Judge & Jury - James Patterson [64]
“We’re not talking business as usual, Frankie.” I tightened my grip. “This isn’t going away. This is like Bin Laden. You don’t want to step anywhere near this shit. I’ll give you a week, then I’ll do what I promised. I’ll shut the whole operation down.” I let go of his collar. But I still stared at him. “That was a one-year-old kid your boss burned up, Frankie. Coulda been your granddaughter.”
Delsavio straightened his shirt collar. “I don’t know where Dominic Cavello is. And that’s the truth. And just for the record, Nicky, no way that could ever be my grandkid. ’Cause I’d never rat him out.” Then Delsavio grinned, flexing his shoulders. “But if he happens to call in or send me a postcard, I promise, you’ll be the first to know. Even before his own wife and kids, Nicky Smiles.” He grinned. “Anything you want me to tell him, you know, if he should write in?”
“Just this.” I smoothed out the mobster’s jacket. “Tell him I keep my promises, too.”
Chapter 79
AN HOUR LATER, I was in front of Assistant Director in Charge Michael Cioffi, who ran the FBI’s New York office. “I want back in,” I said.
Cioffi was my boss. He was the one who had placed me on administrative leave after I beat Cavello. Outside of the politicos down in DC, he was one of the most senior people in the FBI.
“Nick.” He leaned back in his chair. “No one holds you responsible for what happened yesterday.”
“That’s not what it’s about, Mike. Cavello is. And I know more about him than anyone in the Bureau. Besides, we both know I’m a little too late in the game to ever qualify for tenure.”
The ADIC smiled. He stood up, stepped over to his office window. You could see Ground Zero from there, the vast, empty space. Beyond it, the Statue of Liberty. “So how’re the ribs?”
“No harm, no foul.” I raised my arms. “I get a big fat commendation for being wounded in the line of duty, and I didn’t even have to stay overnight.”
“That’s sort of the problem, Nick.” Cioffi smiled again, but this time tightly, his hands against the sill. “You weren’t exactly in the line of duty. And Ray’s been handling this for months now. And right now, the shit’s hitting the fan a little.”
I stood up, too. “This isn’t about Ray, Mike. I’ll report to him, I don’t care. Just put me back on assignment. You need me.” I looked at the boss I had served under for eight years. “I need it, Mike.”
The ADIC looked closely at me. I couldn’t quite read him. He stepped back to his desk and picked up a file. It looked like a field report. “I heard you paid a visit this morning to a certain union headquarters in New Jersey. You’re not on active duty, Nick. You can’t go wild, on a whim. We’ve got our people on this, Nick. They can’t be looking over their shoulder.”
“I understand that, Mike. That’s why I want back in.”
Cioffi sat back. I was just waiting for the nod. He let out a long, deliberating breath. “I can’t.”
“You what?” If the ADIC had pulled out a gun right there and popped a couple of hollow-point rounds into my chest, I don’t think I would have looked at him with more surprise. “Mike?”
“You’re one of the best I have, Nick. But you’re too close to this case. Way too close. Too emotional. This isn’t a witch hunt, Nick, it’s an FBI investigation. The answer’s no.”
I sat there, jaw hanging, the words digging their way into my brain, one by one.
“I’ll give you another assignment if you want back in. Wall Street. Antiterrorism. Name it, Nick. But not this.”
Not this. I stood there absorbing the blows. I’d tracked this bastard for years. I’d lost two men bringing him in. I didn’t want another assignment. All I could do was stare back blankly. “Please, Mike . . .”
“No.” The ADIC shook his head again. “I’m sorry, Nick, you’re out. And I won’t change my mind.”
Chapter 80
RICHARD NORDESHENKO HAD flown back out of Washington, DC. Right under the almighty U.S. government’s nose. Through London, then on to Tel Aviv. Then he drove along the coast back to Haifa.
The acacias were blooming