Drake Sisters 06 - Turbulent Sea

measure of time alone together.' He picked up Joley's hand and ran his thumb over the back of it.
    'You have an accent. Are you Russian?'
    'Yes.'
    Beside him, Joley stirred. 'I need to talk with Brian and Jerry. Where are they?'
    The detective closed his notebook. 'Mr. Rigger and Mr. St. Ives both agreed to come down to the station and give their statements. Mr. St. Ives insisted on bringing an attorney, but stated they would both cooperate fully.'
    'This sounds terrible, but we either have to do the show tonight or cancel on all these people, and we have to pull out tonight to make it to Dallas on time for that concert.'
    'Our forensic people will be working as fast as they can. I've got officers taking statements from everyone.
    Obviously if we can allow you to go ahead with the performance, it would be better for everyone, so we'll do our best.'
    'Thank you,' Joley said, 'although to be honest, it seems horrible to put on a show after someone is murdered.'
    The detective rose, taking the photograph of the missing girl with him. 'Do you know if Mr. Walters was in any way involved with the mob - specifically the Russian mob?' He asked the question of Joley, but he studied Ilya with his cop's eyes.
    'No, but I didn't know him very well. He's been working with us on and off for two years, but we never had much contact. He had a couple of close friends in the crew. I couldn't tell you who they are, although I might recognize them if I saw them.' And she was going to look, because there'd been a crew member with Dean that night in New York. She hadn't seen his face, but she'd seen his aura - and fragments of his melody. 'Why do you ask about the Russian mob?'
    'There were things done to him that are fairly signature mob, things warning others to play ball or else.'
    Joley glanced at Ilya, took a deep breath and exhaled. 'In New York, the party was held by a man named Sergei Nikitin. He surrounds himself with armed guards, and I believe most of them are Russian.'
    'Do you know Mr. Nikitin?' Branscomb asked Ilya.
    'Of course. I work for him often in my capacity as a bodyguard. He's a businessman with powerful enemies.'
    'Do his enemies include the Russian mob?'
    'You would have to ask him that,' Ilya said.
    Branscomb took a few steps down the corridor. 'Thank you for your time, Miss Drake. As for your performance tonight, hopefully we'll have an answer for you within the next hour.'
    'We'll need to do sound checks,' Joley said.
    'There's no reason not to. You won't be in the crime scene area. He was killed where we found him. I do want to speak to every one of your crew.'
    'I'll tell them to cooperate fully with you.'
    'I would appreciate that.' Branscomb turned back, his hand on the door. 'Miss Drake. Is there a reason Dean Walters might want to harm you?'
    Joley's heart jerked. She remembered the malevolent look he'd shot her as he walked toward the crew bus. There had been genuine, naked hatred on his face. 'Harm me?' she echoed, fear tugging at her.
    'It looked as if he were heading up the running path after you. Several people mentioned he watched you take off running and that you were alone. They were worried about your lack of security' His gaze flicked to Ilya. 'And he had a knife.'
    Branscomb had known all along they hadn't left together. Ilya had to give him points for that. Of course suspicion would fall on him. He was Russian. He was a bodyguard and very strong. He knew that Dean's death had been a hit, and Nikitin had probably ordered it; he just didn't know why. He had known the body was there. He'd felt the dark, violent energy and gone to investigate, worried for Joley. Fortunately he'd approached the area from above, and he'd seen the body and the mess that had been made of it. Walters had died of a bullet to the head, but they'd stomped every bone in his body first.
    Ilya remained silent, waiting for Joley to give him up. He prepared himself for Joley's betrayal. He shouldn't look at it that way. She would think she had to tell the exact truth, and maybe there wasn't anything else for her to do. But the thought of being handcuffed and taken in, and his past brought up to further cast doubt on him in the midst of his investigation, was doubly dangerous.
    Joley flicked a glance from Ilya to the detective. It was very obvious where he was going with his questioning. She put a hand on Ilya's arm, her mouth suddenly dry, heart pounding. There was a strange roaring in her ears. Ilya couldn't have killed Dean