Daylight

Chapter 34

They pulled into Annapolis after a nearly four-hour car journey and were driving down one of the main streets of the town, a quaint shopping area also filled with exclusive and nicely tricked out bed-and-breakfasts and small inns.

The twin heavy smells of fish and salt air from the nearby water fell thickly on them.

“The Naval Academy is down that way,” said Pine, pointing to her right. “I had a friend who graduated from there.”

“Pretty prestigious,” said Blum.

“And right down here is Doug Bennett’s house. He has a place right on the harbor. Nice location.”

They parked in front of a gray, shingled Cape Cod. They could see the mast of a docked sailboat rise up from behind the house.

They walked up a flagstone path to the front door.

Blum noted the neat, mulched flower beds, healthy lawn, and trees, and said, “A disciplined, methodical person.”

Pine had called ahead, and the door opened as soon as she knocked. Facing her was Doug Bennett. He was about six feet tall and beefy of build, with a shock of white hair and a tanned, weathered face. He had on khaki pants and a white polo shirt with the Naval Academy’s insignia printed on it.

Two large and curly-haired dogs stood on either side of him, as though at attention. One had a white coat, and the other was black and tan with a bit of orange around its muzzle.

An unlit cigar was perched in one corner of Bennett’s mouth. He looked gruff, but when he saw Pine he smiled. He took the cigar out.

“My God, Lee. Last time I saw you, I held you in one arm.”

“Mr. Bennett, thank you for agreeing to meet with me. This is my associate, Carol Blum.”

“Ms. Blum, very nice to meet you. Please come in.”

He backed away and the dogs moved with him.

“And who are these handsome boys?” asked Pine.

“The tall white one is Finnegan, Finn for short. The black and tan, of course, is Guinness.”

“Labradoodles?” said Blum.

“Yes. I have allergies. These boys do not shed. They have hair, not fur. And they keep me company,” he added quietly. “We take long walks together. They are... sound friends.”

Blum glanced around the front room and saw it was decorated in blues and golds and whites. The room had a nautical feel, organized with a place for everything and everything in its place. A wall of built-in cabinetry was filled with photos and books. She saw several photos of the same woman always standing next to Bennett.

Pine noticed this, too. “Jack told us about the loss of your wife. We’re very sorry.”

Bennett’s features clouded and one of his hands reached down and started to stroke Finn’s head.

“Yes. It was... a shock.”

“Do you have children?” Blum asked.

He shook his head. “Please sit down. Would you like something to drink? This is about the time of the day where I have a finger or two of scotch.”

“I’ll just take water,” said Pine.

“I’ll join you in the scotch,” said Blum, drawing a surprised look from Pine.

Bennett led them through to the rear of the house, where he poured out the drinks, and they settled in comfortable chairs overlooking the water. Finn and Guinness lay on either side of their owner and friend.

“Is that your boat?” asked Pine.

“Yes. The Saint Joan.” He smiled sadly. “A little joke between us. It’s taken on new meaning now, at least for me.”

“Do the dogs go with you?”

“The dogs go everywhere with me. The two best first mates I’ve ever had.” He added in a pensive tone, “I spent much of my working life alone, just because the mission called for that. Now I don’t like to be alone.” He took a sip of his scotch and looked out at his boat.

“I’m sure,” said Blum.

“So, Jack said you’d talk to me about what happened all those years ago?”

He focused on her. It seemed to Pine that the man was once more assuming a professional veneer over his long-since-retired features. “I’ll tell you what I can. I don’t think it will be everything. Some of the things have never been declassified.”

“You know what happened to me and my sister?”

“Yes.” He swallowed with a bit of difficulty, and Pine thought she could see his eyes glisten before he looked away and rubbed at them. “Yes. It was unfortunate and unforgivable. It was the worst failure of my professional life. Jack’s, too.” He paused and added, “But that was nothing compared to what happened to your family.”

“Thank you,” said Pine. “What can you tell us?”

“I spoke with Jack, of course. He filled me in on what he had told you. Thus, you know what your mother’s role was in all that. She was the inside source in our sting operation against the New York Mafia back in the eighties.”

“Yes. Her real name was Amanda. I never knew her real last name.”

“Doesn’t matter. All that was officially changed, so the Pine family you all became.”

“And my father worked as a bartender at the Cloak and Dagger bar in New York, where part of the sting took place. I was surprised that all of the people working there wouldn’t be law enforcement.”

“We didn’t have enough bodies to fill all the roles,” explained Bennett. “Your father had no idea what was going on, of course. He just poured the drinks.”

“But then he and my mother became intimate. And she confided in him?”

Bennett slowly nodded. “Damn nuisance, that was. But your mother was so young and under so much pressure. I could hardly blame her for reaching out to Tim. She must have felt very alone.”

“You’re right, they were both very young. So did they have any family?” asked Pine. “Were their parents still alive? Siblings? Grandparents?”

“They both told us no.”

“But did you check?”

“Checking would have led to a possible trail and opened doors that someone could have followed up on. We made the decision to take them at their word.”

“It would be unusual for both of them not to have any family,” noted Blum.

“I’m sure they did have family. But again, we didn’t push it. And to my knowledge neither of them tried to contact anyone while they were under our watch.” He looked at Pine. “Did you ever meet any of their ‘family’? Or I guess your family, too.”

“No.”

Bennett frowned. “In WITSEC, that’s the sacrifice one makes. All ties severed. It’s the only way to keep the protectees safe.”

“But it didn’t work in our case,” said Pine. “Two attempts were made on our lives. We had to be taken out of WITSEC.”

Bennett’s frown deepened. “I know. That drove me nuts.”

“There had to be a leak,” said Blum.

“I agree, but we could never find it. And we looked, long and hard. Checked and rechecked everything.”

“After we left WITSEC, we resettled in Andersonville, Georgia.”

“Yes, I know. Jack and I worked on that.”

“And he was sent down to keep watch over us.”

“Yes.”

“But a man named Ito Vincenzo found us.”

Bennett sat up and drilled her with a fierce stare. “Vincenzo?”

“As in Bruno Vincenzo’s brother. Jack didn’t tell you that part?”

“No, he didn’t. You’re sure. You’re sure it was Bruno’s brother?”

“Yes. Without a doubt.”

“But why would this Ito—?”

“Bruno found out that my mom was a spy for the feds, but he didn’t turn her in. I found a letter that Bruno sent his brother, Ito. In so many words, Bruno intimated that he’d gotten screwed. I’m speculating that he expected some type of sweetheart deal for keeping his mouth shut. Only he went to prison and was killed there.”

“I never knew about any deal offered to Bruno. And I sure as hell didn’t know he knew about your mother working for us.”

“Jack didn’t know, either. He said he would have stopped the op if he had.”

“We would have, yes.”

“If my mother had found out that Bruno could have outed her, could she have offered a deal to him without you knowing about it?”

“She had no authority to do that. She was a mole, she didn’t represent the government,” replied Bennett. He paused and looked pensive. “But I came to know your mother pretty well. She was smart and cunning beyond her years, and what we were asking her to do made her even more so, simply to survive. I think it’s possible that if Bruno approached her and let her know that her cover was blown, she might have pretended to promise him a deal in order to keep her secret. God, she must have been scared. Bruno Vincenzo was one of the mob’s heavy hitters. No one knows how many people that bastard killed.”

Pine considered all of this and said, “I think you’re probably right. So Bruno kept his mouth shut and thought he had a deal. But that deal didn’t come through. Meantime, my mom, my dad, my sister, and I go into hiding. Then Bruno gets arrested and jailed. But before he goes to prison, he writes Ito a letter laying out some of his grievances. And he asks Ito to see him in jail. I think it was at that time that he told Ito we were in Andersonville, which we probably were by then.”

“Do you think Bruno also knew about your locations while you were in WITSEC, and was the catalyst for those attacks?”

“I don’t know. It’s possible. But the mob has long arms. They could have paid off people connected to WITSEC to reveal our locations.”

“What do you know about Ito Vincenzo?” asked Bennett.

“He ran an ice cream parlor in Trenton and was never in trouble with the law. But then I have proof positive that he came down to Georgia, almost killed me, and took my sister. She’s never been seen since.”

“What happened to him?”

“He came back to Trenton after a few months’ absence. He explained that away to his wife and workers by saying he’d been to Italy. Then years later he disappeared again, and this time he never came back.”

Bennett sat back, looking like he had aged ten years in the last couple of minutes. “This is all so extraordinary. It’s like waking up from a bad dream to find yourself in a nightmare. A real one.”

“So the question becomes, how did Ito, a man with no criminal or other helpful connections, find us in Georgia?”

“I think it’s obvious, like you suggested. His brother told him where you were.”

“I agree,” said Pine. “But how did Bruno find out?”

Bennett shook his head. “As I said before, we could never determine the leak.”

“One other thing, Mr. Bennett, did Jack tell you... about him and my mother?”

Bennett stiffened and set his drink down. “I’m not sure what you mean?”

Pine drew a long breath, glanced at Blum for a second, and said, “Well, for instance, that Jack is my father?”

Bennett’s expression was one of total shock. He abruptly stood and swayed a bit. His agitation was so great that both dogs started to whine, perhaps sensing their owner’s distress.

“Your father? But that means—”

“Yes, he and my mother were together right before she met Tim.”

Bennett slowly sat back down. “Jesus, maybe that’s why he broke up with Linda. I never could figure that one out.”

Now it was Pine who looked stunned. “Linda? Who’s Linda?”

“Well, back then she was Jack’s fiancée.”