Page 89 of Twice
Alfie was led to a counter with a telephone. The guard removed his handcuffs, then stood nearby.
“Could I have some privacy?” Alfie said.
The guard looked to the officer, who shrugged.
“He’s minimum security. It doesn’t matter.”
The guard stepped away. Alfie dialed a number. It wasn’t family. And it wasn’t the embassy.
“Hello?”
“Have you found Gianna yet, Detective?”
“Alfie?” LaPorta’s voice said, angrily. “How are you calling me? Where’s your guard?”
“Relax. I’m at the jail. I’m doing what you want. Did you find Gianna?”
“You better put that guard on right now or I swear I’ll have the police hunting you down—”
“Just tell me, and I’ll put him on.”
“Alfie, damn it—”
“Tell me, Vincent.”
“Yes, she’s reading your damn notebook right now! Put the guard on or so help me—”
“Twice.”
Alfie was suddenly back handcuffed again, as the man behind the desk made a copy of his passport.
“Excuse me. But I am allowed a phone call under Bahamian law, right?”
The officer sighed.
“Yes, that is correct.”
Alfie nodded.
“Do you want to make it now?”
“Maybe later,” Alfie said, smiling.
?
By the time LaPorta got back to the resort, he had a mountain of questions for Gianna Rule. What was the connection
between Alfie and her ex-husband? If this guy Mike was behind the scam, why was Alfie playing the numbers? And why would Alfie call her his wife if they’d never been
married?
Actually, that was just the start of LaPorta’s questions. This case was like a maze, where you can walk for hours and never know if you’re advancing or retreating. He rushed past the check-in desk and the gold elevators. He jogged down the corridor to the ballroom and pushed through the doors with a loud noise.
The security guard nodded at him, but Gianna Rule never looked up from the table. LaPorta noticed that the notebook was closed. And that she was crying.
“You finished it?” LaPorta said.
Gianna shook her head no.
