Vendetta (8 page)

    
“No, I don’t mind at all. Now, is just as good a time as any, please… have a seat,” Mark said collectedly. He gestured towards an empty chair.

    
“I appreciate your willingness to accommodate my requests. If there’s anything I can do to help you, then I have all the time in the world,” Mark said truthfully.

    
Mark heard Nick jingling his keys as he and Julie entered the main dining hall; they were heading home. Julie walked up to them and handed both Mark and Detective Williams, a bottle of water.

    
“Thank you, Ma’am,” Detective Williams said.

    
Mark smiled and nodded at her kind gesture. “Thanks, Jules,” he glanced at Nick.

    
“And thank you, for answering the Detectives questions and helping out extra at the restaurant this next week. I appreciate it. You should go home and get some rest now,” Mark said sincerely. Nick hugged him quickly… and awkwardly.

    
Nick assured Mark he would be there in the morning, and would “definitely” provide Mr. Williams with a complete list of the wait staff from the temp agency. Nick walked out, with an exhausted Julie in tow. Mark thanked them again for all their kindness and said good night as he locked the door behind them. Mark returned to the table, and for the first time all night, he sat down.

    
Mark politely and honestly answered a series of random questions leading up to the tragic event itself. Detective Williams was very respectful in his questioning.

    
Mark had just gotten up again to let out the last of the cleaning crew, when he came back to the table and stood for a moment, deep in thought.

    
“You seem like a thorough detective, Mr. Williams,” Mark said, respectively.

    
“Thank you, Mr. Anderson. I like to think so,” he smiled and took a drink of his water.

    
“Please, call me Mark,” he said as he took his seat across from Detective Williams.

    
“I would like to ask YOU a few questions now if that’s alright,” asked Mark.

    
“Oh, of course,” Detective Williams straightened up in his chair. “Any questions you have, just feel free to ask. I‘ll answer whatever I can, Mark.”

    
Mark had already anticipated this. He thought the Detective to be very forthcoming.

    
“Do you have a family of your own, Detective?” Mark asked bluntly.

    
Detective Williams was surprised by the sudden personal question. He had just assumed the questioning would be regarding the investigation.

    
“I …am divorced. I have a daughter, but she lives with her mother,” he said honestly.

     “Aw...
a tell-tale sign of a devoted Detective,” Mark smirked.

    
“I suppose so,” Williams stared at him intently. “What does this have to do with the investigation?” Detective Williams asked.

    
“Do you get to see her much? Your daughter, that is,” Mark continued.

    
“No. Well, I used to get her every other weekend until her mother moved to Washington State about a year ago. She doesn’t come down that often anymore,” Detective Williams looked uncomfortable.

    
“That’s a shame, I’m sorry to hear it,” he said sadly. “How long have you been a Detective?” Mark asked curiously.

    
Detective Williams took a deep breath. “Well, I was a police officer for eleven years, and I’ve been a homicide detective now, for almost five-” Williams paused.

    
“And how about you, how long were YOU an officer, Mr. Anderson?” He asked cautiously, reversing the questioning back to Mark.

    
Mark smiled wide and laughed out loud. Mark was entertained by Williams’ impressive observation.

    
Detective Williams smiled as he waited for his answer.

    
“It seems like it was a very long time ago,” Mark said calmly.

    
He was suddenly aware of how dry and parched his mouth and throat had become. Mark opened his bottle of water and drank most of it down in three, large gulps.

    
Mark absentmindedly rubbed the back of his neck as he remembered. He put down the bottle carefully, and began to answer the question. “I joined the Army in ‘90 and served during Operation Desert Storm. I took some metal shrapnel in my neck, and lower back, courtesy of a tank explosion. Somehow, all my major arteries and organs were spared and I was sent home a few months later with an honorable discharge. My mother was so thankful that I wouldn’t be going back. I secretly felt like I was being benched on the side lines of a championship game. So, I decided I wanted to “serve and protect“. I was a regular beat cop, patrol, and an aspiring narcotics agent right out of the academy and I had a great partner. I called him Sarge. I did well, despite being so young. They said I had a knack for reading people, and had sharp survival instincts,” Mark looked intently at Detective Williams.

    
Detective Williams listened carefully, intrigued by his story.

    
“My father was never around. He and my mother divorced when I was eight. I saw him maybe once after that. It was just me, my mother, and my little sister Alice. She was only three years old when he left. I did the best I could to help take care of us. I stayed in school and when I turned twelve, I worked any job I could get to help put food on the table. I thought if I joined the Army, I would get my college paid for, and get out of Jersey. That only lasted a year. My mother had found out that she had breast cancer and didn’t tell me about it until after I had gotten home from the war. She died nine months later, just after I graduated from the Academy.”

     “
I sort of, lost my moral compass and drowned my sorrows quite frequently. I met a woman at a bar and had a few one night stands with her and she became pregnant. We weren’t together or dating; nothing quite like that, so she decided to have an abortion. She just wanted to move on with her life, but by the time she got in there, the Dr. said she was too far along. I don’t believe in abortion, and I tried to reason with her. I was relieved when I heard the Doctors news. Her new plan was to give the baby up for adoption. She said it was her choice and I had nothing to do with it. So, my sister Alice and I convinced her that she could hand the baby over to us and walk away, no questions asked. She did just that. I decided that I loved that baby regardless of whether I was the real father or not. I wasn’t going to be like my father, and take off,” Mark paused.

    
“The state had a paternity test done, and she was, in fact, mine. Alice laughed and said, “as if there were any doubt! She’s a mini you!” Mark chuckled at the memory.

    
He started to feel his nose tingle, like accidently breathing in water in a swimming pool. Mark put his emotion in check and became serious again.

    
“I’m about to ask you something very important, Detective. I can sense that you’re honest and hardworking. But what I‘m wondering about you, is a bit more personal. How far would you go in order to bring justice to an innocent girl?” Mark asked seriously. “Would you go beyond the normal call of duty?”

    
Detective Williams was caught off guard, and looked directly at this curious man across from him.

    
“Of course I would, Mark. Do you suspect foul play?” He asked, fascinated.

    
“I SUSPECT a lot of things, but I’ll tell you what I KNOW. I know that things are never usually what they seem. I know that what happened to my daughter was no accident. I also know whose behind it, and I don‘t want them to get away with it,” Mark looked very calm, and confident.

    
The Detectives mind was trying to process this sudden revelation. Should he just keep this odd theory in the back of his mind and humor Mark? Maybe just keep a close eye on him, weighing more on the side of caution. Mark didn’t seem crazy. What if, this guy is telling the truth? He obviously believes it. What if, there was more to this case, than what there appeared to be, and if he was right, then this is a serious case. What if, it was his own daughter?” Williams thought quickly.

    
“Are you willing to help me investigate my daughter’s possible murder?” Mark asked frankly.

    
Mark’s vulnerability shone through in that fleeting moment. But even just for that brief second, Williams saw it, and knew it was the real deal. He made his decision. This man needed his help, and his gut feeling told him it was the right thing to do.

    
“Yes, I am. I’m willing to help you,” Williams stated.

    
“Wonderful, I thank you. I also appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. Would you be able to come to my home tomorrow to discuss this further?” Mark asked.

     “Absolutely,
is there a time that’s more convenient than others?” Detective Williams was exhausted and ready to call it a night, or a day actually. It was nearly 2:00 a.m.

    
“No, anytime is good, let me give you my card,” Mark sensed that the Detective was ready to go.

    
Mark wrote down his address on the back of a restaurant business card and gave it to Detective Williams. They stood and began walking towards the doors. “I’ll call you first thing in the morning Detective,” Mark said.

    
“Formalities aside, my friends call me Williams,” he extended his hand to Mark.

    
“During and after my football years, everyone called me Williams like it was my first name. I‘m sure a solid young man like you played a little ball in high school, you understand!” He joked lightly as Mark walked him out.

    
“You would have thought my name was Williams, Williams,” he continued.

    
“Well, we have something in common then, Williams,” Mark held the door open and Williams stepped out.

     
“My friends call me Mark, and that isn’t my real name either,” he smiled.

                                  
CHAPTER 5

                    
      ONCE UPON A TIME

     Williams showed up at Mark’s house the following morning at 9:00 a.m. sharp. They sat across from each other at the kitchen table, sipping coffee, as Mark began his story. Williams patiently waited and anticipated what this man needed to tell him. He was intrigued, to say the least.

    
“My real name is Vincenzo Santoro Lentini. Along with my daughter Lily, I have been in a witness relocation program for the last thirteen years. I testified in a murder trial that convicted Leonardo Vanzetti of two counts of first degree murder. I essentially helped put away my sister and his own brother’s killer.”

    
“Leo was a known trouble maker, and was involved in a mess of illegal activity. He was also connected to drug trafficking and local arms dealers. Leo’s parents went bankrupt paying for his defense lawyers. They had tried to say that he was mentally incompetent to stand trial for the murders, but his psych evaluation proved otherwise. The Defense had conjured up all these crazy notions that supposedly explained how his actions were the direct influence of the DRUGS and not the conscious decision of the MAN that committed the murders. They presented an interesting argument that if they rehabilitated the man from drugs, then it would eliminate the threat, and he would no longer be a menace to society. They put up a good fight, even if it was a losing battle. He was convicted of two counts of first degree murder.”

     “
But, on the day of sentencing, however, the Judge obviously sympathized with Leo‘s parents. They told stories of emotional and financial difficulty. They lost not only their youngest son, their family restaurant and now their oldest son to the prison system. Shortly after the trial was over, Mr. Vanzetti, Leo’s father, suffered a fatal heart attack,” Mark respectively lowered his head.

    
“Leo was given life WITH the possibility of parole, serving no less than twelve years. He would receive treatment for his drug addiction and his anger issues there. He was to be a candidate for a new rehabilitation program in the state of New Jersey,” Mark explained sarcastically.

    
“Lily and I moved here and assumed the identities of Mark and Allison Anderson. My daughter was barely five when we moved, and obviously knew her name, so I called her Allie, because it sounded similar to Lily.”

    
A sudden memory of a bright eyed, five year old Lily flashed into his head.

    
Refusing to succumb to his mental distraction, he continued. “I was given a job at Angelo’s restaurant as a dish washer, set up by the protection agency. Dom Angelo, being the generous man he is, quickly promoted me to waiting tables. Whenever there was an opportunity for a raise, he thought of me. So, I became the bartender for a while and then before I knew it, I was a shift supervisor, and about two years ago, he made me Restaurant Manager. Nick was the first friend I made here. He was bussing tables when I started, now he’s a shift supervisor in training.”