“Don’t answer,” Eli says.
I turn my head right. There he is. Standing by the window, his hands in his pockets. A stranger would think he was calm, but I see the rage burning in his eyes.
“What was January wearing, Adriano?” Eli says.
“When?”
Doc swears.
“When you brought her here to see her Zia. Do you remember anything? Her hair, was it up or down?”
I screw my eyes tight. Picture her beside me in the elevator. “It was… down. And she had your necklace on.”
“Her St. Christopher?” Bobby asks. “She put it on my chain?”
“No. Eli’s necklace. The fancy fuckin’ necklace with all the rubies.”
“Je-sus,” Doc says. “You were gonna let her steal Morelli’s jewelry?”
I shrug and my fractured rib shifts inside me. “Dunno.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Eli says. “This is excellent.”
“Because you have so much money, you can piss away rubies?” Doc asks.
“No.” Eli points to Bobby. “Go into the security program and trace VellutoTaylorTwenty.”
Bobby’s already hammering at the keys. “Passcode?”
“Seventeen-Q-eighty-J-nine hundred and four.”
Bobby gives a sharp laugh. “Got it. Holy shit. There’s audio and visual.”
Doc cackles. “You put a camera on whatever chick wears your necklace? Morelli, you fucking stalker.”
“It’s for security.”
“And knowing she’s not blowing her ex-boyfriend downtown never came into it, I’m sure.” Doc looks over Bobby’s shoulder. “Have you found January? Do we have a location?”
“Hang on.” Bobby types frantically. “Hang the fuck on, we’re almost in.”
I close my eyes. My head is mossy with painkillers. I want to sleep, but powerful things are winding under my thoughts, straining at the flat surface of the medication. Rage. Fear. And something else, something that gnaws like a beast.
I should never have brought the girl here. I betrayed my brothers. I betrayed her. I don’t deserve to live.
I force my eyes open. “I’m getting up. I’ll get her back if it kills me.”
“It’ll just kill you,” Eli says. “Harvey is coming in the chopper. You’re going to Velvet House and awaiting orders. Bobby, what the fuck is happening with the necklace?”
“I’m in.” Bobby pushes back his chair. “No audio but we’ve got visuals. She’s in sunglasses and a hat and… where the fuck is she?”
“Has the limo stopped?” Doc asks. “Is Parker taking her to the airport?”
“No,” Bobby says. “She’s not… I don’t think…” He turns to Eli. “Could Parker have taken the camera out?”
“I doubt it. It’s embedded in one of the rubies.”
“Where is she?” I say, my voice stupidly slurred.
