but it had to be her lot to meet up with the very one she was hoping to avoid.
"Sir," she said formally.
He rose and quickly closed the door to his office. "This is a wonderful surprise. I've been to the Lux looking for you ever since the first night of our occupation."
"How unflattering, signor."
"I'd hoped that you would take it as a compliment."
"You seem to be under the misconception that I am associated with the Lux. Of course a woman of my upstanding reputation and purity would be insulted at such insinuation. I am here to see Signor Domani. If you will give your permission—"
"Mr. Domani is hardly the kind of man a woman of innocence would be seeking to visit. What relationship do you claim with him?"
Her eyes snapped. "Claim? I state the truth. He is my cousin and appointed chaperone here in Idaho. Don't tell me you don't see the family resemblance?"
The captain laughed. "Perhaps your family should be more discriminating in their choice of chaperones for such a beautiful young woman. He seemed friendly for a man tasked with protecting your honor, and then there's this matter of the explosion."
"I came also to make a statement about the day of the violence. He was with me when the explosion occurred."
The captain listened patiently and took notes as she recounted her story. "So you see, Clell has a, what is the word?"
"Vendetta?"
"Si, such a nice Italian word, that."
The captain smiled. "You would be willing to swear to this statement?"
She nodded.
"It's your word against our witness. And pardon me, ma'am, but it would seem that you're biased where the defendant is concerned, him being a relative. Besides which, it doesn't mean he didn't plant the charges. You need someone to corroborate your version of the facts. That will at least help your case."
"I don't understand 'corroborate.'"
"Verify. You need someone who saw you with Domani and would be willing to testify. Ideally this should be someone impartial. Do you understand?"
She nodded.
The captain was silent for a moment. "I'd be willing to discuss this further, over dinner tonight. You choose the location."
Angelina considered for a moment. "The Fuller House in Wallace. But not tonight, tomorrow night. And of course, I must have Signor Domani's approval before I can commit to such an invitation."
"Private Wilson!" the captain called out. His secretary appeared at the door. "Take the lady to visit the Italian." He turned to her. "Fifteen minutes, no more. And I like to know the names of the women I call on."
"Angel."
"That's all?"
"That's enough." She intended to keep her date only if necessary. He spoke again as she turned to leave.
"What's in the basket?"
"Italian sweets."
"Leave them. I have a sweet tooth."
"Lucky for you. These are but an outward extension of my sweet nature." She set the basket down on his desk and followed Wilson from the room.
Chapter 17
The maximum-security area was located in a small building next to the captain's office. A single dim corridor ran the length of the narrow building. Occupied cells lined either side. Her quick glimpses of the occupants stunned her. These couldn't be the same vibrant men that had frightened her with their mob mentality and violent thirst for power only weeks before. These were ordinary men, the kind she saw every day on the streets of Wallace. Individually, locked alone without the support of their peers, they looked defeated and tired and powerless.
Private Wilson stopped before a door with a small barred window. He spoke to her as he unlocked it. "Captain gave orders. No more than fifteen minutes. If you wish to leave before that call for the guard and he'll let you out."
The door swung open. She hesitated on the jamb.
"Domani, you have a visitor!" Private Wilson called out roughly. 4F
She stepped inside
"Good day, ma'am." Wilson locked the door behind her.
It took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the dimness of the cell. Tonio sat on a cot next to the wall, one leg bent on the bed, the other on the floor. He stared straight ahead at the wall in front of him, not looking at his visitor even when the door clanged shut and the private departed.
"Tonio, you might at least acknowledge me after all the trouble I've gone to, to get here."
"Angelina?"
Her heart leapt at the sound of his voice, but she thought he stiffened.
"I told May I didn't want to see you."
"I don't live by what you want."
"Apparently not." He didn't sound happy. "Speak to me in