Chapter 11 #2
“He’s heard everything already,” my father replied. “After all, he was the one who brought the IRS investigation to my attention.”
That made sense. The government would want to do everything by the book, including contacting the family lawyer. And yet, that only left me with more questions and an even bigger nagging feeling I couldn’t shake off.
“What I don’t understand is why would the government reveal that they had an informant? Wouldn’t revealing that they had a source put that person in danger?” I asked. “This is only going to lead to us looking for this mole.”
My father shrugged. “The government might be worried about losing out on getting evidence. Maybe they think burning this informant is worth it.”
“So, they’re willing to throw their informant to the wolves to get it,” I said. “What do they have on us?”
Suddenly, I heard the roar of an engine in the distance and looked over my shoulder. Frankie was driving off in his flashy car. Guessed he wasn’t going to stick around after being so thoroughly dismissed.
Papa sighed heavily, dragging me back to the conversation. “Tax evasion, bank fraud, money laundering. The mundane things they get people like us on.”
My mind started racing through the possibilities. “Or they’re pulling at a thread. Tugging at money laundering to eventually land on...much worse.”
“We’ve got to find this traitor,” my father said forcefully. “You and Frankie are the only ones I trust to flush them out.”
“Where do you want us to begin? Do you have any suspects in mind? I can’t imagine it, but is there anyone close who might have this much of a vendetta against you?
” I asked, my heart soaring on the knowledge that my father trusted me.
But then, my stomach lurched as I remembered how uneasy Frankie had made me feel.
He’d seemed troubled by something. Worried about my father revealing the truth about the informant to me.
As if Cousin Frankie didn’t want me to know about it.
Didn’t want me in the loop, even though I’d more than earned a right to know something of this magnitude.
I might not have been a lawyer, but I was sharp.
I made connections other people didn’t. Saw things in a way that no one else in my family did.
My father paused to think. “I’m good to our people. Anyone on our side with a vendetta against me is long gone. They’re either—”
“Dead or in jail,” I finished for him.
His jaw tightened. “Right.”
“So, we’ll start with everyone we put in jail.
Anyone who thinks you belong in there instead of them,” I said.
As much as I hated to bring up that uncomfortable truth, my father had sent people to do prison stints that really should have been meant for him.
He’d managed to violently coerce or pay his way to getting people to admit to crimes they either didn’t commit or had far less of a hand in than they let on to the cops.
There could have been any number of people serving prison time who would want to make my father pay.
“There’s also anyone who got out recently. Anyone we let back into the fold.”
“There are a handful I can think of,” my father said.
“I’ll need a list of names,” I said with a nod. “Then I can go through everyone currently in prison or anyone who got out and came back to work for us. Process of elimination should help me narrow it down.”
“I knew I could count on you, Lena,” Papa said.
That filled me with pride. And apprehension.
Because I was walking a tightrope with my father’s interests on one hand, and my own on the other.
Never had the two been such starkly different choices.
I wanted to rule as a mafia queen while my father seemed more interested in using me as a pawn instead.
I hesitated, trying to decide how much I wanted to say. How much I wanted to reveal about my misgivings about Cousin Frankie.
“What is it?” my father asked, studying me.
“Even though I can imagine someone we put away being angry, I can’t imagine anyone being reckless enough to sell us out like this. Everyone we put away knows we can get to them, even if they’re behind bars. And the ones we paid to take the fall for us wouldn’t want to mess with that money.”
“What are you saying?”
“Whoever this is—they’re either willing to risk something worse than death to bring you down, or they don’t think they’ll ever be caught,” I said. “What kind of person thinks they’ll never be caught, even when the government reveals that they exist?”
“Someone who thinks they have total immunity,” my father answered. “Someone who believes they’re untouchable.”
“Or someone that we would never suspect. Thus giving them a chance to hide forever,” I said slowly.
Carefully. Because making accusations without a shred of proof could end up being more trouble than it was worth.
But I wanted my father to be able to watch his back and keeping him in the dark about my fears didn’t seem right.
My father’s eyebrows rose. “Something on your mind, Lena?”
“All I’m saying is that we should leave no stone unturned,” I responded. “Everyone is a suspect. Even me.”
My father let out a snorting sort of laugh. A dismissive sound. “I trust you with my life. You and Frankie are the only ones I can count on.”