Chapter 18 - The Harbor Deal
Peter had reached Vale before the police. He was trying to keep Samuel Price alive, but Vale had a gun pressed to the clerk's back.
Rebecca organized a controlled entry. Lorenzo offered to speak to Vale through the warehouse's public-address system.
“You want me?” Lorenzo said. “Let Price go.”
Vale's voice came back through a speaker. “You always did think you could buy your way out of a problem.”
“I've never been able to buy my way out of you.”
“Then give me the ledger.”
“The ledger is already with the investigators.”
Vale laughed. “You think paper is power? Power is the people who are afraid to speak.”
Lorenzo glanced at Rebecca. She gave him a small nod. The audio was being recorded.
“Then why are you hiding behind a hostage?” Lorenzo asked.
Vale's voice sharpened. “Because your wife taught you to mistake mercy for strength.”
“She taught me that people aren't property.”
For a moment, there was silence.
Then Peter stepped into the warehouse doorway, hands raised. He had managed to move Price behind a stack of pallets. Vale turned toward him.
Peter shouted, “Run!”
Price bolted. Agents moved in. Vale fired once, striking a metal beam. Peter tackled him, and both men crashed to the floor.
Lorenzo entered only after the agents had secured the room. Vale was on his knees, handcuffed, his expensive coat soaked with rain.
“You could have ruled this city,” Vale said.
“I did. That's the problem.”
Vale looked past him. “You think the others will let you walk away? Raffaele was only one man. There are people above him.”
“Then we'll find them.”
Vale smiled.
“You still don't understand. The money trail ends with me. The people who paid for this will never appear in your little book.”
Rebecca pulled him to his feet.
As they led him away, Vale leaned close to Lorenzo.
“Ask who signed the order to close Sofia's investigation.”
Lorenzo went cold.
May you like
Rebecca checked the file.
The authorization carried the signature of the federal supervisor who had assigned her to the case.
