Page 106 of Past Due

She gave him a look. “They arrested her boyfriend yesterday. She flooded the station with a dozen of the most expensive defense attorneys in the city and threw an absolute shit fit until he was released.”

“Oh. Right.” Detective Kermally cleared his throat. “As long as the car has been in her garage for the entire time and wasn’t at the scene of the crime, we’ll leave it alone for now.”

After I submitted to the cheek swab, they took my fingerprints and let us leave with instructions to stay in the city. As if either of us wanted to travel again after our marathon trip home!

We left the police station hand in hand and walked through the late-night drizzle to Besian’s car. Neither of us said a word as we took our seats or when we drove away from the station. It wasn’t until he pulled into a Whataburger that we finally spoke.

“I’m not hungry,” I said quietly.

“You need to eat.”

I acquiesced with a nod and told him what I wanted. He surprised me by ordering the same thing. As we waited at the drive-thru window, he reached for my hand. After a moment, he said, “Back in Tirana, do you remember when I told you Luka had a problem that I was going to handle?”

“Yes.”

“That problem was crypto related. A scam,” he said tiredly, “and not a good one, but that’s not the point.”

“What is?”

He grunted with annoyance as our order was ready and handed over to him. I took it from him, and he drove around the building to the mostly empty parking lot. He found a spot and left the car idling, the windshield wipers sliding back and forth like a metronome.

“Tell me,” I urged, wanting to get whatever horrible thing needed to be said out. “Whatever it is, just tell me.”

“The morning we got engaged, before we drove down to Tirana, Luka received a package. It had photos of Rina and you in it.”

“Me?” Cold dread gripped my heart.

“Photos of you from before I came to Albania,” he explained. “Photos of you asleep in the hostel in Shkodër.”

“What?” My heart jumped into my throat. “Someone took photos of me sleeping?”

“Yes. They were very close to you. Too close,” he said and rubbed his forehead. “I couldn’t figure out why they were following you even before I came and asked you to marry me. It didn’t make sense. We hadn’t ever been together. We weren’t romantically involved. So—why you?”

“And now? Have you figured it out?”

“When you said your mother used your photos to catfish men online, it clicked. Your mother must have used your photos to meet someone from Eastern Europe—”

“Oh my God!” I interrupted loudly as the pieces fell into place. “Back when I was in the hospital, right after my procedure, Mom and Spider were arguing. I was coming out of anesthesia so I pretended I was asleep because I couldn’t handle the fighting. Mom said she was in a long-distance relationship with a Romanian man named Adrian. She said he was a crypto entrepreneur!”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes. Absolutely. That’s what she said.”

He stared out the windshield. “I have to talk to Luka and Zec. Have them rundown that name. See if there’s a connection between Adrian and the crypto scam that Luka bungled.”

“How did he bungle it?”

“He lost the crypto. All of it. Millions of US dollars worth of it.”

“Besian,” I said, gripping his arm, “what if they think I have the crypto? What if they think we are running a scam on your family? What if that’s why there’s a hit out on me? What if it’s not about Spider at all?”

Besian cupped my face in both hands. He peered into my eyes and swore, “No one is going to touch you. Whatever it takes, I will fix this.”

“B,” I whispered and kissed him. “I’m scared.”

“Good,” he answered roughly. “If you’re scared, you’ll be more cautious. Until we get this worked out, I don’t want you out of my sight.”

“Not a problem,” I promised, not the least bit interested in getting even five feet away from him.

Besian kissed me again, his lips lingering on mine. When he broke away, he gestured to the orange and white striped bag on my lap. “Eat your fries before they get cold.” He eyed the bag and grimaced. “Just don’t get ketchup on my upholstery.”

Considering how immaculately clean his car was, I suspected I might be the first and only person he had ever allowed to have so much as a sip or nibble in this car. Deciding to take his one stipulation as a sign of his trust, I patted his hand as he pulled out of the parking space. “Yes, dear.”

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