Chapter Seven #3
“Different kind of risky. You run a business that is predicated on your clients’ trust, like Dr. Reeves noted.
You provide personal protection to vulnerable clients.
You teach children karate. I don’t think you’d just drive to San Diego to shoot at some guy randomly, and I don’t think you’d do it without calculating all the possible consequences.
The risk you took was worth it to you. Your silence right now is important. ”
“Still not hearing a question.”
“What brought you to Ella Sherman’s house yesterday?” Sam asked.
“I never said I was there, Dr. Reeves. In fact, I can provide proof that I wasn’t.”
Liar. She’d bet his alibi was someone who either owed him a favor or was in his personal circle. Someone who’d lie for him.
“Who are you protecting?” Baz asked.
And there it was again, Kit thought. That little flicker of something that was gone too quickly to analyze.
Nicchi was protecting someone—and that wasn’t Mary.
Akiko. It only made sense. That had to be why Mary had contacted him to begin with. Anger began to burn in Kit’s belly.
How dare this man keep secrets that affected her sister?
“Akiko,” Sam murmured, following her train of thought.
Sam was good that way.
Kit let her anger flare. “She is my sister, Mr. Nicchi. I love her and I will do anything to protect her.”
Nicchi was quiet for a long, long moment. Then he met Kit’s eyes, his own cold and flinty. “Then walk away, Detective. You don’t understand what’s at stake here.”
“Then make me understand.” She enunciated every word. “Please.”
It wasn’t a nice “please.” It was an angry “please.”
A scared “please.”
Because Nicchi had risked a lot to shoot Mary’s killer.
He looked down at his hands, his posture tense. When he looked back up, she saw regret, but also determination. “If you leave this alone, if you walk away, your sister will be all right.”
“I’m supposed to trust you?” Kit snapped.
“Yes.”
“Mary did,” Sam said. “Didn’t end well for her.”
Nicchi flinched then, and didn’t try to hide it. “I know.”
“Do you know my sister?” Kit demanded.
Nicchi shook his head. “Never met her.”
Liar. She could hear the lie in his tone, in the way his voice shook just a little. In the way he met her eyes a little too defiantly as he said the words.
“Was Mary learning to protect herself?” Sam asked.
Kit glanced at Sam, grateful. She’d gotten sidetracked. She’d let it get personal. She’d let her anger take over. Navarro was right to say she wasn’t unbiased.
Kit was biased as hell.
Sam was, too, but he’d kept his cool.
Be like Sam.
Nicchi seemed to consider, then lifted a massive shoulder. “Yes.”
“Martial arts?” Baz asked. “Or weapons?”
“Ask the doctor,” Nicchi said dryly, but with a smidgen of respect. “He seems to know everything.”
“No,” Sam said, “but I know you’re lying when you say you’ve never met Akiko.”
Nicchi straightened, becoming even more physically intimidating. “That’s unkind, Dr. Reeves. Accusing me of being a liar. I think we’ve talked long enough.”
Sam glanced at Kit. “Are you done?”
Kit didn’t think they’d get anything more out of Nicchi. “For now.”
“I’m sorry you drove such a long way for not much information,” Nicchi said, rising.
The three of them followed suit, ready to follow him out of the room.
“I think we got quite a bit of information,” Baz said. “Thank you, Mr. Nicchi.”
Nicchi looked condescendingly amused. “You’re welcome, Detective Constantine.”
“You don’t seem worried about being identified as one of the shooters yesterday,” Baz said. “Why is that?”
“Because you’re not here officially. And because if my name gets reported to SDPD, Detective McKittrick will be the one to suffer, because she’ll have to tell her boss how she got my name.
My sources tell me that she’ll likely lose her job.
And, like I said, I have an alibi for those hours yesterday. ”
Kit leaned toward his desk, placing her hands on its surface. “You think you know me.”
“You think you know me,” Nicchi countered.
“Point,” she allowed. “But you need to understand that I’ve already made my peace with whatever consequences I’ll face for my actions.
Akiko is my sister. My family. I can always have another career.
I can’t have another sister. Trust me. I’ve already lost one.
I won’t lose Akiko. So shore up your alibi, Mr. Nicchi. You haven’t seen the last of us.”
Nicchi looked a little rattled. “You’d risk your job?”
Kit didn’t blink. “For Akiko? In a heartbeat.”
With that, she turned to leave the room, Baz behind her.
But Sam didn’t move, so she hovered at the door, waiting for him.
“She means it,” Sam said. “One of her sisters was murdered when they were fifteen. That’s why she became a cop.
She risks her life to help people she’s never even met.
She’d definitely risk her job for her surviving sister.
” He gave the man his card. “If you change your mind, please call us. She won’t rest until she finds out what you’re trying to hide.
She’s already been shot once. I’d be very appreciative if she solves this quickly so she doesn’t get shot again. ”
She knew that Sam respected her, but his words had her heart beating a little faster. He really did get her.
He met her in the doorway, resting his hand on her back. “You ready?” he asked.
“I am.”
She headed for the front door but stopped because Baz was staring at a group of framed photos on the wall. She hadn’t paid attention to the photos on their way in, too focused on Ricky Nicchi.
But now she focused, specifically on the photo of a much younger Ricky Nicchi, wearing a gi and standing next to an older Japanese man who also wore a gi. Nicchi looked to be about fifteen years old but already towered over the other man. They stood in a dojo, bodies rigid in a ready stance.
“Oh,” she whispered, immediately recognizing both the older man and the dojo.
Baz glanced at her, his brows raised. “Am I right? I’ve seen him with Akiko, haven’t I?”
“You have,” Kit murmured. “Nice job, Baz.”
Baz preened. “I’ll meet you outside.
“Who is he?” Sam asked, looking over her shoulder.
“Kyoshi Ito. Akiko’s sensei and mentor. She’s been studying with him since she was five years old. He was Shihan Ito when I first met him at Akiko’s black belt ceremony, but he was promoted to Kyoshi shortly afterward. He’s a seventh-dan black belt and highly respected.”
“Connections,” Sam said. “Now we’re finally getting somewhere.”
“We are indeed.” She looked over her shoulder to where Nicchi’s hulking frame filled the doorway to the room where they’d met. “Please give Kyoshi Ito my regards.”
Nicchi drew a deep breath, his expression carefully blank, but she could tell that he was unhappy that she’d seen the photo. “He’s Hanshi Ito now. Eighth dan.”
“Promoted again,” Kit said evenly, but she was fuming inside. “So noted. Mr. Nicchi, the next time I ask if you know my sister, don’t you fucking lie to me again.”
She walked out before she lost her temper.
What a prick. Flat-out lying.
She and Sam found Baz near the RAV4, tapping on his phone. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Pulling up Ito’s home address. I figure he’s the next stop.”
Kit looked grim. “You figure right. Let’s pay the good sensei a visit. Back to San Diego we go.”
“Nope,” Baz said. “He’s got a condo not even a mile from here. And take a look at the address.”
Kit did so, and another piece of the puzzle clicked. “That’s the address where Mary Sherman stayed when she came to LA. Let’s get over there before Nicchi warns him to run.”