I sit patiently as the minutes tick by, and soon the door opens and Belov comes bustling in with a uniformed officer. He sits down across from me while the officer stands by the door.
“Yes, I would like a bottled water. Thanks for asking,” I say, giving Belov my sweetest smile.
He holds my gaze for a second before sending the officer out to fetch my drink. It’s not long before he’s back and I’m taking a nice drink of water.
“Tell me exactly where you were Saturday night,” Belov says, getting right down to business.
I take another drink before slowly screwing the cap back on. “I am not saying shit until my lawyer gets here.”
“He’s being given a visitor’s badge. Should be here any second.”
“Perfect.” I give him a smile before taking another drink.
We sit in awkward silence until there’s a knock at the door. The officer opens it, and I give a genuine smile when I see Vadim’s pissed-off face.
“What the hell are you doing?” he asks Belov.
“So nice to see you again, Mr. Sidorov. Always a pleasure when you’re around,” Belov says, waving a hand at the empty chair next to me. “I’m questioning him or trying to.”
“About?” Vadim squeezes my shoulder before taking a seat next to me.
I sit up a bit straighter when Belov says, “About the death of Jimmy Mulligan.”
“Jimmy?” I can’t help but ask.
Fuck! I just fought him Friday night. What in the hell could’ve happened to him?
“Surprised?” Belov asks, his smug grin returning.
Before I can say anything, Vadim cuts in. “What does this have to do with my client?”
I didn’t think Belov could look at anyone with more hatred than the way he looks at me, but the glower he gives Vadim is cutting it pretty close.
“Because I know Dmitri was fighting him on Friday night, and I know there’s been some bad blood between the Russian boxing club and the Irish one, and there was a witness.”
“A witness who saw my client kill Jimmy? Bullshit.” Vadim softens his tone and even lets out a small laugh. “If you had that, we wouldn’t even be sitting here. You’d have arrested Dmitri and hauled his ass in with your fucking arrogant face leading the damn parade.”
Belov knows he’s right, and I see the first crack in his smug face start to show. He wants it to be true. There’s no doubt about that, but he can’t prove shit, and he knows it.
“How did he die?” I ask, ignoring the warning look that Vadim is giving me.
“He was beaten to death. His body dumped down an alley about halfway between your clubs. He was found this morning, but the coroner puts his time of death at Saturday night between ten and midnight. I’ll ask you again, Dmitri. What were you doing Saturday night?”
“I was in my office, and then I went to the Arctic Fox for a bit before going up to my apartment. There are plenty of witnesses who can back that up.”
“One of my officers already talked to a few of your waitresses. You’re right, they say you were there, but then they say that you walked off with some young woman and never came back. We’re still trying to figure out her identity. I hope she was at least legal, Dmitri.”
I give him a big smile and laugh. “Oh, she was legal, Belov, beautiful, too.”
“Perks to being a thug, I guess,” he says, narrowing his eyes at me. “We need her name, Dmitri. She’ll need to give a statement.”
“I am not thug, and I can’t remember her name. She is not important.” I’m starting to get pissed off, and they both know it.
“How convenient,” Belov says, “and I’ll decide what’s important and what isn’t.”
“Look,” Vadim says, “my client was in his apartment. There are several witnesses to vouch for his presence at the club.”
“It’s after the club I’m talking about.”