Free Loyalty by Ingrid Thoft Page B

to him.
    “A cone with two scoops of salted caramel and jimmies.”
    Cristian studied the flavors on the chalkboard mounted above their heads. “Nobody has normal ice cream anymore.”
    “That’s not true.” Fina pointed at the board. “There’s chocolate chip and butter pecan. Pistachio.”
    “But those flavors are the minority. The rest is cardamom and honey lavender and rosemary Meyer lemon. They’re trying to make my ice cream gourmet.”
    “You sound like an old man.”
    “I feel like an old man,” Cristian grumbled, and gestured for Fina to give her order to the teenager behind the counter.
    “What happened to your face?” he asked. They watched the skinny girl’s biceps flex as she dug into the freezer.
    “There was a thing.”
    “What kind of thing?”
    “The kind of thing where I seemed to have pissed someone off.”
    “Hard to believe,” Cristian said.
    They took their cones outside and started down Mass Ave toward Commonwealth. On the grassy mall in the center of Commonwealth, they found a bench and sat.
    “What do you want to know?” Cristian asked after taking a lick of pistachio.
    “I’m looking for a girl named Brianna who hangs out at Crystal a lot.”
    “Oh, well, in that case . . . I thought you were going to ask me to find a guy named Michael who lives in Southie.”
    Fina punched his leg. “Oh, come on. It’s not that bad.” She licked a couple of jimmies from the web between her thumb and finger. “I’m going to Crystal tonight, but in the meantime, I thought it was worth a shot.”
    “Next you’re going to tell me that I know everything that goes on in this town.”
    Fina grinned. “We both know that’s a lie.”
    “Is this Brianna involved in anything in particular?”
    “I don’t know, but she knows Dante Trimonti, so prostitution is always an option.”
    “Why are you interested in her?”
    “She may have some information.”
    Cristian gestured at an unkempt man shuffling toward them, pushing an empty baby stroller. “That homeless guy may have some information. Doesn’t mean I’m going to spend a lot of time trying to get it.”
    Fina let some salt granules rest on her tongue for a moment. “Between you and me, she has a connection to Haley.”
    “Haley? And that has a connection to Melanie’s disappearance?”
    “I have no idea.”
    Cristian looked at her.
    “Really, I have no idea. I’m just trying to figure it out and find Melanie. All I can do is follow the leads.”
    “And what happens if the leads lead back to Rand?”
    “They won’t.”
    The homeless man trudged by, mumbling to himself.
    “I have a buddy in vice,” Cristian said. “I’ll ask, but if you’re onto something, you need to let me know.”
    Fina bit into her cone and chewed.
    “You’re not talking because you’re not going to tell me?”
    “I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I don’t want to lie to you.”
    Cristian looked annoyed and tossed his balled-up napkins into the trash can next to the bench.
    Fina shrugged. “Don’t feel bad. I lie to everyone at some point.”
    Cristian stood up. “Even yourself, I’m betting.”
    Fina frowned and avoided his gaze. “I’ll be in touch.”
    “See ya.” Cristian walked away, and Fina followed his progress to the traffic light. He jaywalked and disappeared into the crowd.

Bev hated visiting the main office, but it couldn’t be avoided. Before she gave her potential business partner a tour, she needed to make sure that everything was as it should be. In all her years of business, Bev’s only partner had been Chester. If she needed capital, she got it from him and his enterprises, and he always offered sound strategic advice. That’s the way she liked it; keep it in the family. Things were much less complicated that way, and you didn’t have to suffer through the tedious process of courting and posturing, like a deb on her daddy’s arm looking for the right suitor.
    But with Chester incapacitated, Bev was