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“A giraffe?”
Negative.
“How about a penguin?” Kaylin had always loved penguins. “Or a clown?” Actually, that one appeared somewhat demonic. No wonder the child looked concerned. “A bumblebee?”
“Cat! Cat!”
“I don’t think we have a?—”
“Cat!”
Nico’s fluffy white cat stalked into the room, her tail held high in the air. She’d met Cricket when they arrived home last night, and she hadn’t been impressed. No, she’d hissed, then screeched, then finally jumped on top of a bookshelf in the library and sat there, glaring. The dog seemed more bemused than anything else.
“Matty, shush.” Kaylin turned so the boy could get a better look. “He’s never seen a real cat before. Is she friendly?”
“She doesn’t see many children. I suspect she’ll run if he tries to touch her.”
“What’s her name?”
“Snezhinka.”
“Snowflake?”
So she still remembered some Russian. “That’s right. You’re more of a dog person?”
“You mean Cricket? I just…I just wanted a friend. He was left in a box by the dumpster one night when he was a puppy. Cesare told Serge to put him in a bucket of water, but I begged to keep him, and he said I could.” Her lip quivered. “I was real surprised, but I guess I shouldn’t have been.”
“Why?”
“Cesare was all about control, and Cricket was another bargaining chip. Step out of line, and the dog gets it, that sort of thing. One time…” A sniffle. “One time, Cesare threatened to throw him off the roof terrace.”
“You have no idea how sorry I am that I didn’t find you sooner. The first investigator I hired came highly recommended, and he certainly put in the hours, but he was looking in the wrong place. He tried to track you forward from Manassas.”
“That was the worst night of my life.”
Kaylin shuddered, and her grip on Matteo loosened. Nico leapt forward to help and found himself holding the boy. First time for everything. He looked at Matty, and Matty looked at him.
“Dada?”
“Hell no. Heck. I meant heck. Can you say ‘heck’ around a two-year-old?”
“Cesare said a lot worse. Matty’s third word was f-u-c-k.”
“I’ll try to watch my mouth.” Nico looked down at the boy. “I’m not your dada.”
Kaylin gave a nervous laugh. “I guess you both have that tall, dark, and dangerous vibe. Here, I can take him back. Sorry about…you know. I just hate thinking of it.”
“I need to hear the truth about what happened that night, Kaylin.”
She cast her gaze to the floor. “I didn’t kill that officer.”
“I never suspected for a moment that you did, but unfortunately, the authorities think otherwise.”
“Cat?” Matteo asked again, just as there was a knock on the front door. Kaylin jumped out of her skin.
“Relax. It’s probably the staff with Cricket.”
“In my world, a knock at the door is never a good thing.”
