Forgotten in Death(79)

“I must insist on seeing and speaking to him immediately. I’m his family.”

“You can insist, but you won’t see or speak with him. Mr. Tovinski, on record, signed a deal with the prosecutor’s office, by this time will have been arraigned and sentenced and transferred to the prison where he’ll remain, without possibility of parole, for the rest of his life. Times two, consecutive.”

“Under duress a man might agree to anything.”

“The only duress he may have felt came from your direction, Mr. Bardov, and his fear you would take action to punish him for systematically stealing from your construction company, your partners.”

“You expect me to believe that Alexei, a man as close to me as a son, would steal from me?” He waved a hand in the air—a calloused hand, Eve noted. A working hand. “You’re mistaken, and if there is action—legal action—it will be taken against you.”

“I’m assuming a man of your contacts and experience would have verified the facts by now. You trusted him; he betrayed you. And killed to cover it up. He betrayed his wife and stole to keep the other women and children secret.”

She leaned forward a little. “If he’d rolled on you, if he’d given us anything on you, trust me, Mr. Bardov, you’d be in cuffs right now.”

“You’re a bold one,” Bardov stated.

“I’m a cop. We’re the cops that took the man who betrayed you, betrayed his wife, stole from you, stole from your partners, and killed two people so he could keep on doing it.”

“You ask me to believe terrible things about a cherished member of my family.”

“You already believe it. You know it or you wouldn’t be here now. You wanted a last look at him, a last word. You won’t get them. He’s out of your reach—and you’ll find that’s solid truth. We made sure of it because death is too easy. It’s the end. He’s going to pay for a very long time. That’s justice.”

He studied her as he drank more coffee. “Perhaps we view justice differently.”

“No doubt. He refused to implicate you in any crime or illegal activity. Take that for what it’s worth. He worried about the other children and their mothers. How they would get by.”

“The children are family, however they came to be. Their mothers are their mothers. They will be supported properly.”

He paused a moment, frowned into his coffee. “I wasn’t aware before this time he had killed the woman, the homeless woman. You may think what you think, but I don’t approve.”

“What about a young woman, a young pregnant woman at another time, in another place?”

His shoulders drew back, and that cold look in his eyes went fierce. “Are you saying Alexei took such a life? For money? To hide his thievery?”

“Someone did.”

“I?” He tapped a fisted hand to his chest. “A woman with child is sacred. Sacred. For all my many sins, as you would see them, this is one I would never, never commit. The life that holds life? Sacred. What does this have to do with me?”

“Another time, another place,” Eve repeated. “You can waste your time, money, and resources trying to find Tovinski, seeking your sort of justice. Even I don’t know where the cage he’ll stay locked in is, but I do know I’ll hear if he meets a fatal accident, or gets himself shanked. I’ll hear, then, as much as I think he’s scum, he’ll be mine. And I’ll come for you.”

“A bold one,” he repeated.

“He fears you, and that fear will live in him every day, every night. He’ll never stop looking for your revenge. I think that’s plenty of justice, even your kind.”

“You may be right.” He set the coffee aside. “I’m older than I was. I take pleasure in simpler things than I once did. And as the years accumulate, I have less to prove.”

He got to his feet. “Thank you for your time, and a very stimulating conversation.”

“Detective Peabody will escort you out.”

Alone, Eve sat, thought through that stimulating conversation.

She expected Bardov would at least put out feelers to try to find the nephew. He’d do that for form, or from habit. But she doubted he’d expend much time or energy. As he would have if she’d told him his nephew would have rolled on him for immunity.

And he’d told the truth about a woman with child being sacred.

He hadn’t put those bullets in her victim, nor had anyone done so on his orders.

More, he hadn’t known about the body behind the wall.

So until DeWinter came through, she had nothing.





16





As Eve started back to her office, Peabody hurried in her direction.

“Wow. I have to say wow! Maybe Bardov looks like your great-uncle, the friendly librarian, but you know he’s a criminal overlord and you so totally handled him.”

“Did I?”

“Oh yeah, you did. Wait. Wait.” Catching the tone, Peabody snatched at Eve’s arm. “You did. Sure, maybe he’ll do a little poking around to satisfy himself, but he listened to you, Dallas. I watched him listening, taking it in. And maybe it’s not the straight line, but you telling him Tovinski’s going to live a long time not just caged up but living in fear? That hit the right mark with him. Because it’s true, and he knows it. Just like he knows it’s true you’d go after him if he takes Tovinski out.