Exposed (Rosato & DiNunzio #5)(99)

“Yes, but with a few conditions.”

“Terrific!” Nate brightened. “What are they?”

“You write to the disciplinary boards and withdraw your complaint about Mary. You dismiss your defamation lawsuit against Simon. And you settle Simon’s suit against OpenSpace for whatever Mary asked, because we have you dead to rights.”

“We?” Nate lifted an eyebrow.

“Yes, and I’m not finished yet. You apologize to Mary when she gets out of the hospital for what you put her through. And you better make a contribution to CHOP. You want to buy your way back into Heaven, it’s going to cost you.”

“And if I do it all? We start over?”

“Yes, I was angry with you, but it’s not fair to blame you for what happened. You didn’t know what was going on. You didn’t even know those guys.”

“Not at all. Thank you.” Nate nodded. “How’s Mary?”

“Recovering, thanks. She lucked out.”

“I’m so sorry she went through that. And you, too.”

“It was pretty awful.” Bennie didn’t want to elaborate, not with him. She was here doing what she had to do. “What are you going to do about what happened? Todd, Mo, Ray, and Ernie were cutting corners on the electrical. A woman died at Bethlehem Bank. They may have been cutting other corners, and how are you going to get to the bottom of it?”

“I turned it over to Jason to investigate and he’s great. He’ll follow the facts and if we need to fire or even charge anyone else, we will.” Nate’s expression turned grave. “And down the line, I’m selling OpenSpace, PowerPlus, and the other subs involved in cubicle manufacturing. I’m getting out of the business entirely.”

“Really?” Bennie asked, surprised.

“Yes, you can work on the deals. It might make you feel better.”

“I’m never happy when people lose jobs, Nate.”

“I’m not closing the companies, I’ll sell them. I’ll lose money, given what those knuckleheads did to the brand, but I want to be done with it. I assume you saw the media. The PR is terrible.”

“What would you expect?” Bennie had seen the headlines and knew that it would bother him. Appearances were everything to Nate.

“Whatever. Now that you’re back on board, I’ll buy another coat company. Do some good in the world. Get into the social justice business.”

“I don’t think social justice is a business, Nate.”

“You know what I mean.” Nate chuckled.

“I do. I know exactly what you mean. In fact, I thought I knew you better than I did, but it turns out I was wrong.”

“What about?”

“I thought you were totally surprised that those guys were up to no good.”

“I was.”

“I thought you didn’t know any of them. Not Todd, not Ray, not Mo, and not Ernie.”

“I didn’t know them. I don’t know them.”

“You disappoint me, Nate. For the last time.”

“What do you mean?” Nate frowned, and Bennie dug in her purse, pulled out Mo’s cell phone, and set it on the table between them, bloody fingerprint and all.

“This is Mo Nustrall’s burner. The blood belongs to me.”

Nate glanced at the phone. He pursed his lips but said nothing.

“Nate, if you didn’t know Mo Nustrall, why did you call him? I looked at his call log. Your number is there twice. The second time you called him was an hour before he tried to kill me.”

Nate’s expression changed, his eyes hardening as he met her gaze directly. “So I take it you’re wearing a wire?”

“Bingo. I just wanted to be the one to tell you that you got caught. I told the cops you would never admit anything to me.” Bennie smiled. “Once the cops showed Ray the phone, he flipped on you. It gave him a bargaining chip, and he served you right up. You knew everything, all the corner-cutting to pad your margins. You found out about it at PowerPlus on one of your factory tours, when you overheard Mo on the phone. But you didn’t fire him, you covered it up and expanded the operation. It turned criminal when Adele Watson died in that fire at Bethlehem Bank, and it was a slippery slope. You conspired to kill Todd, Ernie, then even Mary and me. I’m trying not to take it personally.”

Nate glanced around the dining room, newly edgy. “So there’s undercover cops here?”

“Right again. You’re going to jail for a very, very long time.” Bennie rose, standing aside because undercover police were already in motion, jumping up from their tables and coming toward them. Uniformed police had burst into the restaurant and charged toward the table. They all swarmed Nate, who looked wildly around but realized he had no escape. One cop frisked him, and another slapped a pair of steel handcuffs on his wrists.

Nate looked at Bennie, stricken. “I need a lawyer.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Bennie snorted.

A third cop said, “Mr. Lence, you are being arrested for conspiracy to commit murder and criminal conspiracy. You have the right to remain silent, and if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you…”

Nate tried to hide his face as the police escorted him past the stunned gaze of the other patrons, some of whom raised their phones, taking pictures and filming.