She had a poker face. Not by even an eye flinch did she giveaway that her next words were a lie. “Like I said in the car, my aunt’s dead.”
“She’s not.”
“I don’t know who told you that. She died in Mexico, building a well. Or using a well? I can’t quite recall.”
He shifted. Her flippant tone here was definitely at odds with the aching sorrow he’d heard in the car. Which one was real?
When Sejal had said what she’d said about her aunt being dead, he’d wondered if she was simply covering for her or if she actually knew where Rhea was. He wasn’t sure. She’d sounded genuinely sad over it. “Her death was faked,” Krish said. “She was taken into Witness Protection because she turned witness against Sal Lombardi, a rather dangerous guy.”
“If that’s true, then her whereabouts should be the government’s business, right? Why don’t you call up the marshals?”
That was not the reaction one usually had when told that the death of one’s beloved aunt was faked. “Because the marshals can’t find her, and haven’t been able to find her for years.”
He was watching her so closely that he caught the lift of her eyebrow. That Rhea was in Witness Protection hadn’t surprised Sejal at all. But her being missing had.
“What do you mean?” She straightened up. “How do you know she wasn’t kidnapped or killed by the guy she testified against?” Her voice went up an octave, betraying her actual concern.
“We don’t,” he admitted. “But a day before your mother was found, tied up for the authorities, your aunt escaped her detail and went on the run. Our theory is that she’s the one who handed Rushali to the police.”
“And then what? Risked getting killed by this Sal guy byskipping town?” Sejal shook her head. “She could already be dead, thanks to your colleagues losing her.”
“The risk wouldn’t have been so great if she gathered protection around herself immediately. Cobra should have been dismantled after Rushali’s arrest, but it’s only grown. I think your aunt made sure your mother would get caught, then swiftly took over Cobra, consolidating power under her.”
Sejal was silent for a moment, and her eyes became unfocused as she seemed to mull over his words. When she spoke again, that momentary blip of worry for her aunt was gone, her tone flat and pissed again. “So, again, what do you want from me?”
He’d thought about this question for ages, it felt like, and he’d finally managed to come up with a plan. A madcap, desperate plan. “We have good intel that Cobra is operating out of Los Angeles. I want you to come back with me to find Rhea.”
“And we get to LA, and then what? I wander the streets calling for my aunt?”
“I have the contact information for an attorney there who’s a known associate of Cobra. You’ll set up a meeting.” Krish had considered reaching out to the attorney on his own, but without leverage like the woman’s beloved niece in his possession, that seemed like a surefire way to place a target on his back.
“You think my aunt cares enough about me to come running if I contact her?”
“I know she does. Her assigned marshals reported that her nieces were all the woman talked about.” So much so that the feds had kept surveillance on the younger sister for a year in the hope that Rhea would contact her. “And I can tell, from the way you talked about her, and your worry over her now, that the feeling is mutual.”
“So I’m bait.”
“You’re not bait.”I want you to come with me to Los Angeles so I can use you to convince your aunt to give me information on my brother.Okay, fine, bait.
“Call up the attorney, then. I’d love to talk to my aunt, too.”
“It doesn’t work like that.” He needed as short of a lead time as possible between first contact and getting Rhea out of hiding and face-to-face. He couldn’t risk that Cobra would kill Avi if he shook the hornet’s nest too much. “This has to be in person.”
“You can go fuck yourself,” she said softly. “Even if all of this is true, I’m not helping you arrest my aunt.”
“I don’t want to arrest her. I promise. I only want to talk to her about an ongoing case.” And then, if she still didn’t tell him where his brother was, he’d wrap Rhea up with a bow and deliver her to the first trustworthy law enforcement officer he could find.
Sejal ran her fingers through her short hair. The strands stuck up, revealing the buzzed undercut on one side of her head. “You’ve lied to me over and over again. I don’t believe you. Besides, what are you going to do if I don’t help you? Arrest me? For refusing to be a narc?”
Krish drummed his fingers on his leg. “I could tip the local authorities off to your little shell game at the bar.”
“It’s not a shell game.”
“You stole a man’s Rolex right off his wrist. I’m sure he’s not the first.” Though he hadn’t been close enough to overhear what they were saying, Krish had admired her skills. Nowhere in his brother’s file had it said that Sejal didmagic tricks, of all adorable things.
No! Not adorable.
He’d surmised that Sejal wasn’t as dangerous as the rest of herfamily, but that didn’t make her a good person or anyone that he could trust.
