Page 79 of Koroleva

Massimo raised his glass, locking eyes with mine.

"To the women who dare to go after what they want, to my beautiful daughter-in-law, salute!"

"Salute!" I responded without looking away.

32

The port

ALEKSA

We had been at the port gathering information for two hours.

Fortunately, I saw one of our agents in the operation. That would make our task much easier. Andrey was in a foul mood; he hadn’t spoken to me since we got in the car, and if I tried to talk to him, he gave me his total indifference.

When the homicide detective that Romeo had on his payroll saw me, I gestured for him to step away from the others. He responded with a hand signal and a nod that I easily interpreted.

He was asking for five minutes and for me to go to the area with the container boxes, where we would have enough privacy to keep away from prying eyes and ears.

Segarra had been working for us for a couple of years, he never caused any trouble, was a discreet guy who wasn't a blabbermouth, and liked money and the small luxuries that a cop's salary wouldn’t cover.

As soon as we met up, he was nervous. It wasn't usual for us to show up in the middle of a police operation. Normally, we were much more discreet. The problem was that we didn’t have time.

He confronted me, raising his voice over mine. I didn’t like it, I told him to tone it down, but he didn’t, too agitated thinking we could be seen together.

I grabbed him by the lapels and pushed him against the metal sheet of a container, forcing him to calm down. His face turned red and my palms were sweating. I glared at him with annoyance as he squirmed uncomfortably.

Andrey's phone rang, the Russian didn’t intervene for a single moment, it was clear he wanted nothing to do with me or mine. If it had been up to him, he wouldn’t even have come.

He pulled out his phone, answered, and stepped aside leaving us alone. It must have been Koroleva asking him how things were going.

"Let go of me, damn it!" Segarra spat. "I'll lose my job. If they see me with you, I'm finished, they'll know I'm a snitch."

"Because you are one," I growled, "but we're just as interested as you are in not getting caught, so do us a favor and behave."

I clenched my fists and let him go. He shook out the invisible wrinkles my fingers should have left on him.

"Who the hell is that?" He nodded towards the Russian.

"We've adopted him."

"A bit too big, isn't he?"

"We like them big in the organization. Forget about him and tell me what you've got."

"You already know, a dead body and a suicide note. Same as when you called me."

"Does it fit? What did the coroner say?" Segarra shrugged.

"Death by asphyxiation, pending the autopsy. We're waiting for the judge for the removal. Plus, whether it fits or not, the commissioner isn't keen on stirring unnecessary crap. You know him."

"I'm asking for your opinion, not some guy about to retire," I reluctantly reproached.

"It stinks pretty bad. The reasons he gives in the letter are too weak. Though there was a box of pills on the table."

"What pills?"

"Mentium. Ring any bells?" He raised his eyebrows. I muttered under my breath.

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