Viper - Michael Morley [118]
‘Signora, I’m Lorenzo Pisano from the carabinieri. This is Jack King, an American colleague of mine.’ Lorenzo held out his wallet ID. ‘We’d like to talk to you about your husband.’
Gina was no stranger to men with badges or warrants in their hands and she knew immediately that something wasn’t right. Why hadn’t they called at her home, her father’s home or contacted her through Mazerelli?
‘Gina, this is an off-the-record chat,’ said Jack, reading her silence. ‘It’ll take twenty minutes of your time and then we’ll be gone.’
Gina bagged her car keys and high-heeled past them. ‘Guys, if you don’t have any paperwork that says I have to see you, then I don’t see you.’ They were pushing their luck and she knew it.
‘Your husband, Bruno, I’m betting that you’re sorry he ever came out of prison?’ Jack knew he had to hook her quickly. ‘We don’t want you to testify or give evidence against him in any way. I just need you to tell me what he’s like as a person, what he’s capable of.’
Gina screwed up her face in disgust. ‘My husband’s an animal – a pig – but at least he’s not a filthy carabinieri pig like you two.’
Jack could see beyond the words. They barely hid her fear. He stepped forward a pace and blocked her. ‘I’m not carabinieri. And neither of us is a pig. We’re trying to protect people. Just doing our best to stop women like you getting hurt.’ He’d touched a sensitive point. ‘You know what I mean, don’t you, Gina? He’s hurt you in the past – hurt others – hasn’t he?’
She moved away from him. He made her edgy. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Where did you meet him, Gina? What was your first date?’
‘What?’ The question threw her. But it did everything it was designed to. It stopped her panicking, stopped her walking away. ‘You want to know what? Where I first dated him?’
Jack smiled at her. ‘Yep, that’s all. Where and when did he ask you out?’
She relaxed a little. Hands on hips, Gucci bag over shoulder. She slipped back in time. ‘He worked for my father. Drove me home from a nightclub after the birthday party of a friend. Asked me if I’d like to go out sometime, and I said yes. Simple as that.’
‘Why did you agree to the date?’
‘You kidding? Take a look at Bruno, there’s not a woman in Naples who would say no to him. What is this? The carabinieri runs some marriage guidance service now?’
‘Please, Signora Valsi,’ pleaded Lorenzo.
She jerked her shoulders. ‘He was a good-looking guy, I was a young girl and wanted a boyfriend. Goes on all the time. You guys should get out more; this kind of thing wouldn’t be such a mystery to you.’
Jack took the cheek out of her voice. ‘He once stabbed the father of a girl he was dating in the testicles, did you know that?’
Gina didn’t answer. Nor, noted Jack, did she look shocked or repulsed.
Lorenzo finished off the story. ‘And when the girl dumped him, he and his gang attacked her. They held her down and mutilated her.’ He put a hand between his legs. ‘Just to teach her a lesson.’
‘These are sick lies you’re making up. If they were true then Bruno would have been arrested. Listen, I’m very busy and have to go.’ Gina turned away from them and headed towards the factory entrance.
Jack walked alongside her. ‘One last question – I saw you at your father’s house the other night. We were in the downstairs lounge and you and your son had just come in.’
‘Lucky you. Must have been a treat for you.’ She had thirty metres to go, then she’d be rid of these guys.
‘What made you leave your husband? Was it because he was violent towards you? What did he do, Gina? ’
She tried to look away from him. But in her mind Bruno was up against her again. Holding her back. Hand to throat. Eyes wide and dark. Ramming himself inside her. Hurting her. Laughing at her. Degrading her.
The door was five metres away.
Jack stepped in front of her again. ‘What did he do to you that still frightens you so much?’
Three metres to go.