Page 47 of Forbidden Whispers

He read on. “With regard to the missing woman, police found incriminating evidence in Ms. Romano’s home, including a partially empty wine bottle laced with arsenic. So far, no charges have been brought against Mr. Riley, but the search for Ms. Romano’s body is a top priority for the Whispering Pines Police Force.”

Noah looked up again. “How did they get access to details about the crime scene? And seriously, why did they have to say ‘body’ and ‘presumed dead’ like that? They’re literally trying to sensationalize it as a murder before anything has even been proven.”

“And is it murder, Mr. Riley?” a low voice hissed.

Noah lowered the paper and they found themselves face to face with Nick and Johnny from the night before. The man named Nick stepped in close and pressed a long blade between Noah’s ribs.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Ms. Milena,” he said without looking at her. “I promise you, this time, I’ll be much quicker with my knife than you are with your cell phone.”

Maggie started to lower her cell phone just as the man named Johnny stepped forward and gripped her upper arm, just as he’d done the night before. He wasn’t much taller than she was and she tried to shake him off, but his fingers were like an immovable vise, digging painfully into her flesh. There was a slight bulge beneath his shirt as he moved, letting Maggie know that he must still have the gun she’d noted at their last encounter.

She glanced quickly up and down the alley they were in. They were a decent distance from the sidewalk, and there were no passersby.

“Move!” Nick ordered, forcing Noah further back into the shadows of the alley.

Johnny dragged Maggie along with them. Maggie observed that Nick was still dressed in the same clothes from the night before. The collar of his shirt was open. She and Noah could more clearly see the tattoo on the side of his neck that they’d noticed in the photographs. It was a series of letters, “OMERTÀ,” and she wondered what it meant.

“Answer my question, Mr. Riley,” Nick said, his voice deceptively calm. “Is it murder?”

“No!” Noah said.

“Then where is Valentina?”

“Just like I told you last night. I don’t know!” Noah said.

Maggie watched as Nick took a deep breath and then cocked his neck at a strange angle, making it crack, his cold blue eyes never wavering from Noah’s face. “Who’s paying you?”

“Nobody! What are you talking about?” Noah was clearly getting angry now.

“Did you really think you could mess with Papa Dom and get away with this?” Johnny asked, glaring at Noah.

“Who is Papa Dom?”

Nick continued to study Noah’s face, saying nothing as several long moments ticked past. Then he smiled. But it was a smile that didn’t touch his eyes. “You know what, Mr. Riley, I think I might actually believe you. I think it’s possible that you really don’t have any idea what I’m talking about.”

“Good,” Noah said. “Because I don’t.”

Nick raised his non-knife-wielding hand and Noah flinched. But Nick only slowly patted the side of Noah’s face. “I’m even starting to think that you may just be an innocent bystander in all of this.”

“Yes! That’s me, an innocent bystander. So, can you please stop terrorizing us like this?”

This time Nick’s smile did touch his eyes as he gave a short laugh. “A polite one, isn’t he, Johnny?”

Johnny made a non-committal grunt.

“Unfortunately, after everything that’s happened so far, letting you go free is not an option,” Nick said in a light, casual tone, like he was discussing the weather. “You both know just a little too much now. And that’s a risk the Partnership isn’t willing to take.” He shook his head. “We’re going to have to remedy that.”

Maggie saw Noah’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed.

“Hey!” came a sharp voice from the entrance to the alley. “What’s going on there?”

Everyone looked to see two little old ladies marching toward them.

“Gretchen, please!” cried one of the women. She was trailing behind the first woman who strode purposefully toward the group. She stood barely five feet tall, but she was built like a small tank. Her short hair was dyed a flat brown color that had been teased and hair sprayed into an immovable helmet on her head.

“Pipe down, Margot,” the woman called Gretchen snapped. She stopped a few feet from them. “What are you doing in this alley?”

“Nothing for you to concern yourself with, Grandma,” Nick said. He’d already snatched the newspaper from Noah’s hand to drape over his knife. “We’re just having a friendly discussion.”

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