Vikki wagged her finger in his face. “You’ve turned whole apartment and co-op buildings into illegal hotels, which is illegal in itself. And then, to keep the city from shutting you down, you bribed corrupt city council members and two city housing inspectors to look the other way. I’m sure you must remember my quote ‘predecessor’? Not the brightest light on the Christmas tree, that one. Or the most discreet. Bought himself a BMW convertible with the cash you slipped him at that diner you love so much. And yeah, we’ve got that on video. Along with all the meetings that you and I conducted there.”

Evan Wingfield stared at her, but said nothing.

“It’s called racketeering, slick, and you can look forward to being prosecuted under the RICO Act.”

“He might not know what ‘RICO’ stands for,” Joe reminded her.

“Oh yeah. It’s the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act,” Agent Hill said.

“Anywho, according to Ms. Shapiro, those indictments are scheduled to be unsealed next week. In addition to the original charges, by the way, you’ll be charged with solicitation for murder, in connection with trying to hire a hit man to kill Letty Carnahan.”

“Dog and pony show,” Wingfield said.

Joe glanced at Vikki Hill. “Did you deliberately save the best for last? I’ve been waiting for you to tell him about the murder charge.”

The FBI agent’s tone changed in an instant.

“Earlier today, when she spotted you limping off the beach, Maya was really, really upset.”

“You put her there to see that on purpose,” Evan said angrily. “What kid wouldn’t be upset at seeing their father wounded? That was damned cruel. You had no right to expose Maya to that kind of trauma.”

“Actually, that was an accident. Maya wandered away from her babysitter because she was looking for some kittens on the property,” Joe said.

He flexed and unflexed his fingers. “Did you hear what she said when she saw you? ‘No Daddy’? Maya was terrified because she knows what you are. A murderer. She saw you kill her mother. Yeah. She saw the whole thing. She told us how you showed up at Tanya’s house. She woke up when she heard the two of you fighting downstairs.”

Wingfield’s eyes flickered for just a moment with a hint of emotion. “Never happened.”

“You thought Maya was with Letty for their usual Sunday-morning playdate, right?” Joe asked. “But Tanya put her off, because Maya hadn’t slept well. Nightmares. Your four-year-old was already having nightmares over your custody battle,” he said. “Tanya texted Letty that you were coming over that morning, because you’d agreed to let her move to LA and take Maya with her.”

“Tanya was delusional. I never told her that,” Wingfield said.