“What’s this have to do with Corbett?” Joe said.
“I was getting to that. This is where I come in. I had Corbett do some work for me. A few . . . projects that I needed handled.”
“You hired him to burn Terry Solich out of business and out of the neighborhood,” I said.
Cancerno looked at me with empty eyes. “Corbett took care of these projects for me, then set Gradduk’s father up. This was at the request of the guy I was telling you about. It wasn’t my idea.”
Thunder rolled close to the building, making the door rattle against its frame. Out in the warehouse, men were laughing. The smell of cigarette smoke drifted into the office.
“It was Jack Padgett,” I said. “The guy you’re talking about. He could make the setup happen because he was a cop.”
Cancerno didn’t speak.
“I want you to confirm that,” I said. “Otherwise we’ll go out and do it ourselves. But you know it was him, and so do we.”
“You don’t tell me what to say,” Cancerno snapped. “I’ll tell you what I damn well want to tell you, kid. And you’ll keep your mouth shut. You understand that I’m doing this as a favor to you? As a courtesy? Believe me, I got other ways to deal with you. Didn’t need to have you brought in here for a talk.”
I met his cold eyes. For a long time he just sat and stared at me. The laughter from the warehouse had stopped as soon as Cancerno had raised his voice again. I had the feeling his voice could make a lot of things stop.
“So Norm Gradduk committed suicide, and Padgett was still harassing Alberta,” I said softly, still meeting his stare. “Ed found out about it, probably. Then my father did. He made a complaint, and people scrambled to cover up for Padgett. Mike Gajovich came down and convinced Alberta not to go public with the complaint.”
Cancerno’s eyes narrowed. “You’re talking beyond me now. I don’t know what the hell happened after Gradduk gassed himself in the garage.”
“That’s what happened,” I said.
Another clap of thunder, this one louder than the last. A gust of wind followed it, howling around the old warehouse. Cancerno leaned back again, put his feet back up on the desk.
“That’s what I told Gradduk,” he said. “And I shouldn’t have told him. But I didn’t like it, knowing that he was becoming buddies with Corbett. It didn’t seem right.”
“And a woman died for this?” Joe said. “I’m not seeing the connection.”
Cancerno shrugged. “Not my job to help you see it. But I can tell you Gradduk had a serious hard-on for Corbett after I told him what I did. Then the woman went down, Gradduk went down, Corbett took off. Last night he sets my houses on fire. You see what I’m saying about this guy being the center of it?”
“Corbett burned the houses?” I said.
“You’re damn right he did,” Cancerno said. “No doubt in my mind. He had access to all of them, too. Would’ve been easy for him.”
“Why do it?”
Cancerno smiled, and it was one of the least appealing expressions I’d ever seen. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “No more answers. I gave you the ones you needed. The ones you don’t need stay with me.”
“The one I need the most, you haven’t given me,” I said. “Why was Anita Sentalar killed? You said Ed was trying to take Corbett apart, but not how. You say Corbett killed her, but don’t say why. That’s not enough. I need to prove it. Right now it’s still on Ed, and I’m not letting it sit there. Someone else is going to answer for it. Ed deserves his justice, whether he’s alive or dead.”
Cancerno slid his feet back off the desk, stood up, and walked around to face us. He looked hard at my face.
“You want justice for your friend?”
“That’s right.”
“You going to find Corbett?”
“Yes.”
He kept staring at me, then nodded. “You find Corbett, and I’ll see that your friend gets his justice. And when that’s done, you can work out whatever story you want to give the cops and the reporters. I’ll deal with it.” His dark eyes were filled with fury. “But first you find him. You call me. Tell me where he is. And then I’ll see that your friend gets his justice.”
CHAPTER 25
He left us in the office while he stepped out into the dark warehouse. Joe and I didn’t say much while he was gone. It wasn’t an environment that encouraged conversation. Cancerno was gone maybe five minutes before he returned, trailed by Ramone and the mountain man. The old guy who’d driven the van wasn’t with them, but I heard an engine start up outside.
“They’ll take you back now,” Cancerno said. “I hope this visit straightened some things out for you. Hope it made some things clear.”
We got to our feet, and Cancerno pulled the door open and held it. Outside the sky was still dark, but the rain had held off. Warm air whipped around the parking lot, blowing dust and bits of fine gravel in our eyes. I squinted as I stepped through the door. Joe came out behind me, Ramone and the huge guy on his heels. The green van was running already.
When we were outside, Joe turned to Cancerno. “Tell you what, we’re going to pass on the ride this time. Thanks, though.”
“What?” Cancerno said.
“We’ll take care of ourselves,” Joe said. “Got a few stops to make around the neighborhood, anyhow. Then we’ll catch a ride back. Don’t need to trouble your employees here with the task.”
Ramone, standing close to Joe, turned and looked to Cancerno for instruction. Cancerno leaned against the doorframe and tilted his head, studying Joe.
“You don’t trust me? I bring you down here, tell you things you want to know, and you don’t trust me?”
Joe shook his head. “That’s not the issue. But seeing as you’re such a trustworthy guy, I expect you’ve got no problem letting us go on our way here. Don’t take it as disrespect.”
Cancerno considered it for a moment, then shrugged and stepped back into the office. “You got it. Go on and walk home in the rain, if that’s what suits you.”
The door closed behind him. Ramone gave us one last long stare, then turned and reached for the doorknob to follow Cancerno.
“Give me back my gun, Ramone,” I said.
He didn’t say anything, but walked back out to the van, leaned in the open window, and said something to the guy behind the wheel. Then he stepped back with my Glock in his hand. I walked toward him, hand outstretched. When I was almost to him, he gave the gun a toss. It sailed over my shoulder and clattered on the pavement.
“Thanks, asshole,” I said. He smirked, walked into the warehouse, and slammed the door shut.
I picked my gun up, dusted it off on my pants, and placed it back in its holster. Joe was standing beside me, shoulders hunched against the wind, eyeing the sky.
He began to walk toward the street. “Interesting conversation, huh?”
“Damn interesting,” I said.
“You buying it?”
“What he said about being the one who told the old story to Ed, maybe. It’s the trigger that got all of this rolling. When Ed started to explain it to me, he said a man told him a story. I asked him what story, and he said, the one he didn’t want to tell. Cancerno was regretting it today. Admitted he’d hesitated to tell Ed about it in the first place.”
Joe nodded, walking fast as we rounded the corner of the building and came out on the sidewalk.