Darien nodded. He wasn’t a cop, but he was military. Or former military. CIA, government spook, assassin or something. Josh knew better than to ask, but from what he’d been able to piece together, the guy could relate. Besides, he lived with the lovely Rielle, office manager of Luxxor Limited.
‘Rielle said you’ve been hanging around Luxxor again.’
Josh eyed a group up front when they got loud about the prize fight showing on the TV. ‘Yeah, one of her coworkers, Genieve, was jumped by the press – while she was humping a senator.’
‘Ah, the old jump-’n’-hump.’
Josh let out a bark of laughter, and the old guy watching the fight on TV eyed him back.
Josh ran a hand over his face. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed. Certainly not today.
‘Genieve …’ Darien tapped his thumb against the side of his mug. ‘Is that the hot redhead?’
‘Yeah, if you go for bombshells with curves to spare.’
‘I’m into the girl-next-door type,’ his drinking buddy confessed.
‘Blondes,’ Josh admitted with a grunt. He took a long drink of his beer. Petite ones with big attitudes and enough curves to make things interesting.
Really interesting …
He yanked himself out of his thoughts and frowned into his beer. ‘You know,’ he said simply. ‘About Luxxor.’
Darien cocked his head slowly, his eyes narrowing. ‘What about it?’
‘The things that go on there.’
The younger man rocked his top foot from side to side. ‘I know a lot of things. That doesn’t mean that I talk about them.’
‘Just tell me if I’m right.’ Josh lowered his voice. ‘Just tell me if what I suspect is the truth.’
Darien drew a circle on his mug to clear the fog so the amber liquid showed through. ‘You know better than to ask questions when you don’t want to hear the answers. Not everything is black and white.’
No, but he’d been seeing too much colour. Genieve’s red hair … Nina’s blue figurines … the senator’s gold cufflinks … Josh ground his teeth. He knew life was complicated. He knew all about extenuating circumstances. Was he expected to look the other way? ‘Your girlfriend works there. Aren’t you worried that things will spiral out of control and take her down with it?’
‘No.’
‘No? How can you say that?’
‘Because those are some sharp, tough women running that place.’ Darien shrugged and the muscles rippling under his T-shirt showed just how much physical therapy he’d been doing. ‘Besides, I’d get her out of there first.’
Josh tried to wrap his head around the concept, but couldn’t. ‘Doesn’t it bother you that she works there?’
‘The truth? No.’
But how could … Josh’s head snapped up. ‘You met her there. That’s why you showed up at Luxxor that night. You were looking for –’
‘Hey,’ the tough guy growled. ‘My girl is an office manager and a damn good one.’
Uh huh. Well, there was another cold-case question solved. Josh settled both elbows on the table and leaned forward. ‘Did she know what goes on there when she took the job?’
‘Yes. Do you?’
He … wasn’t sure.
Josh rubbed his eyes. His head was throbbing again. He’d gone home after he’d left Nina, and he’d slept like the dead, but only for a few hours. When he’d woken, she’d been the first thing on his mind. He’d headed back in to the office to write his report on the B&E. He’d had other cases that needed attention, too, but he’d spent more time than he should looking for information on her or Luxxor.
He hadn’t found much.
She was the patron saint of charities, that was for sure. The woman collected causes like she collected those blue glass figurines. Clean drinking water, education, children, animals, women in business, single mothers – she’d helped raise money for all of them.
A lot of money.
No wonder she was so high-strung. She was stretched to her limits.
Or she felt the need to make up for something.
‘Your woman has her finger on the pulse of this city,’ Darien warned. ‘She could cut off the blood supply any time she wants, but she does a lot of good, too. Remember that, whatever trail you decide to go down.’
His woman? Josh let it pass, because he wasn’t hearing that his assumptions were wrong. It made him uneasy in his skin. ‘So I should overlook the bad? I’m a cop.’
‘The guy on the news said the perps had been arrested.’
‘They were.’ Josh shook his head. ‘I mean, I did.’
‘It sounds to me like the bozos were lucky they weren’t shot. You solved the crime.’
‘Did I?’
They engaged in a stare-off, with neither of them blinking.
‘Did you find probable cause for anything else?’ Darien challenged.
For him? Yes. His Spidey sense was tingling.
For the law, though?
‘Not yet.’
‘Then why are you still looking?’
Josh fisted his hand against the table. It just didn’t work that way. He was bound by more rules than this guy. ‘I’m not wired that way.’
‘All right. I can see this bothers you.’ Darien stretched out his legs and stacked his boots the other way. ‘OK, maybe you should talk with the redhead. Get her take on things.’
‘Genieve? She won’t talk to me.’
‘I’m talking off the record. She worked in the office for a while. She’s seen how you and Nina are together.’
‘Like kerosene and TNT?’
‘Yeah.’ Darien lifted his beer. ‘Hot for one another.’
Josh muttered something impolite under his breath, but the tough guy just laughed. Josh felt his ears go hot.
‘Even if Genieve would be willing to talk, dollars to donuts, she’s gone to ground.’
‘You can’t get to her through the senator?’
‘No, but …’ Josh cocked his head. ‘Do you know anything about a Brody something-or-other? He’s a pretty-boy lawyer representing Gunderson.’
‘No.’ Darien’s brow furrowed. ‘Wait, do you mean Brody Haynes?’
‘Maybe.’
‘He’s not a lawyer. Well, maybe he technically is, but he’s a DC fixer. If he’s got her, you won’t get within five hundred feet of her.’
‘Shit,’ Josh swore.
Darien sat up a little straighter. ‘Is he working to make the issue go away or her?’
‘The issue,’ Josh said. At least he thought.
Darien pulled out his cell phone. ‘Let me check with Rielle.’
Josh started to get itchy. He’d been worried about letting Genieve walk off with those two – especially that guy – but she’d seemed willing. And smart.
He hadn’t scared her into doing something to endanger herself, had she?
Darien’s phone didn’t take long to beep with a new message. His shoulders relaxed. ‘She’s safe with him.’
Josh wasn’t so blasé about it. So Nina and this Brody guy were working together? Brody, with the Sunday-shopping-ad smile and cute hair?
‘Let Haynes smooth this one over,’ Darien said.
‘Why should I?’ Josh snarled.
‘Because you caught the bad guys.’
Josh stared into his beer again.
He only looked up when Darien rapped his knuckles against the table top. ‘Hey, Marshall Dillon and Miss Kitty made it work.’
Josh looked at him blankly. ‘Who?’
‘On Gunsmoke. The lawman and the saloon owner.’ The tough guy shrugged. ‘I’ve been watching a lot of TV during my recovery.’
‘Hell. How old do you think I am?’
‘Not that old, buddy.’ Darien knocked his knuckles again for emphasis. ‘Get out of your own way and get in the game.’
Josh rubbed the back of his neck. Don’t you think he’d tried?
‘I thought Ms Kitty just owned the bar.’
‘Ye
ah, but what do you think was going on in those rooms upstairs? The Marshall knew better than to ask.’ Darien shook his head. ‘If you don’t hurry, some other guy is liable to snatch her up.’
‘He’ll get his arm gnawed off first,’ Josh muttered.
But he was worried about her getting picked up – only by another cop.
He closed his eyes. Of all the women in DC, he’d had to fall for a madam.
Ms Lockwood indeed.
Shit. What was he supposed to do now?
Chapter Four
‘Morgan, you got a few minutes?’
Josh looked up distractedly from his computer screen. He was doing paperwork, his favourite thing, but his computer was acting glitchy. It put him in an extra good mood – not that he needed the help. His talk with Darien Scott had left him stewing most of the night. He frowned when he saw the man standing over his desk. ‘Higgins. What are you doing here at this hour?’
The guy shrugged, and his shoulder holster came into view. ‘I dunno. I thought we must be switching shifts, what with you taking on night-shift cases and all.’
Josh’s jaw set. The Gunderson case. He should have known. Higgins was an up-and-comer, a golden boy on the fast track. He hadn’t had his detective stripes for more than a few months, but he’d been wielding them pretty heavily from what Josh had heard.
No wonder Simons had called him instead.
Josh leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. ‘Listen, sorry if you think I stepped on your turf. My ass was rolled out of bed for this one. If I’d known what a stinker it would be, I would have let the phone ring.’
It was a moderate lie, but he wasn’t up to doing much more to stroke the guy’s ruffled feathers.
‘I should have been called in,’ Higgins insisted. His blond hair stood up in strategically gelled spikes. ‘I was the detective on duty. You should have deferred to me.’
Defer, his ass. Josh bit the inside of his cheek to hold himself back. He wasn’t going to fight over this case. It was a hot enough potato already, and he was just putting the finishing touches on it.
His chair let out a squeak as he sat up and spun back to his computer. ‘Well, next time, slugger.’
Higgins puffed up like he was about to pop. ‘Next time there’s a front-page case involving a senator? Are you kidding me?’
Josh’s eyes narrowed, and he slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder. The kid thought this was a career maker? More like career suicide. ‘Maybe when you’ve got more experience under your belt, you’ll be able to take on a case like this.’
Higgins’s chest puffed up even higher, and his cheekbones turned red. ‘No wonder everyone calls you a son of a bitch.’
Josh nodded. ‘Thanks for the compliments, kid.’ He dug into his pocket and pushed a dollar bill in the guy’s direction. ‘Now go get yourself a candy bar or something. I’ve got work to do.’
At the desk behind him, Detective Alvarez covered a laugh with a cough.
Higgins sputtered and stomped off.
‘Don’t mind him,’ Alvarez said, now laughing out loud. ‘He’s up past his bedtime.’
Josh let out a grunt and shook his mouse. The screen finally jumped to the next page.
He glanced though his notes and added a few things. He was finishing up his ‘glamour’ case even now. He still liked to keep notes with pen and paper, and he had a lot of them with this pain-in-the-butt case.
He hit the down arrow and added Simons’ name as the responding officer. The evidence had been logged and checked in for holding. He read again through the statements he’d taken from Gunderson, Genieve, the TMI reporters, the hotel manager, Nina …
Darien had a point, but he’d still followed up with some guys in Vice. None of them had ever heard of a ring of high-priced callgirls working around the city. Or at least on the streets. He might have left out Luxxor’s name. There’d been no need to lead the discussion, and since he’d come up empty-handed when it came to evidence, there was no reason to venture into the area of slander, as Nina had put it.
He noted those additional discussions, putting a pretty bow on the report that would be used as the official documentation on the case. He’d just hit the submit button on the thing when he heard his name being barked across the detectives’ bay.
‘Morgan?’
He looked over the top of his screen, and his teeth ground. It was his captain – and Higgins was right at his side.
‘Can I see you in my office?’
Hell. Now the guy was tattling? Who was he going to call next, his mommy?
Josh pushed himself to his feet and pulled his shoulders back. He settled his gaze on Higgins as he strode across the room. The guy had the good sense to look away.
Yeah, he’d better squirm.
That was the problem today. People didn’t want to pay their dues. They wanted to jump to the head of the line to get their trophy for participating. Some people needed to learn how to earn things.
He’d studied to be a detective the good old-fashioned way. He’d watched what the senior detectives did and had soaked up their advice like a sponge. Dick Simons would have cuffed him up alongside the ears if he’d pulled a stunt like this.
Josh stepped into the room. ‘Captain?’
‘Close the door behind you.’
‘Yes, sir.’
He shut the three of them inside the small room stuffed with filing cabinets, photos and DC trinkets. The captain had a collection of his own to rival Nina’s. Not as classy, but probably larger.
Josh planted his feet wide and folded his arms over his chest. He was looking strictly at the captain now, his superior.
‘I’m just reading over your report on the Gunderson case.’
Josh’s fingers twitched. He’d barely hit the enter key on that thing. ‘Yes, sir.’
‘Is there a reason you haven’t looked deeper into the prostitution accusation?’
‘It’s not substantiated.’
‘The reporters said that was the story they were after.’
‘Some pretty crummy reporters, mind you.’ Josh lowered his chin, but he fought not to glare. ‘They’re the only ones to make that claim, and there’s no evidence to support it. The senator and Ms Hart were caught in a sex act, but they’re in a relationship. Several acquaintances stated that the two have been seeing one another romantically. No money changed hands.’
‘On the scene,’ Higgins tossed in.
Josh lifted an eyebrow. Since when had the night-shift detective become an expert on his case?
‘The senator and Ms Hart’s relationship has been documented by that same press.’ High society and all. He couldn’t imagine people running around taking pictures of him and whoever was on his arm, week after month after year. ‘Ms Hart is not known by Vice. I checked.’
The captain tossed some glossy 8x10s onto his desk. ‘The woman has been seen with a lot of men.’
Josh felt a prickle between his shoulder blades. Now Higgins was following up after him? The shot on top was of Genieve and Salvatore Paul, the tennis player, at some fundraising event. He’d seen it in his own research. ‘She gets around, but it’s not a crime to date more than one man.’
Higgins let out a scoff, and the captain sent him an admonishing look.
‘Did you ask the senator why they were at a hotel?’
Josh’s forehead furrowed. ‘I don’t see how that pertains to anything.’
‘You don’t take callgirls home,’ Higgins spat.
Josh slowly levelled a look on the kid. OK, his patience was over. ‘I asked. Gunderson’s apartment is undergoing remodelling. I confirmed with the contractor.’
Those red slashes reappeared on Higgin’s cheeks, and his chest puffed up again. He looked like an indignant hen when he did that. The extra air came out with a burst. ‘Explain this away, smart guy.’
He yanked a picture off the desk and thrust it into Josh’s face.
The thing shook so much, it took a mome
nt for Josh to get a good focus, but when he did, his spine stiffened and his stare went lethal.
‘Higgins,’ the captain snapped. He snatched the photograph away and pointed to the corner of the room. ‘Stand over there until I’m done talking with the detective.’
The older man had red slashes across his cheekbones, too, but his eyes were full of worry. He dragged a hand through his full head of greying hair. ‘Morgan,’ he said wearily. ‘Do you need to recuse yourself from this case?’
Josh’s biceps strained, but he didn’t move from his position. ‘No, sir. My judgement is not affected in this case.’
The captain shook his head as he looked at the photo. He held it up again. ‘Is this not you and Genieve Hart’s employer?’
This time the photograph was held steady, and Josh could see every vivid detail. It was a shot of the Washington Nationals’ scoreboard – with him and Nina filling every pixel.
The kiss didn’t look innocent. It looked involved. Judgement affecting. He remembered in detail how his brain had shut down and powered up again in overdrive. His fingers curled. He could still remember how she’d felt, how she’d smelled and how she’d tasted. He could still feel that kiss down to his cells.
‘Are you seeing Ms –’ the captain adjusted his glasses to read whatever was written on the back of the photo ‘– Lockwood?’
Josh fumed. Where the hell had Higgins gotten that? He wasn’t good enough to uncover something like that on his own. Somebody else had taken the time to print out a photo of him and Nina and write on the back. ‘I am not.’
The captain lifted a bushy grey eyebrow.
‘It was a one-time thing.’ Josh cleared his throat to cover a growl. ‘It didn’t work out.’
‘Yes, well, you’ve spent a lot of time working with cases associated with this …’ Again the captain looked at the back of the picture. ‘Luxxor Limited.’
He finally took his glasses off entirely. ‘Perhaps you’ve gotten too close.’
Too close? Nina had kept him at arm’s length. If anything, he was the expert on the company. ‘Sir, the case is closed. You’ve got the final report waiting on your computer.’
‘On the break-in, I would agree, but as to the prostitution charge?’
Courting Suspicion Page 7