“I am outside of your friend Jesse’s building. You have five minutes before I leave.”

“Don’t you dare go anywhere without me.” I stepped into a pair of shoes and grabbed my bag and coat, and ran out of the apartment, once again, like a madwoman.

CHAPTER 28

“You are full of surprises, Lily,” Tariq said. “I would never have imagined Little Miss Prim and Proper going behind the back of the authorities. Claudia would be proud. You are far more interesting than she has led me to believe.” He’d been mocking me since I’d gotten into the SUV and I was ready to clock him. His driver sat up front, guided by an Urdu-speaking GPS that was leading us to Long Island; Tariq sat next to me in the back. Up close he smelled slightly of musk and vanilla.

“Stop being so snarky and tell me what you’ve found.”

“You are as impatient as your sister. Perhaps a family trait.” I was thinking about throttling him with his tie when he went on. “Kaylee Quan is the second wife of a man who lives in Hong Kong. It seems that he runs his business there, and she handles operations here.”

“What kind of business?” I asked.

“Software. It appears to be how they met. They are both from Hong Kong, but she lives here and he lives there. On occasion, she goes back to Hong Kong, or he comes to New York.”

“So what is the connection with Martin?”

“There does not appear to be one,” Tariq answered. “My investigator could not come up with any history between them. Martin Sklar called Kaylee Quan on January third, when they spoke for two minutes. There was another, equally brief, call the next day. She has never called him. That is the extent of their relationship.”

“Obviously there’s a connection. Your investigator missed something.”

“If he had more time, perhaps he would have uncovered some information from a decade ago. There is nothing recent except this. He is thorough.”

“Martin has been to Hong Kong several times,” I pointed out. “Maybe his connection is with her husband.”

“Whatever it is, we will find out this afternoon.”

There was something in his voice that felt ominous. “There are rules. I have questions for this woman, and I get to ask them first.”

“Rules? All right,” Tariq answered.

“No, not ‘all right.’ I want your word that you’ll keep your mouth closed while I talk to her.”

“You have it. Is there anything else?”

“Claudia told me that you could be…” I fished for a diplomatic word. “Harsh with people. I don’t want you to be harsh.” He stared blankly, his dark eyes almost innocent. “No violence,” I added pointedly.