Vincenzo shrugged. “Sometimes. But other times to punish. When one of us did something wrong and the others wouldn’t rat him or her out.”
Pine sat back, disappointed and trying hard not to show it. Ito Vincenzo had used that nursery rhyme in deciding whether to take Pine or Mercy that night. She wanted to know if being picked in that manner was a good or bad thing. Vincenzo’s response had obviously not helped.
Puller glanced at her briefly and said, “Back to the house. Tony’s living there.”
“Okay.”
“You knew that?” asked Puller.
“I know it now.”
“When’s the last time you heard from your dad?” asked Pine.
Vincenzo took a moment to scratch his cheek and then rub his nose, which gave him an opportunity to think things through, Pine knew.
“I don’t know. What’s in it for me?”
Finally, we’re getting somewhere, she thought.
Puller sat forward, taking charge. “Let’s cut to the chase, Teddy. You help us, then you help yourself.”
Vincenzo sat forward now too, all business. “How much? And it has to be in writing. To my lawyer. I’m taking no chances with you feds screwing me over.”
“The time you got left here? We can make eight years six.”
“And you can also make eight years four. I’m not getting any younger.”
“Five. But it depends on what you can tell us. Bullshit gets you zip. Deal goes off the table and does not come back.”
Pine could tell by the declarative way Puller said this that these negotiation parameters had been preapproved in his chain of command.
“Oh, tough guy, are we? I’m shitting my pants right now.” Vincenzo said this with a smile that again came nowhere close to his eyes.
“I’m waiting,” said Puller.
“What do you want to know?”
“Where is Tony? And where is Ito?”
Vincenzo glanced at Pine. “Why the hell do you give a shit about my old man?”
“Sometime in 1989, he was gone from home. For several months, maybe? Spring, summer? Ring a bell?”
“That’s a long time ago, lady. I get hung up on stuff from last week.”
“And three years off your time here is a damn good reason to try to remember.”
Vincenzo nodded and his manner turned less flippant and more focused. “Okay, look, I want to help, but I’ll need to give it some thought.”
“Only think in facts. I know enough that the bullshit Chief Puller mentioned applies fully to me as well.”
“Okay, your point is clearly made, lady. I’m not looking to extend my stay here any longer than I have to.”
“He talk to you about Bruno?” she asked.
“Sometimes; they were brothers. He was my uncle.”
“What did he say? I’m talking about what happened to Bruno, when he went to prison the last time.”
“Well, one thing my old man told me stuck with me. He said his brother made a deal that never came through. Cost him his life.” He glanced sharply at Puller. “Which is the position I might find myself in. Snitches don’t have long life expectancies in prison. You walk from this, I’m dead.”
“We can throw in solitary if that’ll make you feel better,” said Puller.
“Did Ito say he was going to do something because of what happened to his brother?” asked Pine.
Vincenzo refocused on her, his expression calming. “Nothing specific that I can remember. He was pissed, that I know.”
“Your father was clean. Not even a traffic ticket. Bruno was mob. Why would he care?”
“It was his own flesh and blood. That means something or used to. Yeah, my old man knew what Bruno was. But Bruno went to prison and he died when he shouldn’t have. Somebody had to pay for that.”
“Ito told you that? Is that what you’re saying?” asked Pine.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. He didn’t talk much about Bruno, so what he did say was memorable, at least to me.”
“And then your dad disappeared, we understand. Know anything about that?”
“Nope. I was actually a resident of another fine institution like this one at the time.”
He looked at Puller now. “So what the hell has Tony done?”
“Thought you’d know all about it.”
“I would never encourage my son to break the law, and I’m sure he didn’t.”
“Are we expected to laugh?” said Puller.
Teddy shrugged. “Look, I’m an asshole, sure, but selling out my own kid? Come on.”
“Under no circumstances?” said Puller.
“You make the five years three, in my own cell, and I get private workout privileges and no probation. I’m clean and free when I walk out of here, no checking in with nobody. No peeing in a cup for the next five years. Call it a family discount.”
Pine looked at Puller, who nodded curtly.
Vincenzo hunched forward and dropped his voice. “Okay, look, Tony is not complicated. He’s a one-trick pony with not an original thought in his head. He does his little pill operation and he sells his shit and collects his share and he drinks his beer and bangs his women. But the situation he’s in now is…complicated. He’s way in over his head.”
“We’re listening.”
“I think he’s got himself involved with some people he shouldn’t be. And at some point they’re going to figure out he’s a liability and not an asset.”
“How do you know all this?” asked Pine.
“He came by to see me a while back. He was worried. Stuff he mentioned, didn’t add up to me. I told him to watch his back and look for an exit before it was too late.”
The man, Pine thought, looked deadly serious about that.
Puller said, “Okay. What exactly did he tell you?”
At that moment the door opened, and three guards and two suits entered the room.
“Interview is over,” said one of the suits.
Puller barked, “It was fully authorized, and we’re not done yet.”
“You’re done now,” said the other suit.
The guards grabbed a startled Vincenzo and started to pull him from the room.
“Hey, hey!” The inmate roared as he struggled futilely against them. He looked bug-eyed at Puller and screamed, “You screwed me over! You son of a—”
And then the door slammed shut and Teddy Vincenzo was gone.
Chapter 8
THAT WAS IT?” said Carol Blum when Pine returned to the hotel and reported what had happened at the prison.
“John made inquiries and ran into a stone wall. He’ll keep at it, but I don’t know what the result will be.”
“But I don’t understand. Why would anyone care that you were talking to Teddy Vincenzo?”
“Maybe the people his son was involved with do. Teddy seemed to think his son was way out of his league.”
“And these people can influence the goings-on at a prison? I mean, how would they have even known you were there?”
Pine looked at her. “Apparently they have connections, at a pretty high level.”
“Well, that’s a scary thought.”