The Boy Who Stole from the Dead

CHAPTER 15

PRISONERS AT RIKERS were allowed unlimited visits from their attorneys. When Johnny arrived ten minutes before noon, he did a double take at the line forming in front of the prison. A striking young woman with a perfect oval face stood first in line. More than an hour before visiting hours started. Now that was devotion, Johnny thought. She stood a few steps apart from the rest of the line, closer to the lot where Johnny had parked.

She looked familiar. At first Johnny thought he might have seen her in a Victoria’s Secret ad or in Sports Illustrated. Then it hit him. It was Iryna. Bobby’s girlfriend. She caught him staring at her. She soured and looked away. Men must have stared at her all the time. She probably thought he was leering at her. Instead of looking away, Johnny smiled and approached her. In her modeling shots, fully made up, she looked like a mature vixen. Up close, in person and au naturel, she looked like a kid. A sweetheart.

“Iryna?” he said.

She looked horrified a strange man was speaking to her.

“You’re Bobby Kungenook’s friend, aren’t you?”

She frowned as though confused.

“I’m Johnny Tanner. Bobby’s attorney.”

Relief washed over her.

“I’ll tell him you’re first in line,” Johnny said. “I’m sure that’ll cheer him up.”

“But I’m not first.”

Johnny looked at the door to the visitor’s center. No one stood in her way. “What do you mean?”

“You’re first.”

Johnny laughed. “Attorneys can go in whenever they want. They don’t count.”

“They’re the only ones who count.” A shadow fell on her face. “Is Bobby going to be okay, Mr. Tanner?”

“Call me Johnny. I’m going to do everything possible to help him.”

“He’s not going to stay in jail the rest of his life, is he?”

“Not if I can help it.”

“I want to give you my card. In case there’s something I can do.”

Iryna picked and probed inside her bag but couldn’t find one. She blushed. Then she fumbled with her wallet. She was trying so hard—she wanted to help so badly, Johnny thought—the entire situation became awkward. Johnny felt his own temperature rising. When she found a business card, they both exhaled. She scribbled a number on the back of it.

“My cell is on the back. If there’s something I can do to help Bobby.”

Johnny took the card. “Iryna Stasiak. Elite Modeling Agency.”

“He didn’t do this thing, Mr. Tanner.”

“You seem certain. How long have you known each other?”

“About two months.”

Johnny smiled. “But it doesn’t take long when you connect with someone, does it?”

She blushed. “No. It doesn’t.”

“Did you know the victim?”

Iryna blanched. “Excuse me?”

“Did you know the victim, Jonathan Valentine?”

“No.”

“Did you ever see him before you saw his picture in the paper?”

Iryna froze.

“Like at a hockey game, for instance?”

“Bobby told me not to tell anyone but the police came by. I couldn’t lie to the police. I love this country. I don’t want to be sent back to Ukraine.”

“No one’s sending you back anywhere. You did the right thing.”

“I did?”

“Absolutely. Can you tell me what happened?”

Iryna repeated her story. It matched the version he’d heard from his friend in the NYPD.

“And you never dated Valentine?”

She looked horrified. “No. I didn’t date him. I didn’t know him. I never spoke to him except for those ten seconds in the stands.”

“And Bobby?”

“He never mentioned him.”

“Not once?”

She set her jaw and locked eyes with Johnny. “Not ever. I know it looks bad. But he didn’t do it. He couldn’t have done it. He’s too sweet to hurt anyone. When he sees a bug in his room, he won’t even step on it. He says every living thing matters.”

“You guys sound like you have a special connection.”

“We have a very special connection.”

“Why?”

“Why do we have a special connection?”

“Yes.”

“We’re both damaged goods.”

“How so?”

“We were both raised by strangers. Neither one of us ever knew our mothers. Did you know Bobby carried a screwdriver and flashlight everywhere he went?”

“Yes.”

“Did you know he slept with them under his pillow?”

“I heard about that.”

“Do you know why?”

“No. Do you?”

“No. I asked but he wouldn’t tell me. He doesn’t like to talk about his past.”

“He’s not the only one.”

“But I think his past may have something to do with all this.”

“Why do you say that?”

She shrugged. “When a girl gets to know a boy, she has a feeling about him.”

Johnny thought of Nadia. Wondered what feelings she had for him, if any.

He thanked Iryna, said good-bye and entered the jail. A guard escorted him into the private room where Johnny was waiting. The bruises on his face appeared lighter. The first time they’d met, Bobby didn’t say a word. Didn’t make eye contact. He just sat in his chair the entire time staring at the wall. Looking as though he’d given up on life.

“How do you feel?”

Bobby didn’t answer.

“You sleeping better?”

Bobby ignored him.

“There’s been a new development in your case. Actually, it’s old news to you.” Johnny told him the police had learned about his previous confrontation with Valentine. “Tell me what happened that night after the hockey game. Did you have words because he hit on Iryna? Is that why you guys met up in the Meatpacking District? To fight it out once and for all?”

He said nothing.

“How am I supposed to defend you if you don’t communicate with me?”

Bobby stared at the floor.

Johnny stood up. He paced back and forth in front of the table for twenty seconds.

“Okay,” Johnny said. “Here’s how I see it. You won’t talk to Nadia, the person who cares more about you than anyone else. You won’t talk to me, your lawyer, the person between you and a life in prison. There’re only two explanations. First explanation, you’re an idiot and a moron. We know you’re not stupid. So that’s out the window. Second explanation, you’re protecting someone. Most likely Nadia. Your thing with Valentine wasn’t about Iryna. It’s something else. Something much more dangerous than a fight over a girl. Something so dangerous that you don’t want Nadia poking around in it, the way you know she will. So you go deaf and mute on us, for fear you might put her life in danger, the way yours was that night with Valentine. How’d I do?”

Bobby’s lips tightened a fraction of an inch. If Johnny hadn’t been staring at them he wouldn’t have noticed the kid’s reaction. It struck fear in Johnny’s heart. It meant a threat of some kind was still out there.

And his girl was alone on the other side of the ocean.