Chapter 23 #2
Something shifted in Tatum's chest at the sight of him. Not sympathy exactly. Something more complicated than that. He'd made his choices, and other people had paid for them. But he was also scared and alone and clearly falling apart, and she wasn't made of stone.
His eyes were startled when he said, "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"
"I came in with Daniela."
"She's not supposed to—"
"Vince, I'm a member. She's not supposed to what?"
Kelly sighed, a long, deflating sound. "Yeah, yeah, I guess. Still, you could've told me you were coming."
"Would you have dressed up for me?" She softened her tone with a smile.
He managed a small grin that didn't reach his eyes and disappeared almost immediately. "All right. What do you want?"
"First of all, I might steal a piece of your bacon."
Kelly gestured toward the food. "Knock yourself out."
Two eggs over easy with home fries, bacon, and toast, not yet touched. "I only ordered it because I know I should eat," he said, staring at it as if it had personally offended him. "Not because I feel like eating."
"Lost your appetite?" Tatum asked as she walked over toward a chair. A dirty sweatshirt lay across it. She picked it up with two fingers and dropped it on the floor before sitting down. She reached over and grabbed a piece of bacon.
"Hard to keep your appetite up when someone's trying to kill you." His voice broke slightly on the last word, and he looked away, jaw working.
"Fair point. And I know how you feel."
He snorted. "Oh yeah? How do you know how I feel?"
"Because somebody bashed me over the head yesterday."
Kelly started. Something moved across his face that she hadn't expected to see there. Genuine distress. "What? Why would they do that?"
"Because I've been looking into your Ponzi scheme."
He stared at her, the distress hardening into something more guarded. Then his lips pursed into a thin line. "Oh yeah? And why is that?"
"Because I'm trying to help the people you stole the money from get it back."
He let out a bark of laughter, hollow and humorless. "The people we stole from? They don't need it. Hell, most of it wasn't even..." He glanced at her and then stopped talking.
Interesting. "Oh no, not the members," Tatum corrected him. "Not the rich people. The retirees who couldn't afford to lose the money. That's who I'm doing this for."
Kelly stared at her. For just a moment, something that looked like shame moved across his face before he shut it down. "You some kind of saint?"
"No," she said quietly, and meant it. "I just hate the idea that you and your cronies got rich off the backs of hardworking people who didn't deserve to get fleeced."
He was quiet for a beat. "That was Dick," he said finally, and something in his voice had changed.
Less defensive. More tired. "There was a woman who managed a retirement fund.
He said it was untapped potential and went after all that money.
I thought it was gross too. It wasn't what I signed on for. "
"Such a good guy you are, Vince."
He looked offended, but it was a different kind of offense than before. Less reflexive. More genuine. "I was fine dealing with our rich clients, but I didn't want to screw anybody who couldn't afford it. I told Dick it would just cause us trouble."
"You're all heart."
He snorted and glared at her, but the look was tired rather than sharp. "What do you want?"
"Somebody killed North and Lebowitz. Somebody hit me and tried to kidnap me. I'd really like to know who these somebodies are. And I've got to figure you must know."
"Why would I know?" he demanded, blinking rapidly.
"Because, Vince, you were involved in the whole scheme. You were one of the minds behind it."
"No." Vince shook his head, and there was something almost desperate in it. "I was not one of the ones behind it."
"Excuse me? Were you not involved in Granite Industries' Ponzi scheme?"
"Well, yes,” he conceded, “but not, not like you think. I was not involved like that."
"I'm sorry but you're listed as one of the operating officers of Granite Industries. You were out there convincing people to invest. So how are you not involved?" Tatum was trying hard not to let her frustration show, but her tone said it all.
"Okay, bring it down." He held up his hands, then pushed them down, as if settling a misbehaving dog. She noticed the tremor in them again. "Yes, I was involved, but that's it. My job was to go get investors. I was even given a list of which investors to approach. And I did my job well."
"All right. Then what?"
"Then nothing. I was told these are the investors and this is how much you want to get from each one. That's what I did."
"Wait,” Tatum frowned. “You were given specific amounts and specific names?"
"Yes,” Kelly agreed. “That’s what I did. And then one day the Feds showed up, and the whole thing imploded. Suddenly, I was on the hook for it."
He leaned forward, and for the first time, she heard real heat in his voice.
"I did not steal from those old people. That was Lebowitz.
And I don't think those people were even on his radar.
They weren't on any list we were given. Like I said, he was just banging the woman in charge of their retirement fund and figured it was easy money.
He might as well do it, that was his thinking. "
"So wait—I’m just trying to understand this." Tatum leaned back in the chair and took a sip of her coffee. "Was it really a Ponzi scheme then? You're saying you were told to get specific people to invest a specific amount. Did you give money back to them?"
Kelly hesitated. His eyes started moving around the room again, that restless, frightened scan she'd been watching him do since she walked in. "I think I've already said too much. I shouldn't say anything else."
"You should talk to me. After all, someone's beating me up too, so I'd really like to know what's going on."
He shook his head, and something in his face closed down entirely. "I've said too much. It's not worth my life. As it is, I'm living here, too terrified to leave. I can't say any more. Otherwise, they'll kill me."
Tatum scoffed, "Nobody can get in here. Not in the Society."
His face went pale in a way that told her considerably more than his words had. He shook his head slowly and wouldn't meet her eyes.
The puzzle pieces fell into place. "Society members are behind this."
Kelly raised his hands again as if to ward off her words. "I didn't say anything."