Trust

by Riley Edwards

  Mac shrugged. “Is it possible? Hell yeah. Do we know for sure? No.”

  “Keep me posted and be safe, detective.”

  “Thank you, your Honor.”

  I turned to Larry before I left and stuck out my hand. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me. I don’t deserve it.”

  Larry was correct; he didn’t deserve gratitude after everything he’d done, but I still gave it. It was his testimony that sealed Cartwright’s fate.

  “Do you want to talk about Harper?” Reid asked on the drive to Cartwright’s office.

  I was beginning to regret my suggestion to drive my truck downtown and leave Reid’s Rover at the judge’s house. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about Harper.

  Mistaking my silence for acceptance, Reid continued, “I talked to her before she left. She was determined to make things right with you. I hope you heard her out.”

  “I did.”

  “So you two are good?” he asked.

  Were we good? That was the furthest thing to what we were.

  “We’re done,” I told him.

  I felt his eyes shooting daggers as I drove, but refused to take my eyes off the road and look at him. I knew what I’d find—disappointment.

  “The fuck, Mac? Didn’t she apologize?”

  “Sure did.”

  “Enough of the two-word answers, asshole. What happened?”

  “She came to my house, said what she had to say. I disagreed, then left.”

  “Your house? Don’t you mean our house? You moved her ass in there. Fought to have her there as a matter-of-fact. Now because she made one mistake, that she tried to rectify, you’re kicking her out and done with her?”

  “No. We’re done because she was right. I’m not the person she thought I was. She can’t—actually, she shouldn’t have to deal with my shit after everything she’s been through.”

  “What do you mean you’re not who she thought you were?” Reid pushed.

  I didn’t want to have this conversation. I needed to get Harper and my personal life out of my head and think about how we were going to arrest Cartwright.

  Reid made a noise that sounded a lot like a growl and I wondered how pissed his wife would be if I dropped him off at the next red light and she had to come pick his stranded ass up?

  “You know the things I’ve done,” I answered.

  “Are you talking about that shithead Jimmy?” he snarled. “That dirt-bag got exactly what he deserved. A bullet between his eyes. If you hadn’t done it, I would’ve. Jimmy was a threat to my family. You were completely justified.”

  “Harper deserves better.”

  Why was this so hard for Reid to understand?

  “Huh. So you think Ava deserves better than me? You know what I do. You know the things I’ve done.”

  “Of course not. I’m not you…”

  Reid cut me off. “What the fuck does that mean?”

  “Nothing. Can we stop talking about Harper, please? We’re done.”

  “Yeah, we’ll see.”

  I didn’t bother asking Reid what he meant by that comment. We were pulling into the underground parking structure of The Hall of Justice where the DA’s office was located, cutting off any further talk.

  After the parking attendant waved us through with a flash of my shield, we parked and made our way to the bank of elevators—thankfully in silence.

  “How are we playing this?” Reid asked as the elevator approached the floor we needed.

  Shouldn’t we have been talking about this on the drive over instead of my fucked-up love life? My jaw hurt from clenching my teeth, my head was pounding from thinking about Harper, and I was pissed as hell—at myself. My day had turned into shit. The only silver lining was Cartwright’s reign of corruption would end today.

  “Cuff him and haul his ass into one of the special operations interrogation rooms. We can live feed our interview to Judge Fox. By the time we’re done here, Brown’s warrant will be ready.”

  “You think it’s a good idea to cuff him out in the open? We don’t know who’s working with Cartwright and Brown,” Reid reminded me.

  That was exactly why I had to get Harper out of my head. I almost screwed up.

  “Shit. You’re right. Someone could easily tip off Brown. We’ll go in soft and ask him for a word in private.”

  The elevator opened and the man of the hour stood waiting outside the door with his detail in tow.

  Perfect.

  “Mr. District Attorney, you’re the man I needed to see.” I plastered a fake smile on my face and held my contempt in check the best I could.

  Graham Cartwright wasn’t worthy of the title district attorney and he certainly didn’t warrant the courtesy of mister either. However, addressing him as Captain Douchebag of the Century wasn’t going to get me a meeting with the man.

  “Detective.” Cartwright stepped to the side, allowing us to exit the elevator. “I’m on my way out. Did we have a meeting?”

  “No. This won’t take long but I have new information on Nicole Brown I think you’re going to want immediately,” I lied.

  “Can you email it? I’m already running late.”

  I leaned in close and whispered, “You’re gonna want to hear this now. I have exactly what you need to nail a few big-name players with life sentences. Including Jason Riggers.”

  Cartwright’s eyes flared and he turned to his detail. “We’ll leave in ten minutes.” Then he turned back to us. “Follow me, we can use one of the SOI rooms. Right this way.”

  A brief walk and Cartwright pushed open an interrogation room door gesturing for us to precede him. At this point, it was hard to hold back my laugh. The asshole had happily walked himself to his own interrogation. When we entered, Reid immediately went to work closing the blinds. He set his laptop on the metal table and went to work connecting to the live feed Dustin had already set up.

  “What happened to your leg?” I asked, noticing he was walking with a severe limp.

  “Nothing. Pulled a muscle playing racquetball. What’s this about Nicole?” Cartwright asked.

  That was a lie. There was no chance Graham Cartwright played racquetball. It was doubtful the man had seen the inside of a gym in over thirty years.

  “Sit down, Graham. Make yourself comfortable. We’re gonna be here a while,” I instructed, pulling out a chair and pointing at it.

  The man’s eyes narrowed. Maybe it was from my use of his first name, maybe it was because I had given him an order, maybe he didn’t like my tone. I didn’t know which of those things bothered him the most. What I did know was I didn’t give the first fuck what he thought or how he felt.

  “Excuse me?” he asked.

  I watched as Reid stepped in front of the door with an unmasked smile.

  “I’m sorry. Was I not clear? Have a seat. I have some questions for you regarding the Jason Riggers’ case.”

  “Jason Riggers? You have questions for me?” he asked.

  “Indeed. Let’s start with the arrest warrant that was issued by Judge Barnes and we’ll go from there.”

  “I don’t have time for this, Detective Mackenzie, and I don’t appreciate your tone. Do you have information about Nicole Brown’s disappearance or not? Because it seems to me you’re wasting time while a young girl’s life is in danger.”

  “Okay. Let’s talk about Nicole first. How do you know her life is in danger?”

  “Detective, the girl was taken against her will. How is she not in danger?” Cartwright queried.

  “How do you know she was taken against her will? Did you see something you haven’t reported?”

  Cartwright put his finger in the collar of his shirt, pulling the tight fabric away from his skin while he lifted his chin. His discomfort was rising.

  “Why are you wasting my time with this bullshit?” he snapped and rubbed his injured leg.

  “Bullshit? As you said, a woman’s life may be in danger. How is discussing the case bullshit?”


  Graham Cartwright had backed himself in a corner and was trying his damnedest not to show he was uncomfortable talking about Nicole. “Does Tom Brown know his friend arranged the kidnapping of his daughter?” I asked.

  “I sincerely hope you are not insinuating what I think you are. I would think carefully before you make an inflammatory accusation to the district attorney.”

  “I’m not insinuating anything. I am asking you a direct question. Does Tom know you arranged to have his daughter kidnapped?”

  “That’s absurd. I did no such thing.”

  “See, I have proof you did. I know you’ve approached just about every person in the San Francisco underworld to renegotiate payouts, bribes, and protection fees. I know that Judge Barnes is one of many you have on your payroll. I know that you had Jason Riggers incarcerated for a crime you actually committed. You may not have been the one that beat Edward, but the man you hired has come forward. I know you railroaded Riggers because his MC refused to pay you off. You see, I’ve crawled so far up your ass, Cartwright, you won’t be seeing the light of day for a very long time.”

  It was time to see if Cartwright would flip to save his own ass.

  “Graham Cartwright, you’re under arrest for…”

  “What the fuck?” Cartwright started yelling before I could finish telling him his charges. He continued to yell profanities at me as I read him his Miranda rights.

  “Do you understand the rights I have read to you?” I finished.

  “I’m going to have your ass in a sling, you piece of shit!” Cartwright bellowed; however, there was less bluster.

  “Wouldn’t be the first time,” Reid mumbled from his perch at the door.

  “It’s time to play let’s make a deal,” I told him.

  The next two hours were nothing short of Cartwright lying, denying, and generally bullshitting me. I was tired. I had hoped not to have to play this card but time was running out. I needed to get to Brown. There was already a chance that he’d been tipped off. Sometime in the middle of the interrogation, Reid excused himself to call Austin and Dustin, asking his men to tail the police chief. There was some measure of reassurance someone had eyes on him, but that didn’t mean we could listen in.

  “You’re going down, Cartwright. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. We have enough evidence for life without parole. You know how this works; I even gave you the courtesy of letting you listen to a snippet of one of the conversations. I’m not playing games with you. You’re fucked. Brown, however, is going to pin everything on you and walk free.”

  “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

  Same answer.

  “Okay. We’re done here. We’re going to walk you out of here in cuffs, take you to central booking, and you’ll be afforded a bond hearing in the morning. I hope you know what you’re doing.” I stood and collected the files I had on the desk, placing them in my messenger bag, and pulling out the last file I’d been saving. Blaze had hand-delivered it to Reid earlier. A piece of information that Damion had gathered on Cartwright years ago. The last thing that he’d want coming out. Damion had been able to hang it over Graham’s head for years.

  I looked over at Reid to make sure he’d already severed the connection to Judge Fox and closed his laptop. I didn’t want this last piece of information broadcasted.

  “One more thing before we go.” I leaned in and lowered my voice. “There’s the matter of Katrina Cartwright.” I opened the file and let the images fall to the table. The photographs were crystal clear and no denying the man in the pictures was Graham Cartwright. He was clearly catching his wife’s car on fire. The male driver was badly injured and unconscious but Katrina was awake. Several images showed her panicked expression while Cartwright poured gasoline all over the car. I moved the images around the table, making sure he got a good look at the most grotesque. Katrina on fire, her alive and burning, and finally her burnt body at the morgue.

  “Can you still smell it, Graham? If you inhale real deep, is the stench of Katrina’s burning flesh still infused in your nostrils?”

  “Where? How? What do you want?” Cartwright jerked in his chair, his eyes finally meeting mine.

  “Talk. I want everything you have on Tom Brown and this file goes back to where it’s been locked all these years, never seeing the inside of a courtroom.”

  He seemed to be contemplating his next words carefully. “I want your word that Remy never sees those pictures.” Gone was the defiant district attorney, he was crestfallen and knew he was defeated. “I’ll give you what you need on Tom Brown.”

  Over the course of an hour, Cartwright told a story that was so deep and colored in corruption I wondered what good, if any, I actually did as a police officer. Shakedowns, collusion with local gangs, drug sales, prostitution, you name it Chief Brown was involved. With the Fivers moving into the city, the chief’s income had greatly increased. Brown didn’t feel like sharing a dirty pay raise with Cartwright. In his greed, he went out on his own and tried to undercut Brown.

  No honor among thieves.

  25

  police officer shot

  Harper

  “Have you heard from them?” I asked Ava.

  “Not since the last time you called. All Reid said was that he was busy and wouldn’t be home until late,” she answered.

  “Have you and the kids eaten?” I asked.

  “No, we haven’t.” She laughed. “Settle down. Everything is okay.”

  It wasn’t okay. I could feel it in my bones. Something was way, way, wrong. Not that I would tell Ava that and freak her out. I hated that Mac left the house mad, but that wasn’t it. There was a pain, an actual physical pain, in my chest. It felt like someone had punched me between my collarbone and heart.

  “I’ll bring Chinese over. Call in the order to China House.”

  Ava still hadn’t stopped laughing at me, no doubt she’d thought I’d lost my mind. “Okay. I’ll see you soon.”

  We clicked off and I grabbed my purse. I had to get out of the house. I’d been pacing for hours, replaying the last nine months of my life. Everything I could remember.

  When I first met Mac at Del Mar’s, I was so jealous when I thought that Mac was Ava’s man. The first time he came in after I started working there he sat at the counter ordering a coffee, after giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He asked about JJ and if there was anything she needed done around the house. One time he even took her car for an oil change. Ava was stuck at work and couldn’t take it in herself. Ten minutes later in walks Mac, trades her keys, and with a kiss to the cheek he leaves. All I could think about was how desperately I wanted a man like that. Someone who would happily help; even if it was something inconvenient, like sitting at a garage waiting on an oil change.

  Then I met Reid. He started coming in with Mac in the mornings and having breakfast at the counter, chatting with Ava as she rushed by. That’s when I became over-the-moon jealous. But not of her and Mac, or even her and Reid. It was because the man couldn’t look in her direction without eating her up with his eyes. There was no denying that Logan Reid was hot for Ava Kelley. Reid would move heaven and hell for Ava. There was no hiding it from anyone—except Ava. She walked around the café completely oblivious that Reid was in love with her. It was fun to watch the two of them dance around each other. Reid was gentle and slow with her, always cautious of her limitations. The opposite of Mac. Once Reid had stepped up and claimed Ava and JJ, Mac changed tactics with Ava and pushed her to move on from Jacob’s death. He was relentless in making her accept that it was time to start living again.

  It was somewhere in all of Ava’s trouble that I fell in love with Mac. He was fierce and loyal. There was nothing he wasn’t willing to do for two people he loved most, even at his own peril. I knew it was hurting Mac when Ava pushed him away, but he refused to let up. He wanted both of them happy and in the end, I believe it was because Mac had pushed Ava so hard that she was able to commit to opening
herself and JJ up to Reid.

  Luckily, China House was quick getting our food together because the longer I sat in the restaurant waiting the more my chest started burning. I spent the drive to Ava’s trying to get my mind off my pain and started thinking about the first time I saw Mac in Stripes. It was the first time I’d been to a BDSM club. I’d walked around looking at all the different roped off areas. Each one had its own specialized equipment for play. As I roamed the large room, my emotions had ranged from hell no to hell yes. There was so much I wanted to try but my brain won out and in the end, I remembered that taking on a Dom wasn’t something that I could rush. I needed to be safe and sane, something I didn’t have time for. I was never in one place long enough to cultivate that type of relationship. As I was leaving, Mac stopped me. My surprise quickly changed into embarrassment. I was horrified he’d seen me in a kink club until I remembered he was there, too, looking for the same thing I was—a play partner. At the time I thought Mac was the answer. He was safe. Boy, was I wrong. The man was lethal. With a look, a smile, and a swat of his hand, the man could bring me to my knees. I tried to fight every feelings I had for him. I couldn’t get involved and I certainly couldn’t commit. Eventually, I’d have to leave. The longer our relationship went on, the harder I knew it’d be to go, but I didn’t stop it. Being with Mac made me feel human. When we were together, he made me forget I had a bounty on my head. I didn’t have to think when he was around. He demanded I didn’t. All I had to do was be.

  By the time I pulled up to Ava’s, I was ready to come out of my skin. I needed to talk to Mac. I needed to hear his voice.