Page 15 of Bonded in Death

When she got off on Homicide, she realized the pissed off hadn’t faded much at all.

She moved through the bullpen and straight into her office. Into the quiet. And went straight for more coffee.

Needed a minute, she admitted. Just a minute.

So she stood by her skinny window, looking out at New York. The sky trams carried the morning commuters to work, the night shift workers home.

Under the streets, the subways did the same. On the street, maxibuses hauled more.

Everyone had somewhere to go, something to do.

Giovanni Rossi had had somewhere to go, and undoubtedly something to do.

Now he didn’t.

Was he dead because of something he’d done, didn’t do? Something he knew, or someone?

Fawn, Hawk, Rabbit.

Wasp.

Who were the other eight, and how the hell did they connect to her?

Turning away, she sat at her desk. She’d get the worst over before setting up her board, opening the murder book.

She’d notify the victim’s wife of nearly fifty years.

In Italy. What the hell time was it in Italy?

Jesus, she hated the whole planet turning on its axis.

“Computer, damn it, what time is it in Rome, Italy?”

The current time in Rome, Italy, is twelve hundred hours and forty-one minutes.

“Great. Ah, Computer, engage translation program, English to Italian for my audio, Italian to English for receiver’s audio.”

Acknowledged… program engaged.

She made the call.

The woman who answered may have been seventy-five by the record, but she wore those decades well. She had sparkling brown eyes in a facewhere the lines and creases somehow added an allure to age. Her hair, a waving mane to her shoulders, wasn’t white, wasn’t gray, but a glorious mix of both.

“Ms. Rossi, I’m Lieutenant Dallas with the New York City Police and Security Department.”

The sparkle in those brown eyes went to full alarm. “Gio! Gio is in New York City!”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m very sorry to inform you that your husband was killed last night.”

“No, no, no. He only arrived last night! He texted me! He’d be sleeping now. He’s to call when he wakes.”

“I’m sorry for your loss, Ms. Rossi. His body was found last night, shortly, I believe, after his arrival in New York.”

“But no. No.” Even as she shook her head, her tears streamed. “My Gio is full of health! An accident?” Her hand pressed to her throat. “There was an accident?”

Eve hedged with the truth. “We haven’t yet determined the cause of death. Ms. Rossi, I know this is a difficult time, but—”

Rage cut through shock like a sword. “You say my Gio is dead, and this is difficult? Where is my husband?” And as grief drenched rage, she began to sob. “Where is my Gio?”

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