by Tee O'Fallon
“You can’t really think I had anything to do with that.” Could he?
“What I think,” Gray said, picking up a printout and crushing it in his hand, “is that now would be a good time for you to tell us your name. Because prior to seven years ago, Alexandra Romano didn’t exist. Anywhere.”
Chapter Six
Gray didn’t really think Alex had anything to do with the agent’s death, but as a seasoned detective he knew better than to assume anything.
His gut tightened as he watched Alex’s face blanch. How she could still look so breathtakingly beautiful while being in such deep shit was a mystery of the universe. He prayed she was about to tell the truth. Lying would only dig her in deeper.
She took a deep breath as if to compose herself. “My real name is Aileen Alexanderson. I grew up in the L.A. area. About six and a half years ago I had a child, Nicky. Nicky’s father was not a good man, and he threatened to take my son out of the country so that I would never see him again. I couldn’t take that chance.”
“So you purchased fake ID,” Gray interjected.
“Yes.” Alex held her head high, but from the sadness in her clear blue eyes he could tell she wasn’t proud of what she’d done. “I purchased a fake social security card, driver’s license, and a birth certificate for both Nicky and myself.”
Gray fisted his hands beneath the table. The level of bad Alex was facing just climbed into the red zone. Not only had she falsified her employment documents, but she’d also admitted to committing multiple felonies in another state.
Damn. Gray forced himself to unclench his hands. Last week he’d known Alex was lying to him about something, but nothing could have prepared him for this.
She was right about the city not normally filing criminal charges for submitting false application forms, but given the totality of the circumstances—and her connection to the Pyramid—the DA might make an exception. It was within the DA’s power to charge her with the purchase of false identity documents and the subsequent use of those documents to obtain government employment. Employment that would put her in a position to know and hear confidential things.
For fuck’s sake, maybe the Pyramid was paying her to get close to him. The thought had him wanting to unload his gun into the ceiling. He was the NYPD’s lead investigator on the Pyramid investigation, for Christ’s sake. What better way to obtain confidential information than to sleep with him in the hope of obtaining valuable pillow talk?
As Gray stared at Alex something inside him died. He’d thought perhaps he could finally leave Afghanistan and the past behind. And here it was, staring him in the face.
Feelings didn’t come close to describing the intensity of what he’d begun to experience with Alex, and look where that stupidity had gotten him. At least this time, he’d discovered her treachery before fifty people got blown to bits.
“What did you pay for these documents?” Simonetti asked.
“For the combo—the driver’s license and social security card—I paid a hundred and twenty-five dollars. The birth certificates were an extra hundred. I took Nicky and ran as far from L.A. as I could get and still be in the continental U.S.”
Simonetti pursed his lips. “You do realize this is grounds for termination.”
“I do.” Alex met Simonetti’s glare with one of her own. “I’m sorry for what I did, but I would do it again, if given the choice. I came here with no money and no past. I couldn’t risk any ties to my old life. Without prior credentials, finding a decent job was hard enough, let alone one with good enough benefits to pay for Nicky’s special medical needs.”
Simonetti opened his mouth and from the predatory look in his eyes, Gray could tell he was about to lay into Alex again.
Before he could utter a word, Gray held up his hand to silence the other detective. “What special medical needs?” He felt like a shithead. He’d been working with Alex for nearly a year and hadn’t known her son was ill.
She swallowed. “Nicky has a rare form of leukemia, one that doesn’t respond well to traditional treatment regimens. As a result, he’s now part of an experimental program that isn’t totally covered by medical insurance.”
A six-year-old with cancer. That was one helluva heavy load Alex had been carrying around.
“So you lied on your application forms to get this job,” Simonetti all but growled.
“Yes,” Alex said in a firm tone, but Gray could tell she was shaken.
Dammit, if she needed money, why didn’t she come to me?
Gray gave himself a mental punch to the head. She didn’t come to you because until last week, you wouldn’t let her into your life.
He shouldn’t still care, but he did. He tried putting himself in her shoes. If his child were seriously ill, would he do whatever was necessary to get that child treatment?
Yes.
But would he purchase phony ID then make false statements on official government documents to get a job?
Maybe. Probably.
Hell, he didn’t know. He didn’t have children, so who was he to judge what a parent would or wouldn’t do?
Gray didn’t think Alex was lying about Nicky’s condition, but given that she would probably go to any lengths to care for him, he didn’t think it outside the realm of possibility that she’d also accepted money to get close to him. What he’d thought was genuine interest on her part could be part of an elaborate ruse to pay back the Pyramid for the money she received. It killed him to admit it, but that little prick, Simonetti, might be right about one thing. Maybe she’d only confessed about the money in her account because she’d seen him and Dom start to go through bank records last week.
There was one big-ass headache brewing behind Gray’s eyes, and he pressed two fingers to his forehead in a lame attempt to keep the stabbing pain at bay. It didn’t work. His brains felt like they were bouncing around in his head like marbles in a jar.
Would he ever know the truth? Would he ever be capable of perceiving what about Alexandra Romano was real, and what was bullshit?
He honestly didn’t know. The only thing he was sure of was that the last time he’d been mistaken about someone, people he cared about died.
Despite all the shit going down, when Alex locked gazes with him he felt the connection they had, the same as when she’d grabbed his arm earlier that morning.
Shake it off. You have to.
Their first date had been their last. Christ, by the end of the day she might be wearing an orange jumpsuit.
“It is the recommendation of Internal Affairs,” Simonetti continued, “that Ms. Romano be suspended immediately, pending termination proceedings. Submitting false statements on her application form is not only a regulatory offense but one that, under the current circumstances, has criminal implications as well. I’ll be taking her case to the DA’s office for consideration.”
“What?” Alex’s eyes went wide. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I never kid.” Simonetti closed his file. “Furthermore, you’ll have to turn over all the fake credentials you purchased in California. I’ll take them from you right now.” Simonetti rose from the table.
“Sit down,” Gray ordered. Simonetti glared at him, but Gray lasered the snooty prick with a hard stare until the other man sat with a huff. To Gray’s satisfaction, Simonetti’s neck reddened. “This meeting may have started out with Alex’s phony application papers as the focus, but Alex is right. There’s a bigger picture now, one we can’t ignore.”
“What,” Simonetti asked, “is more important than terminating someone who obtained employment with the NYPD under false pretenses?”
Ignoring Simonetti, Gray turned to Alex. “You said the woman who called you is from the Pyramid and she paid you twenty grand in exchange for a favor.” Alex nodded. “What’s the favor?”
Alex clasped her hands on the table. “She wants me to get copies of all NYPD files on the Pyramid.”
“Holy crap,” FBI Special Agent Wilson said under
his breath.
Lt. Frye’s expression was grim. “What did you tell her?”
“That I wouldn’t do it, of course,” Alex snapped. “I told her she could have the money back, all of it, but I refused to do what they asked.”
“And this woman,” Detective Simonetti’s partner, IA Detective Mark Chavez, said, “she simply accepted your response and let you off the hook?”
“No.” Alex’s mouth tightened. “When I refused to do what she wanted, she said my son’s life depended on me getting the files, and she would contact me within the week with directions on how and where to deliver them.”
A vicious growl rose in Gray’s throat. No matter what Alex was guilty of, threatening a child put these scumbags ten levels below the homicidal shitbag zone he’d already catalogued them in. He stood and rounded the table, reaching for her phone. His hand accidentally brushed her arm, tingling at the brief contact. “What’s your cell number?” He forced himself to ask the question without looking into her lovely blue eyes. It was all he could do to ignore the sweet, flowery scent she wore.
Dom jotted down the number as she recited it.
Gray handed her back her phone. “Cue up the number that called you ten minutes ago.”
She did as Gray asked and handed him back her phone. He recited the number, which Dom also jotted down. Special Agent Wilson and his partner, FBI Special Agent Jim Tanner, made notes on a pad, as did HSI—Homeland Security Investigations—Special Agent Dan Greer. All the men present were affiliated with the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
“Probably a burner phone.” Dom headed for the door. “I’ll run it anyway.”
Alex looked at Gray. “Is a burner phone the same thing as a disposable phone?”
Gray noted her eyes were tinged with red, her complexion abnormally pale. “Basically, yes. A burner phone is disposable and essentially untraceable. It can be purchased with cash and no credit check. The only way to figure out who bought the phone is to find out where it was purchased then review store video to get a visual on the buyer. But the bad guys know that, so they purchase these phones months in advance of using them, and by then the store’s video memory has been recorded over several times.”
Alex put her hand to her throat. Gray’s eyes followed her fingers as they stroked her collarbone. When her pink nails delved beneath her shirt collar, Gray was reminded of how many times he’d wondered how soft the creamy skin on her neck would feel beneath his roughened fingers.
The closest I’ll ever come to touching her again will be to put handcuffs on her.
Anger and betrayal warred with his need to pull her into his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay. But it wouldn’t be, and the thought had him gripping the phone in his hand so tightly the protective cover cracked.
Most of his anger was aimed at the Pyramid assholes who were out there killing for money and taking advantage of people, but some was reserved for Alex. She’d broken the law, and now not only was the entire Pyramid investigation compromised, but the city itself could be at risk from whatever the Pyramid was planning.
His view of situations was normally balls-on accurate. If you admit to committing a crime, then you’re guilty. But as he watched Alex’s blue eyes shimmering with unshed tears, he struggled to reconcile that rigid perception of his job with what she had done.
Unless she’s a damn good actress planted inside the NYPD to get close to me.
Time to find out just how good an actress she was.
He sat on an empty chair next to Alex and leaned in so their gazes were nearly level. “Are you working for the Pyramid?”
“No!” Alex grabbed his arm. “I told you already, I don’t even know what the Pyramid is.”
The imprint of every one of her fingers burned a hole through Gray’s jacket straight to his skin.
Distance. I need distance.
He leaned back, forcing her to release his arm. It took a moment longer before he could shrug off the effects her touch still had on him. Effects warring with the anger coursing through his veins.
Gray narrowed his eyes, still unsure if she was telling the truth. “Was the twenty thousand dollars in your account a payoff to get inside the NYPD? To get information for the Pyramid?”
“No, no, no!” Alex rose to her feet, clenching her fists. “There was no payoff. For God’s sake, why won’t any of you believe me?” She swept her arm to encompass everyone seated at the table. “I would never do anything to compromise the department or the safety of others. Please believe me.”
He wanted to. God, how he wanted to.
Gray rose to stand beside her and stared down into her eyes. “Did you know about the listening devices the night janitor planted in Dom’s and my office phones?”
“No. I did not.” She met his gaze and held it. “Not until after you arrested him, that is. After that, the rumor mill filled in the blanks.”
For several long moments, Gray stared back, his brain switching to analytical mode. He took in her face, her eyes, and her posture. Every nuance of her body language that could unwittingly admit deception.
Unless she’s a skilled liar.
And Gray had encountered many such individuals on the job.
“Alex,” Lt. Frye interrupted his thoughts. “Have a seat.”
Alex sat slowly then lowered her head into her hands, whispering, “I can’t believe this is happening.”
The temptation to stroke her shiny blond hair made him wonder what the hell was wrong with him. She’d committed crimes. She’d lied to gain access to classified NYPD case files, and maybe to get access to him. The wires in his brain crisscrossed into a giant ball of crap.
“Gentlemen,” Lt. Frye continued. “Regardless of her statement that she doesn’t want a lawyer, I think now would be a good time to advise Ms. Romano of her rights.”
Gray looked over toward Simonetti’s partner, Chavez, who sat quietly listening, all the while tapping his pen on a pad. He and Chavez had worked together on the janitor case for months, and while no one in the NYPD particularly liked IA, Gray found Chavez to be fair in his investigations of department personnel. Something was on Chavez’s mind, and Gray had a bad feeling about what it was.
Chavez pulled out his constitutional rights card and read Alex her rights. When he was done, he asked, “Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you?”
“Yes.” Alex nodded.
“And do you understand that anything you say here today can also be used to suspend and or terminate your employment with the department?” Again, Alex nodded. “You’re still in your probationary period, so terminating you will be that much easier. Do you understand this?”
Alex took a deep breath, tightening her blouse against her breasts. “Yes.”
Chavez pulled a waiver of rights form from his leather binder and passed it across the table to Alex. She signed without hesitation.
“Thank you.” Chavez tucked the form back into his binder, allowing Simonetti to take over.
“We also have an obligation to inform you what criminal charges you could face.” Simonetti looked down at the yellow pad in front of him. “You’re looking at class C bribery in the second degree. While this charge has no mandatory incarceration, it carries a minimum incarceration of one to three years and a maximum of eight to twenty-five.”
Again, Alex covered her face with her hands. Gray’s gut tightened as he experienced an unexpected sense that something about this was all wrong. None of this fit with what he knew—or, thought—Alex Romano was. A good woman. A loving mother. A conscientious employee.
Like his sister, Cassie, Gray had unerring good sense about people and could tell with nearly infallible accuracy when someone was lying. That same sense was telling him Alex wasn’t lying. But with nothing to back it up with, his brain refused to seriously consider the possibility she was innocent.
And an FBI agent had just been murdered at the hands of the Pyramid. Even if Alex had nothing directly to do with the a
gent’s death, if she was actually conspiring with them in any way, the court would have no mercy on her. Nor would he. Yet Gray couldn’t stop from wanting to punch out Simonetti.
Given Alex’s transgressions, he was confused as hell at his protective urges kicking into overdrive. His good versus bad, black and white perspective was normally a solid brick wall preventing him from ever having reservations about someone’s guilt. His instincts about people had only failed him once, but that one time led to disastrous consequences, and no way in hell could he let that happen again. Ever.
“You can’t be serious about those charges,” Alex said on a shaky breath.
“We are.” Simonetti yanked a printout from a stack of papers in front of him on the table. “You have no criminal history under the name Alexandra Romano, but we’ll also be running a more extensive background check on your real name. It will take a few days, but soon we’ll know everything there is to know about Aileen Alexanderson.”
Alex’s forehead creased, and a look of worry spread across her delicate features. Classic features that evidenced her true Scandinavian heritage. Blue eyes, fair hair and skin. Ironically, the photo of Nicky on Alex’s desk was of a dark-haired, dark-eyed little boy. Features that must have been inherited from his father.
The thought of Alex lying with another man sent an unwanted wave of jealousy washing over him.
Keep a clear head. She’s not yours and never will be.
“Is there anything else we should know?” Gray asked, praying there wasn’t. Knowing there was.
“Yes.” Alex compressed her lips. “A few days ago, I spent some of the money.”
Shit. Gray clenched his jaw. They’d run Alex’s account a week ago, but not since. Her predicament just went from red-zone-bad to holy-Hell-bad. “How much?”
“Ten thousand dollars.”
Great. Gray rubbed the back of his neck. “You say you were worried about having received twenty thousand dollars from an anonymous source, yet you spent some of it anyway. How do you expect us to believe this money wasn’t payment for services already rendered or yet to be rendered?”