brought forth. You won’t be charged for the drugs because you backed out, but I was informed you are planning on moving product for the Sicilians. I can’t turn my back on that.”
“You act like you know anything about this city. Cocaine is everywhere. It’s in the parks outside of schools and laced with shit you wouldn’t believe. Italians don’t do that. Evangelista’s don’t believe in lacing quality cocaine with cheap heroine. We don’t send it into the schools, and we most definitely would never make it as cheap as candy. You may not see it as clearly, but we have a code. Cocaine is a high class drug, and we only sell it to the ones we know can handle it.
“It destroys lives no matter how expensive you make it.”
“If we don’t move it someone else