The Marlowe Prep Murder
Chapter 28
Jack stares at the IR display on his tablet. Instead of individual glows for Richard and Kate, he can see one massive blob of heat and a smaller one rapidly retreating from the area. "What the f**k did that bitch do? Where the hell are they?" He leaves his observation post, calling his forces to converge, but it will take a few minutes to close in on Richard and Kate's last location and round up Vonda. He hopes it isn't a few minutes too long.
Kate tries to focus on the wavering image in the heating water. "What can we do, Mom?"
"Rick, can you hold Katie on your shoulders?" Johanna asks.
"I can hold her in a lot of harder positions than – never mind. Not the time. Kate, I'm cupping my hands to boost you. Can you find them?"
Kate reaches out to him. "Yes! I feel them. Putting my foot in there now."
"Put your arms around my neck," Rick instructs. "Boosting."
"Rick, you're going to have to support Katie so she can kick a hole in that wood," Johanna explains. "But it's going to have to be in the right spot, above and straight ahead of where Katie's facing now, there's a control panel near the edge of the tub. It looks like Vonda disabled the safety interlocks so that the water could heat to the danger zone, but it's still connected. Katie, you'll need to get the hole as close as you can and reach up to cut the power to the heater and retract the cover. Hold tight to each other. I'll guide both of you."
As the temperature rises, Rick moves in the direction Johanna indicates while keeping a firm grasp on Kate, who points her flexed legs upward.
"Right there, Katie!" Johanna exclaims. "Kick up, as hard as you can."
Kate wishes she has something on her feet besides summer sandals but uses every bit of leg muscle she's built up at the gym. The wood begins to splinter under her assault until a breach forms large enough for her to reach through. "Rick, move forward. Get Katie right under the hole," Johanna commands. "Put your arm up, Baby. OK, you're in the right place. The switch you want is to your left. It's a metal toggle; you can get your fingers around it. That's great! You've got it! Left again, flip it. Good, you cut the heat. OK now, the button to open the cover is to the right. Uh-huh. Your fingers are touching it. You'll have to press it and pull your hand back fast, so it doesn't get caught when the panel slides."
Kate activates the control and almost falls off Rick's shoulders as she rears back. The panel slides open, flooding the captives with light. "Babe, I'm going to try to stand on your shoulders to climb out. Hold on to my legs."
"Always a pleasure, Rick replies," to an amused smile from Johanna.
Kate clambers out of the tub just as Jack and some of his team arrive in the yard. "Rick's still in there. Can you help him out? And did you get Vonda?"
"Yes, to both questions," Jack replies. "But you'll have to make the arrest. Domestic crimes are out of our jurisdiction."
Kate looks on as Jack extends his long arm to Rick. "Vonda is one arrest I'm going to enjoy."
"You can't nail me," Vonda declares, staring defiantly across the table at Kate and Rick. "The spa at the estate malfunctioned. That's not my fault."
"Malfunctioned because you rigged it to," Castle throws back.
Kate stands, looming over the hitwoman. "But that was only attempted murder, Vonda. You've done so much more."
"Who's Vonda? My name is Violet Curtis. I'm just a real estate agent," Kate's would-be killer insists.
"You're Vonda Covici, a fixer for the Cardano family," Kate counters, "and you have a lot bigger problems than an attempted homicide charge. There is no statute of limitations on murder, Vonda. You were responsible for sending the Morellis over a bridge to their deaths, and I can prove it. And you poisoned Tim Scroggins at Marlowe Prep. I can prove that too."
"Murdering a high school kid – pretty low," Castle adds.
"The N.Y.P.D. saves evidence from cold cases, Vonda, and forensics has come a long way since the '60s. You have no idea how much evidence we have on you," Kate claims. "Your lawyer will find out during discovery, but by then it will be too late for you to help yourself."
"Help myself, how?" Vonda demands.
"Tell us who was behind your killings. Give us the Old Man," Kate returns.
Vonda spits in Kate's face. "Go to hell!"
"Hey, it's going to work out," Rick asserts as Kate slams the door to the loft. "That was only your first go at her. It's taken you more than once to get a suspect to flip before. After she spends some time in a cell, she may open up. But hey, we've brought down a woman who's been killing with impunity for decades. You deserve to be proud of that. We both do. I'll open a bottle of that red you like, or we could go for Champagne."
Kate sinks down on a couch. "I don't feel like celebrating. Vonda is just a tool, one the Old Man's been wielding for more than half a century. If we can't get what we need out of Vonda, he could pass his crown to Nico and live out whatever time he has left in comfort. It's not fair, Babe."
"No, it isn't," Rick agrees, dropping beside her and framing her face in his hands. "But it's not over yet. Not even close. You'll have another chance to break Vonda in the morning. A lot can happen overnight."
Kate rests her head on his shoulder. "I hope you're right."
"We can't stand up for her," the Cardano family's consigliere declares. "Covici was sloppy. She tried to kill a cop and got caught. If I represent her now or send one of my associates, it's as good as admitting that she worked for you."
"But she's loyal," the Old Man argues. "She's been loyal all these years. Nico could never have risen the way he did if she hadn't taken care of our business. I owe her."
"The precise problem is that she did take care of those jobs," the consigliere points out. "You may have never have told her how, but she knows Angelo was involved. She also knows there might be an issue about Nico's succession, even if she doesn't know what it is. You put the support of the family behind her now, and that issue could be raised. You have to consider our business with the Russians. If Nico's authority comes into question, they'll lose confidence, and the family will lose a huge source of income. We've lost a lot already to legal gambling, and some of our drug business is going south too. The transactions with Russians are the best deals we have going. You can't endanger them. As you said, Covici has been a loyal soldier. She'll understand that sometimes soldiers must make sacrifices."
"There must be a way to help her," Old Man insists. "Talk to Nico. These things will be his decision soon enough, and he has new contacts. He may have an idea about how to make things as comfortable for her as possible."
"I can do that," the consigliere agrees.
Nico Cardano picks up the call from the consigliere on his restricted phone. "Well?"
"The Old Man wants to make sure that she's as comfortable as possible."
"Fine," Nico agrees. "I'll make sure she never feels any pain again."