Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
A simultaneous gasp broke across the large room at town hall, before the rumble of murmurs spread like a slow tidal wave over the crowd. Adrian stared at Rochelle and struggled to make sense of what she’d just said. That she was Rudolph Manzinni.
A soft shuffling sound brought his attention to Emilia pushing through the stunned faces to his left, her cheeks hollow and eyes wide with shock.
“Rochelle?” She moved past him, her voice wavering on a breathy tone.
She’d known Rochelle far longer than anyone in this town. With her past run-ins with the syndicate, Rochelle’s unlikely claim of being Rudolph Manzinni seemed extra cruel.
The pinch of Rochelle’s face eased, and she lifted her hands in a gesture to the crowd, her eyes taking on a soft and heartbroken sheen. “There’s a raging fire outside. Everyone is turning on each other... I just… I just never thought it would come to this.”
Emilia stood before her friend and shook her head in a slow and seemingly unconscious motion, her eyes welling as she spoke again. “What are you saying? What have you done?”
“Nothing intentional.” Rochelle took a quick step forward, but Emilia held a hand up and backed away.
A heavy pause lingered between the women where Blaine Callaghan came to his wife’s side, his arm snaking around her waist in a protective hold.
Rochelle’s gaze danced over the couple, and she held an open look of loneliness, even though she had her own man, Gordon, nearby. Still, she sucked in a shaky breath and nodded to herself, as though she accepted the gulf her statement put between this old friendship.
Next, she turned to Ramos, a more stoic look taking her over. “That night at Maynard’s when you gathered everyone together to discuss the syndicate. I heard the name Rudolph Manzinni, and it sounded so familiar. Though I couldn’t quite place it, something didn’t feel right, and I had a moment of panic. That’s when you questioned me and I kind of—”
“Got defensive?” Ramos frowned, and she nodded her consensus. Next, his thoughts shifted to that day when she’d come to find him at Laila’s doorstep. Only, the fire at the Coopers’ store interrupted whatever she’d stopped by to say.
He narrowed his stare at her, frown deepening because—even though he still couldn’t quite see this innocuous woman as a mafia boss—it appeared he had missed some kind of big opportunity all those weeks ago. “You tried to tell me, didn’t you?”
She nodded. “But then I saw what the syndicate did to the general store, and I chickened out. Everyone was so scared and so much damage had already been done. I felt so guilty and concerned for my own safety, I just kinda locked up and couldn’t find a way to share what I know.”
“Why are you all standing there doing nothing?” Lenny Brooks shouted from behind Dean, keeping back as though he knew not to get too close. “Why don’t you tackle the bitch like you just did Gerry?”
The crowd’s low rumble grew in volume. Confusion, panic, and anger converged into one. Rochelle was right about one thing. These people were turning and something needed to be done to keep everyone safe.
“Is there a separate room somewhere so we can question her?” He directed the question to the sheriff, not wanting to risk Rochelle blurting out more sensitive information in front of this whole town. Or worse, someone hurting her before she got the chance to explain.
The sheriff nodded to the door. “Just down the hall. I’ll come with you.”
Ramos took hold of Rochelle’s arm and tugged her along, addressing Dean and Blaine as he strode out. “Can you two keep an eye on everyone in here?”
“Sure thing. We’ll find you if we need you.” Though Dean spoke, Ramos turned his focus over his shoulder to Laila clutching Whitney in her arms. He sent her a look of reassurance, despite his stomach churning with unquenchable doubt.
Down the wide hallway was a small office, and the sheriff shut the door behind them as the trio entered, the room cramped, while Rochelle held her silence.
“Explain.” Ramos forced an even tone and maintained his stillness, not wanting to scare her into saying nothing. Even if he did need her to hurry up and cut to the truth. Slowing down often had the counterintuitive effect of speeding some things up.
Rochelle peered up at him through a pained grimace, her arms wrapped around her waist and highlighting the expensive soft looking fabric to her sapphire blue t-shirt. “My grandfather died when I was twelve years old, but he left a whole lot of money to me for when I turned eighteen. Way more money than any one person, much less a teen, should own. I had dreams beyond joining LA’s social set, so before I embarked on my life of travel and furniture dealing, I hired a lawyer to manage my affairs. I asked that a good portion of my inheritance be invested in a way that would benefit the charities I’d chosen, and that I not receive any attention for any large donations. I wanted it all to remain a secret. I didn’t want any extra attention that might get in the way of me enjoying my freedom.”
She paused and tugged the long strap of her ice-blue purse higher onto her shoulder, her eye line connecting with the sheriff leaned against a desk in the far corner. “My lawyer did a bunch of stuff to make all this happen. He set up an LLC, applied for an assumed name certificate, set himself up as a go-between agent. Honestly, I can’t recall every detail, only that every transaction would always point back to one fake name. Rudolph Manzinni. ”
Instant coldness hit his core and Adrian’s shoulders sank with a sudden sense of doom. Her recent outburst made a whole lot more sense now. As did her story—since she and Emilia were from the same circles—and the syndicate had first followed Emilia to this town. “I take it all this happened about eleven years ago?”
That’s when the syndicate first appeared. Starting with small crimes and working and recruiting their way up from there.
Rochelle pressed her lips together and nodded. “I had no idea. Honestly, I didn’t. My balances looked about right, but I didn’t really dig all that deeply. I just assumed everything money related was being looked after as requested.”
Her gaze dropped again, as did her expression, her slumped stance denoting shame. Within three years of access to her money, the syndicate had grown to having cells in most major cities across America.
Hinting he wanted to say something, the sheriff pushed away from the desk. “So, just to be clear, all this time you thought you were funding a bunch of charities?”
“And instead, I was bank-rolling a crime ring.” A tight and manic laugh broke from her, before water splashed down her cheeks on a heavy rain of tears and she clapped a hand over her mouth, as though wracked with a new wave of quilt. “People lost their homes today. Oh, God. And how many have died over the years at the hands of the syndicate? And it’s my fault. It’s all my fault.”
He strode closer and pressed a hand to her shoulder, believing her story about being clueless this whole time. “You were young when this all started, and you trusted that the people you paid to manage your affairs would do their job. You made an innocent mistake.”
“No, but I should have known.” She held a hand out, signaling she didn’t want his offer of comfort, that perhaps she didn’t believe herself worthy of it. “So much for everything my grandfather built. So much for my family’s dreams of setting a good example for our community. So much for freedom, I’m going to prison.”
Looking truly broken, she dipped her head and buried her face in her hands. If she didn’t want him to comfort her, then maybe she’d accept something a little more proactive.
“Something that might go a long way to avoiding that would be doing everything possible to help us track down the people behind all this.”
He caught the sheriff’s eye and the man nodded, before joining in the attempt to reason with Rochelle. “Miss Ferrara, if you want to be more than a naive girl who trusted the wrong man with your money, you might start by telling us who this lawyer of yours is?”
She huffed out a soft laugh and shook her head. “You’re going to think this is even more ridiculous.”
“Tell us anyway.” Ramos sent her a soft glare, one that said there wasn’t anything she could say that would be considered ridiculous if it led to this whole fiasco being over.
She held his stare for a few beats, a new stillness entering her demeanor. “Okay, fine. It’s Enzo Costa.”
He suppressed an instant urge to groan and instead pinched the bridge of his nose, glancing over at the sheriff, who held a stupefied gape of his own. “Let me get this straight, you transferred the power over your money to Enzo Costa?The hokey celebrity lawyer with failed aspirations of a political career?”
“Because he’s a complete tool, right?” She rolled her eyes but shook her head. “Except, he was still an up-and-comer a decade ago. Someone well-regarded in our community at the time. His ‘tooliness’ was much more covert. Like you said, I didn’t know any better and I simply went with the guy everyone else trusted. My biggest failing is that I never really thought much of it thereafter.” She shrugged, looking a little hopeless. “Even if he did become less than what I expected, by the time that happened, he owned a large law firm and I figured he probably wasn’t even the one running the financial side of things anymore.”
Though Ramos tried to remain non-judgmental, he couldn’t help but say, “That’s a whole lot of assumptions.”
“I know.” She looked down at the ground and sighed. “I should have stayed on top of things, but I was busy on my adventures. Hindsight is a hell of a thing.”
She peered up at the sheriff just as his radio blared with a new update. He disconnected from the conversation to answer. Apparently, the roads were now open in two lanes as promised and the time had come to evacuate the town hall. As much as everyone here would leave, he and the sheriff still had obligations that would keep them from tending to any personal dilemmas.
Not wanting to waste any more time, he hooked his arm around Rochelle’s elbow and guided her out the door, staying with her by the main hall, while the sheriff met with Blaine and Dean just inside. “Enlist all the help you can to clear this building. Start with the Coopers. I saw them around here somewhere. Most people will respect whatever orders they pass on.”
“Sure thing.” Dean patted the sheriff’s back, before the sheriff turned back to Ramos, taking Rochelle’s arm. “Go settle things with Laila. I’ve got this one for now.”
He nodded his thanks and found Laila not far from where he’d left her at the top of this crowd. Her parents were close by now and Whitney held her grandma’s hand. So, he took Laila a little farther away, demanding her full attention. “Listen, I have calls to make and can’t leave yet, but you and Whitney go with your parents. Don’t stick around here. Got it?”
Her eyelids flared wide, and her gaze fluttered about his face, like she read the unspoken message in his words. That he didn’t fully know what would happen next or when he would see her again.
“You won’t stay back long?” The strain across her face turned slack with understanding and her voice trembled. “Will you?”
He shook his head, wanting to tell her not to worry, but knowing everything about this situation warranted concern. “Only for the urgent stuff. The sheriff is taking Rochelle and I’ll do what I can on the road on my way out of town.” He took hold of her cheeks, and as much as she’d wanted to keep their relationship a secret, he couldn’t deny himself one final and desperate kiss. “Listen to me, the syndicate will know I played a part in Mark Farro’s arrest. They’ll be looking for me, so I need to stay clear of you and Whitney until this is all over. Do you remember your promise to me?”
She began to shake her head as if she didn’t want to accept what he asked, only to pause and for a wider look of understanding to take over. He asked her to keep the promise he’d had her make the night at the hospital. The one that, when the situation called for it, she would put herself and Whitney first.
That situation was now.
“For a number of reasons, it’s best you and Whitney aren’t with me.” He ran a thumb over her cheek and her expression crumbled into a look of broken acceptance. “I can’t message or call you, it’s too risky. If I can, I’ll try to get word to you some other way, but…”
His words trailed because there was no positive spin to this. There’d be no telling how long they’d be separated. Days. Maybe months. Perhaps he would never stop being a target. Either way, obstructing the syndicate signed the death warrant on this relationship, and once again, a man Laila cared for was leaving her.
Once again, he berated himself for getting involved. As if he could have ever controlled his emotions when it came to this woman. And still, she’d drawn him in. And he’d pursued her. That would likely always be his biggest mistake.
Had he caused her more trouble for simply knowing him?
Since this wasn’t the time for finding out, he let her go, hoping against all hope that he’d soon settle the whole saga with Enzo Costa parading as Rudolph Manzinni. That Laila would be safe, and that, as much as her pleading eyes now begged him to come with her, she would stay safe and leave this burning town behind once and for all.