Part 30 (2/2)
”No.”
”What did he tell you he does for a living?”
”He's a real-estate investor.” Nina wiped her eyes with a shaky hand.
”How do you know that?”
”He showed me buildings he owns, in the city.”
”He lied.”
”No, this can't be. I love him.” Nina's voice broke, and Jill knew exactly how she felt.
”I know, I'm so sorry. I loved him, too, but he used me. I don't mean this to sound hurtful, but I suspect he might have been using you, too. Can you think why? Did you give him money-”
”He wasn't using me, he loved me.” Nina's eyes spilled over with tears, and she wiped them away again as a young couple pa.s.sed.
”How long have you been seeing him?”
”Why should I tell you?”
”If you loved him, it can help find his killer.”
”What do the police say?”
Jill didn't have time to go through everything. ”Please, just tell me. It could help, and your husband will be back soon.”
Nina paused, weepy. ”Four years.”
Jill reddened. Another thing she hadn't seen coming. She'd only been divorced for three years. So cheating was proven. She masked her shock. ”Where did you meet him?”
”At a Starbucks.” Nina frowned, recovering. ”Wait a minute. Were those little boys on your Facebook page his sons, with you?”
”No, we had no children together. Did you give or lend him money?”
”No. He had plenty of money.”
”Did you introduce him to anyone important?”
”No, of course I didn't. We kept everything on the down-low. It was just the two of us, always.”
”Did you help him contact people at Pharmcen, like higher-ups? Give him names of people he could call, to sell them something or take something from them? He used to be a drug rep.”
”Neil wasn't a drug rep.” Nina shook her head, recovering her composure. ”He doesn't know anything about the drug business.”
”He told you that?” Jill was trying to piece the puzzle together.
”Yes, he told me that, and he used to listen when I talked about my job. He cared about me. He understood me.”
Jill guessed that cheating wives felt as misunderstood as cheating husbands, and maybe they were. ”What else did he tell you about himself?”
”None of this makes sense.” Nina forced a smile for a woman pus.h.i.+ng a stroller across the street. ”Wait, stop. That was my next-door neighbor. We can't talk here.”
”Look at this.” Jill dug in her purse, pulled out the photo of William with the man in the blue polo s.h.i.+rt, and pointed at William, just to double-check. ”This is the man you know as Neil, right?”
”Yes, that's Neil.” Nina's eyes filled anew. ”Oh my G.o.d, it's so hard to see him, now. I can't believe this. I don't believe it.”
”Who's this other guy, do you know?” Jill pointed at the mystery man.
”I think that's Joe Z.”
”Joe who?”
”Neil's friend, Joe Zeptien.”
”Did you know him?”
”Not really. Neil talked to him on the phone all the time, and I met him once.” Nina wiped tears from her cheeks, getting her bearings. ”I was leaving the apartment one night, but I forgot my earrings, so I went back, and he was going in. Neil introduced him to me.”
”So who is Joe Zeptien and what did he do? Did he have any reason to want to hurt William? I mean, Neil?” Jill slipped the photo back into her purse. ”I'm wondering if Joe Zeptien is the man who killed him.”
”No, never.” Nina shook her head, tears returning to her eyes. ”They were tight.”
”How do you know?”
”Neil told me, and like I say, they talked all the time.”
”How do you know he was talking to Joe Zeptien? You only know what he told you. It could have been anyone.”
”No, I knew it was him. I answered Neil's cell once, by accident, when we were together. We both have BlackBerrys and we kept them by the bed, because I had to answer in case Martin called, and Neil always had to answer his email. I picked his BlackBerry up when he was in the bathroom, and it was Joe calling.”
”What did they talk about, usually?”
”Hold on, here comes my husband.” Nina looked left, stricken, and Martin was running down the block, breathing hard. She wiped her eyes, cleared her throat, and backed away. ”End of discussion. I have to go. You have to go. We can't talk here-”
”What did they talk about?”
”I don't know. He always took the calls out of the room, so Joe wouldn't hear that he was with me. Neil was careful that no one find out about us, to protect my marriage.”
Jill figured that William must've been protecting himself, so Nina couldn't hear his calls, not the other way around. ”Where does Joe live?”
”I don't know. In the city, I think.”
”New York? What did he do for a living?”
”I don't know that, either.” Nina panicked as Martin got closer. ”Stop. We're done. I want to know more, but we can't talk here. Did you get the police involved? Do they know my name? Are they going to contact me?”
<script>