Page 40 of So Smitten

“But you know the name,” Faith said.

“Yes, I…” Laura sighed and took a deep drag on her cigarette. “I…” she sighed. “Okay, I lied earlier when I said that I hadn’t seen Bobby in years. I…” she slumped. “I went over last month.”

“Why?”

She met Faith’s eyes and said, “Well, it turns out that finding men who do passably well in bed is not as easy as you’d think.”

“So you went over for sex?”

Laura lifted her hand and let it drop. “Yeah. It had been nine months since I… well, you don’t need the gruesome details. Yes, I called him and asked him if he wanted to get laid. I don’t know that a man’s ever lived who’s answered no to that question. So I went over, we…” she shrugged bitterly. “…did it, and while I was lying in bed after, I overheard him on the phone with a man named Roman Kerry.”

“What did you hear?”

“Not much. Bobby just kept reassuring him that he would fix it. He didn’t need to send anyone over, Bobby would take care of it.”

“Did you ask him what he meant by that?”

She shook her head. “I asked him who was on the phone, and he just said he had made some powerful new friends who needed a favor from him.”

“You didn’t ask who his powerful new friends might be?”

“Hell no. I went home as soon as I could.”

“So you never saw Roman Kerry personally.”

“No, and I don’t want to.” She took another drag and said, “Look, agent, Bobby was many things, but he wasn’t a coward. So when I tell you that he looked pale as a ghost after talking to Roman, you know I mean something serious.”

“Very serious,” Faith said, “Roman Kerry is a high-ranking member of the Georgia Syndicate.”

“Is that like the mob?”

“More or less,” Faith confirmed.

Laura scoffed and shook her head. “Figures. Of course, Bobby would do something stupid like that. Well, I'm glad that's the last time I saw him." She shook her head again. "That stupid son of a bitch."

“And you never talked to him in any way?”

“I keep saying no,” Laura replied, “and you keep asking. That means you don’t believe me. Why?”

“I don’t disbelieve you,” Faith said, “but I have Roman Kerry in custody, and I will be asking him if he knows you.”

Laura paled. “I don’t suppose you could avoid that?” she said, “I really don’t know him, and I don’t want a target on my back.”

“If you have a target on your back,” Faith said, “it won’t have anything to do with Roman.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Roman Kerry rubbed sleep from his eyes as he sat down in the chair across from the officers. Two armed officers stood behind him in case he decided to get stupid. “Well, look who came to visit,” he said groggily. “Did you miss me?”

“Laura Evans,” Faith said.

“What?”

“You might know her as Laura Hagerty?”

“Except I don’t. Who is Laura Hagerty?”

“The ex-wife of Robert Evans.”

---