She shrugged. “We need Wingfield paying you off after he sees what he thinks are photos of Letty’s body. And we need him meeting you—in person, when you hand off his daughter to him in exchange for your payoff.”

“Letty will never go for that,” Joe said. “You heard her. She’s not going to let me take Maya back to New York.”

“Okay, I just had a genius idea. What if you tell Evan he has to come to you if he wants Maya?”

“You mean here? Like, Florida?”

“Right here at the Murmuring Surf. The more I think about it, the better I like it. If Wingfield has to cross state lines to get her, that strengthens our case. It’s interstate commerce, possibly furthering the racketeering enterprise. The AUSA will love it.”

“And Wingfield? Seems to me he’s already pretty skittish.”

“Yeah, he is. I’ve been dealing with Evan for eighteen months now. He’s a cautious guy. He’s been blaming Tanya’s murder on Letty, but he has no idea exactly what Letty—or Maya—knows about Tanya’s death. As long as Letty’s alive, she’s a threat to him.

“The other thing that motivates him is greed. He’s still beside himself that he was dumb enough to put those real estate assets in Tanya’s name. Now? He tells himself that he’s a great dad, just looking out for the welfare of that little girl, but the truth is, it’s all about the money. If Letty’s alive, he’s fighting her in court over that guardianship, and there’s no guarantee he’ll prevail. I’m sure he thinks fifty thousand dollars is a reasonable investment to protect his own interests. Hell, he’ll probably find a way to make it a tax write-off. Cost of doing business.”

Joe leaned forward and braced his hands on his knees. “But first we gotta convince Wingfield that Letty is dead, and that she won’t be found. I think we stage it so that it looks like I dumped her body in the Gulf. Weighted down with chains and an anchor.”

Vikki nodded thoughtfully. “So … sharks would take care of the rest. I like it.”

“We can take her out on my boat. I’ve got a twenty-two-foot Pathfinder. We wait until right before sundown. It’s more convincing that way. I’ll truss her up, fake up some blood. Take a photo and send it to him.”

“Chains and anchors? ‘Truss her up, fake some blood’?”

Joe and Vikki turned to see Letty standing in the apartment’s open doorway. “When were you two going to tell me about your plan? Before or after you threw me to the sharks?”

“It’s just for show,” Vikki Hill said. “You know Wingfield. You know how careful he is. We need to convince him you’re really dead.”