Sejal couldn’t picture Krish’s interrogator of a mother weeping every night, but what did she know?
“I truly am in the dark. My previous associates have abandoned me and embraced new management with a fervor that has broken my heart.”
“So who would know?”
“Cobra’s current leader, of course. The best I can do is tell you where Cobra has been doing business.” A smile touched her lips, like she actually was a normal human, instead of a sociopath who had no conscience and felt no remorse. “There’s a new restaurant in Artesia, right on Pioneer. It’s called Naan Negotiable.It’s a front. Go ask for them there, and you can get all the answers you’re looking for.”
Sejal was going to put that terrible pun aside for a moment. “We’re hours from LA.”
“Then hope there’s no traffic. Maybe they’ll have the answers you seek. I do need something in return for all this information, though.”
There it was. Sejal gritted her teeth. “What?”
Rushali’s expression turned all business. “I want some mackerel.”
“Is that... is that jail talk for money?”
“No, I want you to get me some mackerel. In a tin. It’s good currency in here, and the commissary is often out of it.”
Tinned fish? “Um, okay. If your lead pans out.”
Her mother nodded. “Good. Well, a pleasure to see you both. Hope your brother’s okay, Krish,” her fucking bananas mother said sweetly, and left.
Krish was silent until they got outside. Sejal looked up at him. The sun was high in the sky, and there was a sheen on his skin. “You okay?”
“I didn’t actually think he did it.” Krish stopped at their car and put his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t actually think Avi would take money from a criminal.”
“That’s if we actually believe my mother. She’s a liar, Krish. It could all be a lie.”
He scrubbed his face. “She had no reason to lie about that.”
“Except for the pleasure she gets from lying,” Sejal remarked dryly. “She slit her father’s fucking throat, man. Don’t put stuff past her.”
“I think she was telling the truth.”
Sejal didn’t know why she felt it necessary to defend his foolishbrother, except she hated how upset Krish looked. “Sounds like he didn’t do a lot of corrupt stuff.”
“He did it enough that he was compromised.” Krish tilted his face up to the weak sun. “And he’s the reason you were kidnapped. I mean, both times, I guess. All three times? By your mom, me, and then Alexei.”
“To be fair, you and Alexei were failed kidnappings. Barely rose to the level of abductions, actually.”
“Why are you being kind to him?”
She leaned against the car next to him. “Listen, you were raised with very black-and-white thinking.” She waved at the imposing prison in front of them. “Whereas I was raised with shades-of-gray people. Your brother... he did something bad. But notsobad, you know?”
“You should hate me.”
She considered that. “Do you hate me for being her daughter?”
“Of course not.”
She’d figured as much, but it was nice to have the confirmation again. “Then why would I hate you?”
He rubbed his thumb over a callus on his finger. “Good point. Are you okay? After seeing her?”
“Eh.” Sejal waggled her hand. “I’m not as traumatized as I thought I’d be, for sure. Which is nice. It feels good to have the closure of seeing her one more time where she’s the one that’s in custody and not me.”
“Yes, I imagine it was nice to be able to walk out of there and leave her behind bars.”
