Lombardo reseats himself, and once the others are all safely gone, I fix him with a look. “You knew my father better than anyone.”
He inclines his head humbly. “I was honored to call him my friend.”
“Did he have a lover?”
There’s something about the cagey look on his face that tells me this could be a profitable avenue. “Your father had many lovers over the years, Don Castellani.”
Evasion. Interesting. I come around from behind the desk and sit on it, smiling down at the old man. “Call me Sandro. We’re in private now.”
He nods. “Sandro.”
“I mean recently. Who was his most recent lover?”
He doesn’t want to tell me. But he’s too smart to lie. “Some girl, an actress, I think. He kept her out in Los Feliz, Silver Lake…somewhere out that way.”
“I never heard her mentioned.” For the first time, I think that Lombardo is considering a lie. “Tell me what you know. I will not be angry.”
“Your father kept the relationship quiet. It had been going on a little while, six, maybe eight months. He allowed her a stipend, and he also made provisions for her—Lina Lamond, her name is—separate to the will. I am the one in charge of that bequest. I had specific instructions, which I will carry out to the best of my ability, but if you want, Sandro, I can show you—”
“No, no.” I wave a hand. “I’m sure my father trusted you with it for good reason. And if she brought joy to him, I want to make sure she’s repaid for her companionship. Send me her address, will you? I’d like to look in on her myself.”
Lombardo looks troubled, but agrees.
What an old fool my father was. First Caroline, Julian’s mother, then all those lookalikes, and finally some talentless girl young enough to be his granddaughter, if I know his tastes.
I will never be like him. I willneverput fleeting desire—not even love—before duty.
Once Lombardo has gone as well, I pull over the landline and take out the old fashioned Filofax my father kept, with the cards and numbers of everyone who is anyone in this city. I’m not looking forward to calling Chuckles Moran, but it has to be done. This is the way the game is played.
They sent their men to kill me. I killed them instead. And now Chuckles and I will both pretend that nothing of the sort ever happened.
After that, I can get back to Teddy. All those useless tips he dug up were not so useless after all. Perhaps he has more to offer.
Unbidden, my imagination provides a raw, unfiltered suggestion of what more Teddy might have to offer. I clench my teeth.
Yes. Whoever it was that sent him, they are very good at their job. But I will not be the kind of man my father was. I’ll use Teddy for his tips and then…
Then I’ll decide what to do with him.
CHAPTER12
TEDDY
I hate these cells.
I thought that when I got down here, perhaps they wouldn’t be as bad as I remembered, that I was just building up the horror in my mind, but they’re worse. They’resomuch worse with the lights on, with Julian prowling in his cell at the end of the room and staring at me, like he’s a lion kept caged and hungry, and I’m his meal for the day, ready to be served up once the lion tamer gets around to it.
“So he fucked you?” Julian asks at last.
“What?”
He stops at the bars, curls his hands around them as he gives me a long up-and-down stare. “You lost your clothes somewhere along the way, Teddy MacCallum.”
“I had a shower. Up there.” But Julian is right; I left my clothes on the floor up there, including my shoes. Wilson actually provided me a pair of slippers, like the kind you get on an airplane or at a day spa, so at least my toes aren’t too chilly.
“Did you convince him that it wasn’t me?”
I kick off the slippers and lie down on the bunk again, pulling the blankets over me. I wish I could just block everything out. “You were wrong,” I say from under the blankets. “He’s not interested in anything I have to say. He just keeps asking who I’m working for.”
