“You said you had a tape I would be interested in seeing.”

“That’s right,” Joe said. “I’m sure you’ll be interested.”

“And you want something in exchange for this tape,” Belov said, still tapping on the glass. It was not a question.

“Yes,” Joe said.

“What is that?”

Joe nodded at me.

“There’s a woman and a little girl who have information that could be damaging to people in your organization,” I said.

“My organization,” he echoed.

“Yes. These people have tried to kill them already, and I’m afraid they will probably try again. We would like your help in seeing that does not happen.”

His eyes never left mine. “I do not know anything of a woman and a little girl.”

“No,” I said, “you probably don’t. But some of your associates do. It is your associates that we’re concerned about, sir.”

“And what has the woman done to cause these problems?”

“She hasn’t done anything,” I said. “Her husband was a private investigator, like us. He caught something on videotape that people didn’t want to be seen. Your associates discovered this, and now they want the tape. They also want to kill the woman, because they think she’s seen the tape. She hasn’t seen it.”

“And her husband? This investigator?”

“He’s dead.”

He stopped tapping his hands on the glass, and the abrupt lack of movement seemed to suggest an impending eruption, like the brief pause when a fuse has stopped burning but the charge hasn’t exploded.

“What is on the tape?”

I looked at Joe, then back at Belov. “Information about your son’s death.”

“What information?”

“Will you see that the woman and girl are not harmed?”

“What information?” he repeated as if I had not spoken. He was more intense now, though, and behind me Thor had come off the wall and was standing upright. The comment about Belov’s son had gotten their attention, all right.

“There’s a man named Jeremiah Hubbard,” I said. “I’m sure you’ve heard of him. This woman’s husband was working for Hubbard, trying to come up with blackmail material to use in a property acquisition. The property they were interested in was The River Wild, a strip bar that I understand belongs to you.”

He didn’t say anything but motioned with his hand for me to continue.

“Your son was murdered. Probably inside of The River Wild, because we believe that was where this investigator was using surveillance cameras. We have the tape of your son’s murder.”

He leaned back in the chair and looked at Thor, then at me. His expression hadn’t changed, but his breathing was quicker.

“You have the tape.”

“Yes.” I took it from my pocket and set it on the desk.

Belov handed it to Alexander, and he slipped the tape inside a VCR that was mounted above the television. Belov turned his chair so he was facing the screen, and Alexander pressed play. We all watched as the blue screen came up, and then it disappeared as the room came into view. Beside me, Joe was leaning forward, watching intently. I’d forgotten he hadn’t seen the tape before.

We watched the entire thing in silence: the laughter at the table, the shooting, the body removal, and the cleanup work. Belov never said a word, and neither did anyone else. He never turned, just sat where he was, staring directly at the screen, never reacting to what he saw there. When the tape returned to the blue screen, Alexander reached over and shut the television off. He moved cautiously, as if afraid any action might enrage Belov.

For a long time, Belov remained staring at the blank television screen. When he finally spoke, his back was still to us.

“The woman and the girl. What are their names?”

“Julie and Betsy Weston,” I said. “The father was Wayne Weston. You’ve probably heard a lot about them on the news recently.”

“And Mr. Weston is dead?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know who killed him?”

“No. It might have been the men on that tape; it might have been someone working for Jeremiah Hubbard. We’re not sure.”

“And some of these men have pursued the woman and girl?” All this with his back still to us.

“Yes. They followed them to South Carolina. Followed me, maybe. I killed one of them two days ago.” There was no need to tell him that, but I also didn’t see any reason to keep the information from him.

Belov was silent again. After a while I said, “The woman will be leaving soon. She’s afraid to stay here, and she’s not going to. We don’t want anyone to pursue her, whether they come from your people or from Hubbard’s people. We were hoping you could help us with that. I thought seeing the tape might be worth that to you.”

“Have the police seen this tape?”

“No.” I hesitated for a minute and then decided not to lie to him. “But they will. They’ll probably see it today.”

Alexander muttered something under his breath, not pleased by the news, but Belov didn’t react. We sat there for another five minutes without speaking. I had nothing left to say, and Dainius Belov didn’t seem like the type of man you rushed. When he did break the silence, it was with two short sentences.

“The woman and the girl will not be harmed. You may go now.”

Thor pulled open the door and stood beside it, and Alexander picked our guns off the floor and followed us out. Joe and I didn’t say anything to Belov as we left. He never turned from the blank television screen.

We walked back up the steps and outside to the car. Thor drove us back to the Tower City parking garage, and when we pulled inside Alexander handed us our guns. I opened the door and stepped out, then turned and motioned for Thor to put the window down.

“Can we trust him?” I said.

A slight smile played on his lips. Amused by my question. “They are more safe now than ever before.” The window slid back up, and he pulled the Town Car away.

Joe and I stood in the parking lot and watched them drive off. I leaned against the trunk ofa car beside me and said, “Wow.”

“Belov doesn’t look like the most dangerous man in the city, does he?” Joe said.

“No, he doesn’t. But I’m still pretty sure he is.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Do you believe Thor?”

“When he said Mrs. Weston and the girl are more safe now than ever before?” Joe nodded. “I do. Guy like that? Who’s to doubt him?”

We walked back to our cars. Before he got inside the Taurus, Joe said, “You know, I’d pictured more yelling, more profanity, more threats. At least two or three references to how our bodies could be dumped in the Cuyahoga. Instead he acted like we were discussing stock quotes.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Somehow,” he said, “that scared me more than anything.”

“Yeah,” I said, “me, too.”

CHAPTER 24

WE DROVE to my apartment. As soon as I turned onto the avenue I felt good. I was home now, and things were wrapping up nicely. Julie was still going to run, though. That thought spoiled my mood.

I didn’t go inside the apartment but transferred my things out of the Contour and into the truck. I was damn sick of that little car. Once I’d made the vehicle switch, we went to the office. I found Sellers’s phone number, then gave him a call. He remembered me, and when I told him what I had to offer I thought he was going to have a stroke. He promised to have Laura Winters call me back immediately. She was the prosecutor who’d handled several other cases with the Russian mob in town, and Sellers said she’d probably be salivating at the thought of taking on Jeremiah Hubbard as well. True to Sellers’s word, Winters called within minutes. I ran through things again with her, and I was impressed by the way she kept silent and let me get through the story without shouting at me for failing to contact authorities sooner, as Sellers had done.

“Well, Mr. Perry, this is real big,” she said. “How soon can you have Mrs. Weston here?”