“Do you have an idea which ones?” she asked. “Can you investigate? Can you build a case against them?”
Valerio sighed.
“I’ll try,” he said. “But that will take months—maybe years. I don’t have that kind of time. What I need is leverage on Errichiello—to get him to back off…to keep Gemma and Davide safe.”
There was something frighteningly raw in his usually unshakable demeanor. Valerio had never shared anything so personal, or so difficult.
“What do you need from me?” Nikki asked.
He stared for a long moment.
“You’re not part of the police…no—I don’t mean it like that. I just mean, nobody’s watching you. We know there’s corruption at HQ, and you don’t have the same exposure.”
She nodded. “Tell me what to investigate.”
“I’ve found a link between Errichiello and Silvestri,” Valerio said. “The head of Errichiello’s security team, Ivan. I took a photo at Silvestri’s place. Maurizio tried facial recognition, but he came up empty. Someone must know him.”
He hesitated, searching her face.
“What?” Nikki asked.
“I wouldn’t ask, but I’m running out of time…and I know you know Tito Calandra….”
Nikki had sprung to her feet, chair crashing to the floor, before she registered that she was standing. Her heart raced. A high-pitched ringing in her ears.
She stared at the spot on the tiles where her brother had bled just months ago, begging her to save him and Francesca and the kids.
That had been the only time she’d turned to Tito. She regretted few things more.
Valerio rose slowly and silently, palms out. They locked eyes.
She should say something, but the words caught in her teeth.
When she finally spoke, her voice was shaky and too loud: “He burned down a whole fucking building because I wouldn’t do what he wanted.”
Behind Valerio, the Moka gurgled. He turned to switch off the flame.
A strange detachment settled over Nikki, and violent waves of heat. If it had been anyone else—anyone—she would have made them leave.
But this was Valerio. His comfortable manner and easy competence. There was a sort of unspoken agreement between them to put the friendship first—to never risk their mutual respect and understanding. He’d never pried into her life, never asked anything in return.
But she couldn’t do it. She’d spent years carefully cutting connections with Tito, a painful surgery that required a sacrifice of healthy tissue to completely excise the disease. Now, the infection had returned, and she couldn’t host it. Not even for Valerio.
Yet, he’d been there for her when it mattered. When she was fighting Durant Cole in the darkness of that cave. Against all odds, he’d been there.
“I’m sorry,” she said at last, struggling to meet his gaze. “I want to help…I really do. But not Tito…I can’t. You know that, right?”
He nodded. “I understand. I had to ask.”
He tucked his chair gently into place beneath the table.
“I’ll get going.”
“What will you do?” Nikki asked.
“Ravenna is meeting me after lunch, to take me to Ines. If she’s the woman Maria remembered, maybe she knows more than she’s saying. It’s worth a shot.”
—
