Suddenly, I feel my stomach ache. I can relate to every word he just said to me. “Alright.”
“Alright? That’s all you have to say is, ‘alright?’ I’m so glad I got dragged out here for this.” Standing up, he walks to the door. As he places his hand on the knob he turns his head, looking at me. “Are we done?”
“I understand your frustration.” Getting up, I walk over to where he is standing. “There is a lot on the line on both our ends. I needed to be sure you wouldn’t change your mind and blow my cover.” His hand turns the knob and the door opens. “There’s one more thing you need to know. Angelo suspects there’s a leak.” Michael stops mid-step on the porch and grabs a hold of the railing, clutching it.
“Does he know it’s me?” He swallows hard.
“No. He wants me to figure out who it is, though. I needed to make sure I can trust you before I help you. I will make sure nothing points to you. I just need someone else to direct his attention to. Any suggestions?” Walking over to one of the rockers, he sits in it and rests his head in his hands, letting out a sigh. I can immediately tell that all this must be taxing on him. He doesn’t live a crime-filled life and all this must be new and stressful to him. I sit in the rocker next to him and tap his shoulder with the back of my hand, making him look at me. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure it out.”
Michael’s voice becomes a panic, “They can’t find out it is me. If they do, they will show no mercy. They will find out I’m doing this because of Nicole and punish her.” He gets up and starts pacing.
“Relax, I’m not going to let that happen. Just worry about taking care of your sister and keep doing what you’re doing. Angelo doesn’t suspect you, so don’t start acting all weird now.”
“What happens if they do, though? I won’t forgive myself if anything happens to her because of my actions.” His voice is filled with worry.
“Then I will get you two out of there before they can get to you. You have my word, Michael. We will do everything to keep you and your sister safe.” He nods and I take out my phone to text Sylva that are done.
I don’t wait for Sylva to come back and I leave Michael standing on the porch. Now that I know I can trust him, I feel more comfortable moving forward with helping Angelo. I just need to figure out whose direction I’m going to point him in. Getting in my car, Michael’s words really hit home. I know all too well what it feels like to be abandoned by your parents and although I’ve come to terms with it, it doesn’t mean the thought of it doesn’t hurt.
I now realize that I’ve never really forgiven my mother for what has happened to us. After I moved in with Joe, I never made an effort to try and see her or have any contact with her. I did receive a call my senior year one day from a rehab facility telling me my mother admitted herself for treatment and wanted me to come visit. She was in there for sixty days and near the end of completion, when they have to make amends with everyone they wronged with their addiction. At that point, I just felt like it was a little too late. I didn’t go see her. A week later, the station got a call about a woman who overdosed, and that woman ended up being my mother. I often wonder if I was the reason she retreated back to drugs and if I had gone to visit her, would things have turned out different for her.
With all this stewing in my head, I pull up to the one place I always told myself I would never go. After parking the car, I get out and walk along the grass. After a couple minutes of searching, I find the tombstone I was looking for. It only has a name on it and the day she was born and the day she died. Kneeling down, I touch the tombstone. “I forgive you, mom.” I never really thought I would feel the need to do this. I never felt that it would change anything that happened. I knew now that making this amends was what I needed to do to finally lay that part of my life and my mother to rest. I needed it for me to move forward. I needed it for Ava. I have the chance to make my life right, to be a better man, to be the man Ava deserves.
Angelo is running out of patience as of late. He’s really getting tired of the company Ava and I keep arranging to show up wherever he is. I get great humor in hearing him curse under his breath every time he sees someone watching him. I made sure to let my guys know to be obvious about it. I want Sal to see he’s being watched and place any doubt in his head that I can.
Today I’m meeting Angelo at his place and we are going to go over possible leaks and try to narrow down who it could be. Although I want to keep pointing the finger at Angelo, I have a strong feeling if I continue to do so, he’s going to explode and start harming others trying to get his answers.
Ava had suggested putting it on Killian, which turned out to be not such a bad idea. After his run in with Bozo, he was put on probation and I can use the theory of being taken off in exchange for help. I just have to get Angelo on board with the theory, which is going to be the tricky part.
Angelo has been very insistent that it couldn’t be a family member, that blood is thicker than water, which is great for Michael. I need his name to stay out of this since I promised him protection; not to mention, Joe’s job is on the line with that as well.
Pulling up to Angelo’s house, I’m not surprised to see what kind of house he lives in. Everything on the outside screams that he keeps up with the Joneses. It’s an all stone two-story home with a large double wooden door. The landscaping is pristine and, to be honest, it is not screaming Angelo to me. This subdivision is very rich and family oriented.
Walking up to the door, I ring the bell and rock back and forth on the heels of my feet while I wait. The sound of his voice comes from the other side of the door as it swings open. Nodding his head for me to come inside, I step in and wait off to the right while he finishes his phone call.
“Call the lab and set it up. Look, I gotta go.” He hangs up and closes the front door. “Hey man, thanks for coming over.”
“No problem. Everything okay?” I point to his phone as we stand in the foyer.
He holds up his phone. “This? Yeah, I guess I can tell you since you’re going to find out anyway. Come on in, we will set up in the kitchen.” Walking straight down the hall we enter the kitchen and I’m shocked at the mess that is in there. The sink has dishes piling up so high it’s amazing that they haven’t fallen over like a game of Jenga. The lid to the trash bin is propped open from the overflow of garbage and there’s empty beer bottles starting from the sink to the end of the counter. There is a strong odor filling the room, making me scrunch my nose at the smell. I would never expect the inside of his place to be such a disaster zone from the looks of the outside.
“I don’t want to be rude man, but you need to get a maid in here ASAP if you’re not going to clean up.” Motioning my hand to the beer bottles and garbage, he turns his head at them.
“Yeah, I fucked the last one and then she got too clingy thinking we were an item. Fuck that shit. I had to let her go. She didn’t understand that it was just a bonus.” He holds out his fist to me for a fist bump before walking over to the shelf on the wall. He turns on the wax warmer and I try to hide my chuckle. It immediately made me think of Ava, a few days ago she came over and said my place smelled too much like a man. I was confused at her words since I am a man. I asked if she was insinuating that I smelled bad and she just laughed at me. She said if I’m going to marry her I better get used to wax warmers because that’s one thing she has in every room of her house. Who am I to argue? I’ll put two in every room if means I get to put a ring on her finger.
Angelo stands in front of his marble island and pulls out two bar stools for us to sit. Stacks of papers fall off of them, scattering everywhere. We both bend down at the same time to pick them up. The cop in me figures there might be something worth glancing at so I try to grasp what I can, but as soon has my fingers grace the top of a piece of paper, it is snatched out from under me before I can grasp it.
“I got it. Go ahead and sit. I’m just going to put these away real quick.” Angelo’s voice seems frantic to make sure I didn’t see what wa
s on those papers.
The sound of Angelo’s shoes click against the tile as he leaves the room. I’m thankful for him being a complete tool and wearing dress shoes around his house because I can have a look around and be alerted when he’s on his way back. Instead of sitting, I quickly move over to where his house phone is. There’s a brown wooden basket sitting by it with a bunch of envelopes in it. Picking them up, I sort through them one by one only to see a bunch of bills. Tossing them back into the basket, I notice there’s a red envelope on the top of his fridge.
I pause as I step up to the refrigerator to listen for Angelo. When I don’t hear anything, I reach up to grab the item that has caught my attention. As I’m pulling it down, a set of keys slide off it, making a loud noise as they hit the floor. Shit. Pausing to listen for Angelo, I don’t hear anything so I continue to open the folder. There are papers with addresses of labs in the surrounding areas. Pulling my phone out, I silence it and take pictures of each lab’s name so I can look them up later. Hearing Angelo’s shoes on the tile, I toss the folder back on the fridge with the keys on top.
I can tell how close he is by the sound, I won’t have time to reach the stool before he gets back into the kitchen. Improvising, I open his fridge and grab the only beverages he has in it. Beer. Picking up two beers, I close the door to the fridge and Angelo is standing right by me with a pissed off look. I jump and pretend to be startled, to try to get him to not suspect I was snooping. He smiles and I let out a laugh.
“I hope you don’t mind. I was thirsty and I figured I’d help myself.” I hand him the other beer that’s in my hand. He grabs the beer from me, I twist the top off mine and take a drink from it. “Ah, that hit the spot.” I walk over to the island and take a seat. “So what is it that I’m going to find out eventually?” I place the bottle on the counter, keeping my hand on it and kick my leg up to rest on my knee.
Angelo hangs back in the kitchen, he opens a drawer, pulls out a manila envelope and slides it on the island toward me. Walking around it, he sits in the empty seat next to me and places his phone on the table, face up.
“You know how weird shit keeps happening around me?” I nod for him to continue. “Well, I guess the same shit is happening with Killian now. Mr. Onorato is getting super paranoid and when I brought up that we think there might be a leak somewhere, he went ballistic.”
“We?” Sitting straight up, my hand tightens around the glass bottle.
“Yeah. I told him that I thought it was you at first.” My eyes widen, and before I can say anything, Angelo waves his hand in the air. “Don’t worry. He doesn’t believe you are capable of that, especially since you took the fall for him.” I blow out a sigh of relief. “He knows you’re going to help me try and figure out who it is. He likes the idea of you looking into it because no one will ever expect you to be the one snooping. Everyone will suspect me to do it since I’m his right hand man. It’s brilliant, actually.” His cocky attitude is grinding my nerves and I’d love to smack the look right off of his face.
“So is that what the phone call was about? You telling Mr. Onorato I’m going to help you?” I rub the condensation that’s dripping down the glass.
“No. It’s like I said. He’s really getting paranoid and he want’s everyone to get a DNA test.” He lifts his bottle to his lips and laughs before taking a swig.
“What, are we on the Maury show?” I shift in my seat so my whole body is now facing him.
“He wants to make sure everyone is who they say they are. Basically, it’s for the newcomers, but he would prefer everyone to do it so it doesn’t look like we’re zeroing in on someone.” He shrugs. “If you have nothing to hide, you won’t oppose the test.”
“So what can I do to help? Did you get me the information I asked you for?” I need to seem like I’m eager to help him find out who is talking.
Putting his hand on top of the folder, he slides it over to me. Grabbing the folder, I scan through the papers real quick. There are pictures of everyone, including Michael. Each person’s file is loaded with all his or her information. From their date of birth, social security number, address, even down to their eye color. Laying out all the images in two rows, I begin to sort through them. I start with his nephew’s file. Picking it up out of the row, I hold it up so he can see.
“I won’t lie, I’m a little surprised to see a couple of the faces you have in this folder. Your nephew, for instance.” I pause and study his face. Rubbing the back of his neck, he clears his throat. He’s very uneasy when I ask him. I narrow my eyes at him while I wait for his answer.
“Do I think my nephew is the leak? No. But we have to exhaust every option out there. If that means having to look further into him to clear him, I’m okay with that.”
“Well, seeing that he’s just a kid, that leaves room for fear. He’s probably too young and naive to realize threats from the police from truths. They could tell him anything and he would believe it.” Angelo’s jaw ticks at my words and I see I struck a nerve. “Look, if you want my help you’re going to have to handle me being blunt with you. I won’t sugarcoat things because they are your family. We good?”
“Yeah. I’m just going to be beyond pissed if I find out it’s him.” Grabbing his now empty beer bottle, he walks over to the fridge. Placing the bottle next to the other empty ones, he opens the door to the fridge and grabs another one before coming back over to sit.
“Okay. Let’s try it this way. I’ll pick a file and you tell me why you think they are the leak. What incentives they would have for ratting out your organization.” I don’t give him a chance to argue as I lift up Killian’s picture.
“That’s an easy one.” He beams like he just got a million bucks. “He’s on probation. A little information in exchange for his probation to be done with, it’s an easy win.” Looking at the picture, I raise an eyebrow at Angelo. He’s not as bright as he thinks he is.
“He’s on probation for beating up a clown.” I deadpan.
“Yeah, so?” He tilts his head to the side, not understanding where I’m going with this.
“A clown, Angelo. Not dealing arms or drug dealing, trafficking, but kicking a clown’s ass. How long could his probation be?” I ask, already knowing the answer. His probation is up next month and since he’s been an ‘outstanding citizen,’ there is no reason to prolong it.
“Oh.” I can see the light bulb turn on in his head. “Now that I think about it, he’s due to come off it next month.”
“Okay so unless you have another reason as to why, let’s move on and I’ll look more into him on my own.” He shakes his head no. There are two more images that I need to get him talking about. Ava and Michael. I don’t give two shits about anyone else in that file, I just need to make sure I steer him away from them. I don’t want to draw suspicion to either of them so I don’t hesitate as I grab Ava’s off the counter.
“How about her?” I smirk. Angelo’s eyes light up at the sight of Ava.
“Well, if some dick didn’t make me promise not to bug her anymore, I’d have a better feel on her. But my head tells me no way.” Relieved to hear he’s written Ava off completely, I have to make sure he’s not lying.
“And which head would that be?” I kick his leg with my foot.
“This one, asshole.” He places his finger on his temple.
“Okay, just making sure. Either way I’m still looking into her.” I place her picture down and replace it with Michael’s. Holding it up at Angelo, his eyebrows draw in as he stares at the picture. His lips form a firm line as he stays silent. Turning the picture, I glance at it like I’m not sure who I pulled before turning it back to him. “Next up, Michael.”
“The infamous son that can do no wrong.” He’s voice is laced with sarcasm as he lets out a huff, causing his shoulders to shake.
“Is there something wrong with Michael?” I don’t want to push too much and make him look good since I’m not supposed to know much about him. “What am I missing?” Flipping
the page over, I pretend to read what Angelo typed up about him.
He smacks the counter and sneers, “I don’t understand how you can just dismiss the family business.”
“How so?”
“He’s made it clear he wants nothing to do with what we do. He only cares about his restaurant and his sister, Nicole. He goes to work and goes home to take care of his sister. He doesn’t even say hello to us when we are in his restaurant.” His eyes squint harshly and he rolls his eyes.
“Yeah, but do you really think he would betray his own father? If he doesn’t want anything to do with the business, that he isn’t cut out for it, do you really think he would have the balls to turn his own father over to the police?” Putting the photo down, I tap my finger on it with force a couple times. “This right here, it’s a huge accusation, and if we are going to bring this to Mr. Onorato, I need hardcore proof pointing to him. If you say he is the son that can do no wrong, I can tell you right now that he won’t appreciate us accusing his son of any of this.” I stare him dead in the eyes.
Angelo returns my stare before looking down again at Michael’s photo. “You’re right.”
“About which part?”
“Both. Now that I think about it, he doesn’t have the balls to turn on his father. He may not tend to his daughter too well, but I know he loves his son fiercely. If I bring this to him, I might as well dig my grave deeper than it already is.” Grabbing Michael’s picture, he slides it away from the pile. My hand hovers over his and stops him from taking it.
“Even so, I will still look into him. However, if I do, this stays between you and me. Got it?” Holding my hand out, I watch as he places his in mine and we shake on it.
The afternoon turns into the evening and as much as I would rather be with Ava right now, I’m stuck here. I keep glancing at my watch hoping Angelo will take the hint, but he is dense as a brick. Finally, ringing sounds through the kitchen and I see Killian’s name flash across the screen on Angelo’s phone. Picking it up, he answers and doesn’t say a word. After a couple minutes, he says “Good. Let everyone know,” before hanging up.
Dante's Redemption Page 12
