Dina Santorelli (31 page)

Anti–capital-punishment
picketers, undeterred by the rain, had already started congregating outside the
Executive Mansion, jockeying for position with the media, who, disillusioned
with the governor's lack of face time, had turned their cameras on the
protesters in order to have
something
to report. Phillip and Katherine
listened to the muffled cacophony of voices outside. She wasn't sure what to
say and reached out and held Phillip's hand. He squeezed hers in return.

"Phillip,
I want to talk with you about something. I was going to wait, but..."

The
front door to the mansion opened and closed, making the outside noise grow in
intensity, but then die down again quickly. Maddox unfolded his umbrella and
walked into the room.

"Governor?
Hello, Katherine... I'm sorry to interrupt."

"That's
all right," Phillip said. "How is it out there?"

"Insanity,"
Maddox said. "Between the rain and the picketers... And the news continues to
report sightings of Charlotte all over the country. I just don't understand
it."

"It
happens all the time," the governor said. "People want to help, feel like
they're a part of the solution."

Katherine
shook her head. "They end up being part of the problem."

"They
mean well," Phillip said.

"That's
true," Maddox said. "You just never know when the right lead is going to come
along."

Maddox
had been a trouper through all this, working round the clock since TMZ.com
broke the story. He'd come as a package deal with Katherine on her first day of
work back when Phillip was running for the assemblyman spot—"a bonus," as she
referred to Maddox, who had worked with her as an independent PR consultant.
Phillip had no problem with Katherine bringing her own people as long as they
did the job, and in the years since, Maddox had proved to be a deft public
relations specialist with an uncanny ability to feed the voracity of the media
with no qualms about being the bad guy, whether it was telling out-of-line
reporters to take a hike or limiting press access on a whim. Maddox took the
brunt of the heat, leaving Phillip virtually unscathed by public opinion. "You
won't regret this," Katherine had told him on that very first day. And Phillip
never did.

"Sir,
are you familiar with a Robert Scott?" Maddox asked.

"Who?"
Katherine asked, letting go of Phillip's hand.

"Robert
Scott."

The
governor shook his head.

"Well,
he called this morning to speak with you and was told repeatedly that you were
not available for obvious reasons and that he should make a request in writing
and that we would get back to him. Apparently, he's being persistent."

"Really?"
Katherine asked. "What do you mean?"

"He's
at the security gate."

"He's
here
?"

"Yeah.
Here's his business card." Maddox handed the card to Katherine. "He's a lawyer
with Worcester, Payne & Leach in Manhattan."

Katherine
thought for a moment. "Wait a minute. I know that firm. Phillip, don't we know
that firm?"

"Katherine,
we deal with a lot of lawyers."

"I
know, but it sounds so damn familiar." Katherine peeked out the window, but
with so many people and umbrellas, it was difficult to see anyone in
particular. "Which one is he, Lenny?"

Maddox
stood next to Katherine. "
Hmmm
... Oh, that's him, at the right side of
the door to the security office. You see him? Tall, brown hair, he's got his
foot on the gate?"

"Oh
yes, I see him now. He's a young guy."

"I'd
say mid-thirties."

"Really?"
Katherine turned to Phillip, who was again staring at the clock. "Phillip,
don't you find this unusual? This Scott person from Manhattan driving all the
way up here without an appointment? I mean, doesn't he read the paper or watch
the news? All he has to do is open his eyes to know something is going on right
now." She looked again out the window. "He seems so... unfazed."

"He's
a bit of a freak, if you ask me," Maddox said as his cell phone rang. He put it
to his ear. "Yeah? ... You're kidding? ... All right, I'll call you back."

"What
is it?" Katherine asked.

"Mr.
Scott apparently just mentioned that he has an idea that might help us find Charlotte." Three federal agents, who had been standing nearby, approached the window and
peeked outside.

"What?"
Katherine looked at Phillip, whose attention was finally secured. "Is he for
real? What do we do?"

"I
say we just say, 'thanks, but no thanks' and send him on his way," Maddox said.

The
governor got up and stood with Katherine and Maddox near the window.

"What
do you think, Phillip?" she asked.

Phillip
stared through the small slit in the drapes. "I'm inclined to agree with Len."

"So
there you have it," Maddox dialed his phone.

"I'm
curious though," Phillip said.

"Barry?
Wait, hold on a minute," Maddox said into his phone.

"Do
we know exactly what kind of ideas Mr. Scott has about the disappearance?"

"You're
joking, right, governor?" Maddox said. "I can't believe you're really going to
entertain this. If you want opinions, you can go turn on Fox News."

"What
is it you said just before, Len?" Phillip said. "That you never know when the
right lead is going to come along?"

"Ugh,
I hate it when I'm right," Maddox said and spoke into his cell phone. "Hi,
Barry, can I talk to Special Agent Wilcox? Thanks... Hi, it's Leonard Maddox.
The governor would like to know if you have taken a statement from Mr. Scott
... Yes...  All right...  Hold on."

"So
what is it?" Katherine asked.

"According
to Wilcox, Mr. Scott seems to think that Charlotte's disappearance might have
to do with Gino Cataldi's execution tonight."

The
words came as a sucker punch for Phillip Grand, who very well could have fallen
over had he not been leaning against the wall. He was so stunned by the
suggestion, and its implications, that he didn't notice that Katherine appeared
to have had the same reaction. "The Cataldi execution? Did he say what the
connection could be?"

"I
told you, governor," Maddox said. "He may as well have said that Charlotte's disappearance is linked to the death of Elvis Presley. Can we send this kook
on his way now?"

That
was the last thing Phillip wanted to do. Somehow this Scott fellow had put two
and two together, and Phillip wondered if anyone else out there had done the
same. He needed to know for sure what he knew, or thought he knew, and put the
kibosh on his theories before they made their way into the press, all of whom
right now were within earshot of Robert Scott and could jeopardize his
daughter's safety.

"Send
him in," Phillip said and returned to the main lobby.

"What?"
Maddox said.

"I'd
like to hear what this man has to say."

Maddox
looked at the First Lady. "Katherine..."

Katherine
stared out the window at Robert Scott, who had uttered the very thing that had
been on her mind for the past two days. "Phillip, are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes,
I am."

Katherine
shrugged her shoulders. "I guess we have nothing to lose."

Maddox
relayed the governor's request into his phone and stood by the front door.
"They said it will take a few moments while they search him and run his
credentials."

"All
right," said Phillip, who was hoping to bide some time in order to come up with
something credible to say.

Katherine
stood next to her husband. "Who do you think this guy is? Do you think he
really knows something?" Inside, she was a mix of strong, contradicting
emotions—validation, humiliation—that her hunch may have been right.

The
front door opened. "Well, we're about to find out," Phillip said.

Bob,
his face and collar tinged with rain, strode into the mansion with the bravado
of a man who had been inaugurated there himself and as if he weren't being
escorted by six federal agents. Special Agent Wilcox led him straight to the
governor, who, Bob thought, looked taller and much thinner in person.

"Mr.
Scott? I'm Governor Grand."

Bob
stepped forward. He was wearing a dark-blue suit he had bought off the rack at
Brooks Brothers the night before, and he was carrying his briefcase, which he
set down on the floor—a few papers were left sticking out after the security
guard had ransacked it.

"Governor,
what a pleasure to meet you," he said, shaking his hand. "I'm sorry it's under
these inauspicious circumstances."

"Thank
you. I appreciate that," Phillip said. "This is my wife, Katherine."

Bob
nodded. "Ma'am." Katherine nodded in return.

"So
what is this I hear?" Phillip said. "That you know something that can help us
find my daughter?"

"Governor
Grand, I must be frank," Bob said. "My primary reason for wanting to see you
was with regard to the legal roundtable you are currently assembling. I think I
would be a tremendous asset."

"Oh,
Lord," Maddox said, sitting on one of the lobby's folding chairs.

"But,"
Bob added quickly, "that's not the reason I came. I drove up here to offer my
services to help in the investigation in any way I can. I have an exemplary
record at Worcester, Payne & Leach, and..."

"We
have our own lawyers and investigators, Mr. Scott," Phillip said.

"Wait
a minute, now I remember why that law firm is so familiar," said Mrs. Grand,
who had been standing beside Phillip. "You worked with the NAACP last year as
part of Tay Jackson's defense team. The papers said that it was because of your
firm that Jackson didn't get the death penalty."

"Yes,
that's right, Mrs. Grand. We're very good at what we do."

"You
realize I was on the opposing side," Phillip said. "That man murdered an
innocent girl in cold blood."

"Yes,
I know, but we were hired to do a job, and we did it," Bob said. "Actually,
speaking of capital-punishment cases, that's why I wanted to speak with you in
person."

"You
think Tay Jackson has something to do with Charlotte," Phillip said.

"No,"
Bob said. "But I'm thinking Gino Cataldi does."

Phillip
kept his eyes steady on Bob. "Yes, that's what I was told."

"The
timing of the disappearance seems very coincidental..."

"I
think the Albany police department considered this," Phillip said, "and thought
there was nothing there."

"Actually,
that's not true, Phillip," said Katherine, who was eager to hear Robert Scott
out. "There was nothing in Nurberg's report about Gino Cataldi, other than a
notation of the execution tonight along with dozens of other items on your
agenda this week."

"It
is certainly a possibility," Bob said. "I did a little reading last night on
the Cataldi crime family, and there seems to be a history of witness tampering
that..."

"Mr.
Scott, I sure hope this isn't some left-wing attempt to save another man—one
who has killed at least two people and has a long, long history of crime in
this state, I might add. If you are here for a stay of execution..."

"Who?
Me?" Bob's smile faded. "Are you kidding? I say, 'Kill the son of bitch.'" The
profanity slipped out, but Bob hoped it would be seen as proof of his fervor
for capital punishment or his conservative allegiance. "You know, it's no skin
off my nose. I'm just trying to help."

"I
don't know, Phillip," Katherine said. "That's an interesting idea."

"Katherine,
please... If this was in any way related to Gino Cataldi, don't you think we
would have heard something by now?"

Katherine
nodded. "That's true," she said. "We haven't gotten any demands of any kind."

"Mr.
Scott, you think capital punishment is the only hot-button issue in this
state?" Phillip said. "Last week, my office was threatened when word got out
that I was vetoing the No-Divorce Bill, which, as I see it, is really a
Pro-Divorce Bill, since New York has one of the lower divorce rates in the
country. And the week before that, I riled up the wrong people in the
legislature by vetoing a stack of spending bills two feet high. Now, I hope
you'll forgive me for not seeing this connection between a condemned
eighty-plus-year-old man who hasn't tasted freedom in more than thirty years
and the disappearance of my daughter."

"Governor
Grand, my apologies if I spoke out of place," Bob said. For the first time
since he arrived, he felt the weight of the air in the room.

"I
know you mean well, Mr. Scott, but things are very tense, and this is just more
complicated than you can know." Phillip held up Bob's business card. "I will
hold onto your card and certainly keep you in mind for the legal roundtable. I
do appreciate your initiative and concern. Please know that it hasn't gone
unnoticed." Phillip stuck out his hand.

Bob
brightened as he shook it. "I appreciate that, Governor."

Special
Agent Wilcox stepped forward. "Governor, if it's all right, I'd like to speak
with Mr. Scott and get a more detailed statement and get his contact
information."

"Whatever
you think is necessary, Agent Wilcox," Phillip said.

"Thank
you, sir. Mr. Scott, would you come with me?"

As
Phillip watched Bob trail Wilcox, Maddox and a cluster of dark suits into the
dining room, he hoped that he had spooked him enough to keep him quiet, but
massaged his ego enough to keep him loyal. Still, it worried Phillip that
Wilcox was giving him some additional attention.

"Something
tells me that won't be the last we hear of Robert Scott," Katherine said.

"Yeah,
I get the same feeling," said Phillip.

Katherine's
cell phone dinged, indicating she had a text message. It had been dinging
regularly for the past twenty-four hours with inquiries from the media,
political colleagues, and well-wishers. She glanced at the caller ID and froze:
The text was from Don Bailino.