“Not that I know these things, but in this day and time I can imagine that anybody can fake a tag.”
“But why would they?” asked Roz.
“To get you off of whatever scent you’re apparently on perhaps? But it has nothing to do with me. My car is and has always been in the garage of this apartment building.”
“Do you know Datvey Gagarin?” Mick asked him.
“Ah,” said Kelly. “Now him I know, yes.”
This interested all of them. “What is he to you?” Mick asked.
“When I first started out, he was a financial backer.”
“Could he have stolen your plate?” Roz asked.
“My license plate has not been stolen.”
To prove it, Kelly pulled out his own phone, pulled up a live feed of the garage where his car was housed, and there it was. With its tag intact. And unlike the Ferrari at Mick’s hotel, his Ferrari did indeed have black trim.
“Now will you tell me what this is about?” Kelly asked.
“Where can we find Gagarin?” Mick asked.
“Usually at his club.”
“Where’s his club?” Nikki asked.
“In the Bronx.”
Mick frowned. “Why would a Russian Oligarch own a club in the Bronx?”
“Because he undoubtedly views it as a place where nobody cares. Nobody asks questions. Officials are prime for bribes. Many reasons.”
“What’s the name of the club?”
“Kakaya Raznitsa. Which is Russian, as I understand, for who cares.”
Teddy looked at Monk and shook his head. He had to be kidding them.
“I kid you not,” said Kelly the director, a man that understood nonverbal cues better than most. “But everybody simply calls the place The Kakaya.”
Mick was inwardly shaking his head too. Bella sure could pick’em!
“Would this Gagarin person have anything against you, Kelly?” Roz asked him.
“Sure he does.”
Again, they all were interested. “What?” Mick asked.
“The last play I directed, he managed to get his girlfriend a small role. I fired her and he didn’t approve. He probably knew I was directing Roz this time around. He wanted to inject me into his mess. I’m no expert, but that’s what it sounds like to me.”
“Let’s go,” Mick said as they all began leaving.
“Roz?”
Roz turned to Kelly. Mick turned too.
“You okay?”
