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The server nodded, not quite sure of him—probably his size since she was petite. Her gaze scanned the emblem on his black T-shirt and the badge on his belt, along with everything else he had clipped there. Finally, she walked away.
He spotted Blake and Jasper, who had gone right to a two-top at the bar so they could get waited on by Blake’s sister. They’d processed Morgan Alakov through to holding, so he could get transferred to the county jail and walked Karina through her statement. After he’d written up his report, he’d suggested lunch. Mainly to check in with this woman.
At the station across the street, he’d grilled her on the reason she’d been in that car this morning. Now that they were at Backdraft Bar and Grill, the franchise Liam’s brother ran here in Benson, he needed to ask her not just why, but dig and figure out where her head was at since her sister’s death.
He left the menu alone because he could practically recite it at this point. “I figured you’d be at your new job since it’s a Monday.”
She didn’t meet his gaze, just stared at the menu in her hands. “It didn’t work out. I’m looking again.”
And meanwhile, making poor choices about who to spend time with. “How’d you really meet Alakov?”
Liam and his team had arrested Morgan’s brother, Sergei Alakov, a few months ago, but the guy had lawyered up right away and said nothing about who he worked for.
Then another man with ties to the Russians had been killed in the police station a few days later.
Since then, everyone they brought in refused to talk even though the likelihood of it happening again wasn’t high. Nico Obolensky had stolen a uniform, snuck in, and killed the guy they had in custody. But he’d met his end in death. His brother Raphi was the real problem at this point.
“Do you know Raphi Obolensky?”
“I thought this was lunch, not work.” She ran a finger down the menu. “I think I’ll have chicken Caesar salad.”
Liam said, “It’s not about work.”
“But you’re gonna use me to get information.” She let go of the menu, and it flopped to the table. “Like my sister?”
Liam pressed his lips together.
“I know what happened to Veronika wasn’t your fault. But she was working for you.”
“She only told me what she wanted to. I never asked her to put herself in danger.” Out of the corner of his eye, Liam spotted his brother, Conrad, exiting the kitchen, looking for him. He lifted one finger so his younger brother held off. “You know how sorry I am that someone took her life.”
“They left her in a pool of blood in her living room.”
Liam had been there through the investigation and evidence collection, and then he helped follow up on leads in the weeks after. A lot of the lab results were still out, but as far as the detective was concerned, the case may as well be cold.
It had been stuffed into a drawer with a calendar notification on the detective’s computer to look over the case once a month until it got even colder. Then it would switch to every few months or even a year out. All in the hopes that revisiting everything would jog something loose.
Was the detective not convinced the results would yield a lead, or had he been coerced into giving it minimal effort?
Liam swallowed. “I’ll follow up with the lab again, see if they will have results on anything soon.”
Karina shifted in her seat.
Liam caught a note of nervousness. Where had that come from? Maybe she was protecting her boyfriend. Had Morgan Alakov murdered Veronika? Of course, Karina might not be spending time with him if that were the case, but he’d seen stranger things in his career.
The server took their order. He told her to tell his brother that he’d come find him after he’d eaten. Right now, he needed to dig a little more with Karina.
“How’d you get hooked up with Morgan?” She’d told them in her statement that she’d only met him recently and he had been driving her home after they spent the night together. Not good, considering Alakov’s connection to dangerous criminals. “He’s not a nice guy.”
Liam couldn’t tell her the information contained within the warrant or what he knew about Morgan’s criminal history. But as her friend, he could warn her about the guy.
Karina made a face. “I don’t need your help choosing friends, okay? I don’t even know why I came to lunch since you’re just going to give me a hard time about what I’m doing. My sister is dead. I have no family left, and you’re not the one that’s going to fill that gap. Okay? I don’t need a brother. Or a babysitter.”
Her gaze drifted to the room behind him. “That girl looks like she’s more your speed. And she knows your friends. Go talk to her and leave me alone.” She started to shift out of the seat, leaving her soda behind.
The server approached them with a tray of their food.
Liam reached out and touched Karina’s arm. “At least take advantage of the fact I’m paying the bill and eat lunch.” He gave her arm a gentle squeeze and then let go. If she stayed, it would be because it was her choice. Karina had lost weight since her sister’s death, but he’d never seen any signs of drug use on her.
