anything, and at least now she knew why. “Why are you involved then? Why are you looking for him?”
Nick gave the rueful grin she’d found charming yesterday. Today her fury rose at the sight. Nick said, “He dragged me into this, and as far as I know, he’s still out there somewhere, alive and on the run.”
She wanted to get up and slam out of there or maybe pour water over his head. But she needed more answers first.
“Go on,” she said, hoping she sounded inviting rather than outraged. “Tell me what he did and why these people are after him. He’s my brother. I have a right to know.”
“I don’t think I should go into the details. Maybe later. The important point is that because of what Elliot did, some very unpleasant people are angry with me. People with money and reach and power. People who can bribe officers of the law and who aren’t above using someone like a waitress in a small town to get what they want.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No. Warning you.” That grim flicker of a smile again. “Don’t try to deal with the Espositos. If they find out about your connection with Elliot, they might use you as bait to lure him back. Get it?”
The food arrived. Ames waited until the waitress left again to speak.
“I don’t want to get involved with you people any more than I have to. I just want to find out where Elliot is. You know where he’s gone, don’t you?”
He shook his head. “I have no clue. I wish I did.”
“Why do you wish that? What do you want from him?”
“I’d rather not say. You don’t need to know, honey.”
Honey? He had the nerve to call her by an endearment?
“Yes, I do need to know, sweetie pie.”
Her effort to get him mad didn’t work. He only grinned.
“When you say you’d rather not tell me what you want from Elliot—does that mean you’re maybe, umm.” She had to stop, then tried again. “You’d kill him?”
“I’d be tempted, but no. I promise I’m no assassin, just a museum curator with really unfortunate relatives. I worked hard to escape their world but like Pacino said, just when you think you’re out, they pull you back in.” His easy smile vanished, and he looked…sad.
Maybe it was stupid to believe he wasn’t a killer, but for some reason—shared amusement maybe—as they talked, she relaxed a little. Not enough to get into a car with him. She’d been fluctuating between outrage and fear, and she’d gratefully take a break from the extreme emotions. She picked up the fork and poked at the pie.
He didn’t have any qualms and dug into the fish and rice. Between mouthfuls, he said, “Like I said, I’m not telling you all the details. You’re safer being ignorant if the Espositos should find and question you.”
She wondered if she should push more or act as if she believed him. But nerves won out, again, and she got pushy when she got scared. “So I should believe that my brother, an accountant, is involved with criminals? And not you, a man who’s been connected to the mob his whole life?”
“Yeah.”
She waited in vain for him to explain. He calmly ate the salmon, going through the food rapidly but neatly. Good manners for an animal.
“Why are you poking around the house? What are you looking for?” She remembered the shovel Sam held when she’d first encountered him at the house. Not Sam, dammit. She had to remember he was Nick.
And now she thought of the dirt on his hands and jeans—and oh no. The dirt floor in the basement. For a horrible moment, she wondered if he was digging holes to find or, worse, plant Elliot’s corpse. She thought back on their conversations. No. She didn’t believe he’d killed Elliot but perhaps he believed someone else might have.
Ames abandoned any attempts to manipulate him and begged for the truth. “You kept asking about his habits and places Elliot liked. Please, tell me you’re not looking for his body.”
He raised his brows and stopped eating. “No. Not him. I’m looking for some things he took from the Espositos. Like I said, he worked for them. Didn’t he tell you about what he did for a living at all?”
She shook her head. ”Not really. He mentioned accounting for some firm, but he was vague about it.”
Sam/Nick withheld information, but she believed him when he said he didn’t know where Elliot was. Why in God’s