‘I don’t have a favorite.’
‘You look like a Glenfiddich girl to me.’
‘That is what?’
‘Whisky.’
I cross my arms. ‘I have never tried it.’
‘And after I have introduced you to the delights of a fine whisky, then I want to offer you a job.’
‘I am in Australia under a false name, I don’t have a work permit, nice man. Sorry.’
‘You don’t need a work permit. If I could find you, so can Zviman. And with a million dollars on that lovely pixie head of yours, it’s only a matter of time.’ He leans forward. ‘We can hide your aunt and uncle better than you ever could. We can hide you. But I think you might go mad sitting around and reflecting about what happened to Nelly. You saved so many lives, Mila. You did good. You could do a lot more good. Or you can sit around with your aunt and uncle, watching Aussie TV to teach them English, and knowing that the man who destroyed your sister is still out there and is hunting you down.’ He risks a smile. ‘If you keep moving you’ll be much harder to find.’
‘What I did was crazy.’
‘Decidedly.’
‘I am only crazy when helping my sister.’
‘On Zviman, did you see a tattoo? A sun, in the middle of a nine?’
I close my eyes. Remembering seeing it on Zviman’s arm. ‘Yes. I saw it. It was ugly.’
‘You don’t know how ugly. I think that tattoo is a mark, one that says he owes allegiance to something more than his own criminal ring. Something bigger, badder, than him.’
‘That is not my problem.’
‘No, your problem is that with a million-dollar bounty on your head, you are going to have every scumball hired killer hunting for you. Dozens of them, Mila. I can help you. Hide your family where they will always be safe. But you can’t have a normal life, not until Zviman and his bosses are put down. They won’t let you have a normal life.’
‘Who are you with?’
‘We’re the opposite of Mr Zviman and his friends.’
‘What are you? The police?’
He smiles.
‘The CIA?’
He smiles again, shakes his head.
‘The MI6?’
‘Oh, Mila, those are all so twentieth century.’ He laughs, and I decide I like his smile. ‘The Round Table is so much more. Come to lunch with me. Let’s talk.’
‘What’s your name?’
‘You can call me Jimmy. And I’m going to be your best friend.’ He held out his hand. And I, after a careful moment of consideration, took it.
71
The Last Minute Bar, Manhattan
I closed the file. Then I deleted it.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said to her.
‘I know you are,’ Mila said.
‘Remind me never to anger you.’
‘I have better control of my temper now, Sam. Yoga has worked wonders for me.’
‘Zviman is Nine Suns. That’s why you fight them.’
‘Yes.’
‘And Jimmy brought you into the Round Table, same as you brought me.’
She nodded. ‘Ivan was my first teacher; Jimmy my second. You’ll meet Jimmy one day. You and he will either like each other or kill each other.’ She got up, walked to the window. ‘You can understand my feelings on what you’re going through with your son.’
I stared at her back. ‘That you cannot save them.’
‘An innocent caught up in this world, the odds are not good. And for a while, I thought you were lost to us, Sam. I meant what I said. They can control you forever with Daniel. They tried to control me with Nelly and you see what it got her. Dead. I was going to save her, I had saved her, and I got her killed.’
‘You were alone. We have each other.’
‘I was stupid.’
‘But you had to try, Mila, same as I do. I can no more walk away from Daniel than you could from Nelly.’
‘You misunderstand me.’ She turned back to me, arms crossed. ‘The man that shot Nelly? He wasn’t even a guard at the house. He worked at one of Zviman’s other brothels in Tel Aviv, heard about the shootings at Lucky Strike, came over to see if Zviman was okay. He sees a girl with a gun and he shoots her dead. He was what you call the anomaly that cannot be planned for. But such things always exist, they always come up. The unpredictable is what kills you. If I had been with her instead of stealing his money… if we had just left the moment I had her… she would be alive. But no. I couldn’t just save her. I had to ruin Zviman. Rescue and revenge, no. You cannot do both.’ She swallowed. ‘You want to get Daniel and bring down Nine Suns. You cannot do both.’
‘If I don’t they’ll never let me be. I am going to do both.’
She gave a long sigh. ‘And I thought I could still be your teacher. You know what? They are going to catch me one day. As long as the million is hanging over my head, it will happen, Sam.’ She sounded resigned.
‘Not on my watch.’
‘I might as well help you if you will listen to me.’
‘How?’
‘Zviman had a Nine Suns tattoo on him, although when I saw it I did not know what it is. He is part of it. We must draw in Zviman so he sees Jack is dead. We must convince him Jack is dead without killing Jack.’
‘What about the notebook?’
‘I find it fascinating that you never mentioned this red notebook when we first talked about the ransom.’
‘I didn’t know about it.’
‘But it makes no sense that you kill Jack but leave damaging evidence behind. What if he hid it, then you never knew it was there. You think they would ask you to bring it to them after you kill Jack?’
‘They didn’t ask.’
‘No,’ Mila said, ‘they didn’t ask you.’
I glanced at the bedroom door. ‘Leonie.’
‘Perhaps. Maybe they told her to handle the notebook, same as telling you to handle the kill. Because no way could they trust you with that notebook.’
‘She should have told me.’
‘It is only a theory.’
The bedroom door opened. Leonie stood there. ‘I have an idea on how to find Jack Ming,’ she said.
‘All right,’ I said. ‘We need to talk.’
‘Then it’s her turn to go.’
‘I know I do not have a kidnapped child,’ Mila said, ‘but maybe you let me into your super secret club.’
‘Don’t you dare make a joke.’
‘I wouldn’t. I am helping you. It is decided.’
‘No, it’s not.’
‘Yeah, it is.’ I stood.
‘We’re supposed to work together,’ Leonie said. ‘Just us.’
