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I give the command, and Luigi obliges. There’s a sploosh as Duffy lands in the acid, then silence. Philip’s dangling and staring at where Duffy just disappeared. The lid slides back into place. I cross my arms and watch my new target.
“Talk, and I’ll make your death less painful than being within an inch of your life then slowly swallowed by acid. Give me any shit, and I’ll show you what I did to Duff was nothing more than a few love taps.”
“Let me down. I can’t think straight.”
We all laugh. If he’s in so much pain already that he can’t think straight, this won’t take long. Either he’ll break and spill it all. Or he’ll die.
“You gotta give to get. Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Duffy was stalking Sinead. He paid me fifteen grand for those listening devices. He wanted the best. But he also took photos of her. Before she met you, he got in her apartment and put in some cameras. He got photos of her naked and when she was with some other guy. He probably jerked off to them.”
“I didn’t find any cameras.”
I’m seething. I look at Luca, and he nods. He’ll go to Duffy’s to find any photos. He’ll destroy them. I know I can trust him simply because he’s him. But I also know he loves his wife more than anything in the world, except the baby they’re about to have. He won’t take any pleasure in seeing them. I don’t think Lorenzo would, but I won’t doubt Luca. When I glance at Lorenzo, he nods. He gets it. He doesn’t take it as an insult, and I’m glad.
“He took them out when I told him I wouldn’t do shit to help him if he was going to be that pervy. Fuck. Nixon listened in on people and didn’t go to jail. Bugging her place was fine with me. But taking video or photos crossed the line.”
“So nice to know you have boundaries. You were going to rape her, but photos were too much. The fuck they were. You didn’t want him beating off to the woman you wanted but couldn’t have.”
He does nothing to deny it. If he was possessive and jealous of Duffy seeing her naked, it makes me wonder if he’s done shit that I don’t know about to punish Sinead or me for being together. He watches me and grins. He knows what I’m thinking.
“Why’d you hide the dashcam?”
“What dashcam?”
“Sinead already found it.”
That makes him falter. Interesting. No one warned him.
“Doesn’t matter. She’s the defense attorney. She can’t just watch it.”
“But she can use the mishandling of evidence as grounds for a dismissal. The only reason to hide it is because it exonerates me. If it hinted at my guilt, you would have leaked it to O’Toole to make sure it couldn’t disappear.”
“There’s still enough evidence to convict you. That’s why it’s going to trial.”
“But a smoking gun pointing in another direction outweighs all of it.”
I pray that’s what the dashcam is.
“What’s on the video that you want hidden?”
He clams up. It makes me wonder if he’s on it. Interesting. I tilt my head toward the office, and Lorenzo follows me in. I shut the door, but I watch Philip through the two-way mirror. He looks around, sizing up the place. I know he’s trying to think if there’s a way to escape. There isn’t. But I let men think there might be. I give them enough time to formulate a few plans, abandoning each one until they realize there’s no way out alive. Their self-created despair is almost as crushing as any beating I could give them.
I look at Lorenzo as he speaks. He’s watching Philip too.
“Do you really think he would have assaulted Sinead?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I think he’s arrogant enough to believe he could blackmail her into sex and wouldn’t have to start forcing her. But I also think his patience could have snapped if she rejected him once too many times or said the wrong thing.”
“Do you wish you’d found out about the photos before you put Duffy in the vat?”
“I wish I’d known yesterday. I could have tortured him more for it today, but he was already too far gone to register it.”
“Do you need the camera to disappear?”
“I don’t know. If Sinead can get this entire shitshow dismissed, then I want the camera. There has to be something on there that incriminates whoever did this. I want it for that. I don’t care if it proves I’m innocent if there’s no more case to deal with.”
“You know Uncle Sal’s going to say it’s your call. If you want the camera, I can make it happen.”
