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I also don’t want to have to face Rafael tonight, with the information about Marco weighing so heavily on me. He’ll know something’s wrong, and I don’t want to lie to him.
I take a quick look around the apartment and shut the door behind me, the bitter trail of betrayal dogging me to Valentina’s door.
62
RAFAEL
“According to Professor Viernery, sometime after Marco’s great-grandfather was charged with war crimes,” Tamar explains to Zé and me, “his children—a boy and a girl—seventeen-year-old-twins, went under the radar to avoid the backlash. They weren’t just shunned by the upper crust, but they were harassed, threatened, and maybe even assaulted. Marco’s grandfather was still a suspect at the time, and he believed that fleeing France, separately, was the only way to protect himself and his sister. They were very close, but he never saw her again after they left Paris.”
I’m willing to be patient because Tamar doesn’t talk to hear herself talk. There must be a point to this family saga, but I’m not seeing it.
“Viernery has interviewed Laurent Benoir, Marco’s grandfather, extensively over the years. He said Benoir is polished on the outside, but that he lived on the streets of Ireland for several years after he left Paris, and did what he had to do to survive. Because of his father’s highly publicized trial, he was forced to remain in hiding, even after the authorities decided not to charge him. Viernery said that he’s still a bit of a pariah and is extremely bitter about losing his sister and social standing in Paris. Benoir believes that life was stolen from him.”
“How does the cousin fit in? Isn’t Marco’s mother an only child?”
“The cousin is the grandchild of Colette Benoir, Laurent’s sister. He and Marco are second cousins. Colette died before her brother found her, but she had two daughters, both with children. Three granddaughters and a grandson.”
“Let me guess. The grandson spent time in France with Laurent too.”
“Yes. He’s the only one from Colette’s family that wanted a relationship with Laurent.”
“Do you think Laurent Benoir is involved?” I ask, racking my brain to remember everything I can about the old man.
“Hard to tell.”
“What if the professor is right, and he’s holding some kind of grudge?” Zé asks.
“And terrorizing Europe is payback,” I add.
Zé peers at me. “They took his sister away from him, and now he’s taking their women and rubbing it in their faces.”
“And earning some cash along the way to make up for everything else that was taken from them—money, valuables, status.” I complete the circle. This is how Zé and I operate best. We see the world similarly—except when it comes to my safety.
“You two have gotten way ahead of yourselves,” Tamar chides. “It’s an interesting theory, but we have no evidence to support it.” Unlike her boyfriend and me, Tamar’s a stickler about tangible evidence.
I suppose someone has to be.
“Well then, find the evidence.”
She huffs. It’s quiet and not at all disrespectful. Zé glances at her, the edge of his mouth twitching, and from the way she glares back, I half expect her to throw up her middle finger at him. He must get his balls busted as much as I do.
“It might be far-fetched, but we can’t discount the grandfather,” I say, mostly for Tamar’s benefit. “Pursue all leads and find out exactly where those three fuckers are so we can keep close tabs on them.”
“You don’t want to pick up Marco?” Zé asks, tugging at his earlobe. He’s jonesing for a piece of him.
Me too.
“Not yet.”
My decision has nothing to do with Valentina’s feelings and everything to do with her long-term safety, and Lexie’s, and the safety of countless other women as well. I want to put an end to this madness once and for all.
If we pick up Marco too soon, everyone else involved will head underground, and the danger will remain, lurking patiently until we’re distracted. Then it will pounce with a vengeance. We need a little more time before we grab that fucker. But when we do, Zé can have a piece of him—a small piece. The rest is mine.
63
LEXIE
Valentina and I spent hours last night hashing out a plan to get Marco to confess, not only to everything he did to her, but to selling information to the traffickers. She was particularly focused on the latter.
