Simon nodded. “Like Marshall. And old Mayor Ferber. Of course, periodically, people would make a ruckus and mothers would petition and the place would go dark for a while, only to open up again when things quieted down.”
“How was Rex involved?” Mike asked.
Simon gave Mike an understanding nod. “As I found out later, he was on the take. With the old police chief involved, Rex became the rookie who was sent out on call every time a complaint came in. He made sure evidence got buried, things stayed quiet, and he was paid well for his trouble. Same as Judge Baine.”
“What happened to mess it all up?” Sam leaned forward in his seat.
“What always happens. Stupid shit trips people up. The feds were on to the syndicate in New York. They had marked money in play to find out what businesses they were using to launder drug money. The feds had a highly placed guy in the cartel by that point, and he made sure the marked
bills made it into circulation in each business. Including the Winklers. Then one day, there were picketers at the motel. Things got ugly and the cops were called in—except Rex was out on a routine call and he couldn’t get over there first to hide or ignore evidence. I found more cash than a motel should have and it was all marked.”
Mike listened as all the pieces fell into place.
“Everyone must’ve known it was only a matter of time before the cops tied the Winkler place to the drug guys in the city.” Simon shoved his hands into the front pockets of his sweats. “Before that could happen, Judge Baine let the guy out on bail.”
“Then?” Erin asked, as interested as the rest of them.
“A few weeks later, one of the drug couriers from Manhattan was pulled over for speeding in Serendipity. The cops found a load of drugs in the car and money he was transporting back to the city. The bills were marked just like the ones found at the Winkler bust,” Simon went on. “The feds were notified about the drugs and the additional marked money. But around the same time, they’d taken key syndicate members around Manhattan. Nobody needed the little fish who’d been arrested in Serendipity, and the case went cold.”
“Which helped make it all go away quietly, letting everyone here in town off the hook.” Sam let out a low whistle.
Simon nodded. “With the cartel finished in Manhattan, the source of the girls and drugs dried up here in Serendipity—and wherever else they were running illegal brothels. The Winkler place became town lore, and that was that.”
Mike cleared his throat. “What about the cash in the evidence room? The money replaced with older bills?” He tensed, sensing this was where Rex and Simon’s involvement came in.
Cara placed a hand on his back, and he was never more grateful for the support than at this moment. Hell, whatever came, he felt stronger facing it with her by his side.
“Rex had a gambling habit too.” Simon ran a hand through his thinning hair. “He stole the money from the evidence room. I didn’t catch him in the act, but I figured it out and he didn’t deny it when I confronted him.” He paced the length of the small room. “Of course, he expected me to keep it quiet.”
Mike and his siblings remained silent, waiting for him to tell the story his way.
“By then, your mother was pregnant with you and Rex was panicked in every way you can imagine. He couldn’t deal, he wasn’t making your mother any promises, and I saw only one solution for everyone involved.”
Ella, who had been sitting on the couch, rose and stood by Simon’s side. “We were all good friends. I was dating Rex and I thought I loved him, but what I loved was the illusion of the man. By the time I found out I was pregnant, the bloom was off that rose already,” she said, letting out a painful laugh.
Mike’s throat swelled, and he couldn’t bring himself to speak.
“I was pregnant and scared, but make no mistake, Michael, I wanted you.” Moisture glistened in her eyes, and with the way her gaze held on to his, he couldn’t not believe her.
His chest pounded and his heart hurt, but he knew with everything in him that his mother told the truth.
“And I’d always loved Ella,” Simon said to his rapt audience. “If Rex had done right by her, I’d have kept silent. But he didn’t, and she deserved so much more than that son of a bitch was giving her, which was nothing but grief.”
Ella patted his back, urging him to continue.
“I had an old pocket watch that belonged to my grandfather and some other jewelry my mother had given me to put away for any woman I ended up marrying, and—”
“He pawned it all.” Ella picked up the story. “To help me and fix things, he sold family heirlooms.” Her voice caught on her words.
“I took the cash and went to Rex with a deal. Either he left town, in which case I would replace the money he stole, or he could stay, and I’d turn him in for evidence tampering, stealing, and whatever else the D.A. wanted to come up with.”
“What did Rex say?” Erin asked.
“He ran like the coward he was,” Ella said. “Then Simon asked me to marry him. He said he’d always loved me and he promised he wanted to raise the baby like his own. That’s when I learned that real love was more than something you said in the heat of the moment. Love is real and enduring.” She squeezed Simon’s hand before lifting herself onto her toes so she could kiss his cheek. “And he’s proven that love to me every day since.”
Simon kissed his wife before turning to face his children. “Questions?” he barked at them, so like the Simon Mike remembered rather than the frail man of late.
“Not at the moment,” Erin said, obviously stunned.