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Our conversation from the zoo bobbed to the surface of my brain. “What was the Russian military doing in Poland?”
“For your safety, that is one of those things I cannot tell you.”
“When you said that before, I thought you meant about mob stuff. You meant you can’t tell me about what you did in the military?”
“No.” He took a bite of his cabbage and that was that, I guess. Come to think of it, he’d been pretty fucking open about what he did for Sergei, what with all of the murdering and torturing.
“You said you stole documents…” I ventured, treading carefully and watching his face for any changes. “Are those people still looking for those documents?”
He set his fork down and looked up at me, his face calm but no longer serene. There was a tightness around the edges, more visible in the way the muscles in his neck constricted. “There is a chance that one day they will find me.”
“And then what? They kill you?”
A faint smile crossed his lips, bordering on a wince. “Eventually. But not before they extract information of their own.”
Shifting on my seat, I pulled the business cards out of my back pocket and tossed them on the table next to his forearm. “Those are the ones who came today. The third guy didn’t give me a card. Shepherd is the one who knew you.”
Nudging Riggs’ card out of the way, he picked up Shepherd’s and shook his head. “This man has been after Sergei for years. He approached me when I first came here. He’s nothing to worry about, I assure you.”
“What about Riggs? About the murder? He said they found Nirvana at the scene.”
He smiled at that. “Good.”
“Good?” I blinked. “What do you mean ‘good’?”
“I put it there, so I’m glad they found it.”
“Why would you leave evidence of a motive at the scene?! That’s why they were at Delirium! They’re on to you snuffing out the competitors!”
He took my outburst in stride, as always. “The gun used to shoot Jude belonged to a former Italian capo. Once they get ballistics back, they’ll see it’s linked to the Marchese family. The plan is that they will assume the Italians are trying to reestablish themselves after they were nearly wiped out a little while ago. Without resources, stealing from your competitor is an easy way to get back in the game. It doesn’t eliminate us from suspicion but it muddies the waters, which is all you need when it comes to cases like this.”
“Oh.” I leaned back in my chair. “That’s… good.”
“As I said. Good,” he replied with another smile. “Now do you feel better?”
“Yeah. Except for the part about Nirvana. Did you find what you’re looking for?” I swallowed thickly, waiting for him to speak. He took his sweet ass time, his blue eyes burning into mine but not revealing a single thought going through his head.
“Not yet. But I will.”
“What if you never find the people in charge?”
“I will. It’s only a matter of time.”
I almost blurted everything out right then but I bit my tongue, reminding myself nothing good would come from telling him the truth. He’d only get hurt and he didn’t deserve that.
“You could always save me the trouble,” he said, practically reading my mind.
“Foryoursafety, I’m not going to,” I shot back. Two could play that game.
He set his fork down again and propped his elbows on the table, lacing his fingers together and bending his head slightly, like he was in prayer—or holding himself back from murdering me. Opening his eyes, he pushed back from the table, mirroring my reclined position, except for one finger which tapped the tabletop methodically. “Do you say this to be difficult or because you have a real fear of these people?”
My jaw shifted and I shook my head, regretting asking him anything about that fucking drug. I should have known that he wouldn’t let it go and by expressing any sort of interest, all I’d done was open the door to a conversation I didnotwant to have.
“There are five basic human motivations,” he continued, fixing me with another long look and holding up a finger for each point. “One, your physiological needs are met. You get no love or friendship from drug dealers, nor any sense of pride. Now we’re at three. Without the others, you’re not going to be concerned with personal development. Four. What is left? Hmm? The search for safety is what drives you, Marek. You refuse to cooperate because you are afraid of somethingor someone. So what are you afraid of?”
Goddamn, he was too smart sometimes. Right or not, I wasn’t going to cave that easily. I couldn’t. I couldn’t even give him a crumb because he wouldn’t be happy until he had the whole damn cookie.
“Since when did you study psychology?” I gave him a scathing smile, hoping he’d drop it if I got mad enough.
