I pinched the bridge of my nose, my sleepless night weighing on me. "How? The bastard's in Cuba, remember?"
"He is. He is," Wood agreed, "but his son isn't. Lester took over the family business after Leon left for Cuba. The DiSalvo family parted ways with Evan at that time, too, so she'd be free and clear of any investigation or charges brought against the son. And even more good news, the DiSalvos are just as dirty as they were back when Leon was still in charge. If we turned up the heat on the son, my money says the father would come running."
"Do we have anything on Lester?"
"No, but I'd be willing to bet Evan has more than enough in her files to get us started."
"Then we're back in the same hole." I threw my hands up. "She can't turn that over to us. She'd lose her license. She would never agree, and I wouldn't let her."
"That so? You think she gives a rat's ass about her bar card after what happened last night? Good work, by the way. Back in the olden times, U.S. attorneys were more than just prosecutors; we actually got to mete out justice on occasion. DiSalvo's men got what was coming to them."
I shook my head. Did Wood just give me a pat on the back for killing DiSalvo's hit men? He was the real deal, a hardcore lawman. I hadn't thought I could respect him any more than I already did. I was wrong.
"I may have a work-around to that, anyway. DiSalvo's been gone for what? Four years?"
I wasn't sure, but Wood wasn't talking to me at this point anyway. He was ruminating to himself.
He continued, "Yeah, four years. He left in May of that year. The bar's document retention policy is five years, right? After five years, Evan can destroy all her records dealing with any cases or clients before that five-year window. I'm certain she has plenty of records that are over five years old that document the DiSalvo family dealings. So all she has to do is 'dispose' of her records-the ones that now belong to the son-in an inefficient sort of way."
"You mean, give them to us? If DiSalvo filed a bar complaint-"
"You think he'd do that?" Wood swatted the thought away with his thick palm. "He'll have a lot bigger troubles than his ex-attorney by then."
"What about attorney-client privilege? Wouldn't Leon be able to keep those documents out of evidence?"
Wood smiled, actually smiled. It was winsome. "That's the beauty of it. We'll be prosecuting his son. His son has no attorney-client privilege with Evan, so we can use the documents however we see fit. Leon would be in no jeopardy and would have no basis or standing to object to our use of the information."
"No," I said. "It's probably still a violation of the ethics rule. She'd have to give up her license."
Wood frowned, the wrinkles in his forehead like waves on an ocean of unhappiness. "Maybe, maybe. But I think that's a chance she'll have to take at this point. If she wants to stay in this city and stay alive, she'll have to risk it."
I knew Wood was right. His plan was the best shot we'd have at getting Evan out of DiSalvo's web while still allowing her to continue her practice.
"Where is she, by the way? In Jonesy's office?"
I stood, worry shooting into my breast like a leaping flame. "No, she's at my place."
"You left her to her own devices after a night like last night? A pistol like her, she may have hired her own hit squad and sent it to Cuba by now." Wood smiled, looking pleased at the thought of Evan exacting her own brand of vengeance. He truly did worship the woman.
"Shit. I should call her. What time is-"
His secretary buzzed his line. "Mr. Woodhall?"
"I told you no calls, Rita."
"It's Evangeline Pallida. She says it's urgent."
The fear went from a flame to a blaze in an instant.
"Put her through."
I stood at the edge of Wood's desk, as if getting closer to the speaker would get me closer to her.
"Wood?" Her sweet, high voice had a somber note to it.
Wood's voice boomed in comparison. "Evan. I heard you've run into a little trouble."
"Is Lincoln there?"
"Standing right here."
"Good."
"Where are you?" I asked.
"That's not important. Here's what is. I have arranged a storage building in Jersey. The details will be left with Trish at Sal's. Wood, you know where that is, right?"
"Sure. He's a real treat, especially when wielding a baseball bat. I've had a few run-ins with Sal over the years."
"Of course you have. Anyway, Trish will have what you need to find the storage building. Inside, you will find a treasure trove. Lincoln . . ." Her voice cracked as she said my name. She tried again, stronger this time. "Lincoln, everything you need to do what we talked about, what you originally had planned when you came to the city, is in that storage building. There will be more than enough information, especially when combined with Castille's data, for you to trace money, accounts, individuals, everything. You can get them all, repair some of the things I've done, have the courage that I didn't."