“Not unless it is absolutely essential.” Tariq regarded me with just a hint of a smirk as I started to protest. “You would not have called me if you had wanted a Boy Scout, Lily. You called me because you need to know what is happening with Claudia. I need to know, too.”

“This woman might not be able tell us anything about Claudia. She was close to the woman who was living in Claudia’s apartment. I want to get the connection between Claudia and the woman who died.”

“We will obtain it, I promise you that,” said Tariq.

❖

Kaylee Quan’s house was off Greenlawn Road on Long Island, where every house seemed to be set back a hundred feet from view, tucked behind a tall hedge and thick-trunked trees. The driver parked the SUV beside the house. “You will wait here, Lily, until I send for you.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked, alarmed.

“Calm down. Take deep breaths.” He said something in Urdu to the driver and opened his door. “Remember to keep your gloves on,” he told me as he got out.

I watched them disappear around the corner. Now that we were at the house, I was panicked. What had I been thinking, trusting Tariq with anything I learned? He was a dangerous person. Even without Claudia’s hints of violence and intrigue, I knew that Tariq wasn’t on the straight and narrow. He was too arrogant, too macho, to follow anyone else’s rules. I already regretted my rashness, but I saw no way out now.

The driver came back. “House, please,” he said. I got out of the car and followed him. He turned before we went inside. “Glove, please.”

“I’ll keep them on,” I said. He looked blank. I held up my gloved hands and nodded. He smiled and nodded back. Great, even Tariq’s driver was worried about us leaving prints. What could that possibly mean?

I found out inside. The tall Asian woman I’d seen the night before was face-down on the pearly gray carpet of her living room. Her hands were tied behind her back, and she was blindfolded. “Must I restrain your ankles, too?” Tariq was asking as I walked in.

“No!” Kaylee said. “Please don’t hurt me.”

I rushed up to Tariq and grabbed his arm. “What the hell are you doing?”

Tariq grabbed my shoulder and almost lifted me off my feet. “Calm yourself,” he said in a whisper-soft voice. “Breathe deeply. Focus. Good girl.” He let go after a few breaths. I’d never hated anyone so much in my life as I did Tariq at that moment.

“What do you want?” said Kaylee in a high, plaintive voice that was nothing like her haughty tone in front of her health club. “I don’t keep cash in the house, but there’s jewelry. It’s in the bedroom.”