Page 146 of Maddy's Justice

“Shut up about that.”

“Okay. Yes, sir.”

“I have one more question. Don’t make me hit you because it won’t be a slap,” Carvelli said. He turned on the recorder.

“I have a question and no bullshit. You know the answer. Olivia Harris and Amy Kempton. What happened to them?”

Troy’s eyes widened and he tried to sputter, “I, ah, don’t…”

Carvelli, his eyes on fire and with the look of the Devil, almost jabbed him in the nose with his index finger. “Don’t, you little sonofabitch. Don’t even try. They’re both dead. Who, why and where are the bodies?”

Troy slumped down and nodded his head. “Okay,” he muttered. “I guess you might as well know.”

He looked right at Carvelli and said, “Yes, you’re right. They’re both dead. They were both working late one night. As they were leaving, their elevator stopped on thirty-eight. They both saw a delivery of cash. They figured out what it was and asked Cliff Spenser for advice on what to do about it.

“Cliff told them to do nothing until he could look into it. The next day, they were gone. I was told about it, but after it happened. I had nothing to do with it.”

“Shut up. Stop saying that you little wretch. Let me ask you this. What do you think the Mexicans would eventually do with you? Sooner or later, they would see all of you as a weak link, a liability to be dealt with. There’s only one solution they have for that.”

“Maybe,” Troy whispered.

“No maybes. You would die young. Where are those women’s bodies and don’t tell me you don’t know!”

“Wisconsin. At the place in Wisconsin. There’s, I don’t know how many others buried there too.”

He shut off the recorder then yelled to the men watching, “Come down here!”

“If Maddy is in one of those graves, I swear I will gut you like a fish while you’re still alive.”

“I didn’t…”

Franklin Washington was a large, scary looking, black man who believed Maddy was sent by God. He was the first one down the stairs and into the basement. The look Franklin had on his face had Carvelli frightened, especially when he shoved Carvelli out of the way to get at him.

Franklin reached down, grabbed both arms of the chair Troy was in and lifted Troy and the chair off the floor. He was literally eyeball to eyeball with Troy when Franklin, usually a quiet man, yelled in his face, “You better hope she’s okay! Do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir,” Troy croaked.

Franklin dropped him and the chair broke apart as it landed.

FORTY-SEVEN

“Madeline, I cannot tell you how enormously flattered I am that you remember me,” the man she knew as Calvin Simpson said.

Calvin Simpson born Walter Kirk, was a career criminal Maddy, Marc, Carvelli, et.al. had met during a case Marc had. A law school mate of Marc’s was accused of murdering his mistress. The friend’s name was Zach Evans and he was married to Cal Simpson’s daughter, Samantha Simpson.

Zach was killed by a for-hire hit and run team that also seriously injured Marc. In the process of searching for Zach’s killers, they uncovered a large insider trading scam run by Cal. It involved dozens of very prominent politicians and various crooks. The conspiracy also included short-selling companies and driving them out of business with rumors and libelous news stories.

Eventually the house of cards crashed but Cal managed to run off with several billion dollars hidden away. It was believed that Samantha cut a deal with the Feds. She would surrender three billion dollars, stay out of jail, and was allowed a sort of finder’s fee of a hundred million. All she had to do was use a French couple to murder her father on a beach in Costa Rica.

In fact, this was done and allegedly proven by DNA retrieved during the autopsy. Obviously, something was seriously amiss.

“I was also very glad you survived the attempt on your life by Aidan,” Cal said.

“Aidan didn’t make out quite as good,” Maddy said. “In fact, I put two bullets in him. And, since what he did was ordered by you, well, I’m hoping to get that last dance I wanted. Remember? Just you and me, once more round the dance floor?”

Cal laughed recalling the moment she had said that and replied, “Now that you mention it, yes, I do recall it. You were in the same basic situation you are now.”

Maddy leaned forward as far as she could and with a sinister smirk, she said, “Yep, and you ran like a scared little girl.”

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