“I’m not going to take much of your time,” Joe said. “This city has been on a spree lately. Crime is up exponentially, and there aren’t enough of us to keep up. Luci told you why I’m here?”
“Yeah. Kirill Balabanov was found dead without a heart. In its place, a picture of mine was left.”Don’t look at Nazzareno. Don’t look at Nazzareno.I could feel his eyes urging me to, but if I did, Joe would know the truth.
Joe nodded. “Where were you—?” He thought for a second and gave me the date and time.
“Easy. I was either in Italy, or traveling to Kentucky, in America.”
Joe grinned. “I know where it’s at, smart—”
“Just being sure!” I shouted before he could call me a smart ass. Nazzareno would find it disrespectful.
Joe turned his head some and gave me a blank look.
“Part of mymetime was curbing the cursing. It’s sort of like drinking, right? Once you quit, you leave it completely alone.”
“Sure.” Joe shrugged. “Whatever you’re comfortable with. You’re sure your dates and time match up?”
“Completely certain.”
“Why Kentucky?”
I sighed, knowing he was going to ask but dreading it. “I went to see Janis Hickey.”
“Who’s that? A friend? Can she collaborate your story?”
“No. She’s not a friend. She’s no one really. But if you must know specifics, all she did was rent out an ovary to me and then a uterus. She’s listed on my birth certificate as my mother.”
This time I met Nazzareno’s eyes, and I could see concern in them, but also fire. I’d gone without him.
“I’m not touching that.” Joe lifted his hands. “But for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.”
He sighed. “Do you know anything about what happened to Kirill Balabanov? I know you didn’t do it, even without the time stamps. It doesn’t fit a woman’s crime. It also doesn’t fit you. There’s no motive. If anything, the family was sending a message not to fuck with you. You and Balabanov were close.”
“I haven’t seen Kirill in months.”
“All right.” He stood and held his hand out to me.
We shook, and I knew. He wouldn’t be sending me flowers. We’d be strangers in a year or two.
“Thank you for your time, Ava,” he whispered. “You were always in the right place at the right time, according to you.”
I met Nazzareno’s eyes.“Stillaccording to me.”
Joe turned and nodded at Nazzareno. Nazzareno returned it.
“You know,” Joe said, looking between us, “I get it. Why you fell for this guy. He looks like a Fausti. Like the man in the picture on Edna’s wall. Marzio.”
“Yeah.” I smiled. “He does.”
Nazzareno set his hand on my neck, and we walked Joe to the door. He didn’t look back as he mixed in with the hustle and bustle of Vice, but then he stopped, and the crowd broke around him.
He stood there for a second.
A second later, he spun around and looked at us.
Nazzareno nodded at him before he shut the door, locking it. He was confirming what Joe had just figured out.
