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But he held the questions inside. The only information he had a right to was whether the man was a threat to Elijah.
“Is he still a problem? I only ask because you are guarding my son and—”
She held up a hand. “I understand. The man is no longer a problem. He’s dead.”
Kaj’s brows shot up. She’d uttered those last two words in a tone that made it sound as if she was satisfied at the man’s death. There was relief there, too. “How did he die?”
Her lips curved sardonically. “I didn’t do it, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“What happened to him?”
She met his gaze directly. “He must have bothered the wrong person, because he was shot while he slept. I had an airtight alibi. Because I didn’t do it.”
He studied her for a long moment, then decided she was telling the truth. “All right.” He’d investigate her alibi later, because he operated on facts and this was an important one.
“You still want me to guard your son?”
“I think so. Because I think that maybe you wanted to kill the man, too.” There had been too much satisfaction in her declaration of the man’s death. “But you didn’t.”
She blinked. Then nodded. “I did want to, but you’re right. I didn’t. I changed my name and moved across the country to get away from him instead.”
“I see,” he said calmly, even though his internal radar was screaming that this woman had borne something truly terrible. Not my business. Elijah is my concern. “So, back to your brother and Sixth Day. As I recall, Rico Nova is serving a life sentence in Angola for the murder.”
Her smile was grim. “Yes. He pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. It spared my parents having to go through a trial. It won’t bring my brother back, but at least one Sixth Day bastard can’t hurt anyone else.”
“True. Although the case against him seemed a little weak.” He watched her face as he said the words. Her jaw went tight and her eyes flashed in anger, but her reaction didn’t seem aimed at him. “It came down to an anonymous tip called in to 911,” he went on. “Then Nova confessed.”
Her nostrils flared as she suddenly exhaled. He wasn’t sure which part of his sentence she was reacting to—the anonymous tip or Nova’s confession.
“You’re wondering if he was taking the fall for someone else,” she stated flatly. “I wondered that, too. That’s why I know about Dewey Talley and Sixth Day. I wanted to know who else was involved. I wanted to know why Nova killed Van himself instead of relegating it to a flunky. I wanted to know what Van said to make him mad enough to gut him. I wanted to know why Nova toppled like a house of cards at the first visit from the cops. I wanted to know what hole Dewey Talley disappeared into and who helped him hide. So I asked questions and I searched for anyone who’d seen Talley. But I kept hitting brick walls. NOPD either didn’t know anything or they weren’t willing to share. None of his old dealers would talk. A few of them disappeared, too. A few were found dead.”
“A message to the others to keep their mouths shut.”
“Exactly.” She shrugged. “At the end of the day, Nova confessed. He was explicit in every detail in how he killed my brother, and his statement at his plea hearing matched with the ME’s findings. I would have preferred if he’d resisted a plea, or at least if he’d given up who else was involved to get a lighter sentence, but he didn’t. He took one hundred percent of the fall, and now he’s in prison. Forever. That’s good for something.”
Kaj had come to the same conclusion about Rico Nova when he’d read the case file. She appeared to be resigned about Nova’s confession, so it had to have been the tip that made her so angry. “Well, somebody was brave enough to call in that anonymous tip.”
Her eyes flashed again, hotter this time. Angrier. “Sure,” she said bitterly. “Somebody finally found their fucking backbone and did the right thing.”
Ah. This was personal. It was in every nuance of her response. “You know who it was. Who made the call.”
Her nod was clipped. “My sister Sylvi was there that night. She was the reason my brother was there in the first place. Like I said, she’d gone to buy. Van went to stop her. He went inside the café to find her. She saw him go in, but she didn’t try to stop him. She saw Rico Nova toss Van’s body on the sidewalk, but she didn’t try to help him. She ran away. Called 911 eventually—and anonymously—but she ran. She never even tried to save him.”
Kaj could understand her anger, although he could also understand the sister’s actions. She’d just seen her brother’s gutted body and, if she’d been there to buy, had probably been needing a fix. Running away was a human response. Maybe even the wisest response.
But he wasn’t going to express such thoughts. Not my business. Elijah is.
He considered his next question carefully. “What do you want to see happen to Sixth Day? And what are you willing to do toward that end?”
Her shoulders relaxed a fraction. “I’m no vigilante, Mr.Cardozo. But I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want to see them brought down. I wanted to be the one to do it four years ago because I was angry. I got more than a little obsessed with Sixth Day after Van’s death. I’d drive past Rico Nova’s house and watch his family from my car. I questioned every two-bit drug dealer I could find for information on Dewey Talley, because I didn’t believe that Sixth Day was truly defunct—and it seems I was right. Those two-bit dealers did say that he was rumored to have a camp out in the bayou, so I searched for it a time or two. Or fifty.” She lifted a shoulder. “But my common sense finally kicked in, along with the words of a good therapist. At least one of Van’s killers is behind bars. I eventually let Talley and the rest of Sixth Day go. I had to.”
“I understand letting it go,” Kaj said quietly. “Not every case I’ve tried has ended the way I want. If I didn’t let them go, I couldn’t go on to the next, and even more people wouldn’t be getting justice. Sometimes letting go is the best thing you can do. That was then, though. What are you willing to do now?”
“As I said, I’m no vigilante. I’m a private investigator and a bodyguard. If someone comes after Elijah, I will kill them if I must. I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep your son safe. If I find information that leads to Dewey Talley or Sixth Day, I will not go off on my own, gunning for them. I would work with Burke and the others to coordinate a response. I would call in backup. I would never leave your child unprotected.”
Kaj had a lot of experience talking to liars. He wasn’t talking to one now. He believed Val was telling the truth.
He wanted her help. He wanted the benefit of her knowledge and insight into Sixth Day. And if she could help Burke stop the men who’d come for his son, he’d be forever grateful.
