Inside Out

111

At Shapiro's request, the Justice Department made the penthouse suite at the Delacroix Hotel available for Winter, Sean, and a team of WITSEC specialists for security. Originally designed for a drug importer with reason to be paranoid, the top floor, number eleven, was a secure space. The regular elevators stopped on the tenth floor, and access on up to eleven required a key. The fire door on eleven could be opened only with a six-digit code, and both landings were covered by surveillance cameras.

Deputy marshals brought Winter's overnight bag upstairs from the room he and Hank had shared for an hour the day before. Sean's suitcases had arrived from USMS headquarters overnight. The two main bedrooms, each containing five hundred square feet of space and covered balconies, had bathrooms done entirely in exotic stone with gold-plated fixtures. While it wasn't to Winter's taste, it was comfortable enough.

Sean had spent the afternoon with Winter in his bedroom, both fully clothed and on top of the California king bed, propped up against a wall of pillows. They talked and watched the news and ordered from room service. Winter's leg pain was a constant dull ache, but he refused to take anything stronger than aspirin.

Sean had never met a man like Winter. She had thought often since Rook about the first time she had seen him, climbing aboard that helicopter, and how her feelings had evolved from that day.

She stood on the balcony, aware that Winter was watching her from the bed. She liked having his eyes on her. He had saved her life twice, each time placing himself in mortal danger. And it was more than the fact that she felt safe when she was with him. She knew now that she'd never felt this way about anyone before.

Sam's death dominated the local media. There were mob experts and reporters from all over the country who told the stories of Sam's “alleged” brutality. There were interviews with people who had remained silent about the gangster and now, true or false, they were ready to talk. “I was ten years old,” one older man said. “Me and my pals were playing on the Magazine Street wharf and we saw Sam Manelli and another guy shoot this third guy and throw him into the river. As they were driving past us, the car stops and Sam hands us each a five-dollar bill. I went home and told my old man what I saw, and my daddy said, ‘You didn't see nothing.' I never told this in forty years.”

There was footage showing him at various ages, all of it taken outside, in public. The interviews with him consisted of a shouted question from a journalist and, in answer, the same dismissive wave. The media had openly called him a gangster and he had made it easy because he had never once opened his mouth to deny or confirm it.

“Hey, Sean, come here,” Winter called from the bed. “You'll want to see this.”

Charles Hunt, the stoic director of the FBI, stood at a podium. He opened a piece of paper, looked down, and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to read a short statement.

“Last evening, as part of a complex international criminal conspiracy, specialized teams of agents from the FBI and the United States Marshals Service set out to serve arrest warrants on Sam Manelli in New Orleans and Vladimir Dobrensky of New York. Dobrensky was taken into custody without incident and will be arraigned this afternoon in federal court. The serving of Sam Manelli was unfortunately not without incident. One FBI supervising agent was killed, and two US deputy marshals were wounded. In addition to three Russian mercenaries, twelve of Mr. Manelli's bodyguards were killed along with Mr. Manelli. John Michael Russo, Manelli's crime captain, was seriously wounded and taken into custody. He died an hour ago after slipping into a coma early this morning, but after furnishing evidence of the link between Manelli and Vladimir Dobrensky. While we regret the loss of life during the operation, our agents were merely reacting to being fired upon.”

Without shifting his stance or moving anything except his hand, Charles Hunt turned the page over.

“There will be a joint press conference tomorrow morning at noon to fully explain the connections between the arrest last night and the loss of life on Rook Island, North Carolina, and Ward Field, Virginia. Due to last-minute developments in the investigation, I will not be taking any questions at this time. At the news conference tomorrow the attorney general will give a full explanation and your questions will be answered.”

The reporters all raised their hands regardless, and when Hunt didn't respond immediately, started yelling out questions. The FBI director folded the piece of paper. He answered the shouted questions in the way Sam Manelli always had-with a single dismissive wave as he stepped down from the stage and strode away.

“I guess they need more time to work up an official story,” Winter said.

“They've got their work cut out for them,” Sean retorted. She took the remote and turned off the set.