"You know that I report to City Hall," he said. "Not directly to the mayor but we know each other to speak. A long time ago this, unofficial, position was created in order to keep things running smoothly without bringing attention to the actions necessary. I'm what you might call a chief bureaucrat-with teeth.
"When I first took the position, I was… anxious. My decisions are often taken on my own, without counsel or review. I was uncertain…
"On Tuesday and Thursday mornings I'd go to a diner not far from here. Angelique was seventeen and a waitress at the time. Her first name was too long for the tag so she used Tara as her name. We used to talk. Those conversations relaxed me. She made me feel normal, and I suppose, I fell in love with her a little."
Rinaldo uncrossed his legs, clasped his hands together, sat up straight.
"Not in a sexual way. More like a man feels toward the daughter of a good friend. We had long talks in between her customers. She saw me in an avuncular way, and I, behind the scenes, tried to help her get on with her life.
"She never had a father in the house, and her mother… had problems. So I tapped a college counselor to develop a friendship with her-"
"Iris Lindsay," I said, remembering the gravestone in the photograph.
"Yes. Poor Iris died only a few months ago. She greased the wheels for Tara to get into college, and a few other things. Tara never knew. She didn't even know my real name.
"After she left the diner I had Christian research her background, and Sam Strange's predecessor set up certain monies and benefits for her-with the help of an ever-watchful Ms. Lindsay. Helping Tara made me feel more balanced.
"I've kept up the support, and over time she's developed relationships with certain city employees who answer to this office. I could never tell her what I was doing, but I kept an eye on her. If she filed a complaint about some neighbor or applied for a scholarship or a job, I was usually able to help. I thought I was being discreet, but I guess Sanderson's people found out. They must have kept her report to the police out of the system."
"What would she care about some woman you help out?"
Rinaldo let his hands rise in an uncommon show of helplessness. "Sandra's life has no partitions," he explained. "Her son died a while ago-a rare heart condition that went undiagnosed until the postmortem. Then she got it in her head to erect a building in memoriam for Desmond. Some monolithic downtown waterfront monstrosity. The city was against it. A dozen interest groups were against it. She came to me to try to work a way around the problem. I might have gone along, but this 'memorial' was also going to make her bank over a billion dollars. It seemed to me that she was more concerned over profit than she was for the memory of her son.
"But, like I said, there are no partitions in her life. I knew she was bitter over my refusal to get involved. I didn't realize that she was also a little insane."
"You think she went after Angie for revenge?"
"Either that or to blackmail me. We'll never know now."
"Is Grant's last name Corman?" I asked then.
"Why?"
"A Grant Corman is bodyguarding Sanderson."
"I see."
"That's a very sloppy mistake, if you don't mind my saying so."
"A man is only as good as those who represent him," Alphonse said. "You disobey… and Mr. Strange gets careless."
57
Rinaldo decided to take the afternoon off with Angie. They were going to have lunch at the old diner where they'd met. She was on his office phone, calling all her friends, telling them that she was fine, when he took me aside again.
"I'm not used to having people disobey my directions, Leonid," he said.
"It's a long way from Mr. Brown at the diner, huh?"
Not only did he smile at my little insight, he was surprised at his own humor.
"I have to admit, however," he said, "that you've done a very good job. Still, I can't continue to include you in my, my inner circle, as you've proven yourself to be a wild card. I cannot, this office cannot afford that kind of behavior."
"So you repay me by cutting me off?" I asked.
I was thinking that separation from Rinaldo and his world might be the best thing that ever happened to me.
"Do not come here again," he said. "If I ever need you, I have your number."
"What about Sanderson? Do I have to worry about her?"
"I'll take care of everything connected to me," he said. "That includes Sanderson and her actions."
I wondered at the machinations the Special Assistant planned. I guess I winced a bit at the possible fates of Grant Corman and Sam Strange.
"Is there something wrong?" Alphonse asked.
"No," I said, almost wistfully. "My arm hurts some and I'm really tired."
"Should I have Christian get you a car?"
"No thanks. I drove here."
I was three blocks from Rinaldo's office on lower Broadway. My troubles were over, and so I just kept walking. It wasn't until the uniformed cops had surrounded me that I realized I was, once again, the subject of a major arrest.
"What's this about?" I asked as they grabbed me and chained my arms behind my back.
No one answered my questions. They didn't inform me of my rights or ask anything, just shoved me in the back of a police cruiser and drove me to One Police Plaza.
I was taken to a windowless gray room that was too small even for an interrogation. There they left me to wonder if Rinaldo had lost his juice. Or, maybe, I was a loose end now that the job was done.
I sat on the aluminum chair, my wrists in chains, for a very long time-hours. No one spoke to me, much less offered water or the use of a toilet.
I was growing more and more certain that Sanderson had caused me to be brought here. And if I was identified as one of Rinaldo's operatives, then Patrick was probably free.
I wasn't scared, though. That was the business. Sometimes you lost.
Hush would protect Katrina and the kids. He'd settle any recurring problems with Dimitri and the pimp; and if he didn't, Twill certainly would. Katrina would honor my commitment to Gordo.
There was a lot of unfinished business in my life, but that was okay, too. At times, when faced by Death or imprisonment, I was reminded of when I was a child and President Kennedy had been assassinated. There had been twenty-four-hour coverage of the tragedy on television and radio. And then one afternoon I saw the image of a very tall man standing next to the First Lady-Jacqueline Kennedy.
"Who's that man?" I asked my father.
"That's their president, son."
"No, Dad. The president's dead."
"The minute he died this new one took his place."
"That fast?"
"No one is so important that somebody else can't take his place," he told me.
I never forgot it.
"WAKE UP!" SOMEONE SHOUTED, making me realize that I had fallen asleep.
"What?"
"You're going to have a little talk," the man said.
He was flanked by three uniforms. They took me seriously in police circles. You kill one monster of a man with your bare hands and they never forget.
"You should let me use a urinal before I get there or I'm gonna piss all over your floor."
CAPTAIN JAMES CHARBON'S OFFICE was on a high floor with a great view. I could see the Statue of Liberty through the window over his shoulder.
I was feeling warm, feverish. This played tricks with my vision. But I would have been able to pick out Charbon with my eyes closed. He wore a particular brand of cologne that had very little sweetness to it. His eyes were steel gray. His haircut was military, and his handsome features were offset by an innate cruelty.