Oliver blinked at her, twin looks of shock in his and Maddyโs eyes. โWhat?โ he barked, stepping toward Red. โWhat did you say?โโ
โIt was your mom,โ Red said, looking straight at Oliver. โSheโs the one who asked me to do it, who set everything up.โ
Oliver straightened, and Red waited for the explosion, for the landmine to trip in his eyes, taking them all with him. She didnโt expect what actually happened next. Oliver snorted, his face creasing as that wicked smile stretched through his skin, curling down at the edges. He laughed, the sound eerie and wrong in the too-quiet RV.
โDonโt be ridiculous,โ he said, slapping himself on the chest. โOur mom is not a criminal.โ
But she was, if he put it like that, and so was Red. Werenโt they all, in some way? Had Oliver forgotten that they all knew his secret now? That heโd killed someone four months ago. How could what she and Catherine did be worse than that?
โShe came to me last August, the day after Joseph Mannino was killed, and she asked me to say Iโd been there, that I saw Frank Gotti leaving the scene.โ
โDonโt be ridiculous.โ Oliver laughed again, swinging his head. But Red wasnโt smiling. And then came the switch, tripping in his eyes. โStop fucking lying, Red!โ He pointed his ๏ฌnger through her chest, leaving a crater behind. โStop lying. She wouldnโt do that!โ
โItโs the truth,โ Red said, picking her eyes up o๏ฌ the ๏ฌoor. โItโs the truth, Maddy.โ
Maddy didnโt say anything, wincing as Reyna shifted, the towel growing bloody beneath her ๏ฌngers.
โShut up, Red!โ
โLet her talk!โ Arthur shouted back, rolling his shoulders as he stared Oliver down. โCatherine Lavoy,โ he said, turning to Red. โAnd she works in the DAโs o๏ฌce? Sheโs the one leading the prosecution against my dad?โ His eyes narrowed in confusion.
โYes,โ Red said.
โNo,โ Oliver argued over her. โDonโt listen to her. Sheโs a liar. I think by now we all know youโre a fucking liar!โ
โKeep going, Red,โ Arthur prompted.
โNo, you shut up!โ Oliver charged forward, pushing Red back against the kitchen counter, the tips of his ๏ฌngers digging into her arms.
โOliver, stop!โ Maddy screamed, the sound frailer than before. โLet her speak. Please.โ
Oliver thought about it for a moment, searching Redโs eyes, nails digging in deeper, then he let her go, drew back.
Red ran her hands down her arms, placing her ๏ฌngers in the indentations left by Oliver, too big for her.
โYou okay?โ Arthur asked her. โYou donโt care,โ she replied.
He looked hurt by that, a ๏ฌicker by his mouth.
โGo on, then,โ Oliver said, head hanging o๏ฌ his neck. โLetโs hear the rest of your bullshit story, then.โ
Red coughed, and she didnโt know where to look. Reyna was safe. Simon was safe. โCatherine told me that Frank Gotti was a terrible man. That he killed or ordered the killings of a lot of people. She said she was sure he did
shoot Joseph Mannino, but they didnโt have enough evidence to prove it in a court of law. Thatโs why they needed an eyewitness.โ
โAnd what was in it for you?โ Simon asked. He looked drained, wrung out, but there wasnโt a war zone in his eyes like everyone elseโs, so Red focused on him.
โShe said she would pay me for the risk,โ Red said, sni๏ฌng. โAfter the trial, if they got a conviction, she was going to pay me twenty thousand dollars.โ
Simon whistled.
โDonโt be ridiculous,โ Oliver spat. โMom doesnโt have twenty thousand dollars lying around.โ
But they did. The Lavoys did have that. And more. Catherine had promised her. Said she could give it to Red, in cash.
โIt wasnโt just that, though,โ Red carried on, switching to Reyna, who wasnโt looking, she was staring down at the towel, at the color of Maddyโs skin. โI needed that money, yes, like youโve all been saying, you know I need money.โ
Simon shu๏ฌed awkwardly.
โBut it was something else too. Joseph Mannino was shot twice in the back of the head. Thatโs how they executed people, Catherine told me.โ She glanced over at Arthur. How his family executed people. Now it made sense why he didnโt want to join the family business. Not ๏ฌipping houses, but bodies, drugs. Heโd tried to tell her the truth, in small ways. She paused, readying herself for the punch to her gut. โThatโs how my mom was killed too, ๏ฌve years ago. Two shots to the back of her head while she was on her knees. She was executed. At an abandoned power station on the waterfront in South Philly, pretty close to where Joseph Mannino was killed. The police never found out who killed my mom, the case is unsolved. But Catherineโฆ your mom,โ she said, eyes ๏ฌnding Maddy, โyour mom told me that, though they could never prove it, it was likely someone from that family, someone in the Ma๏ฌa, who killed her. It was their style. And my mom was investigating the family, looking into their network of crimes, right around the time she
died, so that makes sense. Maybe she found out something and they killed her for it.โ
And if it was Frank Gottiโs fault that her mom died, then it couldnโt be Redโs fault. Except it still was, wasnโt it? There was enough doubt left for Red to ๏ฌll in with her own guilt. Theyโd never be able to prove who it was, that was what Catherine said, and she knew about these things. But Red needed the money, and she needed somebody else to blame, and there Catherine was, giving her both. Everything she needed, to ๏ฌx herself, ๏ฌx everything. But now the plan was gone, dead, it only worked if no one knew.
Maddy winced, gritting her teeth, a high gurgling in her throat. Arthur shook his head, eyes crinkled with confusion.
โWhat?โ Red asked him.
He sighed. โMy dad would never kill a cop. Heโs smarter than that. It was one of John DโAmicoโs rules: never kill police. It kept the heat o๏ฌ them. Your mom was captain of a police district.โ Arthur stared at her. โNo one would have touched her.โ
โB-but,โ Red stuttered. No, donโt take it away from her, she needed it. โMrs. Lavoy saidโโ
โShe works in the DAโs o๏ฌce, right?โ Arthur said, face scrunching even farther, chewing on some silent thought.
โSheโs assistant district attorney,โ Oliver said, cricking his neck. โSoon to be district attorney, and sheโd never do any of the things Red is saying. My mother is not a criminal. Red is lying, do not believe her. Thatโs not the name youโre after. It wasnโt my mom. And what would even be in it for her, huh? Red? What does she get out of using you to set up Frank Gotti?โ
Oliverโs eyes were a๏ฌame, burning into hers. She wasnโt lying, she wasnโt. โWell,โ Simon stepped in. โYou said it yourself earlier, Oliver, didnโt you?
You said itโs a historic case, and that if she gets the guilty conviction sheโs pretty much guaranteed to be voted in as DA.โ He shrugged. โShe wants to be DA, right? Thatโs what she would get out of it.โ
โDonโt be ridiculous.โ Oliver rounded on him now, enough ๏ฌre in his eyes to share around.
But Red was watching Arthur instead, a shadow crossing his face as he looked down, thinking, thinking, chewing the inside of his cheek.
โWhat?โ she asked him, and he jolted back into the room, staring around at the corners of the RV as though it were ๏ฌnally shrinking around them, a countdown to crushing them all.
โItโsโฆโ He drew o๏ฌ, swallowed, started again. โMy family has a contact in the DAโs o๏ฌce. Has for years, maybe even ten years now. No one ever knew who it was, though, they always contacted us anonymously, encrypted messaging on a burner phone. Used to talk only to John DโAmico, but then when he started to get sick, they would contact my dad and Uncle Joeโ Joseph Mannino, I mean.โ
Oliver stared at him, horri๏ฌed. โThereโs a leak in the DAโs o๏ฌce?โ he asked. โWorking with organized crime?โ
Arthur nodded. โFor years. Thatโs how we would ๏ฌnd out the identity of witnesses in cases against the family, or the locations of members who had ๏ฌipped and were cooperating with the police. Information about trials and other criminal cases against our competitors. They would get charges dismissed sometimes. Shipments of seized guns or drugs for evidence that we could then intercept. All of that came from this person inside the DAโs o๏ฌce. We paid them for their information, into an o๏ฌshore account, but we never knew who it was. Untilโฆโ Arthur glanced at Red, an awkward shift in his shoulders, a glint in his eyes. โThatโs how we got your identity, Red. Just two days after the charges were ๏ฌled against my dad, when we learned there was an eyewitness, even though there couldnโt be, because my dad didnโt kill Uncle Joe. My dad told my brother to message this contact, to ask who you were.โ
โAnd?โ Red and Oliver said at the same time, and she didnโt like that. No, they werenโt on the same side. The RV was split again, but Red didnโt know where she belonged anymore. With Oliver, who had thrown her out of the RV to her death, who had held a knife to her throat, who forced Maddy into his plan and now she was dying over there? Or Arthur, who had been lying to her from the moment they met last September? Because heโd needed to meet her, for his own plan. Of course heโd shown interest in her, laughed at her
jokes, o๏ฌered her rides home, charmed her with kind words and kinder eyes, sheโd been his mark. What an idiot she was to think there was anything else there. He was here to get information from her and kill her, that was it. And yet Red found herself standing closer to him, edging away from Oliver, because the danger was in Oliverโs eyes, no one elseโs.
โAnd,โ Arthur answered, looking at Red, not Oliver. He had obviously chosen his side. โThey told us they needed a day or two to get us the information. And when it came, in early September, it didnโt come the normal way, through their burner phone. My father received an email with Redโs name and social security and her home address. And the email address that sent it belonged to a Mo Frazer, who works in the DAโs o๏ฌce.โ
โUgh, of course itโs Mo Frazer,โ Oliver spat. โThat makes so much sense.
So heโs in bed with organized crime, is he?โ
Arthur shook his head, unsure. โWell, we assumed he must have been the contact all this time, and maybe he slipped up on this occasion. But it never sat right with me. He sent that from his work email, his name right there in the senderโs address. That leaves a trace, somewhere on a server that law enforcement can ๏ฌnd. It was so di๏ฌerent from all the contact weโd ever had from him before. Careless.โ
โHe got sloppy,โ Oliver said. โThey always do.โ
โOrโฆโ Arthur bit down on his lip. โOr he wasnโt the one who sent it, because he isnโt the contact. It was someone trying to pin the leak of Redโs identity on him. Someone else in the DAโs o๏ฌce.โ
His eyes found Redโs, latching on.
โCatherine Lavoy?โ she whispered, the word escaping from her at the end, hitching up, turning the name into a question. No, it couldnโt be. But something was stirring in her gut, hot, sharp, goring through her as it climbed her spine to whisper in her ear:ย Catherine betrayed you, Catherine gave up your name months ago.ย No, Catherine couldnโt be the one who gave up her name just days after coming to her, asking her to be the witness. Catherine would know what giving up Redโs name meant; that they would kill her. It was the inevitable outcome. And Catherine wouldnโt do that to her, whether
she was the contact working with organized crime or not. She was her best friendโs mom, her momโs best friend. There was no way.
Then what was that feeling in her gut? Solid somehow, inevitable, sinking deeper and deeper the harder she grappled to understand it.
Oliver snorted, stretching out his arms, his eyes a battleground, ๏ฌicking between Red and Arthur.
โLet me get this straight,โ he said, playing with his chin. โFirst, Red, youโreย claimingย that my mom came to you, o๏ฌered to pay you twenty thousand dollars to say you witnessed Frank Gotti committing a murder. All so she could get the guilty conviction and become DA,โ he said, nodding at Simon, mocking his theory. โAnd now, Arthur, youโre claiming that my mom is the same person who has been leaking information to your family for ten years, on the take. And that she must be the one who gave up Redโs name, but tried to make it look like Mo Frazer leaked it. How does that make sense?โ he barked, striding forward, eyes widening as he passed each of them. โThose two things entirely contradict each other. Why would she ask Red to be the witness for the trial, but then immediately give up her name, knowing Red would likely be killed and the trial would never go ahead? That makes no sense. Come on, think. You have to think before you throw around baseless accusations about my family.โ He screwed one ๏ฌnger into the side of his head, too hard, his eyes wild again, the uncanny calm before the explosion. โThis is such bullshit, all of it. My mom is not your contact, she prosecutes criminals like you.โ He jabbed that same ๏ฌnger in Arthurโs direction, pointed it like a knife. โYour stories donโt even make sense. My mom couldnโt have done both: ask Red to be involved to win the trial, and then give up her name so the case would never make it to trial. How does that work?โ
But Redโs mind was circling something, around and around, digging back
through the hours of this terrible, terrible night. Maybe there was a way it did make sense, maybe there was a way this all came back to Catherine Lavoy, pulling the strings behind the scenes. Red couldnโt believe it, sheโd known Catherine for as long as she could remember and even before that, but she also couldnโt believe the real Oliver sheโd met tonight, that danger ๏ฌickering just below the surface of his eyes. If heโd done everything that he had tonight,
then it was possible Catherine had used Red, betrayed her. Oliver was his motherโs son, after all. And what was it, what was the phrase she was looking for? Red looked between Maddy and Oliver, trying to extract it from their eyes, that well-known Lavoy expression that always made Red know sheโd never truly be one of them. She dug through the ๏ฌashes of this never-ending night, Maddyโs blood in a handprint on her face, the puzzle of Donโs blasted-open head, the fuzz of static, headlights ๏ฌashing, the red dot on her chest, the check mark on Arthurโs hand matching the one on hers, the screaming, the smell of gasoline, shedding each awful part until she found what she was looking for. There waiting for her at the back of her mind, in Oliverโs clipped voice.
Red cleared her throat. โA plan must have two parts,โ she said, repeating Oliverโs words, who was in turn repeating his mom. โYou have to make sure either way plays out in your favor.โ
Arthur looked at her, a shift of understanding in his eyes. โThatโs win-win,โ he said, parroting Maddy from before. And that feeling in Redโs gut twisted, sucking in everything around it. She didnโt want to believe it, but it was there, it was all right there and Red had to face it. It was never a plan that belonged to Red, they werenโt in it together, the two of them; it was one of Catherineโs win-win plans, and Red had just been a pawn, thrown away like she was expendable, disposable. Why? Why her? Did Catherine really not care about her at all? Didnโt she see her best friend when she looked at Red; didnโt she see the ghost of Grace Kenny there too? How could she do this?
โWhat are you two talking about?โ Oliver spat.
โIt does make sense,โ Red told him, her voice ๏ฌnding its strength from that awful, twisted feeling, deep in her gut. โPerfect sense. Her plan had two parts. In the ๏ฌrst scenario, I testify at trial and Frank Gotti is found guilty. Because of the successful trial, your mom is elected DA. And the second part: she gives up my name when asked and Frank Gottiโs family kills me, so the trial never goes ahead. But when they investigate where the leak came from, theyโll ๏ฌnd that email Mo Frazer sent. It will look like he leaked my name. Heโd be removed from o๏ฌce, charged with whatever crime that is. You said it yourself earlier, Oliver. Mo Frazer is your momโs biggest competition
to becoming DA, herย onlyย competition. If they killed me, it would take Mo out of the running. In either scenario, your mom wins, she becomes DA.โ She caught her breath. โWin-win,โ she said darkly, because in one of those wins she was dead, and somehow Catherine was okay with that. Oliver Lavoy had thrown her out of the RV to die, and Catherine Lavoy had thrown out her name, half expecting her to die, playing that to her favor.
Liar. Catherine Lavoy was a liar. Arthur was a liar too, and so was whoever that secondย Yesย vote belonged to, but Catherine was a worse liar somehow. And Arthur had said he was trying to keep Red alive, that this was a last resort. Was that a lie too?
Red felt bile rising up her throat, swallowing it down as she avoided everyoneโs eyes, wiping a line of sweat from her top lip. Six of them in this RV, and at least ๏ฌve of them were liars, including Red. But she wasnโt lying anymore, everything was out, everything was gone.
โThis is ridiculous,โ Oliver said, because clearly he had no other word for it. โNone of this is true. My mom didnโt do any of that. You know her, Red, how could you accuse her of these things?โ
โIโm not accusing,โ Red replied, and that twisted feeling ๏ฌipped over, unfolded into rage, and rage was red, just like shame. She felt the heat of it in her cheeks. โIt happened. Sheโs the one that o๏ฌered to pay me to be the witness, told me that Frank Gotti was probably the man who murdered my mom. She manipulated me and then she gave up my name to them.โ
โShut up, you stupid little girl!โ Oliver spat, switching his gaze to Arthur. โDo not listen to her, sheโs clearly misunderstood something here. My mom is not the person you are looking for. Itโs not her! Donโt listen!โ
โOliver, stop!โ Maddy croaked, her head resting back against the refrigerator door like she was too weak to hold it up now.
โNo!โ Oliver looked at her, but Maddy didnโt shrink back from him; there was nowhere for her to go. โRedโs lying!โ he shouted. โSheโs going to get Mom killed and sheโs lying!โ
โWhat if she isnโt lying?โ Maddy said, wincing as the words whistled through her throat. โMaybe itโs true.โ
And as weak as Maddy was, bleeding out on the ๏ฌoor over there, skin as soft as ever but far too pale, she was still taking care of Red. Her job, her responsibility, though Red had never asked her to. Maddy wasnโt like Oliver, or their mom. Maddy was real and kind and good. If she could stand, sheโd be standing on Redโs side of the RV, wouldnโt she? The two of them, against Oliver. And Red couldnโt think right now about where Arthur stood in all of that.
โMaybe itโs true?!โ Oliver shouted at her, spit foaming out the sides of his mouth. โYou think itโs true that Mom has been working with an organized crime group for the past decade? Being paid to dismiss cases and give them information? Do you think that sounds like our mom, Madeline? You think sheโd fabricate a case against Frank Gotti, pay Red to be a witness, all to become DA? Does that sound like Mom to you?โ he demanded. โAny of it?โ
โI donโt know,โ Maddy said, pressing her eyes shut.
โYou donโt know?!โ Oliver bent over her. โYou think that sounds like Mom, do you? The mom who still cuts your sandwiches into triangles for you? The one who saysย whoopsie daisyย whenever she drops anything? Does she sound like a criminal to you, Maddy?โ Red could see the red patches climbing the back of Oliverโs neck as he bore down on his sister, his head falling to that strange angle, and she knew now that it was a warning sign. An explosion was coming. โThe mom who has personalized ringtones for the entire family, sweet family memories, you think sheโs a criminal? You think the woman who has a doorbell ringtone for you because as a kid you thought you had to ring a doorbell before going in and out of the house, you think the woman who would do something that sweet is a criminal?โ
Something caught Redโs attention, pulled at it.
โWhat?โ she said, staring at the back of Oliverโs head. โYour momโs ringtone for Maddy is the harp.โ
Red had been with Catherine Lavoy many times over the past six months, meeting in secret, going over her testimony, working out where she could have been before and after the murder without being caught by cameras in case Frank Gottiโs defense team checked. Maddy had called her mom a couple of times and Red had heard it, the harp ringtone, plucking up and
down. Probably a joke from that time when Maddy was ๏ฌfteen and insisted she wanted to learn the harp to impress a boy in orchestra, giving up after the second lesson becauseย no boy is worth that.ย Red was sure about it.
โYour momโs ringtone for Maddy is a harp,โ she insisted.
Oliver glanced back at her, the explosion delayed for now. โRight,โ he said, breathing hard. โIt is now, I think. But when Maddy ๏ฌrst got a cell phone, it was the doorbell for a long time, because thatโs Momโs favorite story to tell about Maddy. I think she changed it a few years ago.โ
โDoorbell?โ Red said, sounding the word out on her lips, like it wasnโt a word at all, just a scattering of sounds, nonsense.
Doorbell.
One of the sounds of her shame, that lived there with it, deep in her gut. The sound sheโd heard in the background of that ๏ฌnal phone call with her mom. Twice. Her momโs strange โHello,โ after sheโd heard it. Except it was impossible, the police told her, she must have imagined it, or maybe she was confused. Her mom was found in that abandoned power station, no residential roads nearby at all, no houses, no doorbells. It wasnโt possible. But Red had heard it, sheโd heard that sound and sheโd never forget it, never forget that last phone call, not a second of it. โDoorbell ringtone,โ she said, sounding out the possibility, memories shifting, slotting into new places.
โWhat are you talking about?โ Oliver spat, eyes ๏ฌashing.
Red didnโt know, she didnโt know yet, but there was an awful sinking feeling, trying to drag her down. She pushed up against it, feet lifting from the ๏ฌoor as she darted for the kitchen counter, for the saucepan of phones waiting there. Red lifted o๏ฌ the lid and peered inside, looking for her own phone. She pulled it out, the home screen telling her she was down to 12% battery, no service still. That was because the engineers were only just starting work on the broken cell tower. Had they heard her on the walkie-talkie before Arthur smashed it? She had no way of knowing if they had. If one of them had been pressing the button at the same time, then Redโs voice would have been lost in the dying night, never found, never heard.
Focus, focus on the doorbell. Something inside was telling her this was important. Maddy might be dying, the police might or might not be on their
way, but the doorbell was important.
Red unlocked her phone and tapped into the settings app. Her thumb moved down to theย Sounds & Hapticsย menu option and she opened it. She scrolled down to the section labeledย Sounds and Vibration Patternsย and clicked to bring up all the options for ringtones.
Her eyes skipped down the list, pastย Cosmicย andย Night Owlย andย Sencha,ย thumb spooling the words up the page in a blur. No, it wasnโt here. Right at the bottom was another click-through menu, calledย Classic.ย Red pressed it and a new list appeared on screen.ย Alarm, Ascending, Bark, Bell Tower.ย Redโs eyes kept going, through the rest of theย Bs, pastย Crickets,ย and there it was.ย Doorbell,ย sitting just aboveย Duckย in the list. Red turned the volume on the device all the way up to the top and then pressed her thumb against the doorbell ringtone, heart in her mouth like it already knew the answer.
Her phone dinged, a high double-chime pattern, up then down. Red pressed it again. And again.
That was it.
The doorbell.ย Theย doorbell.
The exact sound sheโd heard during that last phone call with Mom, the phone call that changed everything, ripped the world apart. This was it.
It wasnโt a doorbell, because the police were right; it couldnโt be. It was a ringtone. Catherine Lavoyโs ringtone.
โWhat are you doing?โ Oliver asked her, his shoulders shifting, staring down at the phone in Redโs hands.
โYour mom,โ Red said, her voice breaking, splitting in half. โI think your mom was there.โ
โWhere?โ Oliverโs eyes narrowed.
Red tried to speak, tripping over her own breath, too fast, throat closing in around it.
โWith my mom. When she was killed.โ
