"First, they asked if it was mine. I said it was."

"Lying to the cops. I've been a good influence."

"It was hard to do, believe me."

"I'm proud of you. All this time, I thought you were this uptight and upright chick."

"Chick?" She furrowed her forehead. "I had to lie, Jake. Otherwise I couldn't have refused what the cops asked next."

"Permission to look at the phone."

"I declined. Cited Riley versus California."

"That's my girl! Cocounsel, I mean. Jeez, that case came down just in time! Unanimous. All nine justices. Cops need a warrant to search your cell phone."

"Surprising outcome, don't you think?"

"Not at all. The justices don't have bags of cocaine in the trunks of their cars, so the drug seizure cases usually go the government's way. But every justice has a cell phone."

"That is so simplistic."

"Think so? I'll bet Justice Scalia e-mails Justice Thomas the hottest porn sites on the Internet."

I picked up the pink phone, punched the little round button, and the icons came to life. The wallpaper photo was Elena and Nadia in thong bikinis. They were smiling broadly and wearing oversize sunglasses with their undersize swimwear. The smiles were open and seemingly real. They looked so damn happy, and now the photo was indescribably sad.

I put the phone down and said, "Have you looked at the contacts?"

"Those and the recent calls."

"So you have Nadia's number."

She nodded. Almost afraid to say it aloud.

"That's a very tough phone call you're about to make," I said.

"Nadia deserves to know. And needs to know for her own protection."

"Do her this favor. Tell her the feds think she knows all about Benny the Jeweler's diamond-smuggling operation. Benny probably thinks it, too. That's why he hired that jerkoff Manuel Dominguez to find her. If Alex Gorev wasn't behind Elena's killing, Benny was. Make sure she realizes Benny is not her friend, no matter how many diamonds he gave her."

"I will. And no matter what you say, I'm still going to ask her what happened in Nicolai Gorev's office."

"Good luck with that. But if she does talk, be prepared for the worst."

"What do you mean?"

"Emotionally. If it's not what you want to hear. If it's damaging to Steve. Just steel yourself, okay?"

"I'm a big girl, Jake."

Maybe so, I thought, but right now she looked emotionally fragile, and I was worried about her.

"What are you going to do?" Victoria asked.

The truth would be: try to come up with some razzle-dazzle to keep your boyfriend out of prison. But that would be followed by her asking how. And I didn't have an answer just yet. But there was one thing I could do.

"Find Benny the Jeweler."

"How?"

"Same as always. Walk into a china shop and start breaking things."

-35-.

Women and Love Victoria walked several blocks east on Lincoln Road, crossed Collins Avenue, and made her way to the boardwalk that ran parallel to the ocean. She found a quiet alcove with a bench in the shade. Pulling out Elena's cell phone, she knew how hard the next several minutes would be.

A mixture of dark emotions. Grief and guilt and sorrow. But another powerful emotion, too. Her love for Steve. That's what took her to the darkened beach, and that's what propelled her now. There was such a thin thread of hope that he could stay out of prison. Nadia held that thread, but with her own life at risk, how could she be persuaded to help?

"Elena!" Nadia said when she answered the phone.

Victoria took a breath but did not speak.

"Elena?"

Victoria tried. She'd rehearsed it, but no words came.

"Elena, is that you?"

"Nadia. Ms. Delova, this is Victoria Lord. I'm-"

"I know who you are. Where is Elena?"

The beginning of fear.

"I am so sorry. Last night . . . on the beach . . . a man pretending to be a policeman . . ."

The sound of Nadia's breath catching, then great racking sobs.

"Nadia . . ."

When the sobbing subsided, Nadia said, "Were you there?"

"Yes. We were talking. About you. About how to help you."

"A policeman, you said."

"A fake policeman."

"In Riga, the Gorev brothers would hire policemen to do their dirty work. When they ran out of real policemen, they just started dressing up thugs in uniforms. Cheaper, too."

"So you think Alex Gorev is behind the murder?"

"Who else?"

Victoria took a breath before answering. On the boardwalk, two teen girls in bikinis pedaled by on rental bicycles, laughing in the innocent way of fifteen-year-olds. They left the scent of coconut oil in their wake.

"We can't rule out Benny the Jeweler," Victoria said.

"No. Benny has always been kind to me."

"Still, you know about his business, and he's under federal investigation."

"You think Benny would harm me? That is crazy."

"He's hired a PI to find you."

"To help me. To make sure I am safe."

"Please listen, Nadia. Benny knows the feds are looking for you. They need your help to indict him."

"I know nothing. Not even his full name."

Victoria didn't believe her, but what else could she say? She'd given the warning.

"Why do you even care?" Nadia asked.

"I don't want you to get hurt. Maybe I can even help you with the government."

"Or are you being nice so I will help the man you love?"

Nadia, it seemed, was a woman who believed that all life was a series of giving and getting based on quid pro quo. Maybe she was right. Maybe altruism was a philosophical ideal, a pretty notion unrelated to real life.

"Elena told you about Steve and me?"

"She liked you. I am sorry about your man. I did not mean for it to happen that way. But I know what you want, and I cannot do it. I cannot help him."

"Can we talk about that day? Can you tell me what happened?"

"I know what your man told police. It did not happen that way. I am sorry."

The words were crushing. But were they true?

"Elena told me you are in love, also," Victoria said. "I would like you to be with your lover, not on the run from Gorev's thugs and the government."

"I am with my man now, and it is heaven."

Where? Oh, how Victoria wanted to ask the question, but she was afraid of going too fast, of scaring Nadia off.

"Tell me about him. Elena said he was a customer at first."

"Funny, yes? B-girl falls for customer. He was in town for a convention about three months ago. Food products. I picked him up at Clevelander. He spent fifty-three hundred dollars at club. Shocked when bill came, but no protest. I spent night with him at hotel. Big violation of Gorev rules. The next two days, I stay away from club, except to reverse charge for him on credit card terminal. Otherwise, only with him. Now I am at his home. He wants to marry me."

Nadia sounded proud. And why not? A man wanted her for something more than just her body. Nadia's tone had softened. Now it was just two women speaking about love. Victoria thought it was time to dig deeper. "Maybe I could come see you, and we could talk face-to-face."

Victoria heard Nadia sigh, and then: "Why don't you just ask me directly what you want to know?"

"Did Nicolai Gorev have a gun?"

"Many guns. But that day? In his hand, no."

Victoria felt as if she'd just been punched in the gut. She had been so sure that Steve had told the truth about that part. Gorev's gun. The threat. But if Gorev was unarmed, whoever fired would not have acted in self-defense. The shooter-either Steve or Nadia-was not entitled to immunity under Stand Your Ground. Without being threatened with death or great bodily harm-the touchstones of self-defense laws-one of them had simply pulled the trigger and killed Gorev.

Victoria got to her feet and paced in circles on the boardwalk.

"If Gorev had no gun, why was he shot? What happened?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes! The truth. Someone shot Gorev with a Glock nine millimeter. I need to know who! I need to know why!"

"The Glock was mine. I brought it in my purse."

Victoria stopped breathing. That's what Steve had said. Could there be a glimmer of hope? "Did you shoot Gorev?"

"Your man told the police I did."

"But is it true?"

"I have said too much already."

"Nadia, please!"

"Your man does not always tell the truth. That is all I can say."

Victoria felt her slipping away. "Let me come see you. We can talk. No one has to know."

"I am long way from Miami."

"I don't care."

"Too dangerous. I am sorry. I wish I could help your man, but I cannot. I am now going to pray for Elena's soul. Please do not call me again."