Nolan’s First Assignment
Chapter 08 - Nolan’s First Assignment
Nolan did not run.
That surprised Mave.
When she confronted him, he asked federal agents for a private interview room.
That surprised her more.
They sat in a temporary office inside the warehouse while Mara Sloan, the fifty-eight-year-old federal prosecutor supervising the Costa investigation, remained near the door.
Nolan looked at Mave.
“Michael called.”
“Yes.”
“He told you.”
“Yes.”
“All of it?”
“Enough.”
Nolan nodded.
“Then ask.”
Mave folded her hands.
“Did Anthony Costa order you to kill my mother?”
“Yes.”
The clean answer hit harder than denial.
“When?”
“After she copied the first ledger.”
“How old were you?”
“Twenty-seven.”
“Did you plan to do it?”
“Yes.”
No decoration.
Mave felt sick.
“Why?”
“Because that was my job.”
“You say that like it explains anything.”
“It explains me then.”
“Not permission.”
“No.”
“What changed?”
Nolan looked down.
“She had you with her.”
Mave froze.
“When?”
“Train station.”
She remembered no train station.
She would have been eight.
“Nora—Elaine—”
“Elaine.”
Nolan corrected himself.
“Your mother arrived carrying one suitcase. You were asleep on her shoulder.”
Mave’s throat tightened.
“I had a clear shot.”
Mara’s face hardened at the doorway.
Mave did not look away.
“You were going to shoot her while she held me.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
“And?”
“I couldn’t.”
Not noble.
Not enough.
But true.
Nolan continued.
“I followed you instead. Watched her board the train. Called Anthony and said the station was crowded.”
“What did he do?”
“Sent another man.”
“Who?”
“Rafe.”
Mave closed her eyes.
“Rafe tried?”
“No. Vincent intercepted him.”
She looked up.
“Nolan.”
“Vincent had overheard the order.”
“He was twenty-two.”
“Twenty-three.”
“He helped Mom leave.”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
“I switched sides after that.”
“Because of me.”
“Partly.”
Mave laughed bitterly.
“Everybody’s moral awakening apparently required a child.”
Nolan accepted that.
“What did you do after?”
“Helped Elaine move.”
“Michael?”
“Separate.”
“Why?”
“Safer.”
“Whose decision?”
“Michael’s handler.”
“So federal agents also decided family separation was protective.”
“Yes.”
Mara looked uncomfortable.
Good.
Mave continued.
“Samuel Price.”
Nolan’s face changed.
“Michael thinks you ordered the murder.”
“I didn’t.”
“Why would he think that?”
“Because Price had a file on me.”
“What file?”
“My Anthony years.”
“Killings?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
Nolan stared at the floor.
“Three.”
Mave’s stomach turned.
“People who threatened Anthony?”
“One informant. Two rivals.”
Mara spoke.
“Those cases are open.”
Nolan nodded.
“I know.”
“You have immunity?”
“No.”
Mave looked at him.
“Then why come to the gala?”
“To bring Dominic out.”
“How?”
“You.”
There it was again.
Mave laughed.
Even Nolan flinched.
“You used me too.”
“Yes.”
“Explain without saying protection.”
Nolan breathed in.
“Dominic had watched you for years because he thought Elaine left records with you. He never moved because you seemed uninvolved.”
“So you made me visible.”
“Yes.”
“At the gala.”
“Yes.”
“Knowing Vincent would react.”
“Yes.”
“And Dominic would panic.”
“Yes.”
Mave leaned back.
“I am tired of being everybody’s chess piece.”
Nolan looked genuinely ashamed.
“You should be.”
“Not good enough.”
“No.”
“Who killed Price?”
“I think Rafe did.”
“Michael says Rafe was outside.”
“He was.”
“Then?”
Nolan rubbed his scar.
“I ordered Rafe to follow Price.”
Mave stared.
“For what?”
“Dominic.”
Her confusion deepened.
“I was working for Dominic.”
Silence.
Mara shifted.
Nolan continued.
“Two years ago, I let Dominic believe I had come back to him. I needed access.”
“Undercover.”
“Without federal approval.”
Mara said flatly, “Which is why I hate freelancers.”
Nolan almost smiled.
Mave did not.
“You told Rafe to follow Price.”
“Yes.”
“Dominic told Rafe to kill him?”
“I think so.”
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
“So Michael saw your order in the chain and assumed murder.”
“Yes.”
“Convenient.”
“Yes.”
Mave closed her eyes.
Nobody in this story was clean enough to rest on.
Maybe that was useful.
Mara put a file on the table.
“Ms. Mave, I need to ask you something separately.”
Mave looked at her.
“About Vincent.”
Of course.
Mara opened the file.
“We can prove Dominic laundered money, obstructed investigations and manipulated shipping records.”
“Good.”
“We cannot yet prove he ordered Price’s murder.”
“What do you need from me?”
“Nothing fabricated.”
Mave appreciated the phrase.
“Dominic’s counsel offered cooperation.”
Nolan laughed softly.
Mara ignored him.
“He claims Vincent ordered Price killed and later attacked Rafe to enforce silence.”
“False.”
“You don’t know that.”
Mave stopped.
Mara was right.
“I know Nolan says—”
“Nolan is an admitted killer.”
The room went quiet.
Mave looked at him.
He did not protest.
Mara continued.
“We have a recording.”
She pressed play.
Vincent’s voice filled the room.
Low.
Furious.
Rafe, if Price talks to anyone, I will bury every person who helped him.
Mave’s stomach dropped.
Then Rafe:
Including Price?
Vincent:
Especially Price.
The recording ended.
Mara looked at Mave.
“Dominic says that was the murder order.”
May you like
Mave stared at the speaker.
The man she cared about had just sounded exactly like the man the government wanted him to be.
