Page 55 of Saltwater Promises
“I don’t know,” he said with a groan. “Benzini is the key, but what if…”
“What if what? You’ve been doing all the work, haven’t you?”
Lenny shook his head. “No, man, it’s not going to happen.”
“Listen, the hardest thing is making sure whatever money coming in from Benzini is clean. Do you have a place? Do you know a guy?”
Lenny nodded. “Yeah, I have a guy. He owns a gallery. We’ve been using his services.”
Mike had to resist the urge to ask more questions about “the guy,” though he had long assumed that Jared and Lenny had that sort of relationship. “All right, that’s the hardest part then. And your guy, he’s good?”
Lenny nodded. “Yeah.”
“So you’re set there. Benzini has what, an investor or something? Is that sucker connected to Marco?”
“No.” Lenny looked up at him now. “It’s a perfect plan, really.”
“No holes for Marco to blow open?”
“No holes at all.”
Mike shook his head. “No way. Are you serious? This sounds perfect! Lenny, you’re a mastermind.”
Mike’s approval had the intended effect. A smile spread across Lenny’s face. “Benzini’s got the treasurer in his palm. The state treasurer! He can put the state’s pension money into whatever he wants – into our investment properties or into our stocks. It’s insane, like a money printing machine.”
Bingo. The state treasurer. That was the link. They were unloading junk properties worth next to nothing on the state pension. Robbing people of their retirement. Despicable. Mike had to work to keep the disgust out of his voice. “You’re kidding. That’sbrilliant.”
“I know, I came up with it. Well, mostly.”
Mike grabbed him by the shoulders. “Marco doesn’t fit in anywhere, and he knows it! That’s why he’s trying to get rid of you, but you’re the brains behind everything.”
“I know.” Lenny let out a sigh. “I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe it.”
“That’s the business. It’s dirty.”
“I never thought it’d be this dirty.”
Mike shook his head, mimicking Lenny’s body language as best he could. “I know. That’s how they get you. Someone you’d never suspect.”
“So now what? Do I kill him?”
Oh boy, there went Lenny’s poor impulse control again. “No, you have to make him think that everything is normal. Let everything go according to plan, get all the money, transfer it somewhere safe. Then you can leave and live the dream.”
“And turn him in to the Feds? I don’t know.”
“It’ll either be you or him in that orange jumpsuit. Think about it.”
Lenny groaned “Unreal, man.”
Mike spent the next two hours talking through everything with Lenny, building him up and listening to long stories about his childhood and how hard it was.
He didn’t miss any opportunity to poke old wounds between father and son. Mike built a pretty convincing case against Marco.
By the end of the night, Lenny agreed to the plan, and to give Mike ten percent of the haul for his cooperation. It was a shame that Mike wasn’t able to record their conversation, but Lenny was paranoid and made him keep his phone in the microwave. If only he’d bought an external bug…
Oh well. The next part of their plan was to meet with Benzini and his associates to pull out some cash. This would be all that Mike needed for the attorney general – just one link. One employee or one gangster who was willing to talk and corroborate Lenny’s story.
If all went well, Lenny would be locked up in two weeks, and Mike would be able to go to Lynn’s art show completely undisguised, just as she preferred him to be.
