Chapter 75
At Spero, Santopietro summoned Renders to his office.
Santopietro had just gotten off the phone with Roger Teal, who had informed him of the visit from the private investigator.
Santopietro wasn’t overly worried and did his best to reassure Teal.
Parker, said Santopietro, wasn’t interested in school finances, only in Scott Theriault.
Regarding the latter, Santopietro’s conscience was clear, since he hadn’t killed Theriault; that, like Mallory Norton, was on Renders.
Santopietro had simply identified the problem and left it to his subordinate to solve.
The next thing Santopietro knew, Theriault’s body was discovered in the water, a case of accidental death, which was certainly for the best: for Spero, where Scott was a disruptive presence; for Santopietro and Renders, because of what they’d done to Mallory Norton; and finally, for Scott himself, since his character flaws were too ingrained for the school to remedy.
What Teal hadn’t mentioned, or not until Santopietro raised the subject, was Nola Maddick, aka Gai Cotter, the undercover DEA agent missing in Detroit.
When Santopietro asked Teal straight out if Gai Cotter was the woman he and Kenney had killed, Teal at first expressed doubt and tried to end the call, but Santopietro had long had the measure of Roger Teal.
“Roger,” he pressed, “was it her?”
“I think so.” Then: “Yes.”
“Which is it? Possible, or certain?”
“Certain. We couldn’t have known what she was, but it was clean, very clean.”
“What does Kenney say?”
“He agrees.”
He would, thought Santopietro.
“Kenney hasn’t been in touch,” said Santopietro, “not with me.”
“He will.”
“He told you so?”
“Yes.”
“Over the phone, or in person?”
“In person,” said Teal, who was starting to wish he’d never made the call. “We met yesterday evening. That was when he told me that Maddick, Cotter, whatever, was DEA.”
“What else did you discuss?”
“Parker’s visit.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes, that’s all.”
This spoken with too much conviction: a lie.
“If you and Edward say the kill was clean,” said Santopietro, “then it was. As for Parker, he’ll find nothing here.
Scott Theriault’s death was a dreadful mishap, and his mother and stepfather have accepted it as such.
His father is lashing out impotently. Take a pill tonight, Roger. It’ll help you sleep.”
“I might do that,” said Teal.
But he didn’t hang up.
“Is there anything more?” Santopietro asked.
“Mallory Norton.”
“She’s still missing,” said Santopietro. “Hope is dwindling.”
Teal was silent.
“Roger, are you there?”
Teal was.
“Is she missing like that DEA agent is missing?”
“I couldn’t say,” Santopietro replied.
“Because Kenney may ask the same question.”
“If he does, he’ll get the same reply.”
“I’ll tell him,” said Teal. “It might save him a trip.”
“That’s up to you—both of you.”
“Well, we’ll see.”
“Yes, I’m sure we will.”
They said goodbye, which was when Santopietro contacted Renders. Santopietro then went through everything with him, point by point.
“The DEA won’t ever stop looking for one of their own,” said Renders, when Santopietro was done. “It could be they’ll find her eventually, or what’s left of her.”
“Even if they don’t,” said Santopietro, “they’ll keep hunting for whoever took her.” He shook his head. “Clean. There’s no such thing as ‘clean’ when it comes to killing law enforcement.”
“So Kenney and Teal are at risk,” said Renders, “and know they are.”
“Kenney more than Teal, because his name was on the Airbnb rental, but yes. If Teal was aware of how exposed he was by association, he’d never have revealed so much to me.”
“Or he was open with you because he was frightened.”
“I suppose so.”
“Which means he still trusts you.”
“Unwisely,” said Santopietro. “I’m in jeopardy as long as they are.”
“Did Kenney put Teal up to asking you about Norton?”
“Kenney might have planted the idea in his head, but Teal decided to run with it.”
“So Kenney believes you murdered Mallory Norton,” said Renders.
“I didn’t murder her,” said Santopietro. “You did—for which I’m not ungrateful.”
“Kenney doesn’t know that.”
“You can be sure he’s wondering.”
“Either way, he thinks you may be jeopardized too, and he’s at risk as long as you are.” Renders grinned emptily. “Four men, all with blood on their hands, and all suspicious of one another. That’s quite the pickle.”
“All suspicious of one another?”
“Don’t worry, I’m on your side. What about Kenney?”
“He’s on his own side,” said Santopietro.
“Teal?”
“Wavering.”
“If he’s worried about Parker and the school,” said Renders, “he may side with Kenney.”
“Or kill him,” said Santopietro. “And once he gets started—”
“Does Teal have it in him? He likes killing tethered women, but could he kill a man?”
“I wouldn’t want to bet my life on it,” said Santopietro.
In Santopietro’s experience, it never paid to misjudge weak individuals because their weakness made them vicious.
When he and Teal played the Game together, they egged each other on.
Santopietro was crueler when he played it with Teal, and vice versa.
Teal contained hidden depths, and what swam in them had long, sharp teeth.
Santopietro said: “Curiously, Teal was wondering if we might consider abducting a woman for him.”
“In the middle of this?” Renders asked.
“It’s Berrien, the one who set Parker on him. She’s gotten under Teal’s skin. He’d like to hurt her, but he also fears she may have material that could be used against both of us. Mostly, though, it’s about the hurting.”
“It would be madness.”
“It’s all madness,” said Santopietro. “Mallory Norton was madness. The Game is madness.”
Renders thought about it.
“Is Berrien good-looking?”
“Teal says not.”
“Pity. But in the dark, who can tell?”
“She doesn’t need to be good-looking,” said Santopietro, “not for bait. In fact, we don’t even have to take her.”
“We just tell Teal we did?”
“That’s right. Kenney too. We call her a goodwill offering.”
“And then?”
“Then,” said Santopietro, “we kill them.”