“When I came back the next time, he was a little more talkative. Told me he’d had a lot of time to think about Valentina, and he didn’t hold any grudges against her. She was what she was—a beautiful woman with a calculating mind and no conscience—and he knew that about her when they got married.
“He also knew she was messing around on him with someone, but he figured it all equaled out since he was never faithful to her either. He was a fascinating man. A great storyteller. And it was hard to remember him as the criminal he was.”
“Angelica was like that when I talked with her,” I said, understanding.
He shook his head. “I still can’t believe you went to Miami to see her. You’re lucky you’re still alive.”
“You certainly got lucky,” I said.
He nodded. “The last time I talked to Carmen was a day before he died. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. And he was cremated within hours of his death, before family or anyone else could be notified. He told me on my last visit that he could appreciate a guy like me, who was always on the up and up. He thinks it takes as much skill for a cop to be good as a criminal to be bad. It’s probably a closer line than most people know.
“Anyway,” Vince said. “Carmen was a showman. He liked to be in control. And even behind bars he wanted to run the show. So he’d feed me a little at a time and then tell me to come back and see him. So that’s what I did.”
“And then he died,” I said.
“And took whatever he was going to tell me to the grave. I knew I was getting close to something. Angelica might have gotten immunity for her crimes, but there are still people out there who she didn’t implicate. Like I said, she didn’t do it alone. And corruption usually starts at the top. I think Charlie was assembling a list of everyone who was involved, and I think he was going to go after them.
“Every time I read through that file he left in the shed, something about it just didn’t feel right. There were sections missing, and sometimes he got a detail wrong about the case. Charlie never got details wrong. And I mean never. The more I read through the file, the more I realized your dad had made that file for me. Almost like a key that only I could understand. I knew he had to have the real files somewhere, but I looked everywhere. They were nowhere in the house, his office, the shed. So I figured he had them off-site.”
“In a storage unit,” I said.
“You really have become a very good investigator,” Vince said. “Your dad would be proud of you.”
I don’t know why that made me tear up. Maybe it was the hormones. Or maybe because I’d never really known if my dad was proud of me. He was kind of a hard nut to crack.
Vince moved in and took the cooling coffee from me and set it on the table. Then he gave me a hug, and I held on for dear life.
“Sorry,” I said a couple of minutes later. I pulled away and wiped my eyes. “I think marriage has made me soft.”
Vince’s lips twitched. “Believe me, the right marriage makes you the right kind of soft. You’re on the right track, kid.”
“What did you find in the storage unit?” I asked.
“I didn’t,” Vince said. “I couldn’t find the key. If you’d come here tomorrow I would’ve been gone. I was getting ready to head to the storage unit and break in with a pair of bolt cutters and hope for the best. I figured I could put all the files in the back of my truck and spend a couple of days at a cheap motel going through them. The longer I stay away from home, the safer your mother will be.”
“I’m not sure that makes you much safer though,” I said, making him smile wryly. “Fortunately, I found the key at the bottom of the file cabinet.”
“You did?” he asked, excitement shining in his eyes.
“I’m not sure what you have planned as far as how to clean up this mess,” I said. “But Nick, Savage, and Kate all know about this.”
“Then no one is safe,” he said. “Angelica is no one to mess with.”
“How do you know she’s behind whoever tried to kill you in Miami?” I asked. “Like you said, there were a lot of players involved. Maybe someone found out you went to visit Carmen and got nervous. Remember, Angelica has nothing to lose or gain by trying to kill you. Honestly, it seemed like she was rather fond of you and Dad. But she’s got immunity. Anything Dad found out about her wouldn’t matter.”
“It’s what he found out about others,” he said, nodding in agreement. “There’s very few people I trust to help me with this whole thing, but I haven’t been thinking straight. I’ve been retired too long. And I’ll admit, the close calls in Miami got to me. I’d never have thought I’d have to deal with that stuff this long after I left the job.”
“I’ve got the key in my van,” I told him. “Why don’t we take your car and swing by and pick it? I’m sure Rosemarie and Scarlet have had enough of the outdoors.”
“You go ahead,” he said. “I can’t leave just yet. I told you there were very few people I trusted with this information. I contacted them and they’re on the way here now. I’ll explain everything and then we can all meet over at the storage shed. Call Nick and your FBI friend. We should probably have as many witnesses as possible.”
I heard a car driving across boards and through the muck, and I stared at Vince in panic. What if whoever was trying to kill him in Miami had found
