Gary Benton, though. He was crass.
She mentally shuddered, just thinking about the man.
The elevator came, interrupting her thoughts, and a few minutes later the three of them headed out to the street.
It was a perfect spring day, and their car was parked just down the street, its official decal protecting it from tickets and tow trucks.
Craig opened the front passenger door for her, but she hesitated. “Mike, you can ride up here. I’ll just be hopping out when we get to my place.”
“I like the backseat,” Mike said, rolling his eyes. “You’ve driven with him, right?”
“You should drive so well, old man,” Craig teased him back.
She didn’t want to make a scene. She just wanted to get home and retire to the comfort and tranquillity of her own bed.
No, forget tranquillity. Her bed would only make her think about the last time she’d slept there.
Maybe she could just nap on the couch.
Craig drove quickly and competently. “Any new insights?” he asked her.
Kieran immediately felt fearful at his words because now she knew Finnegan’s was involved.
But not any member of the Finnegan family!
“I wish,” she murmured. “What about you? Oh, yeah, you can’t tell me or you’d have to kill me.”
“Ongoing investigation,” he said.
“All I know right now is that I’m really tired and that I’m really, really grateful Bobby’s going to be okay.”
Mike leaned forward, his head between Craig’s and Kieran’s. “Bobby say anything to you?”
“Other than that the guy who attacked him seemed to be wearing a vampire cape?” Kieran asked.
“Yes,” Mike said.
She shook her head, feeling as if she was lying when she really wasn’t. She just wasn’t telling them everything, that was all.
“We’re all worried,” she said honestly. “We have diamond buyers and sellers and jewelry store owners as customers.”
“Like Mr. Krakowsky, Gary’s boss,” Craig said.
She nodded. “Like Mr. Krakowsky,” she agreed.
Sunday morning traffic was light. They were at her place in no time. She started to get out of the car, but Craig was there before she could set foot on the sidewalk. She looked up at him as he reached to give her a hand.
She hesitated and then took it.
Mike was out of the car, as well, but only to take the front seat now that she was out of it.
“It’s broad daylight on a Sunday morning,” she said, and managed a rueful smile. “We should be at church. On Sundays Finnegan’s opens with a traditional roast at one, and we only serve a limited menu. We have a lot of good Catholics among our clientele,” she told him. “Of course, this is New York. We also have a rabbi who comes in, and pretty much every other religion, even atheists and—”
“You’re babbling,” Craig interrupted. “Let’s get you up to your apartment.”
Craig didn’t follow her in this time. He was all business, with his sunglasses and FBI-sanctioned suit.
“Lock yourself in,” he said, then waited to be sure she followed his order.
She started to, but he suddenly put a hand on the door, stopping her. “Kieran, call me. Please, call me if you think of anything at all that might be helpful.”
“Of course.”
“And keep your door locked and bolted.”
“I will.”
That time he let her close it, but she knew he was still waiting in the hall as she slid both the bolts.
Then he was gone.
And she was alone.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
SYLVIA MANNERLY WAS almost too easy to read, Craig thought.
She was terrified that her company was going to wind up looking bad, that maybe Maria had been into something illegal, which had led to her death.
But through Ms. Mannerly they’d found another contact—Jilly Bowen, a young woman from the Bronx who had been friends with Maria Antonescu. They hadn’t managed to reach her the night before, and today she seemed scared to be talking with the FBI, but she agreed to meet him and Mike at a coffee shop in the Diamond District.
Jilly was young, only a girl. Maybe nineteen. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life and had started with Clean Cut Office Services right out of high school. “I have the Manning building. No diamonds to steal,” she said. “God! I can’t believe what happened to Maria. She was so nice, and she worked so hard. All she cared about was work and school. Not me. I’m stashing away my savings. I’m going to backpack through Europe before I decide on school or anything else. But Maria...she had a goal. Very little fun. Until...”
Her voice trailed off, and she looked nervously from Mike to Craig.
“Until?” Craig pressed gently.
Jilly let out a sigh. “You can’t tell her aunt!”
“We already know about her secret lover,” Mike said, smiling. “And not to worry. A young woman seeking the companionship of a young man is a pretty natural thing.”
Jilly smiled at that. “Joe,” she said softly.
“You know the guy’s name?” Craig asked, surprised. From the way Alicia Rodriguez had fallen apart, he’d been sure she must have been Maria’s best friend.