I smacked into his shoulder as I passed him. He reached out and wrapped his fingers around my arm, jerking me back.
“Hold on just a minute.”
I wrestled free from his grip and kept on walking. “No. No more free passes and no more lies.”
I’d walked about five feet before he chased after me.
“Where did you find this photo?” he demanded.
“You seem like the guy with all the answers. Figure it out.”
“What’s your problem?”
I spun around. “What’smyproblem? You’re the one playing games. Giovanni’s life is on the line, if he’s even still alive at this point. Who are you protecting? Yourself?”
He went silent.
“That’s it, isn’t it? Why was Giovanni targeted? Was it over somethinghedid, or somethingyoudid?”
He stared at the pavement, huffing like a bull ready to charge.
“We’re done here,” I said.
He sighed. “There was a woman.”
“What woman?”
“Bette Ashton. She worked for Giovanni, kept his books.”
“Books for what, his loan-shark business?”
Falcon nodded. “A few months ago he asked me to fire her.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t tell me, and I didn’t ask.”
My cell phone vibrated inside of my pocket. Thinking it might be Daniela, I pulled it out. It wasn’t her though. It was a blocked call. I pressed the phone to my ear and held a finger in the air, motioning to Falcon to wait.
“Hello?”
“Tell him to stop lying,” a man uttered into the phone.
“Who is this?” I asked. “How did you get my number?”
“Tell him, and I’ll tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“What you want to know.”
Fine.
I looked at Falcon. “Stop lying to me.”
Falcon raised a brow. “Who’s on the phone?”
“I don’t know.”