Page 79 of The Councilor

There was even a state-of-the-art home movie theater, not that I’d watched a single movie any of the times I was here. Who knew. Maybe I would indulge this go-around. Time would tell.

Grinning, I lost the jacket, rolling up my sleeves before heading out onto the deck. When I handed her a glass, she sighed. She seemed relaxed, although I could still see scratches and bruises. That was from me forcefully knocking her down. We were lucky things hadn’t been worse.

“I always thought I’d live at the beach, not that my father took us on many vacations. He was far too busy.” She took the drink from my hand, our fingers touching.

“Your father is a piece of work.”

“He’s old school. He did tell a few stories about growing up in Sicily. I couldn’t imagine the old culture, the particular ways for doing everything. He was regimented as hell, but partially because that’s all he knew. Coming to America was like a kid in a candy store for him. He didn’t know how to react. Do you know my father was even a juvenile delinquent?”

I had to laugh as I leaned over the railing. “He couldn’t handle the new world.”

“Something like that. It was a story my mother told me, and she wasn’t allowed to say much. I think she wanted her children to know her father had been through many a rough time, including his father forcing his own son to walk the straight and narrow.” She laughed and threw me a look. “I don’t know all the details but scared straight had nothing on my grandfather’s punishment. I don’t know how my dad survived. But he did, earning an entirely new respect for his new home and for authority. Imagine.”

“Well, I guess you didn’t learn to follow orders from your dad.”

She laughed as she took a sip of her drink. “I was like him though, a rebel kid who hated authority. It’s hard to believe I turned out alright.”

“Better than alright.”

We stood quietly for a little while and she finally turned toward me. “How long are we going to be here?”

“I honestly don’t know yet. It’s all going to depend if we make headway on discovering the person responsible.”

“I can help with that. I’m pretty good with computers you know.” She gave me a sly look.

“I’ll think about it. Why don’t you go drop your things in the master bedroom. Third floor.”

“What’s on the first?”

“You can find out for yourself. I need to make some phone calls and then we will find a quaint restaurant so you can experience real Russian food.”

“Oh, borscht and potatoes?”

It was so easy to laugh around her. “There’s a lot more than that.”

“Don’t be too long. I’m hangry.”

“What the hell is hangry?”

“Don’t keeping me waiting and you won’t need to find out.” Her laugh floated on the deck and inside as she walked in.

I watched her for a few seconds before returning my attention to the ocean.

My mother had an old saying that suddenly seemed appropriate.Mertvyye ne lgut i ne riskuyut zhizn’yu.

The dead tell no lies and risk no lives.

Maybe it was past time to keep that in mind.

CHAPTER 22

Aleksander

“You made it okay?” Vadim asked.

“Yeah. No issues.”

“Good. Incidentally, I managed to establish a meeting with Shane O’Donnell for tomorrow.”