She gave me a mock-scandalized look.“Don’t you know how much property costs in New York?You’re better off buying a gallery in Midwest.”
“Yes, but Midwest doesn’t have a sexy artist with a gift for emotional terrorism.”
“Shouldn’t you arrest me for emotional terrorism?I think that’s a crime,” she fired back.
“At the very least, I should handcuff you and interrogate you.”
“Promise?”
I couldn’t help it—I let myself grin.This girl.
We both lost it for a second, shaking with silent laughter while the guy at the next table side-eyed us over the rim of his coffee.
The connection I felt with Nadya was just as strong and instantaneous as the first time.I just couldn’t get enough, but that was exactly why I had to tread carefully.The first time we met, she ended up running.This time, I wouldn’t let her get away that easily.
She fixed me with a gaze that was all challenge.“So, Tuna.You ever solve a case with just the power of your winning smile?”
“God, no.My smile is banned in most states.They say it causes spontaneous dental decay.”
She grinned, then caught herself and sobered.For a long second, she looked down, fidgeting with the zipper on her jacket.When she spoke, her voice was lower.“You want to know why he came after Ljuba.”
I froze.Every instinct screamed to keep it light, but this was the kind of opening you don’t get twice.“Only if you want to tell me,” I said.
“He had friends who were into similar stuff,” she said quietly.“Ljuba was his favorite, and Vera was too old to interest most of them, not that it stopped him from...”She swallowed hard, and abandoned that thought.“but he had no problem...”
She stopped again, tried to speak again, but nothing came out.
I got the gist, though.The fuckers had friends who didn't care about age.It made my blood boil, but I pushed it down, forcing myself to think.Thinking was more important than going on a killing spree as I hunted down every bastard who had laid a finger on Nadya.I had an investigation on my hands, and this was simply another layer added to it.Logic over killing.
Just because George might not have been interested in Ljuba for himself anymore didn’t mean he couldn’t swap or sell her.Prison sucked, but it was also an opportunity to make connections with other scum of the earth.So, that would be my first step— I had to check who he could’ve met in prison who might be connected to human trafficking.
I also needed to look into his previous acquaintances.Just because I wasn’t going on a killing spree didn’t mean I’d let those assholes off the hook.
In cases with kids, most states made the statute of limitation more flexible, giving those children time to grow up and get away from their abusers.Then, they could report them.Of course, that also allowed most of the evidence to get blurred.Still, I’d find a way to get them.
I wanted to ask a hundred things, but I didn’t.I just listened, giving her the space to figure out where she wanted the conversation to go.
Eventually, she changed the topic, talking about her neighborhood instead.The weird old lady who walked her cat in a baby stroller, the corner deli, the time she painted a mural, and someone graffitied a dick on it within twenty-four hours.I let her drop the subject, knowing it would come up again.She’d give me the information I needed in her own time either by saying it or writing it.
The chairs didn’t get any softer, but the air between us did.At one point, our knees bumped, and neither of us moved away.
The hospital intercom blared a code for the ER, reminding both of us that the world outside our table still existed.
“I should let you get back to your sister,” I said, voice softer than I meant.
“Yeah,” she agreed, but didn’t move right away.
“We should go out for lunch soon.I hear you got bagels in this city,” I said.
She glanced up, smirking.“Is that how you get all your witnesses to open up?”
“Only the ones with the good tattoos,” I replied.
She looked at her wrist, then at me.“Guess you’re in luck.”
We both stood, and for a second, it seemed like she was going to say something else.But she just nodded and headed toward the elevator.
I’d learned enough to know what kind of monster we were dealing with.But I also knew Nadya was sitting on something bigger.Something she couldn’t say yet.
