“Not this restaurant owner,” I said, playing with the bangle again. “I think it’s just one of his money-laundering operations. Do you remember Tariq Lawrence?”

“Big guy, good-lookin’, hoity-toity accent, brags about his polo ponies, carries a gun. Um, yeah, I met him a few times when Claudia was holed up with you. Thanks for introducin’ me to a real interestin’ cross section of society.”

I gave Jesse directions and called the restaurant. Claudia had taken me there several times. They were, in fact, the only nights I remembered going out to dinner with her when I didn’t foot the bill. Claudia, and whomever she brought with her, dined with the compliments of the house at Jannat. “I was hoping to make a reservation for dinner tonight,” I said to the man who answered the phone.

“I am sorry, but we are completely full.” His voice was tinged with respectful regret.

“Oh.” So much for that idea. “Would Tariq Lawrence be there, by any chance?”

“I am afraid not. May I tell him who it was that asked for him?”

Tariq wasn’t enamored of me, and the feeling was mutual. I doubted he’d tell me much of anything about Claudia’s whereabouts, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t drop some bait. “Would you tell him that Claudia Moore called?”

“Miss Moore!” the man said, warmth infusing his voice with the alacrity of a struck match. “I am so sorry, of course, we always have a table ready for you.”

I made a reservation and hung up. “Before you tell me what a horrible person I am for doing that, let me just say that Claudia told me to always use her name at the restaurant.”

“Did you hear a peep outta me?” asked Jesse, looking smug. “What’s the deal with this place? How come your sister gets the VIP treatment?”

“Tariq has been in love with Claudia for years. They dated, then they lived together for a while, but they broke up. They always stayed close afterwards, though.” I’d always been suspicious of Tariq and his influence on my sister. He was a fixture in Claudia’s life, as constant as the sun in the sky and the addictions in her brain.

“Wait a sec. If they’re so tight, how come they broke up?”

“I think Claudia got too crazy even for him.” I snapped the bracelet open and shut a couple of times in quick succession. What I really meant was that my sister’s habits led her to do whatever she had to for a quick fix. She had told me that she and Tariq smoked opium together. It’s so retro, you’d love it, she told me. It’s even organic! But chasing the dragon had given way to the urgency of the needle for Claudia, and Tariq had never followed her there. Every relationship my sister had withered because of her obsessive affair with heroin.