Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
An hour after Sylvie left, Aaron Sandford called Dominic’s phone. “I’m told by our computer experts that you haven’t used that memory stick I gave you. What are you up to?”
Dominic was in the music room. He went over to close the door, glancing around the space, even though he knew there were no cameras here watching him. “We were a little busy last night.”
“I’m sure you were. But even you can’t go for that long. She was at your house over half a day.”
“She’s not stupid. She was going to notice if I started going through her things to mess with her laptop.”
“Are you fucking with me right now? Do you think this is a game?”
Dread sat in Dominic’s chest, squeezing his lungs, and making it hard to breathe. “I don’t give a shit about you, Sandford. But I’m not messing with Charles. I wouldn’t.”
He kept his voice steady and confident. Sandford was used to him being defiant. If he started acting cowed at this point, the lawyer would get suspicious. But Dominic was out on a limb right now, further from safety than he’d ever been. One wrong step and he could fall.
“I’m lucky she was willing to see me again at all, after what happened before. You’re the one who sent a gunman here and freaked her out.”
“Yet she did come back. That’s lucky.”
“You told me to make it happen, and I did! Now you’re acting like it’s a problem?”
“She brought one of her coworkers from Bennett Security. You have to see why that raised my concern.”
“The guy’s her friend. He just sat in my kitchen the whole time and ate my food.
Like you said before, getting women to like me is what I’m good at.
But building trust doesn’t happen in one night.
” He hated playing along this way, acting like he was just as despicable as some people believed.
“I’m going to get this done, but you have to be patient. ”
“You don’t tell Charles Traynor to be patient. He decides on what the timing should be, not you.”
“But there’s no point in rushing if it means she’ll catch me in the act, right?”
A pause. “It’s your job to make sure you’re not caught. When exactly do you plan to get this finished? Tonight?”
He and Sylvie had already talked about this. She was going to need at least until tomorrow to finish her coding. “She can’t come back today. But I’m planning to see her again tomorrow. I’ll install the program then.”
“See that you do. You’ve already witnessed how much patience your uncle has to spare for you. It’s not much. If you don’t deliver Bennett Security like you promised, then a lot of people are going to pay for it. You’ll be wishing those thugs had finished you off when you were in jail.”
Dominic punched “end” on the screen and tossed his phone onto the coffee table. He sank onto the couch, wiping his hands over his face.
What the hell am I doing? This is insane.
Ratting out the Syndicate? Going against Charles?
Why did I ever think I could do this?
But he’d told Sylvie he would. His word had never meant much, but she did. She trusted him. And Dominic knew this was the only way forward, even if it scared him more than anything had before.
He grabbed his other phone from the cabinet where he’d hidden it. The burner he’d been using to communicate with Sylvie. He needed to talk to Raymond. But could he risk it?
His thumbs moved over the screen.
Dominic: Hey kid, call me at this number when you get a chance.
Raymond would know it was him.
There was another person he needed to speak with today, too. Lana Marchetti. Sylvie had promised to pass along his burner number to Lana. So Dominic had to sit and wait for that call, too.
Sylvie was off doing all the work, and he was just sitting on his ass being useless.
He thought of what Maureen had said to him. That he was putting all the responsibility and power on Sylvie’s shoulders. That he should be doing something to prove he could be responsible for himself.
Was she right?
No, she couldn’t be. Testifying against the Syndicate would be doing plenty. If Lana would just call, then he could get the process in motion.
Before he lost his nerve.
The call finally came after lunch. His burner phone rang in his pocket. Not Raymond’s number.
Dominic and Maureen were sitting out on the balcony. Before he answered it, he nodded his head toward the patio doors. “DA’s office,” he whispered. Maureen understood and nodded. They went inside and up the stairs.
Dominic answered as they walked down the hallway toward the game room. “This is Dominic Crane.”
“I think you know who this is,” Lana said. “Can we talk?”
Maureen switched on the television and turned up the volume. Dominic was trying to take every precaution to keep the Syndicate from somehow listening in.
“Yes, we can talk.”
“I have one of our investigators on the line with me. It’s routine.”
That made him nervous. But he said, “Okay.”
“Does Aaron Sandford still represent you?”
“Not if I can help it.”
“Then the first thing we should do is get you a new lawyer. I can arrange for a public defender. But we have to strike Sandford as your attorney of record so he can’t make any more decisions for you.”
Dominic was standing by the card table, and Maureen had taken a seat right beside him so she could hear most of the conversation. These decisions affected her safety too. Dominic had wanted her involved.
“That’s a bad idea. The minute Sandford realizes I’m cutting him off, my uncle is going to come after me. It would be a declaration of war.”
“So are you telling me that you’re under duress, and you want to fire your lawyer but can’t because he’s threatened you?”
“Pretty sure I just said that.”
“I have to be certain. Otherwise, it’s unethical for me to be talking to you when you have counsel of record.
But clearly, you’re in a difficult position, and so am I.
The offer the district attorney authorized me to make still stands.
Full immunity if you agree to testify against your former allies in the Syndicate. Have you considered that offer?”
Dominic hated this kind of legal speak, where they kept talking around the issue. But at least Lana seemed to be getting to the point, even though she had to already know the answer.
“Yes, and I want to accept. I want to testify. But there’s more I need in return. You mentioned a safe house before.”
“That’s right. Provided by the federal government. Nobody will be able to reach you there.”
“I want my younger brother Raymond and my housekeeper Maureen brought with me as well. Sandford and my uncle have been threatening them.”
“That can be arranged. But I’m also going to need a proffer of what you plan to testify to. So that my boss and I can be sure it’ll be worth it on both sides. The US Attorney will want to make her own demands of you, too.”
“I guess I can do that. But only after we’re all in the safe house.
I’m sure it’ll take a while for me to go through everything I know.
” He felt sick at the idea of confessing his family’s private information, everything he’d learned growing up as a Crane and then as a member of the Syndicate.
It could probably fill a book. And he knew he wouldn’t come out looking good to anyone.
Once again, he’d be giving pretty much the entire world a reason to hate him, though for very different reasons. What would Sylvie say if she knew the full extent of the compromises he’d made? He’d done a few decent things, but could that wipe away even half the shit he’d failed to stop?
“Given the recent attempt on your life, I’m inclined to agree on arranging the safe house first. Especially now that we know it was Sandford’s interference that kept you from going into protection before. But I need to be sure you’re serious. This is going to be difficult, Dominic.”
Maureen put her hand on his arm. He looked at her, and she nodded her encouragement. I’ve always known you were capable of so much more than you believed. That was what she’d said to him that morning. He wanted to believe that, too.
“I’m ready. I want to do this.”
“I’m very glad to hear that.” He heard the smile in Lana’s voice. The triumph. This could very well make her career, and he was happy at least one person could come out ahead from all of this.
“When do we get moved to the safe house?”
Lana sighed into the phone. “Well, time has passed since the attack on your house, so I’ll need to speak to my contacts on the federal side of things to get everything arranged. There’s a process. I’m hoping it won’t be more than a week or two.”
“A week or two? Do you have any idea how much could happen before then? My uncle is already impatient. Who knows what he’ll decide to do to me in the next few days.”
“If there’s any reason to believe the Syndicate will make a move earlier, then we can speed things up.
But nobody has touched you in almost two weeks.
You haven’t told me anything to make me think danger is imminent.
And if we try to move you too soon, the danger will probably become imminent—because the Syndicate will be paying attention. ”
“That’s true.” Dominic thought of his plan with Sylvie to go after the Syndicate’s Russian hackers. If the Syndicate realized what they were doing, then the danger was going to get extremely real. But Sylvie had also asked him not to discuss that aspect of their plan with Lana.
“So, you’re saying if anything changes, you could move things up. Then I guess I’ll let you know. If I see anybody charging at my door with a machine gun, I’ll be sure to take a moment and give you a call.”
“I know it’s not ideal. If worse truly comes to worse, I’m sure Max could provide one of his own safe houses, though I’d have to get your bail conditions modified first to allow it.”
And then Dominic would owe Max even more. “Maybe. I’ll just take things one day at a time.”
“That’s wise. Let me get things moving, and I’ll be in touch. This is a good number?”
“Yeah, until I let you know otherwise. And if Sandford talks to you—”
“Then I’ll act like nothing whatsoever has changed. Don’t worry, I can handle it. I’ll also need contact information for your brother. Has Raymond agreed to go into protection?”
“Not yet. I’m trying to reach him, but it’s not easy to make sure our conversation will be secure.”
“Then get me his number, and I’ll see what I can do. You believe he’s in danger, and I assume you know what you’re talking about. If he needs convincing, I can be pretty persuasive.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Before she could hang up, he added, “Thank you, Lana. I appreciate this.”
“I’ve been wanting to help you for a while after what you did for me. You might be surprised just how many people are willing to give second chances. All you have to do is ask.”
Maureen squeezed his arm again.
“I’ll try to keep that in mind.”