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Janos had a broad grin. He was displaying the deficiencies in Romanian dentistry. His two front teeth were straight and white. But after that there was almost no pattern to the way his teeth grew, all of them at different angles. It was only now that she realized this was why he smiled with his lips closed most of the time.
Alice said, “What are you grinning about?”
“You can be nice. But right now you don’t want to be subtle. You want to be able to use that garrote on that girl.”
There was no time to play games. “So what if I do? Are you with me on this plan?”
Janos nodded.
“Neither of them have ever seen us. We can walk right into that coffeehouse, sit down right next to them, and they will never know who we are.”
“Until we kill them.”
Alice nodded. “Until we kill them.”
CHAPTER 40
I’LL ADMIT TO being a little surprised that Jennifer Chang made me for a cop so quickly and that she wasn’t going to say anything.
She leveled another glare at me and said, “When do I get to speak to my attorney?”
“You’re not under arrest. I just want to talk to you.”
She immediately started to pack up her iPad and slip it into her purse.
I leaned back in the chair and let her think I didn’t care. Finally I said, “Are you going back to your apartment above the casket warehouse?” That one caught her by surprise. Now she knew I was serious. I had to keep going. “I’m not looking to cause you any grief. I’m just looking for a missing girl. That’s it. I swear to God.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because I’m a good Catholic. My grandfather is even a priest.” I waited. That one usually killed with a slightly older group. I had no idea how millennials viewed Catholicism. They sure didn’t care much about cops one way or the other.
“What’s the name of the girl you’re looking for?”
“Natalie Lunden. I just want to make sure she’s safe.”
“So you’re really not looking to arrest anyone?”
“I didn’t say that. If Natalie is being held somewhere against her will, then whoever took her has to pay the price. As well versed as you are in criminal procedure, you probably understand the street law as well.”
She settled back into her chair. “I haven’t seen Natalie in almost a month.”
“No one has. Her mother’s frantic.” I didn’t know if Jennifer knew who Natalie’s father was.
Jennifer looked around the room quickly. She was suddenly jumpy.
“What’s wrong?”
“Another one of my friends is missing. He’s not answering his phone or anything.”
“What’s his name?”
“Tommy Payne.”
She didn’t know her friend was dead. I wasn’t sure this was the right time to tell her, but I couldn’t build any kind of trust by starting out with a lie.
“I’m afraid your friend Tommy is dead.”
She looked stricken. She choked back some tears and managed to ask me a couple of questions. Just simple ones. The kind a family member of a murder victim usually asks. “How?” “When?” “Are there any suspects?” I answered all of them quickly, and she seemed to handle it reasonably well.
