Chapter 22

Rae spoke up first. “You were the primary on keeping Pop safe during the trial, Dad. Right?”

“Yep. Pat Young and I were. Why?”

“So Regotti, and thus Grimaldi, would have known who you were, since you were with Pop whenever he was at the courthouse. Then Pop disappears, thanks to WITSEC. Regotti had to figure either you or Mr. Young helped him to get settled in, since that’s usually how it works.”

“Usually, yes,” Wayne agreed. “But there’s no way he, or actually Grimaldi, since he’d have been the one looking for Lou at that point—with Regotti in prison—could have tracked us.”

“I knowthat. Let’s suppose, though, that Grimaldi figures out you were the one who went with Pop, which wouldn’t be all that hard since if he checked, and he would have, he’d have found out you weren’t in town then. So he figures you might follow up on Pop at a later date to see how he’s doing, at which point he can get to you, and through you to Pop, if he played his cards right.”