Page 328 of A Matter of Time

He was doing the dishes since I had cooked, and we were talking about what he’d done for the first two years after he left. It was interesting to hear him talk about going all the way to Colombia and how he had slept in tents, and the conditions the DEA worked under. He had enjoyed it, following the lead as far as it went and busting all the people along the way.

I asked Sam if he ever worried that Dominic would come back to take revenge on him.

“No, love.”

“Why not?”

“It doesn’t work like that.”

Apparently, it wasn’t like the movies; people actually kept really good tabs on you in witness protection, and in Dominic’s case, it was prison for the rest of his life if he ever came near anyone he knew. I asked Sam what he would do if he ever accidentally saw Dominic in an airport somewhere.

“I’d kill him.”

From the flat tone of his voice, it wasn’t a good idea to question him.

“You know, I never got a chance to tell you how sorry I was about Dominic.” I sighed heavily. “I mean, he was your best friend and partner for a long time.”

“One of my best friends,” he agreed. “But not the only one. And keep in mind, he tried to kill me and he tried to kill you, and he hurt you…” He took a settling breath. “And this goes back to what I said a second ago—if I ever get the chance, he’s dead.”

After several minutes of silence, Sam told me he had a question for me.

“Sure. What?”

“Do you know why Dominic shot that guy we found in the body bag?”

“What are you talking about?”

“We found a guy in a body bag when we raided the place where you were held. The ballistics on the gun matched Dom’s, so I know he shot him, but I never could figure out why, and he wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“No?”

“No. He said to ask you. So I’m asking you.”

“Dominic told you to ask me?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded. “That was Marco, right?”

“That’s right, Marco Danov. What happened to him?”

I looked at Sam.

“Somebody broke his nose before they killed him. Did Dominic do that?”

“No.”

“Who did?”

“I did. I broke his nose.”

“You did?”

“Yeah He tried to…” I stared at Sam until he got it.

“But he didn’t? He didn’t hurt you?”

Neither of us wanted to be reminded of what the word “hurt” entailed. Better to leave it alone.