“Why do you take things so personally?”
“Probably because I’m a person. Not a machine, like you.”
“A machine?” Elizabeth smiled, composed again now. “Come now, that’s not fair. We’re the same, Tracy, you and I.”
Tracy’s eyes narrowed. “The same? I don’t think so.”
“Why ever not? You’re a thief. I’m a thief.”
“I only robbed from the greedy, from people who deserved it.”
“Deserved it according to whom? You?” Elizabeth snorted with derision. “Who made you judge and jury?”
Outside, Milton Buck muttered under his breath, “Exactly.” He couldn’t understand how Rizzo and the others could listen to this baloney.
“You prey on the old and the weak,” said Tracy.
Elizabeth shrugged. “Sometimes. The old and weak can be greedy too, you know.”
“All you care about is money.”
“Again, not true. I care about Jeff. That’s something else we have in common.”
Tracy jumped in her seat as if she’d been shocked. The atmosphere inside the room was suddenly electric.
“Where’s your sense of sisterhood, Tracy?” Elizabeth taunted. “I’ll admit, in the beginning it was just business. I seduced Jeff as part of a job. But the sexual chemistry between us was so insane, it soon became more than a job. For both of us,” she added, like a scorpion delivering its sting.
Beneath the table, Tracy dug her nails into her palms so hard they bled.
Don’t cry. Don’t show emotion. Not to her.
“So what was this job?” Her voice was calm and measured. “I’m curious.”
“I was hired to split the two of you up.”
“Why? Who hired you?”
Elizabeth smiled. “That would be telling. Let’s just say that not everyone out there is as convinced of your saintly status as you seem to be. Some people just see you as a conniving, thieving little bitch who deserves to get her comeuppance. And did you ever get it, Tracy!” She laughed cruelly.
Tracy kept her cool. “How much were you paid?”
“Two hundred and fifty thousand,” said Elizabeth. “Of course I wouldn’t get out of bed for that today. But this was a decade ago. And all I had to do was get into bed, Jeff’s bed. Which wasn’t exactly a hardship.”
Jean Rizzo winced. He knew how much this exchange must be hurting Tracy, but he prayed she stayed on this track. Elizabeth was getting emotional, giving far more away than she intended to. If Tracy could just press the right button, surely, he told himself, she’d crack.
Tracy said, “They think Jeff’s involved in this, you know.”
“Oh, I know.” Elizabeth laughed. “Agent Buck seems to believe Jeff masterminded my entire career and that odd little Canadian fellow thinks he’s running around bumping off prostitutes. Or that I am, I wasn’t quite sure. He showed me some horrible photographs. Not very gentlemanly of him.”
“So you don’t work with Jeff?” Tracy pressed her
Attagirl, thought Jean Rizzo.
“No. I don’t. And I don’t know anything about any murders either. I wouldn’t have the stomach for that sort of thing.”
“If you don’t work with Jeff, what were you doing at his hotel last week? You were seen meeting in the park, then returning to the Gramercy together.”
“Was I now?” Elizabeth smirked.