Chapter 96
Renders and Santopietro were in Santopietro’s office at the cottage, leaving Elgot to supervise the evening meal alone.
One of the cooks had brought two bowls of pasta to the office but they sat untouched, and the watery red sauce, made from cheap, tasteless tinned tomatoes, was already separating.
Santopietro made a point of eating the same food as his students.
If it was good enough for them, it would do for him also, but he had no appetite after the private investigator’s visit.
The smell forced him to open a window, despite the dampness in the air.
“Parker has nothing,” said Renders.
“He has Teal in his sights,” said Santopietro.
“That’s Teal’s fault for telling him so much. I don’t understand why he didn’t just show Parker the door.”
“Because Teal is arrogant.” Santopietro ran his fingers through what was left of his hair.
“However in his defense, he may have felt he had no choice but to answer Parker’s questions.
Berrien put him on the spot. If he refused to cooperate, he might have given the department more reason to be mistrustful of him. ”
“I thought it was only Berrien who was the problem,” said Renders.
“Even if she’s a lone voice, you can be sure that people have been listening to what she has to say about Teal and this school. The only reason nobody has made a move is that rumors aren’t proof, but I wouldn’t put it past Berrien to make finding it her parting gift to the department.”
Renders still liked the idea of taking Berrien, but Parker’s attention was now focused on the school. If something were to happen to Berrien so soon after he’d discussed Spero with her, Parker would have to be a simpleton not to look at cause and effect.
“And there’s the dead DEA agent to consider,” Renders added.
“Has there been anything more about her?”
Renders had checked the internet earlier. “Not that I could see.”
For Renders, hunger finally won out. He picked at the pasta, holding a hand under his chin so he wouldn’t stain his shirt.
“You need both Teal and Kenney to be gone,” he said, “but if we move against one, the other will be in the wind. He might go to the police to save himself.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“How about telling Kenney something he doesn’t know?” Renders asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Tell Kenney that Parker is closing in on Teal, and Teal is getting jittery, which is the truth. Parker is up here, with eyes on us, so we can’t do anything about it. Would Kenney be willing to kill Teal?”
“Yes, to protect himself and his precious family. Kenney is a survivor.”
“So frame it around his family, set him on Teal, and when Teal is gone, I’ll take care of Kenney. I never liked him anyway.”
But Santopietro was already a step ahead.
“Better yet,” he said, “why don’t we set them on each other?”
Santopietro picked up his phone and made the first of the calls.