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She takes her phone back.
How do you know this?
I look at her, but I keep my expression blank. She scowls, but I can’t and won’t tell her that was a piece of information that came out of the guy I basically pulverized. Just as she’s about to type something else, we hear voices again. I recognize Bartlomiej’s now.
“Turns out Cohenour’s attorney is dumping him to represent Scotto.”
Sinead’s hand grips my sleeve. Her expression tells me she’s wondering how they know that. I’d like to know that too. It’s the unknown man who speaks next.
“Nah. I heard she’s still taking him to trial this week. But she’s handing him over if he does anything to force her off the Scotto case.”
I think it’s Jacek who laughs. There’s never any humor in it. It’s more maniacal.
“Is Scotto fucking her yet?”
“I don’t think so. Though I’d tap that ass in a heartbeat. Besides, he’s got his thing. He won’t fuck her.”
It’s my turn to fist Sinead’s sleeve. I shake my head vehemently. I don’t need her thinking I intend to make her a side piece. I don’t need her to know about what I get up to at Cries and Whispers. At least, not yet.
I wish these fuckers would say something that’s actually useful. The longer we’re here the greater the chance we’ll get caught. I’ll end up killing someone right in front of Sinead. It’ll fucking traumatize her and force her to turn me in.
It’s Bartlomiej who gets them back on track.
“So what’s Cohenour’s deal? As far as we know, he’s saying he heard two guys in the garage at the casino. But he also told someone else that one of the guys was his source and flat out told him. He needs to decide what lie he’s going with.”
“He needs to shut his fucking face for good.”
Jacek again. The way he sounds, Cohenour won’t even make it to trial in two days. I wait to see if he orders a hit, but hear nothing except chairs scraping on the floor. We wait, then we hear a door open and muffled voices in the hallway. That got us nowhere.
I put my phone away, and Sinead does the same. We look at each other, things still unresolved between us. But we can’t do anything now. I take her hand and lead her to the restroom door. I ease it open and wait. When I hear and see nothing, I draw her out. When we get to the end of the hallway, she turns to the left when I turn right. I tug her hand. We can’t walk out across the main dining room. I lead her to a back fire door, knowing that it won’t sound an alarm. It’s the door people go through to meet with Bartlomiej. It’s not the one they use. They’re arrogant and use the main door to come and go.
Once we get onto the street, I half steer, half drag Sinead to her car. I look at Afonso, who’s standing between her car and the town car. He nods and gets into the town car’s driver’s seat.
“You’re fucking lucky,piccolina. Did you see them in the dining room?”
“What? No. They were there when we left?”
“Yes. If you’d walked out the way you came in, they would have seen you. They intentionally made it difficult to see the back door from the dining room.”
I cock an eyebrow to make sure she gets my drift.
“What the fuck were you thinking? I warned you away from them. I knew you’d do this, but I want to know why. That’s why I was in the car with Afonso.”
“How’d you know?”
“Because you don’t understand the game you’re trying to enter. What were you thinking? Don’t make me ask a third time.”
“You seem to already know what I was thinking. That’s why you hid, then followed me.”
“Little girl, now is not the time to be stubborn.”
I see her swallow. I relax my expression. I don’t want her scared of me. I want her to have a healthy fear of what she did.
“I wanted to hear what’s really going on. I wanted to know what they wouldn’t tell me in a recorded interview.”
“Sinead, you are not a stupid woman. Far from it.”
“I know. This is probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. This isn’t some book or movie, and if it were, I’d be dead and deserved it.”
