Page 51 of Zero Divergence
Vincenzo snorted. “She could get around the document a dozen different ways, Schultz. The fact that you don’t know it affirms my decision to ask you to leave.”
Schultz shrugged and said, “It’s your funeral, Jack.”
“No,” Jack said bitterly. “The only funeral in my foreseeable future is my wife’s.” His voice broke on the last word, and he slumped down into a chair as if his legs would no longer support his weight.
Schultz started to pick up a file folder on the coffee table.
“Leave it,” Vincenzo said tersely. “I’ve already paid for the information inside it.”
Schultz muttered something unintelligible as he tucked his tail and left the room, resembling a scalded mutt instead of a proud bulldog.
Royce and Sawyer exchanged a glance before they sat across from the senator.
“What a putz,” Vincenzo said. “I should’ve fired him the moment he mentioned serving Vivian with the new dissolution papers. He was looking for thrills and fireworks, and I should’ve been smarter.”
“Do you want to pick up where we left off?” Sawyer asked. “Or do you want us to come back when Eckstein is available?”
Royce wanted to glare at Sawyer but kept his gaze on Vincenzo instead, studying his demeanor and looking for any signs that the grief and cooperation was part of an act. Cynical was Royce’s middle name, but this stripped-down, defeated version of the senator rang true. Gone were all traces of the polished public servant who glad-handed supporters, assured his constituents, and kissed babies.
“I meant what I said. I have nothing to hide,” Vincenzo said gruffly. “Ask me anything.”
Ninety minutes later, Royce and Sawyer were sitting across a desk from Mendoza, bringing him up to speed. His office had changed a lot since Royce’s first meeting with the man, transforming from a stark, bare space to a warm environment with the addition of family photos, commendation plaques, bowling trophies, various certificates of achievement, and several plants.
The chief steepled his hands together, then rested his pressed fingertips against his chin dimple while Royce and Sawyer started their debriefing with the interviews at the law firm.
Mendoza lowered his hands. “There’s a big difference in tone between Blakemore’s first statement and his second concerning the conversation he overheard between Gross and Vincenzo. What did Vincenzo have to say about it during the second meeting?”
“While he couldn’t confirm it was a direct quote, it sounded like something he would’ve said to her in a heated moment,” Sawyer replied.
“He remembered using the nickname he’d given her years ago and recalled she laughed and hung up on him. Vincenzo was adamant that he hadn’t meant what he said and hadn’t killed her,” Royce added.
Mendoza’s gaze volleyed between the detectives. “Do you believe him?”
Royce and Sawyer exchanged a glance. They’d talked about the interview during their drive back to the precinct and were in complete agreement. “We do,” they both said at once.
“Why?” Mendoza asked.
Royce had waited for a jarring reminder that a new chief was occupying the office, and it had finally arrived. It wasn’t because Rigby had never asked him to clarify an issue or explain his thoughts, but her method and demeanor varied greatly from Mendoza’s. Rigby would’ve approached the conversation by asking probing questions as they occurred to her. The new chief, while not in the least antagonistic, was challenging Royce and Sawyer to convince him. Mendoza wasn’t about to make it easy for them by asking questions until they put in the effort. Rigby’s manner was more expedient, but Mendoza’s tested their acuity and awareness.
Responding with something asinine like “gut instinct” wouldn’t work here. “Vincenzo’s openness to discuss the affair—how it began, when it began, and how it ended—for starters,” Royce said. “Shock might’ve loosened his tongue this morning, but he was just as forthright the second time around.”
“More so, in my opinion,” Sawyer added.
Royce nodded. “The senator admitted to arguing with her the following week and confirmed he said ‘I could kill you, Vivie’ or something similar. Naturally, we asked how they progressed from a blazing affair to a volatile argument ending with the words he’d said and Ms. Gross hanging up on him.”
Mendoza quirked a brow as if to say “and…” Maybe the new chief wasn’t as patient as Royce had first thought.
“He simply said it was how things were between him and Vivian,” Sawyer said. “They didn’t know how to do things the way normal people did. Everything was fire and ice with them. Then he dropped some huge bombs on our lap.”
Royce snorted. “Atomic bombs. Plural.”
Mendoza straightened in his chair and narrowed his eyes.Aha! Got him.
“The first surprise was when Vincenzo admitted he had decided to break off his engagement with Lucinda Fairchild,” Sawyer told the chief. “They were running out of time to obtain a marriage license before their ceremony, and he had to choose. Vivian or Lucinda? He told us he’d spent too many years without Vivian and wasn’t willing to spend another day pretending she wasn’t the love of his life. Things got ugly when he informed his attorney, Matt Schultz, that he no longer wished to proceed with a divorce.”
“The guy is an idiot,” Royce added.
“King of idiots,” Sawyer agreed. “Schultz discouraged the move, then confessed he’d hired a private investigator without Vincenzo’s prompting to dig up dirt on Vivian. His goal was to pressure her into signing the paperwork, escalating the proceedings so they’d have time to obtain the marriage license without postponing the wedding.”