by Anna Blakely
Derek sat silently, watching the battle of the wills. His eyes bounced back and forth between his brother and the strikingly beautiful detective.
“Fine.” Detective York walked over to the other chair and slapped a folder down onto the table. “It might be good for you to hear what we have on him. Maybe then you’ll stop trying to interfere in my case.”
Eric sat back down. “Oh, I’d love to hear what you have on him. Because I’m pretty sure it isn’t enough to make your case stick.”
York smiled. “We’ll see.” She turned and greeted Derek with a nod. “Mr. West. I spoke to your girlfriend the other day. I’m sure she told you about me.”
“She did.”
“Good. So, Derek.” She paused. “May I call you Derek?”
He gave her a slow grin. “You can call me anything you want”
She kept the same, fake smile on her face, but Derek knew she wanted to roll her eyes at him.
“I have a few questions for you, and it would really save me some time if you’d be honest when answering them.”
“I have no reason to lie to you, Detective.”
When she smiled again, Derek saw the shield over her eyes Charlie had described. “Good. Then, let’s get started. Would you care to explain why you went to New York last night? More specifically, why you went to Caleb Porter’s apartment?”
“I went there to talk to him.”
“To talk.” She smirked, then removed a picture from the folder and laid it out in front of him. “This is you standing outside the building just before you entered, correct?”
Derek looked down at the picture. It was grainy, but his face was clearly visible as he stood on the sidewalk, looking up at the building. They’d installed exterior cameras since he’d been there last.
Shit.
“That’s me,” he confirmed.
“What’s in the bag, Derek?”
“Clothes.”
She raised an expertly trimmed brow. “Clothes?”
“And shoes.”
“It seems rather odd to bring clothes and shoes to a man’s apartment when all you were planning to do was talk.”
“I went straight there from the airport. I had no other choice but to bring it with me.”
“I see. And what did you and Mr. Porter discuss during your visit?”
“Look, Detective York, is it?” Derek leaned on his elbows. “Let’s cut to the chase. I know you know about Porter and how he treated Charlie when they were married. I also know you don’t have any real evidence connectin’ me to the guy’s murder because, well, I didn’t kill him. So why don’t you save me some time and stop pretendin’ like you do.”
York thought for a moment then smiled. “Your southern charm is cute and all, but if I didn’t have evidence, I wouldn’t be here. You unlawfully entered his place of residence the same night he was murdered. Thanks to the new surveillance cameras management installed a week ago. We have you leaving the building approximately an hour before his body was found.”
“That’s all you’ve got?” Eric laughed. “Then, you don’t have shit.”
“Not to mention”—Derek added— “if I killed him in his apartment, how did I get his body outside without it bein’ seen?”
“New York detectives found Mr. Porter’s blood inside the laundry shoot at the end of the hallway on his floor. There was more on the bags of clothes in the large laundry cart positioned beneath the chute’s opening.”
“So, you think I killed him and threw him down a laundry chute?”
She shrugged. “There are no cameras in that part of the building. Perfect way to get someone in and out without being noticed.”
“What about the alley butting up against it?” Eric asked.
“Those were conveniently disabled. Know anyone capable of doing something like that?”
Exactly. Leaning forward again, Derek gave her a cocky grin. “You have a pic of me getting out of the cab, Detective. I’m assuming you also watched me go inside. You’ve already told me you saw me leave, so when did I have time to disable the surveillance system at the back of the building?”
The woman leaned forward, as well. Linking her delicate but strong fingers together in front of her, she looked back at him with confidence.
“I know who you work for and what your specialty is, Derek. I know R.I.S.C. has helped a lot of people over the past few years. However, it’s also fairly common knowledge within the local law enforcement community that you and your team don’t always stay within the confines of the law. I don’t like people who think they’re above the law, Derek. Nor, do I have any respect for those who support that type of behavior.” Her eyes slid to Eric’s and back to his.
Guess that explains the hard-on this woman has for me.
Derek smiled. “Any laws I may or may not have broken in relation to my job have no bearing on this case.”
“They do if you’ve used those same skills to disable the security footage so you could get away with murder.”
Sitting back in his seat, Derek sighed and shook his head. “I can assure you, if I were going to take the time to hack into the building’s security, I would’ve shut down the entire system. Not just part of it. I can also promise you, if I had been the one who killed Porter, you never would’ve found the body, let alone any identifiable evidence.”
“Or,” York countered. “You chose to burn Porter’s body in his car with his I.D., clothes, and watch to make it appear as though an amateur did the job.”
Eric glanced over at her, his frustration clear. “This screams set up, Riley, and you know it.”
Without giving her a chance to respond, Derek asked, “Has the M.E. in New York completed their examination yet?”
She scoffed. “I’m not obligated to give you any information pertaining to the case.”
“Right.” Derek grinned. “So, that’s a no. Okay, then.” He sat up straighter. “Let me fill you in on a little fact you may not be aware of. Human teeth can withstand temperatures of up to two thousand degrees.”
“Your point?”
Derek smiled and got his geek on.
“The person who did this most likely killed first and then used gasoline as the fuel for the fire. The ignition temperature would’ve been close to five hundred degrees. Now, if there was still enough of a body left to do a thorough examination, which I’m assuming there was or else you’d have the report by now, then that fire burned itself out before reaching a high enough temperature to destroy the teeth.”
“I’m still not sure where you’re going with this.” York pretended to be bored, but Derek could see the interest behind her hardened eyes.
He slid his gaze to his brother’s then back to hers. “I’m willin’ to bet when you do get that report, you’re gonna learn that body in Porter’s car wasn’t his.”
She rolled her pretty, brown eyes. “You’re saying Caleb Porter faked his own death? Why on earth would he do something like that?”
“To get me out of the way.”
“That would mean he would’ve had to have known you were coming to see him. How would that be possible?”
That part still made his gut churn. “I had someone watching him. To make sure he didn’t come to Dallas. I texted my contact before I boarded my plane last night to let him know I was coming. I sent him another message after I landed, but never got a response. I still haven’t heard back from him.”
“You think your contact ratted you out to Porter?”
“Either that or Porter got to him somehow.” Derek tried not to think of that burned body.
York mulled this over. “Okay, let’s say you’re right. Let’s pretend for a second that you’re telling the truth, and you didn’t kill Porter. Why would he go to all these lengths to set you up?”
“To get to Charlie.”
The second the words were out, Derek’s stomach dropped. Fear gripped his chest when he thought about how long he’d been in here. He glanced at his watch.
It had been almost two hours since he’d been hauled away from her apartment. Processing was busy as hell, so it had taken longer than normal to get him back here. After that, he’d sat here another twenty-minutes before Eric came in.
His gut swirled with nerves thinking of Charlie sitting out there all that time with nothing to do but wonder whether or not he’d been telling her the truth.
“She’s waiting for me out front,” he told his brother. “Go check on her, would ya? Make sure she knows I’m okay.”
Eric’s eyes bounced from his to York’s and back again. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to leave.”
“You can come back in after, I just...” He swallowed against the odd feeling suddenly gnawing at him. “I need you to put eyes on her. Make sure she’s doin’ okay. That’s all.”
“All right.” His brother nodded. “I’ll have her sit at my desk while we finish up in here.”
Derek sighed, feeling a little better. “Thanks.”
Eric left, and when Derek looked back at York, he saw the first signs of wavering conviction there.
“You know I’m right.” His voice was low. “Don’t you?”
York blinked a few times, and then pulled her shoulders back. “What I know is a man is dead, and you were one of the last people to speak to him.”
“Wrong. I already told you. I never saw Porter last night. But nice try.”
York thought for a moment. “So, what did you see?”
“An empty apartment. Signs of a struggle. Some blood.” Derek took a breath before admitting, “I hacked into the nearby hospitals and clinics to see if he was a patient at any of them. He wasn’t.”
“What did you do, then?”
“I left. Caught a cab back to the airport and flew back home.” While she seemed to be considering this, he said, “Look, Detective. One of my many talents is reading people. Even through all the animosity you’ve shown toward me, I can tell you’re a good cop who follows the law to the letter.”
She stared back at him warily. “So?”
He exhaled. “For someone like you, guys like me and my team are no better than a group of vigilantes. Or worse, you liken us to a bunch of mobsters who use who and what we know to get what we want.”
There was a slight twitch in the woman’s right eye. It was barely discernible, but Derek caught it.
Oh, yeah. This woman definitely had a history with someone on the other side of the law.
“You’re wrong,” he continued when she remained silent. “But, my guess is there’s a story there. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to care about that right now. What I do care about is the fact that you’re lettin’ your personal feelings about me and my team cloud your judgment. You and I both know the most you can charge me with is trespassin’. Since that’s a non-extraditable offense that occurred in New York, you have no authority to keep me here.” The look in her eyes told him he’d definitely hit a nerve.
“That’s all well and good, Mr. West, but until I see that M.E.’s report, I’m not letting you go anywhere.”
“Mr. West?” He pretended to pout. “What happened to Derek?”
Her wheels were already beginning to turn when she said, “Sit tight. I’m going to go check on the progress of that report.”
York got up and started for the door but, Eric burst in before she had a chance to open it. The second Derek saw his brother’s face, he knew something was wrong.
“Charlie?”
Eric shook his head. “She’s not here. According to the officer at the front desk, she never was. I called her cell, but she didn’t answer. I’ve got a uniform headed to her place now.”
Derek shot out of his chair so fast it tipped over behind him. “It’s Porter. He’s got her.”
York put a hand up. “Sit down, Mr. West.”
“Get these off me, Eric.” He ignored her. Derek came around the edge of the table and held his bound hands out in front of him. “I have to go. I have to find her.”
Like a dog with a bone, York said, “You need to have a seat and calm down.”
Fuck calm. He was done playing nice.
“He has her!” Derek got right into York’s face. “Don’t you get it? He set this whole thing up. My car, the fire...now, this. And you and those detectives in New York played right into his hands.” He looked at his brother. “We all did.”
“You don’t know for sure she’s with him, D,” Eric tried to reason with him. “She could’ve gotten stuck in traffic or something.”
Derek wanted to scream for the fear gripping his heart. “You know what he’s already done to her, Eric. What do you think he’ll do, now...after she left him like she did? After she and I—” his voice broke, and he forced himself to take a breath.
Pain and turmoil swirled in his brother’s eyes as he glanced at York.
“Release him into my custody. I’ll take full responsibility for him.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know, Eric. The captain won’t—”
“Come on, Riley,” Eric practically begged. “I’ll take the heat on this one.”
Derek pleaded with her to listen. “If you want, you can lock my ass up again the second we find her. Please, just let me make sure she’s okay.”
York glanced over at Eric and back to him, her resolve wavering. “I-I can’t release you. Not without the green light from the NYPD.”
“So call them!”
She glanced at her watch. “They’re still in the air. It’ll be another couple of hours before they land.”
Derek brought his bound hands to his forehead, his chest heaving as he tried hard to control himself.
“Charlie doesn’t have a couple of hours.” He dropped his hands, his eyes locking with his brother’s. “He’ll kill her, Eric.”
York continued her feeble attempt to make him see reason. “As far as we still know, Caleb Porter is dead and lying on a slab in the Manhattan morgue.”
His head swung toward hers. “You willin’ to bet an innocent woman’s life on that assumption?”
Ready to defend herself, the woman started to say more, but an officer chose that moment to knock on the door and enter the room.
“Sorry for the interruption, Detective, but the Manhattan medical examiner’s office just faxed this over to you.”
Rather than let York get it, Eric snatched the paper from the officer’s hand and started skimming its contents. The lines on his forehead smoothed, and he lost all color when he looked back up at Derek.
“It’s not him.” Eric’s eyes shot to Derek’s. “The body they found wasn’t Porter’s.”
York grabbed the paper from Eric and, as he had, quickly skimmed the M.E.’s findings. “Shit,” she muttered under her breath. “According to this, the DNA and dental records from the man who was killed match someone named Shane Dunham.”
And the hits just keep on comin’.
“Shane was the guy I hired to watch Caleb,” Derek told her woodenly. “I knew him from when he was in the Navy. He was solid.” Pushing back tears, he looked at his brother. “Now, he’s dead because he agreed to help me.”
“You were right,” resignation dawned behind York’s chestnut eyes. “The sonofabitch is still alive. I’m...I’m sorry.”
Derek didn’t want her fucking apology. He needed to get the hell out of there. Now.
Grinding his teeth together, he held his hands out again. Without hesitation, Detective York pulled her keychain from her pocket and quickly released the cuffs.
Rubbing the skin there, Derek gave his brother a nod. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 22
In one fluid motion, Charlie threw her seatbelt out of the way and opened the door. She heard Caleb yell her name and felt him reach for her arm, but she was already too far over.
Pushing herself out of the car, Charlie thought to tuck her body inward a second too late. Bone ground together and muscle tore as her right shoulder took the brunt of the fall. She cried out as she hit the unforgiving grou
nd.
The velocity from the jump left her rolling over and over again, her body becoming scraped and bruised before she finally came to a stop at the road’s grassy edge.
Tires squealed as Caleb hit the brakes, and the car skidded to a stop. Gravel dug in Charlie’s palms and knees and a sharp pain radiated from her right shoulder into her chest when she tried to use that hand for leverage.
It was only through sheer will that she was able to stand. When she did, she noticed her arm was hanging at an awkward angle, the burning, shooting pain enough to nearly make her pass out.
Risking precious seconds, Charlie glanced behind her to assess her odds of escaping. At the same time, Caleb’s car—which had come to a stop several yards down the road—started to back up toward her.
Using her left hand, she held her injured arm against her chest and began to run. Through the still-opened passenger door, she could hear Caleb screaming her name, yelling and cursing as he shot the car in reverse.
Moving as fast as her quivering legs would go, Charlie turned and ran across the shallow ditch toward the dense trees in front of her. If she could get enough distance between them, she could find a place to hide. Then, maybe Caleb may give up and leave.
She held her arm against her body as best she could, but each time her feet hit the ground, she felt a jolt of splintering pain.
Dizziness and nausea assaulted her, and she was afraid she’d start throwing up any moment, but she kept going.
Turning her head to the side to shield her face from the low-lying branches, Charlie pushed herself even harder when she heard Caleb’s infuriated voice coming closer.
“Get your ass back here right now, you stupid bitch!”
Yeah, because that’s going to happen. She ran harder. Faster.
Surprised to see she was gaining a good distance between them, Charlie had just begun to think she had a chance when the toe of her shoe got caught on an exposed root and she fell.
By turning her body mid-air, she landed on her left side, rather than her already-injured shoulder. Her teeth slammed together and her breath left her lungs with a forceful oof.
She held back the agonizing scream threatening to escape and fought the overwhelming urge to pass out.