Donatti sat on one side of the table; Decker took a seat opposite him. No one spoke. Then Decker laid the crime-scene photos on Donatti’s desk, along with the picture of Ephraim and Shaynda.
Donatti didn’t look at them. “Why in the world do you think I would talk to you? You ruined my life.”
“That’s a very negative spin on it, Chris. I think of it as saving Terry’s life instead.”
“Did she give you my address?”
“No, the cops did.”
“The cops?”
“Yeah, the cops.”
Donatti let out a laugh. “It’s nice to be thought of as the bullet behind every single whack in this city.” His eyes darkened. “You know, after I found out that Terry was pregnant, I kept waiting for her to tell me. Six months after the kid was born, I finally figured out that she had other things in mind… things like denying me my son. And that angered me. I decided to give Terry a little time to get it together. If I didn’t hear boo from her by the time the kid was a year old, she was going to meet with a very unfortunate accident. Three weeks before the target date, I get a letter from her. It starts off like this.
“ ‘Dear Chris.
“ ‘I wasn’t going to tell you, but Lieutenant Decker prevailed upon me.’ ”
He paused.
“ ‘I wasn’t going to tell you, but Lieutenant Decker prevailed upon me.’
“Now that really angered me. It angered me that she wasn’t going to tell me. It angered me that she only told me because you told her to do it, and it really pissed me off that you made lieutenant.”
“Sounds like you were angry, Chris.”
“Yes, I was, and it’s Mr. Donatti to you.”
“You already told me that.”
“Well, you seem to have forgotten. I’ll chalk it up to old age.”
“Fair enough.” Decker rubbed his eyes. They felt hot and itchy. “Terry tells me you two have been in contact for several years now.”
“Minimal contact.”
“What does that mean?”
“Ask her.”
“She says you come out to see her and your son a half-dozen times a year.”
“So she still writes to you.”
“Occasionally.”
Chris rolled his eyes.
Decker said, “Yeah, she told me you don’t approve.”
“No, that’s not what I said. I told her that she shouldn’t put anything down in writing. If she wants to talk to you, she should call you. I know that Terry has some kind of father fixation with you. It’s harmless. It’s probably healthy in light of the fact that her old man is a raging alcoholic. I just don’t want any connection to me in writing. It’s not healthy for her or the kid.”
Decker thought a moment. “Cops don’t know about Terry or the kid, do they, Chris?”
Donatti gave Decker a hard stare.
“I’ll take that as a no,” Decker answered. “So who does know about them other than me? Joey?”
Donatti closed his eyes, then opened them. A harmless gesture, except it was one that Decker knew very well. It meant that Decker had touched on something. It meant that Chris was edgy.
Decker smiled. “Joey has no idea that you’re in contact with Terry. He thinks you broke it off with her eight years ago, and that was that.” The smile widened. “Joey doesn’t know dick about her or the kid, does he?”
“Am I reading this right, Decker?” Donatti’s nostrils flared. “Are you actually using Terry as a bargaining chip?”
“God forbid! You know I don’t work that way.” He exhaled. “Be hell of a lot easier if I did.” He pointed to the pictures. This time, Chris finally looked at them. “I’m a stranger here, Mr. Donatti. I need help. I’m interested in any information about the hit and what this guy did to get bumped. But more important, he was with a fifteen-year-old girl. This girl, here.” Decker pointed to the one picture he had of Shaynda. “She’s gone, and the parents are frantic. Any ideas?”
Donatti answered with another shrug.
“Is that a yes or a no?”
Donatti didn’t answer. A timer dinged. “Excuse me, I have work to do.” He stood up and waited for Decker to do the same.
Decker paused.
“That means you’ve gotta go,” Donatti said.
Reluctantly, Decker got up and left the room. Chris locked the door and put the keys in his pants. “You can let yourself out the same way you came in.”
Again Donatti disappeared behind one of the doors. Decker waited, deciding what to do. He knew if he left now, he’d never get another chance. Donatti would think him a gutless jerk. Yet if he pushed Donatti, that wouldn’t work, either.
C.D. don’t talk.
But back then-eight years ago-Chris did talk, having told Decker lots of things in his time of need. In some perverse way, Decker had been a kind of father figure to Donatti as well as Terry. While Chris was serving time, Decker had been his link to Terry. More important, Decker had been C.D.’s passkey out of prison. Yes, it was Decker who had put him in the hole, but when certain forensic irregularities came to light, it had been Decker who had bought Donatti his freedom. If anything were to work with the kid, it would be the old roles, not the new ones.
There was no way Decker could convince Chris that he had his interest at heart. But he could convince Donatti that he cared about Terry-because that was true. Decker had given the girl money when she had been desperate-abandoned by everyone, including her parents. One thousand dollars that Decker could ill afford went to support Donatti’s son when Chris wouldn’t have anything to do with her. Now that they had resumed a relationship, Terry had probably told him about it: Chris was no doubt resentful. Still, Decker had come through for Terry, and Donatti placed a huge premium on loyalty.
Decker sat back down on the wooden crate and rested his elbows on his knees. If he were to get anywhere with this homicide, he needed an insider and who better than Donatti?
Provided that Donatti had nothing to do with the murder.
Sure it was a risk, but what was life without that occasional adrenaline rush?
Decker waited patiently, happy to just sit and do nothing. When Donatti finally emerged, he stopped in his tracks, seeing Decker. “You’re still here.”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
As Decker stood, Donatti tensed up every muscle, every sinew as if expecting Decker to pounce. Instead, Decker dropped his voice to a soothing whisper. “You have a beautiful son, Donatti, because you chose his mother well. That much we agree on. As far as Terry goes, I die with your secret, guy. You know me well enough to realize that my word is not only gold but also noncontingent. If you can help me out, fine. If not, it’s no hard feelings. I walk away and you never hear from me again.”
With that, Decker turned and left.
12
If Donatti had something to do with the hit, he didn’t give off any telltale vibes. But then again Chris had always been good at hiding things, so Decker didn’t dare rule him out. Clearly, Donatti favored youth-teenagers he could control and manipulate. He had to recruit his girls from somewhere, and as long as Shaynda was still missing, any predator of young girls was suspect. Decker had stirred up the muck. Now it remained to be seen what would surface.
Walking along Riverside Drive, he bundled up in his coat and stuck his hands in his pockets. The sky was all pewter and charcoals, enclosing the Hudson River like dented armor. A pungent wind was roughing up the water’s surface. Decker felt the sting in his cheeks and on the tip of his nose. Brisk in step, he spotted a taxi and flagged it down. As soon as he did it, he realized he didn’t know where he wanted to go.