by Lori Foster
“It was Pepper.”
The ramifications of that couldn’t sink in. Logan shook his head. “No.”
Watching the door, still pulled taut against his restraints, Rowdy said softly, “Understand this, you bastard. If I had any other choice, I wouldn’t tell you shit. But if Pepper was here, then she’s not following the procedure we laid out. And that means her life is on the line.”
No, and no again.
“Make up your mind and fast, Detective. Shit’s about to get ugly. Whose side are you on here?”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
FOR AN ANSWER, Logan stepped to the door and locked it. He doubled-checked that the intercom was off, too.
Reese heard the lock click, tried the knob, then looked in the window with a dark scowl. He pounded on the door, demanding entrance.
Of course Reese didn’t like being cut out, and the lieutenant would be livid, but he’d deal with them both later.
Close to Rowdy again, he said, “Tell me.”
“It’s…complicated. Convoluted.”
“So give me the short version. Fast.” If Pepper was in direct jeopardy, the sooner he knew the details, the better he could help her.
Rowdy waffled only a second. “Pepper and I both worked at Checkers. I was a bouncer, guard, doorman, you name it. Pepper was an evening maid.”
“A maid?”
“Cleaning the offices, the bathrooms, that sort of thing. It was a great-paying job for me, and Pepper made a decent wage. Working nights, downplaying her looks, and keeping a low profile left her mostly off the radar of the boss. She was…insignificant to the operation. That’s how she and I both wanted it. If she’d been a waitress or something…” Rowdy shook his head.
Hatred burned like acid in his stomach. “Andrews would have hit on her.”
“Hit on her?” Rowdy snorted. “He thought women were his for the asking. No one dared say no to Morton.”
“Not even a city commissioner?”
Rowdy rubbed a hand over his face. “You knew him?”
“Jack Carmin was my best friend.”
Rowdy looked down at his hands. “Morton had cops in and out all the time, helping him with his business. I saw more bad cops than I ever saw good.”
“Jack wasn’t a cop, but he was definitely one of the good guys.”
Rowdy accepted that without question. “The cops…they were well paid to look the other way when Morton did deals around town.”
“What type of deals?”
“Drugs, guns, muscle…whatever was needed. You name it, he did it.”
“You know this how?”
“Not the way you’re thinking. Morton trusted me only so far as the door. As the bouncer, I let in the guys on the payroll and stalled the cops who came to snoop. When I couldn’t stall them, I hit an alarm that sounded only on the third floor to let Morton know they were around. That gave him time to clear out the upstairs rooms. By the time the cops got through all the locked doors, there was nothing to see.”
“You interfered with justice.”
He made a rude sound. “Hard to know when justice came calling. You guys all look the same.”
“Meaning you couldn’t tell the good from the bad?”
“I knew who to let in and who to block. But I didn’t have details on what, when or where. I wasn’t kept in the loop on arrangements. Far as I knew, creeps fed off creeps. If one died, another just as bad took his place. I didn’t have firsthand knowledge of any of the corruption, but I didn’t see any angels in the mix.”
“You said you were muscle?”
“Not to beat down Morton’s adversaries. The muscle I supplied was in restraint and booting out the guys who got too unruly, or too drunk. I never killed anyone, although I sent a few home with blood and bruises.”
That didn’t make Rowdy a saint, as Pepper claimed, but it didn’t really taint him with the same corruption as Andrews, either.
“I was already making plans to get us both out of there. But it all went to hell before I could.”
“Jack?”
“I don’t really know that much about him. From what I could figure, Morton wanted more influence, so he went to your friend. Being the city commissioner, he could have reassigned Morton’s cops to certain areas so they could be more effective.”
Areas they had since occupied, maybe because Jack was out of the way. Without a single doubt, Logan said, “Jack refused.”
“I assume so. There’d have been no reason to make an example of him otherwise.”
“Jack was the type of man who would have done what he could to expose it all.” There was one thing that didn’t make sense to Logan. “He went there to meet with Morton? Without backup?”
“I’m guessing they grabbed him off the street,” Rowdy said, his expression dark, his hands fisted. “I was down on the main floor, and we had a crowd that night, so I didn’t see any of it. Pepper had cleaned that area earlier and was supposed to be working on the main floor with me. But she realized she’d left the keys to the storage room upstairs.”
Shit. Thinking of what she’d blundered into, what she’d seen, how close she’d been to danger, Logan went rigid.
Rowdy spoke in a quiet whisper that showed he felt the same as Logan. “She stayed hidden in the boardroom and kept quiet. But she could hear everything.”
“Jesus.”
Almost tortured, Rowdy looked away. “She said they dragged in your buddy. He’d already been worked over and was in a bad way, not really fighting back. Pepper heard Morton say that he’d use him as an example to others.”
Knowing what his friend had gone through, how he’d been beaten, Logan breathed deeper.
“The thing is…” Rowdy stared hard at Logan. “There were two other cops there. One of them fired the gun.”
Though Logan already knew how it had ended—with a bullet—knowing that Jack had died at the hand of a cop twisted him with rage.
“You know the cops?”
He shook his head. “You all look the same to me—self-righteous with a hard-on for exerting authority.”
Logan let that fly. “Male or female, black or white—”
“Men, white.” He shrugged. “At least, that’s what Pepper assumed from what she heard.”
“She came to you?”
“Not right away. She sat in that room for over an hour, afraid to move.” His mouth quirked in a sad smile. “She said she was afraid if they found her, they’d kill me, too.”
“They knew you were related?”
“No, but Pepper’s always been like that. A real mother hen. Protective.” Rowdy closed his eyes. “I try to keep her safe, but I’m all she has, and—”
“She loves you.”
Rowdy looked him in the eyes and said again, “I’m all she has.”
Sick, more scared for her than ever, Logan dropped back in his seat. “When did you find out?”
“We were swamped that night. I had six hours overtime. I could tell something was wrong, but I didn’t want to risk talking to her overlong, and whenever I did catch her to ask, she said she was fine.”
“If they’d caught her that night…”
“She didn’t know who to trust,” Rowdy explained. “She knew the cops were involved, so how could she go to them? She didn’t want them to just get away with it, so she tried talking to a reporter, but that idiot talked to the wrong person about his scoop—”
“A scoop he got from…Yates.” Not necessarily Rowdy Yates. Just a last name.
All this time, it was Pepper. And here he’d thought in the long run, he’d be helping her, freeing her from an inconsiderate brother.
Instead, he’d made her a target. Thanks to him, she was now in more danger than ever.
*
REESE PACED OUTSIDE the door. What the fuck? Logan had to be slipping to get in cahoots with Rowdy. Even now they sat together at the table in hushed conversation.
Sharing details.
Coming to conclusions.
Plotting…something.
Logan had actually locked him out!
Perturbed, Reese again looked in the small door window. The surveillance cameras were off. Neither man paid him any mind. What did it mean?
“Detective Bareden?”
Reese wanted to groan even as he turned to face Lieutenant Peterson. “Ma’am?”
Her gaze was sharp enough to slice through his usual disregard. She gestured at his stance outside the door. “Playing guard dog?”
Which would be better—to let her think that or to tell her the truth, that Logan had excluded him? Choosing to be noncommittal, he shrugged.
“I want to talk to Detective Riske.”
Reese smiled down at her—something he knew she disliked. She had the attitude of an Amazon but the stature of a runt, and it bothered her that he was so much bigger in every way. “I’m sure he’ll be right out.”
Her chin tucked in. “I’d like to talk to him now.”
Shit. Reese wanted to stall for Logan, to give him time to…what? Come to his senses and include him again?
Well, yeah.
“The thing is, Logan hasn’t really had a chance to talk to Yates uninterrupted.”
“Why not?”
“Because there have been…interruptions.” He gave her a “duh” look.
Exasperated, Peterson folded her arms and glared at him. “Your attitude is bordering on insubordination, Detective.” She gave him the look, the one that made most in the police force stop and reevaluate. “Maybe you need a little beach time to collect yourself.”
Reese rubbed the back of his neck. He got that Peterson had to be a strong woman. But did she also have to be such a pain in the ass?
He had no choice but to spit out a fact. “Rowdy’s sister came to visit.”
After a blank stare, she dropped her arms. “His sister?”
“Yeah. I take it they’re close. She’s the one Logan was schmoozing to get to Rowdy.”
“I know who she is, damn it!” She narrowed her eyes in thought. “Why did she come here?”
“To see her brother?”
Her slim brows came down. “If you don’t know, just say so.”
“To see her brother.”
A long sigh of impatience left Peterson looking deflated. “And did she?”
“What?”
Suddenly her temper snapped. “You’re doing it on purpose!”
Reese held back a smile. “Doing what?”
Jerking around, she paced a few steps away, then stormed back. A cold facade now hid her irritation. “I’m a nanosecond away from disciplinary action. In fact, few things would please me more.”
“That’s a pity.” To his way of thinking, women should have many other pleasurable options. “I’m only trying to answer your questions.”
Her smile was mean. “Detective Bareden, you will either open the door or get out of my way. Now.”
Gallant when it suited him, Reese moved to the side and gestured for her to do as she pleased.
She reached for the knob, turned it and realized the door was locked.
Once again on the edge of exploding, she said, “What, exactly, is going on here?”
“Since I’m on the same side of the door as you, I can’t really say.” He lounged back against the wall. “But I assume Logan will fill us in the moment he wraps it up.” God willing, that’d be soon.
*
SQUEEZING HIS EYES SHUT, Rowdy said, “The same people who murdered that commissioner when he wouldn’t play ball also cut the reporter’s throat to keep the story from going public. They’re the same people who would kill anyone who knew the truth.”
Including Pepper.
The puzzle pieces fit together to create a complete picture for Logan. “When the reporter got murdered, you stepped in as the snitch? You encouraged everyone to think it was you.”
“It was more believable that I’d have been the witness, so it wasn’t hard to get that idea circulating. All I had to do was take off and my guilt was assumed. Pepper objected, of course, but I figured…better me than her.”
Logan agreed. “All this time…”
“I’ve done what I could to keep her safe. As soon as she told me, we booked. I used what cash we had to get alternate identities. With the cops involved, I didn’t dare try catching a plane or even a train. I won the apartment building in a card game from an old guy who’s since passed away. I got Pepper set up there, and then I kept my distance so no one else would stumble on the truth or try to use her to get me.”
“As I did.” Logan ran a rough hand through his hair. “You were good at covering your tracks. I spent a lot of time looking for you, doggedly chasing down every possibility.”
“I figured most would look for a brother and a sister together. So I hid, and Pepper changed everything, her entire life.”
“Her appearance.” While Logan understood Rowdy’s intent and the protectiveness that drove him, Pepper’s life had not been ideal. She deserved so much more.
“I hate what this has done to her. I didn’t know which cops were dirty or how high up the corruption might be. All I knew for sure was that those involved were cold-blooded enough to murder one of their own without a blink. Disappearing seemed to be the only option.”
“It probably was—then.”
“And now?”
It was actually smart for Rowdy to lay low while hiding Pepper out in plain sight, not close to Morton, but not so far away, either. Even with all his resources, it had still taken considerable time for Logan to catch up with them.
“I can help.”
“You’ve blown her cover.”
Unable to deny it, Logan accepted that—and more. “She wanted me to tell you that you’ve done enough. That now it’s her turn.”
Pained, Rowdy looked away. “She was back to her old self?”
“I have to assume.” Urgency drove Logan to his feet to pace. “I tried to keep her here, but—”
“Unless you find her and stop her, she’ll move heaven and earth to try to end this.”
“End it how?”
He rolled a tired shoulder, his expression ravaged. “She’ll probably head to the nightclub to go after Morton. It’s the only way she knows to protect me.” Rowdy narrowed his eyes. “The big question now is whether or not she’ll actually trust you enough to let you help her.”
Logan could say with certainty that she wouldn’t. She was hurt, angry and adamant that he needed to be kept at a distance. He deserved that—especially after taking her brother, the most important person in the world to her.
The only person she could rely on.
Making up his mind, Logan pulled the keys from his pocket. “Together, we’ll convince her.” It was the only way he could think of to locate her and to keep her safe.
Whether he liked it or not, his priorities had all changed.
Number one on the agenda was protecting Pepper.
After that, he’d get Morton Andrews, and the dirty cops, and anyone else involved in the corruption.
Once Logan freed him, Rowdy flexed his hands and nodded at the door. “Want to tell me how you’re going to get past that one? Because I don’t think he’s going to willingly look the other way.”
Logan turned, saw Reese eyeing them through the door window, and said, “It’ll be fine. Just follow my lead.”
“Not like I have a choice.” Rowdy followed him to the door. “But if you’re wrong, if he hurts her, I’ll kill him.”
Logan didn’t correct Rowdy. But if Reese hurt Pepper, Rowdy wouldn’t get a chance to touch him.
Logan would take care of it himself.
*
IT MADE ROWDY EDGY enough to be in a packed police station, but to have to trust Logan to guard his sister, too? That was asking a lot.
Never mind that Logan Riske maybe had valid, very personal reasons for tracking him down. And the detective did seem to genuinely care about Pepper, and vice versa.
In Rowdy’s experience
, cops were not his friends, period. They protected the ordinary people, the middle class, the privileged few—and each other.
Those forced to take drastic measures to survive? They were a nuisance at best, disposable at worst. In his lifetime, he’d been referred to as a troublemaker, a bottom feeder. To ensure he and Pepper stayed together, he’d spent years skirting legit jobs. Once she was of age, he’d still felt compelled to keep her as close as possible.
Didn’t take a genius to figure out what drove him; at an early age, he’d lost everyone and everything important in his life—except for Pepper. She was it for him. Numero uno. His entire world. He’d die for her.
And he’d kill for her.
But God Almighty, he’d never wanted her to feel the same.
He and Pepper had spent their lives trying to steer clear of the criminal element and cops alike. Neither fit into their lives.
Survival. That’s all they’d really wanted. Enough shelter, enough food, comfortable clothes, occasional entertainment.
Safety. Security.
And for him, a warm, willing woman when the past weighed too heavily on his brain. He needed nothing else.
He definitely didn’t need the steel-eyed official-looking gal now showing her disdain.
“Detective Riske?”
They stood clustered outside the interrogation room. It was clear that Logan hadn’t counted on running into the woman.
Angry tension all but vibrated off her petite frame. She was more than a little pissed and not succeeding much at hiding it.
With worry for Pepper prodding him, Rowdy considered making a run for it. But more than a few cops stood between him and freedom. If he ran, they would assume him guilty of something—and he was. Hell, he was guilty of all kinds of shit. Not all of it was illegal, but that probably wouldn’t matter much in the big scheme of things.
Not in a police station filled with guys who got a stiffie over carrying a piece. To him, it seemed that most cops were trigger-happy and waiting for an excuse to exert their limited clout.
If he got himself locked away again, who would save Pepper from herself?
Reese spoke up. “Lieutenant Peterson had hoped to join the interrogation, but, ah, Logan, you’d locked the door, so…”
Lieutenant? Huh. Rowdy surveyed her and had to be impressed.