“Do you think it’s been culled?”
“Could be. Or maybe fabricated.”
That stops me. “You think the Feds set him up?”
“More likely, someone in the family or a rival family feeding info to the Feds. Those fuckers just need to tick the legal boxes, which they’ve done in this case.”
The Vitale family accused me of being the one to hand the Feds a case.
It wasn’t me, so who was it?
Who knew we’d be at the docks that day? Did they hope to catch us both in their snare and by being late, I escaped prison?
An unsettling thought comes to me.
What if this person hoped I’d be arrested and when I wasn’t, set me up to take the fall for Umberto’s arrest?
Aldo led that charge, but if that was the case, then he was behind Umberto’s arrest.
Would he have done that?
He was definitely capable of it, but Aldo’s business was strong with his brother, and he’d have known that.
So maybe the Feds were messing with La Corona even back then. Perhaps they manipulated someone else in the family to pit the Vitales against the Montis.
"Joe, the agent who handled Umberto's case. What was his name?" I ask.
Papers rustle on the other end. "Special Agent Thomas Malone."
"And where is he now?"
"Dead. Car accident three months after the trial concluded. Single vehicle went off a bridge."
Car accidents happen, but this feels a little too convenient. “There's an FBI agent who's been sniffing around La Corona for a few years. Name's Blackwood. Victor Blackwood. Any mention of him?"
More rustling. "No Blackwood in these files. Want me to dig deeper?"
"Yeah. And Joe? Check if there's any connection between Malone and Aldo Vitale."
“Don Vitale? You think he’d talk to the Feds? Set up his own brother?”
“I don’t know. Someone set up Umberto.” And it wasn’t me.
“Alright.”
"One more thing. I need you to look into Umberto's death in prison. Find out who visited him, who was on guard duty, which inmates had access."
"Prison records can be trickier?—"
"I don't care what strings you have to pull. Double your usual fee." I stand and pace to release some of the energy building.
I feel like I’m moving down a path to finding answers. Someone framed me, then made sure Umberto couldn't talk.
I need to discover who that is if I’m to rid this shadow of suspicion around me. If I’m to have Elena back in my life.
“Oh and, keep this quiet, Joe. If someone went to this much trouble to bring down Umberto Vitale, they won't hesitate to protect themselves.”
“Warning received.”
