you again, just to be safe. They’ll place Ricky in a much better hospital until he’s better. Government pays for everything, of course.”
“Do I get a new bike?”
“Sure.”
“Just kidding. I saw this once in a movie. A Mafia movie. This informant ratted on the Mafia, and the FBI helped him vanish. He had plastic surgery. They found him a new wife, you know, the works. Sent him off to Brazil or someplace.”
“What happened?”
“It took them about a year to find him. They killed his wife too.”
choice. It’s the safest thing to do.”
“Of course, I have to tell them everything before they do all these wonderful things for us.”
“That’s part of the deal.”
“The Mafia never forgets, Reggie.”
“You’ve watched too many movies, Mark.”
“Maybe so. But has the FBI ever lost a witness in this program?”
The answer was yes, but she couldn’t cite a specific example. “I don’t know, but we’ll meet with them and you can ask all the questions you want.”
“What if I don’t want to meet with them? What if I want to stay in my little cell here until I’m twenty years old and Judge Roosevelt finally dies? Then can I get out?”
“Fine. What about your mother and Ricky? What happens to them when he’s released from the hospital and they have no place to go?”
“They can move in with me. Doreen’ll take care of us.”
Damn, he was quick for an eleven-year-old. She paused for a moment and smiled at him. He glared at her.
“Listen, Mark, do you trust me?”
“Yes, Reggie. I do trust you. You’re the only person in the world I trust right now. So please help me.”
“There’s no easy way out, okay.”
“I know that.”
“Your safety is my only concern. The safety of you and your family. Judge Roosevelt feels the same way. Now, it’ll take a few days to work out the details of the witness program. The judge instructed the FBI
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