Silent Whisper (21 page)

It was the Wednesday afternoon after Memorial Day. Lana and Walter had left yesterday on a two-day getaway to the Outer Banks. They’d be back tomorrow, and I was enjoying my solitude hanging out with Parrish. She was six weeks old and seemed to be changing daily, developing her own little personality.

I’d just fed her and put her in the wind-up swing she loved, cranking it up so that it would swing back and forth, putting her to sleep. I was folding her laundry in the kitchen when the phone rang.

“Oh my God, Karlie!”

It was Belle and something definitely had her stirred up.

“What’s wrong Belle? Are you okay?”

“Does Lana have cable television there?”

“Uh yeah, why?”

“Go and turn on one of the cable news stations. Doesn’t matter which one, they’re all running the story. It’s about the Castellano’s and some of the others. Then call me back.”

Click.

Something big must be going on, and my heart thudded once again.

I hurried into the living room and grabbed the remote, surfing through the stations until I settled on CNN. The scrolling marquis at the bottom of the screen read: More indictments served for associates of the Castellano-Giometti crime families bringing the total to twenty-six. Included in these new indictments are: two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of first degree murder, one count of aggravated burglary, one count of aggravated arson, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of bribery, two counts of falsification. These charges are a result of a protracted investigation conducted by an undercover FBI agent that successfully infiltrated the Giometti crime family and served as an associate for several years. The murder charges relate to the death of a married couple living in South Chester, West Virginia in 1975.

I turned the volume up as the newscaster was now showing video stream of a live event outside some federal courthouse earlier today. My body froze as I recognized Dominic in the newscast. He was dressed in a suit and tie; Federal Marshalls flanked him on both sides as he was helped into a dark van with tinted windows.

“Dominic Castellano, youngest son of mob boss Salvador Castellano, testified today in front of a federal grand jury in district court here in Philadelphia to additional crime family activities, including murder. Indictments on capital murder charges were served this morning against his father, who is now in police custody in Cook County, Illinois, along with his brother Salvador Castellano, also in police custody in Cook County, Illinois, and Vincente Castellano, who was arrested and taken into custody in Essex County, New Jersey this morning. Dominic Castellano has agreed to testify as an eye-witness to the murders which occurred nearly twelve years ago in South Chester, West Virginia in exchange for immunity from charges he has pending of racketeering, money laundering and extortion. The murders occurred at the site where the family’s Rolling Mountain Resort and Casino is now situated. It is unknown at this time as to whether the Castellanos will fight extradition to Hancock County, West Virginia where the First Judicial Circuit is located and where the arraignments are expected to take place. Dominic Castellano has been taken into protective custody by U.S. Marshalls to an undisclosed Federal Detention Center pending the outcome of the trial. If convicted, the mob boss and his two sons could spend the rest of their lives in prison. West Virginia revoked the death penalty in 1965. These arrests, along with more indictments affecting more LCN members are the result of several years of federal investigation, including the successful infiltration of a Special Agent of the FBI into the Giometti family as an associate.”

Oh my God.

I nearly screamed when Marco Trevani’s picture flashed up on the television screen.

“Agent Marco Trevani is the first federal agent to successfully get inside the LCN, and as a result, it is expected that a significant dent has been made in the drug trafficking, money laundering, prostitution and illegal gambling activities on the east coast. We will have more as this fascinating story unfolds over the next several months.”

My heart was in my throat as I switched the television off, and hurried back to the kitchen. Parrish had fallen asleep and I gently lifted her out of the swing and placed her in the bassinet. I continued to stare down at her, wishing so much that things were different.

My emotions were all mixed up again. Dominic had done something good, although I wasn’t sure if it had started out that way. I was pretty sure it hadn’t but then I’d always known he was different than the others. I truly believed that being in the LCN was not the life he would’ve chosen for himself.

So now what?

This changed everything.

If Dominic had renounced his family, then that meant he had renounced LCN; and their rules. It meant that he could be free of that, that we could be together—if he still wanted me, that is.

And that was the big ‘what if.’

I had left him without a word. All those times that he’d asked me to trust him and the promises that he’d made to me hadn’t meant a thing at the end of the day, or I wouldn’t have taken off after listening to Anna Maria that night. I automatically assumed that Dominic had been involved with the drug smuggling. I had presumed the worst in him all through our relationship I realized.

I called Belle back and told her I needed to see Dominic. I needed to let him know that he had a child—and had me as well, if he still wanted me.

“Oh sugar,” she said, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I mean, he’s no saint, honey.”

“I never wanted a saint, Belle. I just wanted my Dominic,” I choked out. “But he’s in hiding somewhere. I’ll never be able to find him now.”

“Calm down, Karlie,” she admonished. “Think about this before you do anything, okay? If you’re hell bent on contacting him, who better to get that information for you than Walter?”

“Walter? Of course! Walter. I don’t know why the hell I didn’t think about that. Thanks, Belle.”

“Remember what I said, girl. Think about it first. Don’t make rash decisions where that baby is concerned. By the way, when you gonna bring her up to see Grandma Belle?”

“Soon,” I promised. “Soon.”

“Karlie are you crazy?” Lana shrieked when I explained what I wanted to do. “Why in the hell would you even consider that?”

“Keep your voice down, Lana honey,” Walter said soothingly. “You’re going to wake the baby.”

“Listen please, both of you,” I pleaded, “Dominic did something courageous here, you know? He’s avenging my parents’ death; he didn’t have to do that. He turned on his own family—because of me. I need to see him.”

“Ah, hell,” Lana hissed. “He did it to save his
own
ass from spending the rest of his days in prison.”

“Now that’s not true,” I replied. “He wasn’t even charged with all that much. Nothing that one of the LCN lawyers couldn’t have gotten reduced or tossed—am I right, Walter?”

“Well…possibly, Karlie. But I think you’re not seeing the big picture here. What do you hope to gain by finding out where he’s being detained?”

“I want to go visit him, Walter. I want you to help make that happen. Now you’re a judge and I know you have the connections to do this.”

“Don’t do it Walter,” Lana hissed, her eyes flashing angrily. “Karlie has lost her ever-lovin’ mind.”

“No I haven’t,” I snapped back. “I just need to let him know that I’m okay. For all he knows, I’m dead or something.”

“What about Parrish?”

“Well, of course I’m going to let him know about her. I’ll take a few pictures to him so that he can see what his daughter looks like. Look, I know he’s not going to be out of protective custody for a while. It’s not like I’m making long-term plans or anything. He may not want to have anything to do with me, but I have to find out. Please understand.”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Karlie. I can’t understand this at all. I mean, don’t you want better for your daughter than for her to be exposed to him, regardless as to what you’re thinking right this second. He’s not a knight in shining armor. He’s a
criminal
.”

Her last sentence rankled me. “Hey Lana, wake-up call here, you and me, guess what? We
were
criminals the whole time we were prostitutes—has that not occurred to you? Seems to me you’ve turned into a hypocrite these days.”

“Now that’s not fair!” she shouted, and immediately, Walter started hushing her. “Well it isn’t,” she snarled.

“Listen, I’m not going to argue with you,” I said, feeling worn-out. “I’ve got money. I’ve got a car. I’ll take Parrish and drive to Cherry Hill. Anna Maria will know where he is.”

I started to leave the room when Walter’s voice stopped me.

“Let me make some calls, Karlie. No need for you to have to drive six or seven hours for information that I’m sure I can get if you’re that dead-set on knowing. I can’t make promises about getting you a visit. The prisons have their own rules on that. We’ll just have to see where he is and what the rules are for that facility.”

“Thanks, Walter,” I sighed.

Lana didn’t say a word.

“I’m gonna go and check on Parrish. Give me a holler when you find out, okay?”

About an hour later, while I was changing the baby Walter called up to me. “Be right down,” I called, as I finished snapping up her onesie.

I carried her downstairs and Lana was waiting for me at the bottom of the steps. “I’m sorry about being so judgmental earlier, Karlie. I don’t want to fight.”

“Me either,” I replied, handing over Parrish to her outstretched arms.

“Walter’s in the kitchen. He was able to find him for you.”

“Thanks,” I said, watching her as she rocked Parrish in her arms. “Will you keep an eye on her while I talk to him?”

“Absolutely.”

Walter was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee when I came in.

“Sit down,” he said, glancing at a piece of paper on the table. “I managed to find Dominic—for now,” he said. He’s at FCI Gilmer, a federal correctional facility in Glenville, WV. But the thing is—when they have someone…like him in protective custody, he’s not going to stay in one place for long, do you understand?”

“Not exactly,” I admitted.

“You see, until he testifies at the trial, he’s a marked man in every sense of the word. So he may be at Gilmore for a week, and then moved to another facility. Even in solitary there’s always a risk of someone poisoning his food or water, that sort of thing.”

“Oh.”

“You can visit him Sunday. Visiting hours are from eight in the morning until three in the afternoon. It’s medium security so you simply sign-in and they send a guard to take him to a guarded visiting room since he’s under PC.”

“PC?”

“Protective Custody.”

“Oh.”

“It’s a six-and-a-half hour drive, Karlie. Are you really sure about this?”

“I am, Walter. I have to do this. I know Lana doesn’t understand, and maybe you don’t either, but I still love him. I always will. It’s not fair he doesn’t know about Parrish.”

“Have you given any thought to what life is going to be like for Dominic once these trials are over?”

“No, not really. Except that he will be free of his family.”

“He will
never
be free, my dear. It’s likely he’ll go into the witness protection program. A new identity, a new life, which means he can have no contact with family or friends.”

“Sounds perfect,” I replied.

“For him, maybe. But what about you? Is that the kind of life you want to live? And are you forgetting he has a wife? Do you think she won’t go with him?”

“Walter, let’s get real here, okay? Aside from Belle, Lana and you—that’s it for me. I mean I have Parrish, but she’s just a little baby. She won’t know the difference, but we need to be with Dominic, if he wants us, that is. And to answer your question about Anna? She won’t go with him unless there’s a stash of money to go with it. Trust me, I know. I love him, Walter. He is my heart. I love him the same way that you love Lana, do you get that? I want Parrish to know her daddy.”

He nodded, a sad expression crossed over his face. “I’m afraid I do,” he sighed, trying to muster a weak smile. “And I guess under the same circumstances, I would do the very same thing. There’s not much I wouldn’t do for my Lana. I guess it’s just me being selfish, not wanting to upset the apple cart so to speak. Lana and I—well we love you and the baby. I guess you know that.”

“I do,” I replied, reaching over to pat his hand. “And hey, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. There’s a lot of presumption, don’t you think? Dominic may refuse to even see me when I show up.”

He tried to muster another smile, but it didn’t happen. Walter knew that Dominic would see me, and he knew that once that happened, I would be a constant visitor no matter where he was until he was free once again to be with me and with his daughter.