“To tell the truth, Ito couldn’t stand his brother.”
“That’s interesting and informative.”
“So I can’t believe Ito would have done something like that. He was a nice guy, raised his kids right. Helped me and my husband out when we needed it. Fixed our furnace, helped reroof our house. Folks did back then. Now? Nobody knows nobody.”
“Teddy’s in prison. And we both know about Tony. So how good could Ito have really been as a father?” She looked at the woman questioningly.
“Well, Ito had a business. He worked long hours. And Teddy took after Bruno, I think. Always a bad one. Nothing you can do about that when it’s in the blood. Always in trouble. Looking for the quick buck.”
“What happened to Teddy’s wife? I assume he was married?”
“Yes. She left him. About ten years ago. She’d had enough. I would’ve never lasted that long. They used to live here. Fights all the time. The thugs Teddy had over, and they were thugs. They threatened us. Would’ve gotten bad, but I do have to say that Teddy wouldn’t let them hurt us. Maybe because we were friends with his parents. Only kind thing I ever knew him to do. So Tony grew up around all that. No wonder he turned out the way he did.”
“Do you know where Teddy’s ex is?” asked Pine.
“Jane? No. I haven’t heard from her in years. I hope she found happiness somewhere. That woman deserved it if anybody ever did.”
“And Ito Vincenzo’s wife, Evie?” said Pine. “I assume you knew her well.”
“Yes. Evie was very sweet. We were good friends. And my husband enjoyed Ito’s company. And that man could cook. The meals we had over there! Everything made fresh. I thought Italians just ate pasta, but Ito made a lot of fish. It was always delicious.”
“Do you know where she is now? Is she still alive?”
The woman nodded slowly. “Evie lives in a nursing home. Kensington Manor. It’s about five miles from here. The name sounds a lot nicer than it is. They always do, I guess.”
“Her family didn’t help her out?”
“Teddy and Tony are the only ones still nearby and they’re useless. About five years ago Evie went to the nursing home when she couldn’t take care of herself anymore. I’ve visited her there. It’s…it’s not a nice place. But it’s probably where I’m going to end up, too, sooner rather than later. My kids are very good to me, but they have their own problems. And the nicer places cost way too much, far more than they could afford.”
“You could sell your house.”
“I don’t own it. I did one of those reverse mortgages. I needed the money to pay the bills. As soon as I’m gone they’ll take the house.”
Pine gazed around at the other homes. “I guess a lot of people are in that situation.”
“The government tells you to spend your money to help the economy, create jobs. And then when you do spend pretty much all of it, they turn around and tell you to save money because you’ll need it to retire on. So which is it?”
“I’m afraid I don’t have the answer. I’m just sorry you have to be in this position.”
“At least I know I’ll end up with a roof over my head and three meals a day. I’ll just sit there in my own drool,” she added bitterly. “So much for the golden years.”
“You don’t know it’s that bad.”
“Most of my friends are in state-run nursing homes paid for by Medicaid and whatever dollars they have left. I visit them. It is that bad.”
“I’ll take your word for it. Look, do you know if Ito is still alive?”
“I don’t know that for sure. He just up and vanished one day. Long time ago.”
“Was it in the late eighties?” asked Pine sharply. “That’s when my sister was taken.”
“No, it wasn’t that far back” was her surprising reply. She mulled over this. “If I had to guess it was sometime around 9/11, or maybe the year after, but that’s all I can remember.”
“What did Evie think had happened to him?”
“I don’t know. Any time I brought it up, she changed the subject.”
“So she doesn’t know if he’s dead or alive?”
“Not that she ever told me. But him disappearing like that? It left a hole in her heart as big as the Lincoln Tunnel. I could never understand it. Sometimes I think Bruno came back from the grave and killed him because that’s just who Bruno was.”
Pine thanked the woman and walked back to her car. She called Blum and asked her to take an Uber and meet Pine at the nursing home.
“Her old neighbor said five years ago Evie could no longer take care of herself. She might have deteriorated a lot since then.”
“Well, we can only try,” replied Blum.
Story of my life, thought Pine as she walked to her car.
Chapter 6
AS PINE MET BLUM OUTSIDE of the nursing home, she said, “There’s one thing that has bugged the crap out of me.”
“What is that?” asked Blum.
“How could Ito have possibly found out that my mother was a mole for the government? She never testified in court. Her identity was kept secret.”
“And we learned that before you and your sister moved to Andersonville, attempts were made on your lives while you were in WITSEC,” said Blum, referring to the Witness Protection Program run by the U.S. Marshals Service. “So how did those people find out?”
“Do you think whoever was behind that might have leaked the information to Ito or his brother, Bruno? He was still alive at that time, albeit in prison.”
“It certainly could be that the two things are connected.”
The nursing home looked like it had been built in the sixties with lots of poured cement and now-dated architecture. The roofline was flat, and they could see rusty rooftop AC units perched up there in a linear formation.
They walked into the facility. The place had a musty odor, and the furnishings and wall coverings were old and frayed. Pine saw some elderly people moving slowly down the halls in either wheelchairs or walkers. Though old, the place looked relatively clean and uncluttered, but it certainly didn’t seem “cheery.”
Pine showed her creds and badge to the receptionist and they were directed to a supervisor’s office.
“What is this about?” asked the woman, who was in her thirties and dressed in a white smock. The remains of her lunch were sitting on her desk, in an office that was small and messy.
“We just want to ask Mrs. Vincenzo some questions in connection with an inquiry,” Pine began.
“Don’t you need a search warrant or something?” said the woman, who had not identified herself, but whose name tag read SALLY.
“Not for just talking to someone voluntarily, Sally,” replied Pine. “We’re not searching anything. Just asking questions. It’s about Mrs. Vincenzo’s husband.”
“I didn’t even know she had a husband. No one ever comes to visit except an old neighbor of hers.”
“She was the one who told me Mrs. Vincenzo was here, that she couldn’t care for herself any longer.”
Sally shook her head. “The poor folks forget to take medication, fall down, break a hip, try to drive, leave the cooktop on all night. It’s the old story.”