Girls Like Us(64)

I raise my eyebrows. “I didn’t realize you knew that cops were on Calabrese’s payroll.”

“I’ve known for a while.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I had to decide whether or not I trusted you first.”

“You kept pointing the finger at Morales. Why?”

“Because I think he did it. Or at least, I think he helped. But I’ve also been playing along with what Dorsey wanted me to do and say. It’s the only way I could stay inside the department. And that’s always been my goal. To investigate the department.”

“Wait. Are you telling me that you’ve been running an investigation into the SCPD this whole time?”

Lee gives me a small smile. He nods. “I’m one of you,” he says. “For better or for worse.”

“One of who?”

Lee chuckles. “I’m a Fed. Have been for two years now. I’m DEA. I’m part of a joint task force that the Bureau had started to investigate the narcotics operation Dorsey and his guys have been running. I’m their man in Havana, so to speak. Their man in Yaphank.”

“Come on!” I let out a sharp laugh. Lee looks wounded. “I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you. I just—I seriously can’t believe it.”

“Believe what? That I’m a federal agent and not some local cop?” Lee frowns.

“No, I don’t mean it like that. I just—look, I’m BAU. It’s my fucking job to profile people. I always thought you seemed like a bit of a misfit in homicide. Too, I don’t know, nerdy? Intellectual?”

“Thanks so much.”

“But I never in a million years would have figured you for the mole.”

“I prefer the term ‘undercover.’”

“You know what I mean. Why didn’t you tell me right away?”

“Because Dorsey’s your fucking godfather! Think about it, Nell. I was hoping you’d be on my team here, but I couldn’t be sure. It never occurred to me things would escalate this quickly. And you kind of threw me for a loop when you started suspecting your own dad. That wasn’t a possibility I’d even considered.”

“So what was Dad’s role in Calabrese’s organization? Be honest.”

Lee shakes his head. “That was the best break I’ve had. Total coincidence. I knew what was going on with Dorsey and DaSilva. Narcotics, prostitution, they had their hands in everything. Your dad wanted none of it, and Dorsey respected that. They basically left each other alone.

“Last summer, your dad connected with Maria Cruz. She was one of Calabrese’s girls. She’s young, maybe nineteen years old. I never understood what their relationship was. I didn’t want to ask, and he never brought her up. I only knew about her because I saw them together once and I got curious. Your father seemed pretty devoted to her. He wanted to get her out of that life. He rented her that apartment, got her to enroll in community college. And then he really went on the warpath.”

“Meaning what?”

“It was pretty ingenious, really. At first, I thought he was having some kind of a breakdown. He started going out a lot, making a big show of hanging with the boys. Always up to party. And he got into gambling. Big-time.”

“That does sound like a breakdown.”

“It wasn’t. It was all a show. I started watching him pretty closely. He wasn’t drinking at all. He’d order one drink, swirl it around, and then switch to soda. He gambled, but never a lot, and never in a way where he was out of control. He did all that so that he could get in with Dorsey and that crew. Eventually, he told Dorsey he’d racked up a bunch of gambling debts. He was desperate for money. And so Dorsey brought him into the fold.”

“Did Dad tell you this?”

“No. I was just this annoying newbie who managed to get myself assigned to him. But I was watching him. And I figured out what he was doing.”

“What was he doing?”

“He was building a case. My guess is he was recording conversations, taking photos, collecting evidence. And he was watching over the girls. Making sure nothing happened to them. He got a few of them to talk. One of them was Ria. When she was murdered, he totally flipped out. I guess he felt responsible. He became obsessed with solving her murder.”

“Oh my God.” I slap my hand to my forehead. “Everything makes sense now. That’s why he was following Adriana.”

“Right. He knew Morales wasn’t behind it. He figured Morales might have disposed of the body, but he was just helping the real killer out. He thought it was Dorsey, or Calabrese, or one of the clients. But he couldn’t prove it. So he kept at it. And then Adriana went missing, and two weeks later, he was dead.”

“That’s why you wanted to get into his office.”

“I still do.”

“There’s nothing there. He must have cleaned it out before he died.”

“Still might be worth letting me have a look.”

I stand up. “Fine. But I’m going to open the scotch, if that’s all right with you.”

“Whatever it takes.”

“Hey.” I grab him by the arm, stopping him in his tracks. “Is your mom really sick? I thought you moved back here to be near her.”