“Fuck you.”
Instead of a response, there was a resounding click in Leo’s ear and then silence. Damn. It amazed Leo how different he and his cousin—friends and cohorts since childhood—had turned out. One on the right side of the law and the other on the wrong side. Well, at least his cousin used to be on the right side. The love of women and money made some men do anything, and his cousin had been no different. All Leo had to do was discover his weakness. After that, it had been easy enough to put him on his payroll and bedroll. Namely, provide him with endless women who enjoyed fucking as much as he did as well as over a million dollars for starters. His insatiable, greedy-ass cousin had been happy. After Leo’s human trafficking ring was busted, his cousin had agreed to help him hide out for a while...practically right under the FBI’s nose. He’d even given him a new identity. He was no longer Levan Shaw but Leo Stillwell. Same initials. Different names. If it hadn’t been for Dr. Fuller, there was no telling what sort of financial empire he would have accumulated by now.
Angrier than ever just thinking about it, Leo placed another call. As soon as the person was on the line, he said, “We need to talk. Come to my place now.”
Less than half an hour later, a woman entered his office. He tried not to dwell on the beauty of her face, the lushness of her figure or the sexiness in her walk. She was wearing a pretty sundress and as usual, she looked good. Shit, he was getting a boner just looking at her.
Taking the seat in front of his desk, she crossed her legs, deliberately flashing a thigh. He watched as she studied her manicured nails. “Why was I summoned?”
Leo knew what he was seeing was all part of the package with her. The package he’d created. They had met about five years ago. After an intense fling she’d become his protégé. She was the one person he could depend on. The only one he could trust. He couldn’t even depend on his cousin anymore. “I need you to do something for me. Something very important. You owe me.”
She stopped concentrating on her fingers and narrowed her eyes at him. She didn’t like being reminded of that. More than obligations were between them, and they both knew it. However, once in a while he liked getting her mad. Before she left, he would put her in a lot better mood. “What do you want?” she asked him.
“Your word.”
She lifted a brow. “My word about what?”
“That if something happens and I’m not able to do so, you will kill a psychic investigator by the name of Dr. Randi Fuller.”
She straightened in her chair, her eyes now alert. “What do you mean, if something happens? What do you think is going to happen?”
He shrugged. “You never know, sweetheart.” She loved him. He’d always known it and figured that in his own morbid way, he loved her, as well. “Who knows? I might have to go into hiding again. You know me. If the shit hits the fan, I won’t be taken alive.”
He paused a moment to let what he’d said sink in. “I want your word that if anything should happen to me...you will make it your business to avenge my death.”
“By killing this psychic?”
Leo nodded. “Yes. This is something I need you to take care of personally. I won’t trust it to anyone else.”
She didn’t say anything. He knew she’d read the papers and was probably aware two attempts had been made on Dr. Fuller’s life already. He would expect her to succeed where others had failed. “And what do I get out of this?” she asked him. “I am a businesswoman, after all.”
Now she was trying to rattle him. There had never been just business between them and she damn well knew it. And he knew all about her businesses. He’d set her up in most of them, right under her husband’s unsuspecting nose. The man didn’t have a clue that she ran a very profitable prostitution ring and was involved in human trafficking and illegal gambling.
Instead of answering, he opened a desk drawer, pulled out an envelope and slid it to her. He watched her open it. Surprise lit her eyes. “You’re giving me your list?”
That list contained all the corrupt politicians and law enforcement officials in his pocket. “Just half of it. If anything happens to me, I’ll leave my password, giving you access to all the videos and documentation you might need.”
She didn’t say anything. With that list, he’d handed her a gold mine. Power. Those corrupt officials would be at her beck and call like they had been at his. “One way or another, Dr. Fuller will not leave LA alive,” he said.
She slid the envelope in her purse and smiled over at him. “No, she won’t. You have my word, Leo.”
He returned her smile, believing her. “I knew I could count on you.”
He stood and slowly came around his desk. “Now for more important matters,” he said, reaching out and pushing the spaghetti straps from her shoulders with one hand while running the other up her thigh.
“I know what you want,” she purred. “What if I say I don’t have time?”
“I want to fuck you. Here. Now. So I suggest you make time.”
A smile spread across Leo’s lips, knowing that she would.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“HERE. DRINK THIS,” Quasar said, handing Randi a cup.
She raised a brow. “Coffee?”
“Yes.”
“Thanks.”
He had been watching her and wasn’t sure if her shivers were from the cool breeze coming off the creek or something else. After leaving the crime scene, they’d driven around as she tried to piece together all the information her mind was relaying to her. Her entourage of law enforcement had followed. She’d told them the gun had been thrown in water. Since there were a lot of bodies of water in and around LA, the question became which one.
Her psychic powers had eventually led her here. Copperhead Creek. The creek was also located in the Westside neighborhood but miles away from the crime scene. Divers had been called in and so far nothing had been found.
“This coffee is good,” she said. “Where did you get it?”
He worked his shoulders to get the kinks out before saying, “One of the agents brought it. He said usually it takes the divers a while, and he figured everyone would want a cup or two.”
“Thanks. I usually don’t drink a lot of coffee. Tea is my thing.”
“I noticed.” The two of them were standing by themselves, off to the side. This was the first he’d had her alone since this morning. And even now they weren’t completely alone. FBI agents and local cops littered the shore, most standing close to the water’s edge. Agent Riviera was by his vehicle, talking on the phone, and Sutherland was doing likewise. With both men on their phones, Quasar hoped like hell there weren’t any new developments.
He switched his concentration back to Randi. She smelled good, and she looked good wearing a pair of dark slacks and a pretty multicolored top. His ever-watchful eye had seen more than one guy checking her out today. He’d noticed that even Agent Riviera’s gaze had lingered on her a little longer than it should have a couple of times.
Quasar drew in a deep breath of fresh air along with Randi’s scent through his nostrils. Standing this close, the atmosphere surrounding them felt charged, and a shiver raced up his spine. His heart beat faster as a need he always felt but managed to control around her escalated.
“They will find it,” she said.
He nodded as he took a sip of his own coffee. “I believe you. I believe in you. Never doubt it.”
A huge smile touched her lips. “Thanks. I appreciate it.” She pushed a curl of hair away from her face. “Will we return to the beach house tonight?” she asked him.
He held her gaze. “Do you want to return there?”
She nodded. “Yes, but will it be too dangerous to do so? Do you think those people who want me dead know where I am? Where I’ll be?”
He studied her features and saw an un
easiness lurking in the dark depths of her eyes. “Doesn’t matter what they know. I’m protecting you and that’s all that matters. You’re safe.”
She stared straight into his eyes, and he felt the strong connection that always seemed to be there between them. “Thank you, Quasar. I fear before it’s all over, I might become dependent on you too much.”
“I have no problem with that. If I had, I would not be here. Remember that.”
“I will.”
At that moment there was a shout when one of the divers returned to the surface. “We found something!”
Randi and Quasar moved toward the divers. Cheers went up. The murder weapon had been recovered. Everyone, especially the skeptics like Sutherland, gazed at her with newfound respect in their eyes.
“We’re taking the gun to the lab to verify it’s the one used to kill Esther Emiliano,” Agent Riviera said. “I got a call a few moments ago, and the leader of the Revengers has been found and brought in for questioning. I know you preferred talking to them on their turf, but—”
“That’s fine,” Randi interrupted. “Either way, I need to talk to them individually. The sooner the better. We can keep the media in the dark for only so long.”
“Okay, let’s head on back to headquarters so I can arrange it,” Agent Riviera said.
As they headed toward their vehicle, she and Quasar walked side by side. “Hungry?” he asked her.
Randi glanced up at him. It was a little past lunchtime, and neither of them had eaten since breakfast. “A big, juicy hamburger with lots and lots of fries, oozing with ketchup, and a huge glass of iced tea sounds good right now.”
“No problem. I think they’re ordering something in for us.” He opened the car door for her, made sure she was safely inside before closing it. “Be back in a second. I’ll let them know.”
She watched him walk off, thinking not for the first time that he had an ultrasexy walk. His long strides were as masculine and confident as he seemed to be.
“Looks like I owe you an apology, Dr. Fuller.”
Randi jumped. She hadn’t seen Detective Sutherland approach on the driver’s side of the car. He crouched down with his face in the window. “About what?” she asked him.
“For being an ass.”
He seemed sincere. “You wouldn’t be the first person to think I’m a quack, Detective.”
“Well, I regret I was one. To make it up to you, before you leave LA, how about if we go out to dinner and—”
“You’re blocking my door, Sutherland,” Quasar said in an irritated tone. When Sutherland didn’t move out of the way quickly enough, Quasar all but brushed him aside.
An angry frown touched Sutherland’s features at Quasar’s rudeness. “We’ll talk again later, Dr. Fuller.”
Before Randi could respond one way or the other, Detective Sutherland walked off. She watched him, thinking there was nothing sexy about his walk compared to Quasar’s.
“So the asshole wants to take you out?”
Randi glanced over at Quasar. “He apologized.”
“Whatever.”
Was that a tinge of jealousy she heard in his tone? “Is there a problem, Quasar?”
He turned those dark eyes on her, igniting a tantalizing sensation in the pit of her belly. And her breasts seemed to have gotten achy. And had his focus shifted to her lips?
“No, there’s not a problem. Although for a minute I thought there would be one with Riviera.”
She lifted a brow. “Agent Riviera? Why?”
“He didn’t like the fact we’re returning to my beach house tonight. After what happened this morning, he wants you at a safe house more than ever. Don’t be surprised if he approaches you later to convince you to agree to go to one.”
“Okay.” She didn’t tell Quasar that Agent Riviera might try but he wouldn’t succeed. She had fallen in love with his beach house, and more than anything she wanted to go back tonight to be with him.
* * *
RANDI DECIDED TO meet with Maceo Emiliano first. She read his rap sheet, and he was definitely not a choirboy. He was nineteen and a high school dropout, although it seemed he’d been a pretty smart student when he had attended.
His troubles began after his father died and his mother took on second and third jobs to make ends meet. That gave Maceo a lot of free time to get into all kinds of trouble when he started hanging around the wrong people. His list of priors ran deep, from auto theft to home invasion to weapons trafficking to burglary, among others. In her opinion he was definitely a menace to society. Esther Emiliano wanted to do in death what she’d failed to do in life. Get through to her son and encourage him to do the right thing before it was too late.
Closing the file, Randy felt shivers cascade all through her body. She muttered softly, “Ms. Emiliano, he’s your son. I just hope you can get through to him.”
“Did you say something?”
Randi jerked around. She’d forgotten Quasar was in the room. The two of them had been given one of the small offices at FBI headquarters to eat lunch in. The others had been busy following up on the evidence she’d helped uncover that day.
After lunch she’d been given files on both gang leaders, and for the past hour she’d been reading Maceo’s. She had spread out the files on the desk. To give her space, Quasar had slid his chair into a corner in the room and used the time to check emails on his phone.
“Sorry, I was just talking to myself,” she told him.
“You can talk to me instead if you like.”
She shifted her chair around, thinking yes, she could. Quasar was easy to talk to. One reason was that he never doubted anything she said. Never gave her any of those you’re-a-loony looks. This morning, during their walk on the beach, she’d told him about the gang leaders’ mothers reaching out to her to try and save their sons. He had listened, and not for one minute had she felt he’d doubted anything she said. He respected her work, and that meant a lot.
“I just finished reading Maceo Emiliano’s rap sheet. Priors a mile long,” she said.
“And you honestly think you can get through to him?”
She shook her head. “By myself? No. But his mother believes I can get through to him with her help and convince him of what really happened.” Randi drew in a deep breath of frustration. “That’s going to be a challenge when he’s convinced she was murdered by members of the Revengers.”
There was a knock on the door seconds before Agent Riviera stuck his head in. “Emiliano has been taken to interrogation room G11. Are you ready?”
Randi nodded. “Yes,” she said, standing.
Detective Riviera came into the room, closing the door behind him. “Are you sure you want to meet with him? I’m warning you that he’s in a foul mood. The worst. He’s pissed that he’s in here and not out there killing those responsible for murdering his mother.”
She could believe that.
“And you were right,” Agent Riviera continued. “We heard back from the medical examiner. Both the DNA and fingerprints were matches, which means Constantine and Griffin killed Esther Emiliano. The gun is being checked out to verify it’s the murder weapon. But that still doesn’t tell us who is the person behind this. The person responsible for butchering Constantine and Griffin. The person who’s made two attempts on your life.”
“No, it doesn’t. I believe more information will come to me, but first things first. I need to deal with the mothers.”
Agent Riviera lifted a confused brow. “The mothers?”
“Yes. It’s hard to explain right now. You just have to trust me when I say I know what I’m doing.”
The agent chuckled. “Oh, I believe you, Dr. Fuller. Thanks to you, this case is finally moving forward.”
Riviera paused and glanced over at Quasar, who so far hadn’t
said a word since he’d entered the room, but was looking at him with deep, penetrating eyes. The man might be Dr. Fuller’s bodyguard, but Riviera knew the two were personally involved. Dr. Fuller had practically admitted as much last night. Patterson wasn’t just protective. At times Riviera felt the man was downright territorial. He could understand why, since Dr. Fuller was a beautiful woman.
Last night, after Patterson and Dr. Fuller had left the hotel for Malibu, Riviera obtained the key from the front desk and had gone into Patterson’s room to lift his fingerprints. He now knew a lot about Quasar Patterson. Even the fact that he was an ex-con. Riviera also knew he was the son of Louis Patterson, one of the wealthiest men in LA. The family owned a mansion in Beverly Hills. He’d been intrigued. Typically the sons of rich men didn’t moonlight as bodyguards.
“Is there anything else, Agent Riviera?” Dr. Fuller interrupted his thoughts to ask.
He moved his gaze from Patterson back to her. “Yes. Considering all that’s happened, I don’t think you should return to Malibu. I can arrange for you to be placed somewhere safe while you’re in LA. We’ll provide around-the-clock protection.”
Randi shook her head. “Thanks, but as you can see, I have a bodyguard who’s proven to be very capable at keeping me alive. I want to go back to the beach house. I need to go there. My mind needs downtime in a relaxing atmosphere.”
Agent Riviera nodded slowly. “I’ll be posting more of my men along the routes to ensure nothing happens again.”
“And what about the traitor within your organization?” Quasar finally broke his silence to ask.
Riviera returned his gaze to Quasar. “We’re determined to identify the mole and deal with that individual. We have a plan in place and are hopeful he or she will take the bait.”
He then glanced back at Randi. “Now, if you will follow me, Dr. Fuller, I’ll take you to the interrogation room.”
Seized by Seduction--A Compelling Tale of Romance, Love and Intrigue Page 19
