He could tell.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
Across Vegas
Beautiful Home
He stood on his balcony enjoying the finer things in life—good coffee, a great view, and the downfall of the Crofts. It was going to be a beautiful thing, and he couldn’t wait.
In fact, he pulled out the burner phone and began dialing the number he’d contacted earlier when he’d hired the man.
Only, there was no answer.
He waited ten minutes and tried again, hoping the guy would get back to him.
Still, nothing.
Maybe Claude Black was busy handling the situation. Hopefully, he had his sights on Poppy Wayne, and he’d be able to take her out.
Yes, that would really make his week.
Today, he’d go golfing, schmooze a little with Zachary Lipton, and call it a day.
Being rich was so damn hard.
You almost had to break a sweat.
Almost.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
The Penthouse
When Dimitri dropped her off, she headed right into the main living area. In there, she found Heath, who only gave her a look, and a very pregnant Emma.
When the woman looked up at her, she wasn’t sure what she was going to say or do. When she’d once contradicted Dimitri about the last case, she’d torn her a new one.
This?
She was expecting a flaying.
After all, she’d bailed on all of them, leaving them with her mess to cleanup. She’d wanted to take down Raye. It had been her plan, and now it had burned down around her.
If Emma tore her three new ones, she wouldn’t be surprised in the least.
She deserved it.
Why?
Poppy made horrible choices.
They offered her friendship.
They offered her safety.
And she bailed.
Emma glanced over at Heath before directly speaking to the woman.
“Can you help me up?” she asked, knowing she’d never get her pregnant ass off that couch on her own. She was like a Weeble who wobbled.
Heath didn’t hesitate to gently help her to her feet. He made sure she was steady before letting her go.
Poppy watched as Emma headed her way.
She braced for it.
Instead, she was hit with something so unexpected that it made her cry.
“Welcome home, honey,” Emma stated, trying to hug her with Mac between them. “We missed you. You’re safe now,” Emma reassured.
That kindness undid her. While she said she wouldn’t break again, she did.
Poppy lost it.
She sobbed uncontrollably. Someone welcomed her back, when she knew she didn’t deserve it. That compassion helped heal a little of her. It planted that seed in a garden that had long since been neglected and dead.
“Emma, I’m sorry.”
“Shhhh….”
Emma just let her cry. Sometimes, you needed to get it out. Sometimes, you needed a shoulder to lean on, and this was that. Poppy needed her.
No.
Poppy needed all of them.
Emma wouldn’t let that anger fill her. Look what it had nearly done to them with Dimitri. Instead, she’d give her nothing but love.
It was the least she could do.
Someone had to love the woman enough to be on her side. It had to be scary to be facing them, knowing she’d dropped the ball on this one.
When Poppy’s weeping slowed down, she moved with her toward the couch. Emma sat, and pulled the woman down with her so she could be next to her.
“Heath, can you make us some coffee?” she asked, knowing the woman deserved some privacy.
He smiled at her.
“For you, Mrs. C, absolutely.”
She watched him walk away to make sure he was out of the room.
“Poppy, it’s okay.”
She crumbled.
“It’s not. I hurt him, and he hates me. He won’t even look at me. I wish they didn’t save me,” she whispered.
That broke Emma’s heart.
“He can’t bear to even look at me.”
Emma tried to reassure her.
Dimitri was a tough nut to crack. When he was pissed, he didn’t do well with the idea of forgiveness. He held a wicked grudge.
“It will work out.”
She hoped so.
“I have no one.”
Emma reassured them.
“You have me, and you have Greyson. We aren’t angry with you.”
When Heath came back in, he handed them both a mug of coffee.
“You have Heath, too, right?” she asked, giving him the look that said it all.
“Yes, Mrs. C.”
“See?”
Poppy took the mug he offered her.
“Thank you.”
Emma sniffed it.
“Is this decaf?” she asked.
He smiled.
“A funny thing happened, Mrs. C. I went to this store and bought a secret bag of coffee. I don’t know why since I’m not a coffee person. You better use it up. We wouldn’t want it to go bad. That’s wasteful.”
She couldn’t love this man more. He was being kind to Poppy when he’d been feeling Dimitri’s wrath too. Plus, he was going to be her undercover coffee dealer.
Perfect.
“Come here, you big lovable teddy bear.”
He leaned down and got a kiss on the cheek. It made him smile.
“The ladies love a big guy. What can I say?”
She found that funny.
Poppy wiped her eyes. Maybe she could work her way through this after all.
She saw the papers and the tablet.
“What are they all working on?” she asked. “Can you catch me up? I know no one wants me to be part of this, but I do better when I’m focused on work.”
Emma could do that, but first, she had to sip that heavenly brew. Mac would be spinning, but she’d be the one paying the price when he Mamboed on her internal organs.
She held up a finger and sipped the coffee.
“Jesus, I’ve missed you,” she muttered.
Heath laughed.
“Remember, don’t rat me out.”
Oh, she’d never do that.
Ever.
“Heath, you’re my favorite. I don’t even feel bad about stealing you from the Blackhawks.”
He grinned.
“Say it with that bakery.”
Oh, she would.
Once she had half of the cup empty, the baby brain fog was gone, and she could work.
Poppy needed something to keep her busy, so be it.
“Long story short, we found a case that kinda touches on yours,” Emma stated.
“Mine? What does that mean?”
She explained.
“Well, you’re tied into it. We don’t think it’s a coincidence either.”
This was all news to her.
“What?”
“First, let me tell you a little story of how you’re in this position. We know Jeffrey Raye leaked your information to your mother and sister’s killer, right?”
She was aware.
That was how this all started.
“Yes, and he raped me.”
Emma continued to connect the dots.
“Well, we think the ex-commissioner hired Claude Black to take you out. He is brutal. He is nothing more than a paid-for-hire, murderous animal.”
She was aware firsthand.
They both were. The man who came for her on the mountain, and the man who destroyed her world and threatened the people she loved—herself included.
“Well, Claude is dead—thanks to your husband.”
“Yeah, he’s good like that. Do you see how this is beginning to connect? There’s more.”
“I’m with you so far.”
“We find it odd that he hired a killer who also has been known to do some heavy hitter’s dirty work here in the city.”
Here’s where it became tricky. While they knew that Zachary Lipton was up to no good, they needed to connect everything so Poppy would be safe. They couldn’t risk missing anything. If this wasn’t all Jeffrey Raye, she would be at risk if Lipton was behind it as well.
It all stunk.
As an ex-commissioner, how did Jeffrey get Claude’s name?
That was the big question.
Poppy mulled over everything Emma was telling her. It was a lot to swallow. She was afraid of the unknown, and this didn’t make her feel much better.
Her life was in their hands.
“Vegas has a heavy hitter bigger than Greyson?” she asked. “Is that possible?”
She didn’t want to freak Poppy out even more. Since she’d left three months ago, a lot had happened in Vegas. There was an uprising coming.
Greyson was battling to stay on top.
“I know, right? Anyway, Zachary Lipton has been suspected of using Claude Black. We have some connections,” she began, not giving up Nikita’s role in all of this. “That’s how we got the heads-up on all of this.”
“Okay, and?” Poppy asked, but she wasn’t sure how this applied to her. She still didn’t see how this whole mess was connected to her life. She’d been a good, hard-working cop.
She was befuddled.
Emma could see the confusion. It was time to help clear it up.
“We think Claude Black was being used to kill two birds with one stone.”
“How?”
“Claude Black likes to cut up his victims and leave them in bags to be found. That’s his MO,” she said, letting it hang. Hopefully, Poppy would figure it out.
It was clear she did too.
Her face said it all.
“Sound familiar?”
Did she hear her right?
The light dawned.
WHAT?
It was Emma’s plan. In that very moment, Poppy, the victim, was gone, and in her place was Poppy, the cop. She knew after she’d been nearly raped, and her brother killed, work healed her.
Emma was going to make sure Poppy helped with this case, despite anything Dimitri or Greyson said.
Her goal was to fix this woman.
She deserved it.
“Interesting, huh?” Emma asked.
Oh, it was something all right.
Poppy was shocked and appalled.
“I had two Jane Does like that when I was a cop. They were files on my desk. Jeffrey Raye gave them to me to work on as a cop.”
Yeah, well, they knew about it from Nikita and the FBI, but it helped that she was confirming it too.
The man did nothing out of coincidence. He was a plotter and planner. If he personally handed them off to Poppy, he was likely setting her up.
To play games with another killer.
“We think he’s Lipton’s killer and maybe Lipton wanted you handled and Raye wanted you handled, so…”
Well, that sucked.
She was targeted.
Jesus.
“Here’s where we’re hitting a roadblock,” Emma began, trying to break it down for the woman.
“Where?”
“Raye only received a million dollars in life insurance money. Dimitri assured us that Black would get about a cool two hundred and fifty thousand for a hit. Would Raye blow that kind of money on it?”
She didn’t think so.
“No,” Poppy stated. “He’d find a way to do it by playing a game. He’s twisted and sick.”
She was aware.
He’d sent a murderer after her not once, but now twice.
Jesus.
She needed him handled. Poppy had never been so glad to be back at Sky Villa, safe and sound.
“How would he do it?” Emma asked, trying to figure out what the man was up to.
“He’d do it by manipulating the situation.”
Emma agreed.
“We think somehow, he connected himself to Zachary Lipton, and the man let Raye borrow his hired gun because you were investigating. Raye moves in different circles now, and they likely crossed paths.”
This was bad.
Emma saw the look on her face.
“So, you are in some serious danger, Poppy. When I say the second you leave this place, you’re likely dead, it’s not an exaggeration. When it gets back to Lipton and, or, possibly, Jeffrey Raye that Claude Black is dead…”
She got it.
It was definitely not good.
It was horrifically bad.
“So, make sure you stay here. We’ll be good as we try to figure out how to take down both men for this. Once we figure out who is behind it, you’ll be good. We may need to lock them up to ensure you’re safe. Lipton could be calling the shots or Raye. We won’t know until we dig into it.”
This was horrifying.
“The women in the bags…?”
Emma knew what she was thinking. Poppy, while horrified, was still a cop to her core.
“Do you know he’s a killer?”
“We think he was hiring escorts and maybe he’s getting rid of them that way,” she stated, thinking about Alexsandra and her roommate, Misty. Emma was hoping Misty was alive, but she wasn’t naïve enough to believe it. “We think the women you found in the bags are call girls. Chris and Dimitri are going to talk to a madam today.”
She was horrified.
“I sometimes hate this city.”
Yeah, didn’t they all?
Yet, they stuck with it and kept fighting for the damn place like it was the end of the world.
Poppy took a deep breath.
“Are you in?” Emma asked, implementing her plan to save the cop and the woman.
Was she?
Hell, yes!
“Count me in. What’s the plan?” Poppy asked. “How can I help? I can’t leave the building, but I’m hell on research. I wish I had copies of those files.”
Emma smiled.
Yeah, there was the cop.
“Well, I have damn good news for you then,” she offered, knowing they had some help on the inside.
“What?”
“Riley Henderson to the rescue,” Emma said. If someone could help them, it would be him. While he was back to being a detective, he was still loyal to the family.
She was confused.
“He’s gone back? He was allowed?”
Yeah, a lot had happened since she’d left.
“Yes, everyone Raye was targeting has been offered their jobs back. There’s a new sheriff in town, and Greyson is meeting with him right now.”
That gave her hope.
She missed her job. Since Dimitri hated her, she didn’t have a way to survive. Poppy knew she’d have to beg for her job back so she could make ends meet. Poppy wasn’t wealthy, and she was running out of funds and time.
To go back and be a cop?
Yeah, she’d have to plead but Poppy wasn’t above that. It was who she was inside and out.
Maybe, she’d get lucky.
“Can I ask you something, Emma?”
“Sure,” she said.
“Is this an act? Do you really hate me?” she asked, needing to know. Poppy had no one left, and if Emma was her only friend, she wanted to be sure.
Emma didn’t hesitate.
“Absolutely not, Poppy.”
She didn’t get that.
At all.
“Why not? Everyone else does.”
Sometimes, shit went down, and people were distracted by it. This was one of those times. What everyone was feeling wasn’t hate. The family didn’t play that game, but they were worried about what Poppy could do to them.
Look at the fallout over her leaving?
Dimitri had been a mess, and he’d taken his emotional baggage out on them.
“Poppy, no, they don’t. They just feel for Dimitri and his situation in all of this,” she offered, telling her a little story. “Greyson was dating this woman before me, and she ‘Dear John-ed’ him. You walking away is pretty m
uch the same thing to my husband, and he doesn’t respect that. If you, at the end of this, need to leave, you don’t just run. You say goodbye like an adult.”
She got it.
Poppy let her continue. She wanted to make this right, and the family was the only way to do it.
“Chris’s ex did the same thing to him. She ghosted him. She was also having sex with other men…so…”
“Well, I wasn’t doing that. I would never do that.”
Emma listened, giving her a chance to explain what she’d been thinking.
“I can’t even imagine cheating on Dimitri. I saw the tutor. She’s young and pretty.”
And not broken like her.
“Yeah, Libby. She’s a sweet girl. She’s one of the women Dimitri helped get out of the business. She needed work, and he needed someone who spoke Romanian and Russian. A position was created.”
She said nothing.
That didn’t make her feel any better.
At all.
Emma saw the look.
“He’s crazy about you, or he wouldn’t be pissed,” Emma stated. “Why did you leave? You were safe here.”
Why did she?
Poppy knew that she wasn’t whole anymore. She also knew what Jeffrey Raye had said to her in the privacy of that hospital room.
It had shaken her to her core.
Poppy couldn’t bring it up.
She couldn’t do it. So, she went with what she could discuss without getting sick.
“Truthfully, he deserves better. What if I can’t…what if he goes to touch me and I…what if…?”
She got it.
SEX.
Poppy was sexually assaulted, and she was scared of being rejected if she couldn’t be with him in that way. Emma recalled that fear of nearly being raped, and that first time she’d had sex after it.
It had been scary, and her attacker didn’t succeed.
At that moment, she vowed to help Poppy.
To defend her.
“Oh, honey.”
“He used to hire hookers to have sex, Emma. That’s in the back of my mind. What if I love him even more, and I can’t perform in that capacity. Would he do that to me?”
She got it.
“Honey, he’ll move at your pace. He really loves you. We were all angry because we’ve watched him detonate over the last three months. We became his whipping boys because you bailed. Dimitri has personally promised me that he’d never go back to the hooker route. He wouldn’t do that to you.”
No Justice_A Croft Mob Family Book Page 25