Swimming with Sharks (67 page)

His face turned sullen. Alex was still the main problem, although she was severely discredited by the murder allegations. But she was smart and
had nothing to lose. As long as she was on the run, she was dangerous. In Switzerland, she had just slipped through his net, and now Monaghan claimed that she was headed back to the city. Sergio had ordered observation of all three airports as well as Penn Station, Grand Central Station, and the Port Authority bus terminal. Thanks to Monaghan, if she appeared in a public place, his men would nab her.

“This is absolutely crazy.” Lloyd Connors grinned in excitement as Nick entered his office. The control center had been moved to the US Attorney’s Office after de Lancie had called in sick. “Van Mieren gave twelve hours of testimony. Come here, Nick. Look at this!” The TV and VCR were centered on a large table.

“Check this out!” he exclaimed.

Nelson van Mieren’s face appeared on the screen. Nick could see that this man he had countered in the courtroom so many times over the years was very sick. His condition had rapidly deteriorated since their encounter at the Forty-First Precinct last summer. Over the next fifteen minutes, Nick and Connors listened attentively to van Mieren’s precise statements about the contract award for the construction of the World Financial Center. He spoke the names of the people involved in the scandal, never before uncovered due to Zuckerman’s death. He confessed how much money had been exchanged and described Vitali’s pitiless extortion methods.

“Unbelievable.” Nick shook his head.

“You were right all along,” Connors replied, “and we thought you were just obsessed. I’m sincerely sorry.”

Nick waved his hand. It was far too late. Zuckerman was dead, and the complex deals were water under the bridge now. Of course, they could confront Vitali with it, but any mediocre lawyer could get him off. Some
of the crimes already exceeded the statute of limitations, and a video testimony might not be enough for a conviction in court.

“We’re in a position now to ask Vitali entirely different questions.”

His eyes sparkled with the excitement of a predator spotting its prey at a close range.

Nick sighed. “I knew all of this before. But no one wanted to hear it.”

“You had just a hunch,” Connors corrected him. “Now we have evidence.”

“That’s great. But…” Nick fell silent.

“But? But what?” Connors stared at him. “I thought you would be happy!”

“Lloyd,” Nick said, sounding agonized, “I’ve spent years of my life hunting this guy. I know I was ridiculed behind my back, and that now the same people who laughed at me are having this served to them on a silver platter. Please don’t take offense if I can’t quite share your excitement. This man has destroyed my life. He killed my wife and son. He stole my time from me, time that I could have spent with Mary and Chris.”

Connors looked at Nick in consternation.

“We’re going to stop Vitali. We’ll bring him to justice for everything he’s done.”

For a moment, Nick felt envious of the young man’s optimism and enthusiasm, his firm conviction that he would accomplish his task. He had been like Lloyd Connors once, but it seemed like an eternity had passed since then. Nick sighed again. He felt so tired, so incredibly tired. He’d lost his sense of élan and power. Vitali had robbed him of his convictions, of his faith in law and order.

“I wish…” he started and stood up. “I really wish you all luck.”

“It will be your success, Nick,” Connors said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You made this happen.”

“No,” Nick said, shaking his head, “this is none of my business anymore.”

“But you must be satisfied if…”

“Satisfied?” Nick looked at the young man pensively. “No. I don’t feel anything. There’s just emptiness. What good is it to me if Vitali is sentenced? It won’t bring anyone back to life.”

“Before granting immunity to Alex Sontheim, I want to talk to her.”

Tate Jenkins’s voice squawked through the telephone’s speaker. Nick and Lloyd Connors exchanged a brief glance.

“Mr. Jenkins,” Nick said with growing impatience, “she called me yesterday morning. She won’t return as long as she has reason to fear being arrested and charged with murder.”

“No one will arrest her. I already promised you that. But I won’t grant her immunity before I’m personally convinced of this woman’s innocence.” Jenkins sounded impatient. “You understand that, Mr. Kostidis, don’t you? She’s not just suspected of murder! Don’t forget that she also embezzled money. Tell her to contact me. The sooner, the better.”

Nick shrugged his shoulders.

“There’s one more thing, Mr. Kostidis,” said the deputy director of the FBI. “We were able to seize significant incriminating evidence on Grand Cayman. With the confessions of the bribed men, it could be enough.”

“Enough for what? What do you mean?”

“I mean that Ms. Sontheim shouldn’t gamble too much. If she waits any longer, then her testimony might lose its value. In that case, I’d have no reason whatsoever to repeal the arrest warrant because it falls within the NYPD’s jurisdiction.”

Connors gasped for air. Nick struggled to suppress his anger. This arrogant bastard didn’t give a damn that it was Alex who got the ball rolling on this case. She had put her life at risk to bring Vitali to justice.
Without her, the FBI would never even have uncovered this corruption scandal!

“But Ms. Sontheim is the only person capable of bringing Vitali before a court. She has detailed knowledge of the processes, the sequence of events, and—”

“Vitali is not my problem,” Jenkins said, interrupting Nick. “I’ll straighten this out with minimal collateral damage. If your witness is unwilling to cooperate, then she must bear the consequences on her own.”

“If I understand you correctly, Mr. Jenkins,” Nick said, hardly managing to control his voice, “you don’t have the slightest interest in arresting Vitali.”

“My job is to find out how far the net of corruption reaches within the State’s agencies and the City of New York,” Jenkins replied coolly.

“Then go ahead,” Nick said. “But you can rest assured that Vitali won’t hesitate to bribe the successors of every single person you remove from office. We need to tackle the evil at its root. Otherwise, your efforts will be in vain.”

“You better leave that problem to me, Kostidis.”

Connors signaled Nick, but Nick was truly enraged. His original intention was to get Jenkins to drop the charges against Alex, but this bureaucratic disinterest riled him up and reignited his passion for justice.

“Listen, Jenkins,” he said sharply, “I’m not some petty civil servant. In case you’ve forgotten, I was a US attorney and the deputy attorney general of the United States. I won’t allow you and your agency to sweep everything under the rug once again! I don’t know why you’re sparing Vitali, but this time I’ll put an end to his game. I’m toying with the idea of contacting the attorney general and the president, both of whom I know personally.”

Connors grimaced as if he had a toothache, but he couldn’t help but admire Nick’s blunt courage.

“This case is none of your business whatsoever!” Tate Jenkins barked angrily.

“It’s very much my business!” Nick countered. “My city has been made ungovernable by men like Vitali. I will no longer allow the Mob to rule this city, intimidating honest citizens with murder and threats! I lost my family because I dared to challenge this guy. I’ll fight this man with everything that I’ve got. If the FBI decides not to cooperate with me, then I’ll do it without you.”

“Mr. Kostidis, listen to me—”

“No, you listen to me! I’ll clean house this time. This opportunity presented itself, and I’m taking advantage of it. I don’t give a crap who you are, Jenkins. My job is to keep this city safe and livable. How is it possible that a man has become so powerful that even the FBI bows to his pressure!”

“Watch what you say, Kostidis.” Jenkins hissed.

“I don’t care. And do you know why?” Nick lowered his voice. “I’ll tell you. I’ve got nothing to lose. Absolutely nothing. My wife and my son died in front of my eyes because it didn’t suit someone that I was speaking the truth. I won’t let anyone or anything intimidate me. If you want to stop me from cleaning up this dirty business, then it’ll be over my dead body.”

“This is not the Wild West!”

“Exactly. Those days are over.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, and Connors held his breath anxiously. Had Nick gone too far?

“So what do you want, Kostidis?”

“I want you to guarantee immunity for Alex Sontheim once she returns to the city. She’s the most important witness against Vitali. In return, I’ll make sure that she talks to you and to the SEC. Furthermore, I promise to mitigate information leaking to the public if your agency helps us bring Vitali to justice for everything that he has done.”

“That actually doesn’t fall under the FBI’s jurisdiction.”

“Yes, it does. This is a matter of national security. Remember that Vitali does business with a Colombian drug cartel.”

Tate Jenkins sighed and gave in.

“I’ll talk to Mr. Horner.”

There was a click on the line, and the conversation was over. Nick leaned back in his chair and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Holy cow,” Lloyd Connors said and laughed quietly. “I can’t believe I heard that with my own ears. I don’t think anyone has ever spoken that way to Jenkins before.”

“They have no interest in Vitali,” Nick said. “They want to hang the little guys and let the big guys get away.”

“Yes, I have the same fear,” Connors said. He had stopped laughing. “But what are you going to do? You can’t force the FBI to do anything.”

“Oh yes, I can.” Nick looked up. “I have good connections with the press. The scandal would be out in a few hours. I’d tell them everything I know. It would be a sensation, especially if I mentioned names or even leaked parts of van Mieren’s statement to the TV stations. Then they’d have no choice but to act.”

“You can’t be serious,” Connors said, concerned. “You would ruin yourself.”

“I don’t care. I’ve achieved more than I ever dreamed I would, but I’ve also lost all that was dear to me. I don’t care if I make myself unpopular.”

“Have you ever considered what consequences this could have for me?”

“Of course.” Nick nodded. “For that reason, you’ll need to distance yourself from me immediately. I won’t hold it against you.”

The sleet lashed against the windows, and an icy wind howled around the building of the US Attorney’s Office.

Nick stood up.

“I’m sick and tired of maneuvering and waiting. With every passing hour, the risk increases that Vitali finds out what’s going on. As soon as he does, he will evade us again.”

The telephone rang, and Connors answered. He listened for a few seconds, taken aback, and then the expression on his face turned dark.

“I’m coming right away,” he said and hung up.

“Did something happen?” Nick asked.

“Yep,” Connors replied grimly. “Clarence Whitewater. His wife found him dead. He committed suicide in his garage with exhaust fumes.”

Nick was shocked. He had known Judge Clarence Whitewater for many years and worked with him frequently. The old man had been a model of integrity throughout his career. He had helped fight New York’s Mafia families in the 1980s. Even before that, Whitewater had won a reputation as an incorruptible and fair judge. What had motivated him to become corrupted by Vitali at the end of his brilliant career?

“I need to go there.” Connors grabbed his coat that he’d thrown across one of the chairs. “I’ll call you.”

Sergio’s initial anger about Alex gave way to a cold desire for vengeance. Time and again, he imagined what he would do once he finally had her in his hands. Dennis Bruyner thought it would be best if the police or the FBI captured Alex, but Sergio had a different opinion. She would bitterly regret what she had done! Alex Sontheim wouldn’t testify in any court. She’d be dead by the time he was finished with her.

The telephone rang, and Sergio winced.