Never Cry Uncle

by Mia Dymond

  “Yes.”

  “Hack his credit card account.”

  “Done.” Several clicks later, Lucy frowned. “This is weird. He rented a car.”

  “Check the Dept. of Motor Vehicles.”

  Lucy’s frown remained intact as she opened another window to search. “He owns three cars. Why did he rent one?”

  “Can you get into the rental company’s database?”

  “Piece of cake.” Lucy’s fingers flew over the keys. “Allison! He returned the car with damage. The front end was smashed and smudged with blue paint. Winslow’s statement claims he wrecked it in the parking lot upon return.”

  “Look for accident reports in the area. I don’t believe his statement.”

  Within seconds, the Philadelphia Police Department’s files appeared on the screen, and Lucy hacked her way into the confidential investigative reports. One by one, she clicked each link until she found the accident reports.

  “There were a lot of accidents that night, but none near the hotel. Wait, this one is interesting. Philadelphia PD chased a blue car but it ran into the squad car used as a road block. No other blue cars involved in accidents. I’ll check the state police.”

  “They don’t share the same system?”

  “No. They use their own unless they’re checking criminal records.”

  “Hey, does Winslow have a criminal record?”

  A tiny spark of hope flickered in Allison’s heart as Lucy accessed the criminal database, only to be snuffed when the information appeared on the screen.

  Lucy shook her head. “No, not a felony anyway. We should’ve known. His medical license would’ve been revoked. Not even a parking ticket.”

  “Click on the link to the state accident reports.”

  “Hey, here’s a report of a Jane Doe found in a blue Camry. I’ll print it out.”

  “Jane Doe? Who’s the car registered to?”

  “Talbot Pharmaceuticals.” Lucy’s eyes widened as she said the words. “That’s the company that sponsored the medical conference!”

  Allison’s chair banged the floor as she jumped up. “This is it! This is the answer. We’ve got to show Luke. He needs to talk to this woman.”

  As usual, Lucy appeared cautious. “We don’t know who she is, where she is, or if she’s even still alive.”

  “True.” Allison dismissed Lucy’s skepticism. “But that’s why Luke makes the big bucks.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Tossing his deception into the I’ll-deal-with-it-later pile, Luke propped his feet on his desk and grinned when Ramsey stomped into his office and threw himself down into a chair. Someone didn’t get much sleep. “Long night?”

  Ramsey glared. “I spent a lot of time on the computer. Did you get anything on Winslow?”

  “I followed him to The Blue Peacock.”

  “How’d you get in?”

  Luke swallowed hard. “I called a friend.”

  “Anything substantial?”

  “Not really.” Luke shrugged. “He made a connection and then spent the evening in a room upstairs.”

  “Doing what?”

  Luke smirked. “We weren’t invited.”

  Ramsey propped his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. “I found out that Winslow checked into a hotel in Philadelphia at 4:30 p.m. He also checked in at the medical conference there, but I couldn’t determine what time or if he even stayed.”

  “Credit cards?”

  “I’ve got someone on that. You find anything else?”

  Another wave of doom pressed against the top of Luke’s head. So much for honesty. His deception seemed to have a snowball effect. “No.”

  “I did get the name and phone number of the conference coordinator,” Ramsey finally said. “Maybe we can verify Winslow’s attendance. Name’s D. Webster. I haven’t had a chance to run a check yet.”

  Luke scooted the phone toward Ramsey with his foot. “Why don’t you call now and see if we can get some information?”

  Ramsey lifted the receiver and dialed. After several seconds of stabbing buttons, he finally left a harsh message before he slammed the phone against the desk.

  Luke sighed. “You still don’t play well with others.”

  “No, and since I refuse to follow protocol, I stay in trouble. Now the DA is breathing down my neck to make an arrest and soon, or he will charge Lucy and Allison.”

  Luke whistled under his breath. “That would not be good. I don’t envy the poor sap sent to arrest them.”

  Ramsey raised an eyebrow.

  Luke’s eyes widened. “You?”

  Ramsey nodded. “The evidence points straight to them, namely Lucy. If I don’t arrest her, I’ll get canned instead of suspended.”

  Luke shook his head. “Now you see why I retired my badge. Too many rules.” He dropped his feet to the floor. “Ramsey, you can’t lose your job. We need you on the inside.”

  “If you’re as good as you say you are, Owens, get me something on Winslow.”

  “Winslow’s guilty,” Luke insisted. “Maybe this Webster has some information.”

  Ramsey fidgeted in his chair. “You realize that if we don’t get them out of this, we could be in some serious trouble and even witness protection won’t help.”

  “It may be too late,” Luke mumbled. “I’m not keen on cement shoes.”

  Curiosity niggled him when his cell phone vibrated from the depths of his pocket.

  “Hey, Sailor.”

  Luke repositioned himself in his chair as Allison’s sexy voice seeped through the line and ordered his cock to attention. Luke gave Ramsey a quick glance before he answered. “Hey yourself. Miss me already?”

  His feeble attempt at teasing her did nothing more than backfire, grab his libido by the throat and stroke it until he had the grandmother of all hard-ons. Damn, he hated to leave her this morning. When they’d finally parted, it was with the stipulation they would meet at noon. He glanced at his watch. Three hours and counting.

  “I have something to show you,” she said around a silky laugh.

  “I’ll bet you do.”

  Ramsey cleared his throat.

  Detecting a slight hitch in her breathing, he put lust on the back burner and frowned. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes,” she assured him. “Just hurry.”

  He disconnected and shrugged at Ramsey. “Duty calls.”

  Ramsey rolled his eyes. “I’ll touch base with you later.”

  Once he arrived at the girls’ house, Luke raised his hand to knock when the door flew open and Allison grabbed him by the shoulder, pulled him inside, and slammed the door. Lucy giggled from the recliner when the windows rattled with the force of Allison’s fury.

  Allison tugged Luke’s jacket off and tossed it over the back of the sofa. “You won’t believe what we found!” She sat on the sofa and motioned Luke to sit beside her. “Tell him, Lucy.”

  Lucy crossed her legs indian-style and leaned forward. “On the night Dr. Smallwood met his demise, Dr. Winslow allegedly attended a medical conference in Philadelphia.” She filled in the rest of the blanks. “Philadelphia PD reported a hit and run accident reported at 8:00 p.m. on Highway 129 outside of Philadelphia. The victim was an unidentified female, driving a blue Toyota Camry.”

  Luke cocked his head to the side. “The driver wasn’t identified?”

  “No, her purse or any other personal belongings were missing. She was found unconscious and taken to Ben Franklin Memorial Hospital.”

  “What about the plates?”

  “The car was registered to Talbot Pharmaceuticals, the company responsible for presenting the conference. Unfortunately, there was no record of the driver.”

  Luke felt like they might be on to something. “The conference coordinator, D. Webster, was out of the office when I called. Maybe that’s why.”

  Lucy shrugged. “We don’t know if D. Webster is female.”

  Allison flipped her hair over her shoulder and stood. “Let me mak
e a call.”

  Luke frowned as she swayed down the hall to the back office. “Who is she calling?”

  Lucy bit her lip. “She has a large family.”

  Luke tossed his head back against the sofa and pinched the bridge of his nose. “We should’ve just let her call her family to begin with.”

  Lucy cleared her throat. “Obviously, she’s desperate. Normally she’d rather cut off her big toe than ask them for help.”

  He snapped his head up at her statement. “Why?”

  “They can be rather ... overbearing. Allison prides herself in taking care of herself, yet they insist on interfering. It’s made her wary of trust.”

  Luke swallowed the softball in his throat. Oh, man. He had to tell her. If she found out on her own that he’d been hired as a decoy, he might very well find himself six feet under. And, depending who got to him first, he may or may not be buried in one piece.

  There may be dire consequences echoed from the walls of his brain. No shit. He should’ve never agreed. But how was he supposed to know he’d fall in love with her? He paused as that thought rolled through his brain and made a beeline to his heart. Love? Where the hell did that come from? No time to analyze that crazy thought. First he had to set things straight with her. Maybe if she realized it was her family’s idea, she’d go easy on him.

  Allison floated back into the living room. “Three minutes, tops.”

  Now would be a good time. He could suggest they take a break and spill his bloody guts. Hopefully she’d scoop them up and stuff them back into place.

  “Do you think the accident kept Dr. Winslow from attending the conference?” Lucy asked.

  “Possibly,” he answered. “If he was involved in a hit and run, he probably didn’t want to stick around.”

  “If the accident was reported at 8:00 p.m., he had plenty of time to get back to Maplewood before Smallwood was murdered.”

  “And we know Winslow was quite a sucker for leather,” Allison added wryly.

  Luke snickered. The girls couldn’t resist another jab at Smallwood’s sexual exploits.

  The jingle of Allison’s cell phone filled the air. He listened intently as she answered the call. After he heard the first two words of her conversation, he realized she spoke Italian. A familiar sense of doom stabbed his brain. He would tell her as soon as she hung up.

  “Grazie.” She pressed the red button on her phone and tossed it on the coffee table.

  Now, Owens. His blood pounded through his veins as he opened his mouth to speak.

  “D. Webster is Danielle Webster,” she said first. “Your witness is still recuperating in the hospital.”

  Luke snapped his mouth closed and tabled his confession for the moment. Intrigued, he felt cautiously confident as he processed the new information on Danielle Webster. Thanks to Allison’s sources, whoever they were, the investigation had taken a dramatic turn for the better. His gut told him that as soon as they could talk to Danielle, Lucy’s name could be cleared. The only hurdle left to jump was buying more time with the DA.

  Ramsey would have to do some fast talking. As far as the DA was concerned, Lucy was suspect number one and he foamed at the mouth to charge her. Keeping her out of the line of fire would not be easy. And, no one except he knew about the botched bribery attempt and if he mentioned it, both women looked guiltier than hell. Especially since Lucy left fingerprints behind.

  The gong of the doorbell shook Luke from thought and he glanced at Allison.

  The he cut his eyes at Lucy. “Are you expecting someone?”

  Lucy shook her head and untangled her legs to stand before she walked to the door. “I’ll get it.”

  A cold knot formed in Luke’s stomach when Lucy opened the door to the uniform on the other side who thrust a yellow piece of paper in her direction. “Lucy Monroe?”

  Two deep worry lines appeared between Lucy’s eyes as they bounced from the uniform and then back to Luke. “Yes?”

  Luke snatched the paper from the officer before he could answer. The moment he held the paper, he knew. He hadn’t been a cop for a long time, but experience reminded him only one document was issued on yellow paper. He eyed the offensive document as if it were a venomous snake poised for his jugular.

  Then Ramsey stepped inside.

  Sonuvabitch. Time was up. The DA was tired of waiting. Luke reached for Allison’s hand and squeezed, partly to

  reassure her and mostly to restrain her.

  Ramsey cleared his throat. “The Captain found the warrant this morning. It’s been on my desk for days.”

  Allison twisted in Luke’s grip and her jaded eyes burnt a hole through him. “Do something!”

  He turned to Ramsey and hoped to hell the other man wouldn’t question his presence. “Who signed the warrant?”

  “Not Moretti.”

  Acid bubbled Luke’s gut. How did the DA slip past Moretti? He exhaled in irritation. This was not supposed to happen. They assured him they would take care of everything. Careful not to expose his distress to Allison, he gathered his wits and glanced at her. “Don’t say a word.”

  The color disappeared from Lucy’s face and her knees buckled as she began her descent to the floor. The warrant bounced off the electric ions in the momentary silence as Ramsey reached to catch her and fold her onto the couch.

  “I’m sorry, Lucy.”

  Allison slipped free of Luke’s hold and planted both hands on her hips. “Are you just gonna let him take her?” she screeched.

  Ramsey squatted in front of Lucy with his hands on her knees. “I don’t have a choice.”

  The temperature in the already-chilly room dropped another ten degrees as Allison stepped closer to Ramsey. “She didn’t kill him, Detective.”

  “I know she didn’t, Allison,” he spat, “but she left fingerprints at the crime scene.”

  Allison folded her arms across her chest. “I’m going with her.”

  “Not possible.”

  “She’s not going without me.”

  Ramsey stood and shook his head in patient irritation. “You can’t go unless we arrest you and we don’t have a reason to arrest you.”

  Luke inhaled quickly and wondered if Ramsey realized what the hell he’d just done. Challenged a hungry lioness with a slab of meat.

  Holy Mary, Mother of God.

  He could only stand and watch as Allison answered Ramsey’s challenge by connecting her left fist with his right jaw. Luke scrubbed a hand down his own jaw. Now would be a good time to cry uncle. Literally.

  “Now you do,” she said matter-of-factly. “Arrest me.”

  Lucy groaned from the couch. Ramsey rubbed his jaw and sighed before he dialed his cell phone.

  Allison turned to give Luke a fiery gaze. “What is he doing?”

  Luke twisted his lips. God, he loved her. “Calling for back-up. The two of you can’t go in together.”

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake!”

  “Are you going to handcuff me?” Lucy asked softly.

  Ramsey shook his head. “No, baby.”

  She lifted her head and gave him a quivering half-smile. “Do you call all of your prisoners baby?”

  He returned her smile and winked. “Only my favorite ones.”

  As soon as a second uniform arrived, Luke followed Allison to the squad car and planted a kiss on her heated lips. “Ramsey will call me as soon as you’re booked. I’ll add your bail to my bill.”

  Her anger seemed to dissipate and she gave a sassy grin. “I’m good for it.”

  He chuckled. No doubt. “Stay out of trouble.”

  She lifted an eyebrow and shrugged as he shut the door.

  Cursing under his breath, he returned to the porch where Ramsey stood braced against the railing. “I don’t have time to explain. You need a doctor?”

  Ramsey shook his head in denial. “I know why you’re here, Owens.” Luke waited for an ambush. Instead, Ramsey acted like he didn’t really care. “You’ve been playing me this whole time, haven’
t you?”

  Luke opened his mouth to speak but Ramsey talked right over him.

  “As soon as I walk into that station, I’ll be suspended.”

  “Wait until I get back from Philadelphia.”

  “You’ve got your hands full, Owens. Someone has to bail them out.”

  “I will.” Luke grinned. “Finally giving up your badge, huh?”

  With a look of utter seriousness, Ramsey looked him square in the eye. “I’ve waited too damn long.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Scar sat at attention and wished for days gone by as Carmine twisted a nugget of gold back and forth on his middle finger and waited for the discussion to begin. He had presented Carmine the treasure on his deathbed with the final request that he protect the spirited nymph they called niece. Carmine had accepted graciously and willingly.

  The gentlemen seated around the large, freshly-polished, mahogany table waited patiently, each of them ready and eager to complete the task assigned him. The Don sat with his hands folded and his fingers steepled at his chin, obviously deep in thought. After a few more seconds of baited silence, the Don lowered his hands to the table.

  “They have charged her with the crime, no?”

  All heads turned Carmine’s direction. He cleared his throat. “No, brother, they have not charged her with the doctor’s murder.”

  The Don squinted in confusion. “She is in custody.”

  Carmine nodded. “Lucy has been charged. Our niece, it seems, did not take kindly to the detective’s accusation.”

  The Don’s forehead wrinkled and he waved a hand in the air for explanation.

  “She swings a nasty left hook,” Carmine explained.

  A glimpse of pride brightened the Don’s pale, blue eyes. “She assaulted a police officer?”

  “Yes, Don.”

  The Don threw back his head and his rich, hearty laugh echoed off the walls. Soon, laughter spread around the table.

  The Don took a breath and scrubbed a hand down his jaw. “She keeps us young, does she not?”

  “She is guilty of that, brother.”

  “You have contacted Benito?”