Chapter 5 - The Man Who Broke the Rules
The safe-deposit box contained three notebooks.
By noon the next day, Vincent had stopped speaking.
Clara sat across from him in the conference room.
Saul stood near the window.
Stacks of photocopied ledgers covered the table.
Thirty-seven borrowers.
Eleven deceased.
Fourteen relatives pressured into continuing payments.
Seven cases where collectors had threatened family members.
Vincent looked at Saul.
“How did I not know?”
Saul answered carefully.
“Because they knew what numbers you checked.”
Vincent's gaze hardened.
“They created a second ledger.”
“Yes.”
“And you missed it.”
“Yes.”
“So did I.”
“Yes.”
Clara watched Vincent close the notebook.
“Where's Mickey?”
Saul hesitated.
“Gone.”
Vincent looked up.
“What?”
“He cleaned out his apartment.”
Clara stood.
“My sister.”
Vincent was already reaching for his phone.
Then he stopped.
He looked at Clara first.
“May I?”
That tiny question changed everything.
Clara nodded.
“Protect her. Nothing else.”
Vincent made the call.
“Paulie. Two men outside Rachel Hayes's building. Quietly. She is not to know unless necessary.”
He paused.
“No contact with Mickey unless he approaches her.”
Another pause.
“Correct. No violence.”
He hung up.
Clara exhaled.
“Thank you.”
“Don't thank me.”
“Why?”
“Because protecting you from consequences created by my organization is not generosity.”
The conference-room door opened.
Paulie entered.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Mickey's downstairs.”
Clara froze.
Vincent slowly stood.
“He came here?”
“He says he wants to talk to Miss Hayes.”
“No.”
Clara spoke at the same time.
“Yes.”
Vincent turned.
“Clara.”
“I want to hear him.”
“Absolutely not.”
Her eyebrows rose.
Vincent caught himself.
He exhaled.
“I strongly recommend against it.”
“Recommendation rejected.”
Paulie looked between them.
“Should I bring him up?”
Vincent stared at Clara.
“Yes.”
Mickey entered five minutes later.
He looked different.
No expensive coat.
No swagger.
No smile.
He placed a flash drive on the table.
“I have everything.”
Vincent didn't touch it.
“Why are you here?”
“Because Saul wasn't the top.”
Saul stepped forward.
“What?”
Mickey laughed bitterly.
“You think I invented this?”
Vincent's face darkened.
“Name.”
Mickey looked at Clara.
“Can I sit?”
She nodded.
Vincent didn't.
Mickey sat anyway.
“Your father found out we were skimming. That's true.”
“We?”
“Collectors. Bookkeepers. A few guys at the clubs.”
“And?”
“And someone protected us.”
Saul's face changed.
“Who?”
Mickey looked at Vincent.
“Your uncle.”
Silence.
Vincent's expression emptied.
“Frank Costa?”
“Yes.”
Saul cursed.
Clara looked between them.
“Who is Frank?”
Vincent answered without taking his eyes from Mickey.
“My father's younger brother.”
Mickey nodded.
“He took forty percent.”
Vincent stepped toward him.
“Proof?”
“The drive.”
Vincent plugged it into the conference-room computer.
Folders appeared.
Transfers.
Messages.
Photographs.
Accounts.
Vincent read for several minutes.
Then sat down.
Clara had never seen him look defeated.
Not frightened.
Not furious.
Defeated.
“My own family.”
Mickey spoke quietly.
“Frank told us you'd never look closely.”
Vincent lifted his eyes.
“Why?”
“Because you thought small collections were beneath you.”
The sentence hit.
Clara knew because it was true.
Vincent looked at her.
She didn't rescue him from it.
He turned back to Mickey.
“Why come here?”
Mickey swallowed.
“Frank knows about the notebooks.”
“And?”
“He wants Clara blamed.”
Vincent went still.
“For what?”
“The skimming.”
Clara almost laughed.
“I'm his secretary.”
“Exactly,” Mickey said. “You control records. Access schedules. Accounts. He says if the books surface, he'll claim you manipulated everything.”
Vincent's voice became dangerously soft.
“He intends to put this on her.”
“Yes.”
“Why tell us?”
Mickey looked down.
“Because Frank told me after he was finished with Clara, he'd clean up everyone who knew.”
“You finally discovered what fear feels like?” Clara asked.
Mickey met her eyes.
“Yes.”
She expected satisfaction.
There wasn't any.
Just exhaustion.
Mickey pushed the flash drive toward her.
“I was wrong.”
Clara said nothing.
“I threatened you. I stole from you. There's no excuse.”
“No.”
“I know.”
Vincent looked at Clara.
Again, he waited.
She understood the question.
“What happens to him?”
“Yes.”
Clara considered it.
“Give everything to an attorney.”
Saul stared at her.
“What?”
“Real attorneys. Real accountants. And anything involving threats or fraud goes to the authorities.”
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
“That exposes us.”
“Yes.”
“It could expose me.”
“Yes.”
Saul shook his head.
“This is insane.”
Clara looked at Vincent.
“You wanted me to decide.”
He stared at her.
She continued.
“You can protect the empire.”
A beat.
“Or you can fix what it did.”
Vincent looked at the ledgers.
Then at Mickey.
Finally at Saul.
“Call the lawyers.”
Saul went pale.
“Vincent—”
“Call them.”
May you like
This time Clara didn't stop him.
---
