Page 13 of Lies like Rubies, Part Two (Savage Jewels)

Adam greeted me in the lobby of his building, clasping my hand, then pulling me in for a one-armed hug, as if we’d known each other for ages. “Any word?”

I shook my head, bemused at the lack of introduction. “Nothing.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Nothing yet, or nothing you’re willing to share?”

“Fucking nothing,” I said, despondent and, ashamed of our ineptitude, furious that we hadn’t found her yet, heartbroken that we were failing her so deeply.

The elevator ride was silent until we arrived at the top, a small lobby area with ornate doors that opened into the restaurant.

“Do you know how I met Sofia?” he asked me as we exited the elevator.

I shook my head, eager for any scrap of insight into Sofia Russo. “She takes Chinese with my younger brother. He doesn’t speak for shit, but she learned her lessons well.”

Why was he telling me this story?

“I thought, once, to date her. She comes alive with Dante, though, like she never did with me. And, I assume, with you and Morelli. She’s going to need allies when we get her back. You can count me as one of them.”

I didn’t miss the “we” in that. She’d been living in one of his apartments for the past few weeks, after all. But Adam had refused to cut off the flow of arms to the Costas, and that meant I couldn’t trust him. Not yet.

“Be careful in there,” he said, opening the door to the restaurant with quietly efficient movements.

Inside the dimly lit restaurant, all the tables had been cleared out except one in the center of the room, where a solitary figure slouched, a hoodie masking their face.

“Sit,” a feminine voice said. “I won’t bite. Hard.”

I dropped into the seat across the table from her, peering into her face, trying to make out her features.

“Don’t bother,” she sneered.

I sat back, bemused. “Why all the melodrama?”

Her melodic laugh startled me. “Cormac and Adam are friends. But Dante Oscuro? He’s an asshole who sells weapons that warlords use to kill children.”

I frowned. “Adam sells arms to gangsters who use his guns to kill children. What’s the difference?”

She laughed again, and I suspected I would like this tiny mystery of a woman, if I ever met her outside of these fraught circumstances.

“I like you, pediatrician.”

“We need your help,” I said, leaning forward, hoping to convince her of my earnestness.

“Sofia Russo’s missing, and you want me to help you find her.”

“Can you? Help us?”Please, I begged silently.Please be able to help us find her.

“How do you know what Sergio’s doing to her?” she asked, surprising me.

“He’s sending videos and text messages to Dante,” Ianswered quickly, firmly. “We haven’t shared that information.”

The woman looked up, and for a moment, the light caught her catlike eyes—she clearly wore contacts to disguise her identity, although the rest of her face was hidden behind a lace mask.

“I won’t share it either. But I need that phone. Cormac’s already shared her last known location.”

“And what do you want in return?”

She pushed a piece of handwritten paper across the table. “These three men are currently in the state penitentiary. When they’re pardoned, I’ll get to work.”

There it was. She didn’t want to talk to me because I was a boy scout. She wanted to talk to me because of who my father was. The irony of being used for my connections while I asked my father to use his wasn’t lost on me.

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