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Before the last words were out of my mouth, his arm was around me, and my anguished heart felt a moment of relief. He left a soft kiss on the side of my cheek.
“I know you are many things, but I didn’t know you were so brave.”
I smiled weakly. “I was brave enough to proposition you.”
He didn’t return the smile. “I’m sorry, Noemi. That will pale in comparison to this.” His lips lingered near my cheek. “Are you ready to begin?”
I took a deep breath and nodded. I wasn’t really and Dante’s attitude made me think this was more than just getting the name of a killer. Was it someone he knew? Someone... like Michael? Oh, God. What if it was Michael? I didn’t know the man very well, but if he hadn’t struck me as being a killer when I first met him, then I couldn’t be surprised to find out that some of his victims were people that I loved.
Dante moved the folder to my lap, and I flinched. He opened it and pointed to a picture on the inside front cover. “Your parents.”
Yes, the picture was of my parents. Dante had known my parents for six years. In true Dante fashion, they weren’t close, but Dante spoke to them, waved at them in the street, nodded when they saw each other over the hedge and through the wrought iron fence Dante installed after the Calegaris moved in. Whenever I went to spend the night at the Calegari home, my mother always asked if Dante or Gabriel would be home. Gabriel was much more familiar with them than Dante had been. He was always so formal, calling my mother Mrs. Petrafuso. I don’t remember if he spoke to my father very much. I think they just did the head not thing.
The picture he showed me was my Mom and Dad at a party somewhere. They were smiling and happy. My Dad had his arm around her shoulders while she smiled up at him. They looked the way I always remembered them.
When I didn’t comment, Dante picked up a stack of pictures that were inside the folder. He set the first one down.
“This is your father. The man he’s having lunch with is Daniel Rubinstein.”
“I know him,” I interjected. “They worked together at the NSA.”
My father had spent years working for the National Security Administration. He rose through the ranks of various administrative positions. I couldn’t really tell you exactly what he did. He never talked about it in specific terms and I was a kid. Jobs were jobs. Did children ever get the details of their parents’ work? I began to think maybe I should have.
The next picture he pulled out was my father, Daniel Rubinstein and a man in a uniform. I took the picture from him to get a better look.
“That’s them with General Bailey.”
“Joint Chief of Staff General Bailey?” I asked.
“Well done. Yes. He is now. At the time, he wasn’t.”
He took a deep breath and I knew the information coming next wasn’t going to be more pictures of people enjoying lunch.
The next picture was the same three men at a pool party. But that picture was different. Next to each man, including my father, sat a pretty, young woman. I couldn’t tell exact ages from the picture, but my first impression was that they were in their twenties.
My stomach curled. One girl was on Daniel Rubinstein’s lap. A pretty blonde sat on General Bailey’s lap, and a cute red headed girl sat close to my father on a lounge chair.
Too close.
I blinked as I studied the picture, wondering what it meant. So many questions erupted in my mind.
“Do you want me to continue?” Dante asked.
I gripped the pillow next to me and nodded.
He showed me a fourth picture. I didn’t recognize that man, but Dante knew him. His voice hardened when he spoke about him.
“This is Phillip McKenzie. Do you know him?”
“No. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before.”
“Good. He’s not the kind of man you want to meet,” Dante bit out. “At least he wasn’t.”
“Why? What happened to him?”
“He’s dead.”
“Oh,” I breathed out. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask, but I had enough to deal with.
