The Darkness of Evil (Karen Vail #7)(88)

“I think he just walked in.” She gestured over Vail’s left shoulder.

“Ladies. Jasmine, good to meet you.”

“Same here.”

Vail saw her eyes flicker wider for a moment. “Down, girl. He’s mine.”

Jasmine giggled. “Lucky woman.”

Robby sorted out the cramped space in front of him. “Would you like something to drink?”

“I would,” Jasmine said, “but I can’t. I need all my faculties.”

Vail waved her off. “You’re here with us. You can relax for an hour, we’ve got your back.”

She sighed. “Karen, that’s the point, isn’t it? I don’t want anyone having my back. I can’t do it that way. I tried that once and—”

The waiter interrupted with a “Welcome,” and proceeded to talk to them about the menu and specials—and then asked if they needed more time.

“We just got here,” Robby said, “so—”

“You asked me to trust you,” Jasmine said. “Will you trust me to pick out the dishes?”

Vail and Robby shared a look. “Okay.”

After asking about dietary limitations and dislikes, Jasmine ordered Calamari Balchao, prepared with Kashmiri chilies; Tawa Baingan, eggplant with spiced potato and peanut sauce; Lamb Kashmiri, set with caramelized onions, ginger, and fennel powder; and a couple sides of chili olive naan.

“You just made me very hungry,” Robby said. “And thirsty. I’ll have a Bengali Tiger IPA.”

“So how’ve you been holding up?” Vail asked as she handed her menu to the waiter.

Jasmine lifted her water glass. “Let me answer that with another question: how close are you to catching him?”

Vail palpated her swollen jaw. “Not close enough.”

“What happened? You said he hit you? If he hit you, you were … with him?”

Vail recounted the events of the day.

Jasmine shook her head. “I’m sorry you got hurt. At least you fared better than his other victims.”

The waiter brought Robby’s beer and told them the appetizers were en route.

“My ordeal aside,” Vail said, “I wanted to ask you about Booker Gaines, your dad’s childhood friend. Know much about him?”

“He’s a bad guy. Lots of run-ins with the law. I didn’t like it when my dad hung out with him.”

“Anything else?”

“They were really good friends. Spent a lot of time together.”

“What did they do when they hung out?”

“What did my father do most of the time when he wasn’t killing people or working? Bars. He spent a lot of time at bars.”

“What kind?”

Jasmine drew her chin back. “What kind of bars? What do you mean? Where they serve alcohol and—”

“Were they gay bars?”

Jasmine’s face stiffened.

Robby glanced at Vail, lifted the beer to his lips, and refrained from interrupting.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” Jasmine said with a laugh. “I just—I just wasn’t expecting that. So you think my father is gay?”

“I know about the incident with Vincent Stuckey when you came home unexpectedly from your soccer tournament.”

The waiter brought the calamari and eggplant with spiced potato and set them in the center of the table.

Jasmine reached for the calamari and put some on her plate.

“Do you remember that? When you came home with—”

“Yes.” She stuck a piece of food into her mouth, as if that would relieve her of the obligation to say anything further.

Vail scooped some eggplant onto her plate to give Jasmine a minute to answer.

“He was gay or bi,” she finally said. “He was married, remember?”

“Yeah. Although there are gay men who marry because they don’t want to come out and it gives them cov—”

“I know,” she said, conceding Vail’s point. “We never talked about that night, about what I saw.”

“Is Booker Gaines also gay?”

“No idea.”

Vail nodded slowly and accepted her answer, moved on. “Is that a sensitive subject for you?”

“My father is a sensitive subject. My childhood is a sensitive subject. I’m sorry I wasn’t completely forthcoming with you earlier. I thought I had a normal father who loved me. No, check that: I thought I had a normal father. Period.” Jasmine took a long drink of water, as if composing her thoughts—or herself. “I could write a book about it,” she said with a derisive chuckle. “Oh wait. I did.”

Vail decided to drop that line of questioning as well. She observed the tension in Jasmine’s face as she brought the glass again to her lips.

The waiter set the remaining plates on the table.

“I think you should consider letting us protect you.”

Jasmine stopped drinking suddenly and set the water down. “He sent me an email, you know.”

Vail threw a glance at Robby. “When? What’d he say?”

Jasmine kept her gaze on the food. “That he was going to make me pay.”

“For turning him in?”

She shrugged. “And for what I wrote in the book, probably. I don’t know. It was just that one sentence. He didn’t sign it, but I knew it was him.”