Page 18 of Take the Bait

“That Russian kid you asked me to look into. I’m having a hard time finding out anything about his family. I can’t find any mention of a mother anywhere. And the father drops off the map right around the time the kid left home to go to school. Did you know Alex was fourteen when he went to Boston College?”

“I figured he must’ve started young since he’s twenty-two now and has a medical degree.”

“There’s something off about the father. He was granted asylum by the U.S. government and then went to work for Uncle Sam until he disappears. I can’t find any mention of him, alive or dead.”

“Did he go underground?” Cam asked, startled.

Eli shrugged. “Maybe. Or maybe he went undercover. Either way, he’s not in the picture.”

“Does Alex have any other family?”

“No idea. He and his old man came here from Russia, and I don’t have access to records from over there. Besides, they’d be in Russian. You don’t happen to read Cyrillic, do you, Cam?”

“Sorry, no.” He punched the elevator button. “Any chance you can find a translator to help you read anything in Russian?”

“The police department’s got translators on call for just about every language there is. I might get the D.A.’s office to spring for a few hours of a Russian translator’s time.”

Cam nodded. “Do it. This kid ought to have been able to pay for his own lawyer, and his attorney ought to be fighting these charges against him a whole lot more vigorously than she is.”

“Crappy public defender?” Eli asked sympathetically.

“No. She’s pro bono counsel from Whitney, Marcos, & Pinter.”

Eli whistled quietly. “They’re heavy hitters. They usually come hard at us.”

“Exactly.”

The elevator arrived and Cam stepped inside. “Keep digging. We’re missing something about this kid.”

“Will do, boss,” Eli called as the door slid shut.

Dani was still fuming when a cab deposited her in front of the county jail. No meeting was actually scheduled between her and Alex Koronov today, but his social calendar wasn’t going to be all booked up in the slammer.

She waited in a crappy interview room while Alex was fetched and brought to her. The scarred walls, linoleum floor, and handcuff bar on the table reminded her sharply of her first meeting with Cam Townsend in a nearly identical room.

Which, of course, made her think of that carnal kiss in the ladies room. Which made her face go hot and her pulse go hectic by the time her client was led in wearing an orange jumpsuit.

She studied him carefully as he sat down in front of her. He was paler than the last time she’d seen him. Thinner. But he looked…more peaceful? Question mark?

Nobody got less stressed in jail. Particularly in a temporary lock up where the violent offenders were not always effectively isolated from the non-violent ones.

Why would time in a jail cell calm him down? Did he have some underlying mental illness she wasn’t aware of? Scary thought.

“Hey, Alex. How’re you doing?” she asked brightly.

He shrugged noncommittally.

Handsome guy. Dark hair, light eyes, great bones. Lean to the point of being too thin, though. If he got outside a little more, maybe got enough sleep to knock out those dark circles under his eyes, and put on a few pounds, he would be a very handsome guy.

She checked in with the expression in his eyes and sighed. He was still totally closed off. His hostile stare and defensive body language screamed for people to leave him the hell alone.

She continued with fake cheer, “As we expected, the D.A.’s office made you a plea offer. In fact, it was extremely generous given how obviously you did what you were charged with.”

She paused to see if he would show any interest whatsoever in what the actual offer was. Nope. He merely stared at her in silence, his expression flat and stubborn. He clearly had no intention of accepting the deal regardless of how generous it was.

“They offered you a five-thousand-dollar fine?—”

He cut her off sharply. “Don’t bother. I don’t care what they offered.”

---