Page 39 of Under Her Skin

One afternoon they sat in his office with notepads in front of them and stared at eachother.

“Look, I know with the police we’ve been through anyone that would hold a grudge against us, but I think we have to do it again.Everything. Ex-girlfriends and boyfriends, one-night stands, old schoolfriends or enemies. If it’s just a random psychopath, then there’s not a lot anyone cando.”

Hero nodded. The strain of knowing her sister was out there, in pain, in such terrible danger, had gotten to her, and now Arturo saw the violet shadows underneath her eyes. It had been a week since they’d discovered Imelda’s abduction, and there was nothing. No one had seen her; it was as if she had vanished into thin air. “Okay, so we go into our histories. Schooldays.”

“School days…if I’m honest, school days for me were about one person. Flavia. We met when we were in seventh grade. Every boy wanted her. But I got lucky. Or,unlucky.”

Hero frowned. “Why do you saythat?”

“Because, looking back now, Flavia always got her own way. In everything. I’ve only really begun to remember it that way since I met you. Not that I’m comparingyou.”

Hero smiled at him. “I know. But the comparison is there, though: our similar looks, the fact that we both loved you, the fact that someone wants to kill me the same way he says he killedher.”

“Why do you say it like that? Hesayshe killedFlav?”

“Because what if this isn’t about Flavia or me,” Hero asked, “but about you—and not in an obsessive, jealous way? What if this is about business? About sending you over the edge? Your uncle is sick, dying. You’re about to become one of the richest men in Italy, possibly even the world, and the scope of the business you’re about to inherit—it boggles the mind. What if this crap is all about unsettlingyou?”

“It’s working,” Arturo said darkly and sighed. “So, you think that maybe Flav’s murder is entirelyseparate?”

“I don’t know,” Hero shook her head, “but it’s an option we should look into. A copycat. Maybe they think killing me will destroyyou.”

“Then they’d be right. Why take yoursister?”

“Obviously they know about the extra protection I have. They know I’d give myself up in a heartbeat to saveMelly.”

“Mio Dio.” Arturo closed his eyes. “Please don’t say things likethat.”

“You would do the same,” Hero said gently, reaching out and stroking his face, “you know youwould.”

He caught her hand with his, pressing it to his face. “Then we’ll just have to be ruthless in who we investigate. That means everyone. Staring with thatfiglia di puttana, GeorgeGaliano.”

Hero nodded. “He is a creep, no doubt. But something cautions me about really going after him. He’s too obvious a suspect. He’s like a comedy villain. Like the HoodedClaw.”

Arturo raised his eyebrows. “Who?”

Hero chuckled. “Never mind. But, here’s a thought…we could always try a bait andswitch.”

“How do youmean?”

“We should breakup.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” He had gone cold at her words, but she wassmiling.

“Not for real, obviously. But, we should argue, publicly…and make sure George sees it. He’ll try and slide in, I guarantee it. Sorry if that makes me sound arrogant, but he’s the type. He would love to seduce me to get back atyou.”

“Using yourself as bait?” He grimaced in disgust. “Noway.”

“Not bait. There’s no way I’m going to do anything with him, but if he has a conversation with ‘angry me,’ I can gauge his level of…” She searched for the word. “Violence.”

Arturo shook his head, but Hero held up her hand. “Wait, let me explain. By that I mean, a woman can tell when a man has sex on his mind or something more sinister. We have an built-in radar for this stuff—most of the time. I can’t even explain it. We women almost always have to deal with sex pests or men who can turn violent even if all we’ve done is politely refuse a drink. It takes a very sneaky man to hide that—and George isn’t thatbright.”

“This all seems very basedon…”

“Gut instinct. That’s right. Provable in court? Nope, but I’ll get a read on whether George is capable of killing me or if he just wants to fuckme.”

Arturo got up and paced around, cursing under his breath inItalian.

Hero caught his hands with hers. “We do it somewhere public, where people can see us really duking it out. We can get one of your detectives to follow George, to see when he goes to lunch, then we perform our little play. I’ll cry a lot. George won’t be able to conceal his glee. He’ll want to be the white knight. We’ll let him. Then we get aread.”