Chapter 9 - WHAT VINCENT KNEW
Mom left the banquet hall furious.
Not at Sterling.
At Vincent.
She crossed three blocks in the rain and slapped him before anybody could stop her.
Marco looked shocked.
Vega did not.
Vincent took it.
Mom’s voice shook.
“You knew him.”
“Yes.”
“You gave him money.”
“Yes.”
“You never told me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Vincent looked at me inside the police van.
Then back at Mom.
“Because I was ashamed.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
Sterling had escaped the banquet hall through a service tunnel before police could close in.
That made everything worse.
We returned to Vincent’s house.
Mom refused to sit.
“Tell me.”
Vincent stood by the fireplace.
“Eight years ago, Sterling owned one failing bar.”
Mom stared at him.
“He borrowed from me.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred thousand.”
Her face changed.
“Jesus.”
“He paid for a while.”
“And then?”
“He stopped.”
Vincent looked down.
“I sent men.”
Mom folded her arms.
“What did they do?”
He didn’t answer.
“Vincent.”
“They scared him.”
“How?”
His jaw tightened.
“They broke things.”
Mom’s voice lowered.
“People?”
A pause.
“One.”
The room went still.
Vincent continued.
“I found out after.”
“You’re telling me this because?”
“Because Sterling learned something from me.”
Mom’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“That fear works.”
Vincent looked sick saying it.
“He started using it on people below him.”
Mom whispered, “Employees.”
“Yes.”
“You created him.”
“No.”
She stared.
Vincent corrected himself.
“I helped.”
That mattered.
He did not hide behind excuses.
Mom sat down.
For a long time, nobody spoke.
Then I climbed into the chair beside her.
“Are we leaving?”
Mom looked at me.
“I don’t know.”
Vincent said quietly, “If you want to, I’ll arrange somewhere safe.”
Mom rubbed her face.
“No.”
Vincent looked surprised.
She stood.
“You don’t get forgiven because you helped us.”
“I know.”
“And you don’t get to decide what happens to Sterling.”
“I know.”
“And if you lie to me again?”
“I won’t.”
Mom gave him a hard look.
“That sounded too easy.”
Vincent almost smiled.
Then Eli rushed into the room.
“Found him.”
Everyone turned.
Sterling had used one of the stolen identities to rent a motel room near Joliet.
Vega was already moving.
But Eli held up a hand.
“There’s more.”
He opened a file.
“Sterling emailed somebody.”
“To who?”
“A reporter.”
Mom frowned.
“What did he send?”
Eli’s face tightened.
“Everything.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“What do you mean everything?”
“Payroll fraud.”
“That hurts him.”
“Not just that.”
Eli looked at Vincent.
“He sent records of your businesses too.”
The room changed.
Vincent went still.
Mom stared.
“What records?”
Eli swallowed.
“Enough to put half his organization under investigation.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
Sterling wasn’t just running anymore.
He was burning everybody behind him.
Then Eli clicked one last attachment.
A photograph appeared.
Me.
Outside my preschool.
Taken that morning.
Mom made a sound I had never heard before.
May you like
And beneath the photo was one sentence.
IF KANE COMES FOR ME, THE KID GOES FIRST.
