Chapter 53
When Sean marched Roger back inside with the cuffs tied behind his back, the other guests and staff who weren’t confined to their rooms looked on with a mix of surprise and anger.
Jennie walked behind him, gun in hand, assuring everyone that things were under control. Sean was grateful for her, and even more grateful that she was all right.
Sean shoved Roger into a chair in the dining room. “Talk.”
Roger’s face was red, and he was scratched up from when Sean had slammed him into the rooftop door. His lower lip was swollen; the scratch on his arm where Jennie had got him was still bleeding. “You’re sticking your nose into business where it doesn’t belong.”
“And you attacked Jennie,” Sean said. “You’re lucky to be breathing.”
Roger didn’t dare say another word, and when Jennie entered the dining room, Sean checked on her once more.
“I’m okay, really,” Jennie said, but she was still breathing quickly, and when she glanced down at the gun in her hand, it was shaking. “It’s just adrenaline.”
Sean touched her hand, and she calmed.
“You deal with him,” Jennie said. “I’ll make sure no one else barges in while you’re questioning him.”
Sean nodded. “You’re sure you don’t need anything?”
Jennie handed the gun back to Sean and then nodded. “It might sound strange, but…I think that was exactly what I needed. A reminder that I am strong.”
Jennie slipped out of the dining room, and Sean’s gaze lingered on the empty doorway a few moments after she disappeared.
With Jennie gone, Sean focused on Roger. He approached the man slowly, and each step dissolved Roger’s petulant stare.
“Look,” Roger said. “It wasn’t my idea, all right?”
Sean remained silent and unforgiving as stone.
“This was all Marco and his crew’s doing,” Roger answered.
“I was just caught up in the middle of it. I was trying to do something good, but they wouldn’t let me go!
” He shrugged. “How is a guy who comes out of jail after doing his time supposed to earn a living? No one wants to hire a convict who didn’t graduate high school.
” He gestured to his surroundings. “This was supposed to be a second chance for me, you know? Start fresh? The mob gave me some money, and in exchange, they’d get a cut of the profits.
That was it, but then they wanted to start doing other stuff, you know?
They wanted to keep pushing and pushing and pushing, and then they brought the drugs, okay? Them, not me.”
“And Chef Luke?” Sean asked.
“He’s just an addict,” Roger answered. “He found the drugs, so we cut him a deal. He keeps his mouth shut; he gets to have some fun, you know? Everything was going great. No one was getting hurt.”
“Save for the people shoving your junk into their arms in streets around the country,” Sean said.
“Look, that’s not my problem, all right?” Roger asked.
“Where’s the girl?” Sean asked.
“I don’t know,” Roger answered, but when Sean didn’t reply, Roger grew more animated.
“I swear! Maybe Marco did, but he never told me. I don’t have any idea why he would do it in the first place, you know?
It’s not like they’d want the extra headache.
” Roger blinked and then grimaced. “God, all of this has gone to shit!” He stomped his feet like a child, and then he was struck with a realization.
“I’ve got names.” He looked up at Sean, pleading.
“I can make a deal. Whatever you want to know about the organization, I can tell you. Get me a lawyer, and I’ll talk.
So long as I don’t go back on the inside, and I want to go in WitSec. ”
“Tell me about the money,” Sean said.
“The hotel was struggling, all right?” Roger asked. “Look, even though we charge a lot, because of the payments I make to the mob for the ‘interest,’ I don’t make ends meet. The drugs were a way to cover the spread, that’s it.”
Sean thought back to the ransom note. “How much?” Sean asked.
“How much what?” Roger asked.
“How much do you owe the mob?” Sean replied.
“A couple million,” Roger said.
“Ten million?” Sean asked.
“What? No, not that much,” Roger answered. “Though they might say different. They have a way of changing the numbers, you know?”
“That’s what happens when you go into business with the mob,” Sean said.
“It was dumb,” Roger said. “But you’ve got to believe me that I never meant for anyone to get hurt. What happened to the bride and that girl disappearing, I don’t know anything about that, all right? I mean, why would I lie to you?”
“Why indeed?” Sean answered.
“So, you’ll help me cut a deal?” Roger asked.
“There is no deal between snakes and men.” Sean left it at that and then stepped into the hallway.
Jennie was with a small group, mainly the Grayson family. Everyone was worried, and when Mrs. Grayson saw Sean, she was the first to reach him.
“Did he say anything?” Mrs. Grayson asked.
“No,” Sean answered.
“How can that be?” she asked. “I mean, half of the hotel has been arrested for something.” She was beyond grief now, and the frustration was breaking through. “Where is my daughter?”
Jennie calmly walked back over to collect the mother, and Sean watched as she leaned into Jennie’s side.
Sean grew frustrated as well, then remembered the mobster still locked up in the speakeasy. With Roger willing to spill his guts to save his skin, Sean thought he might be able to pin the two men against one another, though he wasn’t sure if Marco would be as willing to talk as Roger.
Sean returned down the stairwell to the hidden speakeasy and then pushed the door open at the end of the stairwell. But whatever questions Sean had for the mobster would have to wait because, when Sean entered the speakeasy, he found it empty.
Marco Donovan was gone. And there was only one place he could have escaped.