Page 10 of Deadly Sins: Greed

He extended a hand, curling his fingers back toward himself. “Give me the phone.”

“No.”

I slid my hand inside my jeans and drew my gun, aiming it at his chest.

“What the hell?” Falcon asked. “It’s freakin’ broad daylight. Put it away.”

He was right. Itwasdaylight, and we were in a public parking lot where anyone could see what I was doing. I should have cared, but no one was around, so I didn’t. “I want the truth, Falcon. Now.”

He waved his hands in the air. “All right, all right. Geez. Bette was stealing from Giovanni. Skimming money. A little here, a little there. Not too much, just enough so he wouldn’t notice. But over time all those little amounts added up to one big one, and Giovanni became suspicious. He asked me to look into it, and I discovered what she’d been doing. At first he didn’t believe me when I told him. When it finally sank in, he was devastated. She’d worked for his family for fifteen years.”

“What did she say when you confronted her?”

“She said exactly what I thought she’d say. She was innocent. It wasn’t her.”

“Ask him where Bette is now,” the caller said.

“Where’s Bette?”

Falcon rubbed his hands together.

“Where is she, Falcon?” I pressed.

“She’s dead.”

“Now ask him how she died,” the man said.

“How did she die?” I asked.

“Suicide,” Falcon said.

“How long ago?”

“Three days after she was fired.”

“How do you know it was suicide?” I asked.

“Good question,” the caller said. “You’re finally starting to think like the private investigator you are.”

I was irritated with the man, irritated with Falcon, and tired of being played a fool, like a girl who wasn’t worthy enough to know anything. Part of me wanted to hang up on the guy. The other part was curious, too curious, about what he might say next.

“She overdosed on pills one night,” Falcon said. “Her son found her two days later, dead on the bathroom floor. When Giovanni heard the news, he was beside himself. He paid for everything, all of the funeral expenses.”

It should have made sense, but his story was still lacking somehow. Even so, I lowered my gun, keeping it in my hand, but at my side.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” I asked.

“Giovanni asked me to keep the truth about Bette to myself.”

“Why?”

“Bette and Daniela were close. He feared the truth about his part in her death would devastate her.”

The man on the phone had gone quiet now, leaving me unsure as to whether he still remained on the line. I glanced at the phone, noticed the call was still engaged. He hadn’t hung up.

“You’re an idiot to keep this to yourself after all that’s happened,” I said. “You’ve wasted precious time.”

Falcon swung for the cell phone and missed, and now I wasn’t just irritated—I was angry.

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