Beneath the Silk by Wendy Rosnau Page B

black-and-white rules. I play by my rules.”
    “My father’s golden boy isn’t so golden? Does he know?”
    Jackson flashed his sparkling white teeth. “Your father didn’t choose me because I fit some golden-boy mold, or because he likes me. I put six cases on hold to fly out the same day he asked me to save Saint Sunni. You see, down-and-dirty is familiar territory for me, Sis. That’s who I am, the whatever-it-takes cop at the NOPD. My specialty—too hot to handle. Which is lucky for you because my legwork so far has convinced me that this case is going to get a whole lot hotter before it cools down and goes away.”
    “Well it’s not going to cool down and go away now that Joey Masado knows who my father is. He’s probably called police headquarters already and recanted his alibi story.”
    “He can’t recant fact.”
    She said nothing.
    “You’re saying Joe lied? You have no alibi?”
    “Of course he lied. Why would I have dinner with Joey Masado in his suite late at night?”
    “I can think of a number of reasons. We still haven’t established your relationship with him yet.”
    Her hands settled on her hips, parting her robe and letting the twins breathe. “I’m not Joey’s window dressing. We are not doing the horizontal hustle. And I haven’t been playing Ping-Pong with the Tandis and the Masados. Climbing into bed with gangsters would be about as smart as taking up sword-swallowing after one night at the circus.”
    In animated frustration her hands left her hips to toss her hair out of her eyes. Her robe parted further and Jackson’s eyes were drawn to the juggling act going on in the center ring. Enjoying the show, he asked, “So you’ve never slept with Joe?”
    “Of course not.”
    “How about Milo Tandi?”
    “No.”
    “But you knew him?”
    “Since I’ve lived in the city we talked twice in person, and twice on the phone.”
    The conviction in her voice made Jackson believe her, even though it was a proven fact she wasn’t above lying. Still, if she wasn’t bedding anyone, what was that kiss all about on the terrace last night?
    “What about Joe’s brother? How well do you know Lucky?”
    “Lucky?”
    “Tomas Masado,” When they were kids, he and Joe had given Tomas the nickname Nine-lives Lucky because he had used up all his nine lives before he’d reached the age of sixteen.
    “I don’t know Tomas very well. When we’ve talked it’s always been about business matters. We don’t move in the same circles.”
    “You said you talked with Milo. Was that the night you went to the Shedd to meet him?”
    “I never went to the Shedd to meet him.”
    “I have witnesses who put you there a few weeks ago seated at a table with him.”
    “I was there, but not to meet him. I went there to meet Elizabeth.”
    “Elizabeth?”
    “Elizabeth Carpenter. She used to work for me. She called and asked if I could bring her last paycheck by the Shedd as a favor. But she never showed up. I was leaving when Milo Tandi appeared at my table and invited himself to sit down. He said he wanted to speak to me about something. He bought me a drink, then started talking about a partnership idea he had for Silks. He wanted to become my silent partner.”
    “And?”
    “And I turned him down. I talked to Joey about this last night. He already knew Milo had approached me. He said Lucky knew it the night he asked me.”
    “You said you talked to Milo twice on the phone. About the partnership?”
    “Yes. He kept sweetening the pot. He offered me a percentage of his escort business profits. I said no.”
    “And he just accepted that?”
    “No, he called again. Then he showed up here, in the lobby. He made his pitch again in the elevator.”
    “When was that?”
    “Three days before he was killed.”
    “Did anyone see you two together that day?”
    “Yes. The front desk manager saw him get in the elevator with me. I assume Detective Williams knows that. He’s already talked to everyone who