Forgotten in Death(75)

“You would let them do this to me?”

“I will speak with my client alone, please.”

“No, no, no. You think I can’t see? You think I don’t know? You’re not my lawyer now. Get out. Get out.”

“We’ll talk. Alone.”

“No. You don’t stand for me. You don’t represent me. He’s not my lawyer now,” he said to Eve. “He must leave.”

“Sir, Mr. Tovinski has terminated your services, on record. This is his right. I have to ask you to leave the room.”

“This is a mistake, Alexei. Take some time,” he said as he rose. “Tell them you want time to think, to calm. Do this for yourself. If you contact me, I’ll come back.”

“Former counsel for Alexei Tovinski exiting Interview. Mr. Tovinski, do you wish to contact different counsel at this time?”

He leaned forward. “We will make a deal. I want a deal.”

“Are you waiving your right to legal representation at this time?”

“Fuck the lawyers. We will make a deal. And you will be head of the whole police with what I give you with this deal.”

“Well, wow. You must have something really big to offer.”

Eve glanced over as Reo came into the room. “And here’s handy Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Cher Reo entering Interview. Reo, Tovinski wants to play Let’s Make a Deal.”

Reo sat, set her briefcase aside. And smiled. “All right, Mr. Tovinski, let’s play.”





15





“I can offer you anything you could want.”

As if fascinated, Reo propped her chin on her fist. “You’re going to offer me a villa in Sorrento?”

His lip curled. “You think this is a joke? What I have in here?” He tapped his temple. “With this, you could buy a dozen villas. Now you’re only an assistant, but with what I can give comes power, and with power comes money and fame.”

He shifted to Peabody. “A young, pretty woman such as yourself has dreams. I can help you reach them. You’re three attractive women. You want more than to work all day, every day, taking orders from someone else.”

“Goodness, it’s like he can see inside our souls.” Reo tossed her hair. “Or, no, that’s not it, is it, Dallas?”

“No. More like a mirror. Is that how this started, Tovinski? You got tired of taking orders from Uncle Yuri?”

“You don’t make the deals.” Dismissing Eve, he turned his body toward Reo. “You do. I can give you Yuri Bardov. Think of that.”

“Okay, I’m thinking of it. And what do you want in return?”

“I want immunity, full immunity. And I want—”

“No. Do you have a second option?”

“You think we’ll play games here?” Voice rising, he banged his fist on the table. “You’ll give me what I want, and I’ll give you enough for you to take down my uncle and his organization. You’re an underling. Your boss will want this.”

“The prosecutor’s office isn’t much interested in Yuri Bardov at this time. While we believe he’s a very bad actor, his influence and activities have waned, considerably, over the last several years. He’s an old mobster, Mr. Tovinski, who’s been more interested in his gardens and fruit trees than expanding his network for quite some time now. We prefer leaving him to the feds.”

“Must’ve been frustrating for you,” Eve said. “Always believing you’d inherit this wide, organized criminal enterprise, only to find your uncle slowly getting out of the game. Why take orders from an old man when you could pay him lip service and steal from him?”

“Add the women,” Reo put in.

“Oh yeah, the women. Yuri Bardov once may have been a criminal kingpin, but he’s remained married—and faithful, according to all agency reports—to his Marta for nearly sixty years. He brought you to America, into his business, treated you like a son because she asked him to. And…”

Eve shuffled through her file until she slid out a media photo of Tovinski’s wife, his aunt, and another woman in formal dress beaming at the camera. “Your wife is the daughter of your aunt’s oldest, closest friend.”

“Cheating, stealing, lying?” Reo sighed, then ticked a finger back and forth in the air. “And against family? Uncle Yuri’s going to be very upset.”

“He knows nothing. He’s become a fool. A weak man who forgets what made him great. But there’s money, much money in what I know.”

Eve glanced at her wrist unit. “By this time, I’m confident in saying he knows everything. Who sent his top mouthpiece to represent you, Alexei? Buy a couple clues.”

“He would be disbarred if—”

“They’ll both deny it,” Reo cut in. “And how are you going to prove Ilyin broke privilege?”

“That’d be a tough one,” Eve agreed. “Especially since you’ll be dead before the sun comes up tomorrow. He may have stepped back, but he’s still Bardov, and you insulted him, betrayed him and your family. You betrayed your wife.”

“You can’t let him have me killed. You must put me in witness protection.”

“You’re not a witness,” Reo reminded him.