Honestly, Greyson wasn’t shocked.
“It was a good meeting,” he stated, much to his wife’s surprise. First things first. “Poppy will have her job back,” he added. “I made sure of that.”
Her body language said it all. She’d been waiting to hear about it.
“You did?” Dimitri asked.
“Yes, I did. What happened to her was a travesty, and the LVPD owes her.”
“I guess we don’t need our attorney.”
Delilah laughed.
“Oh, there will be a civil case once you nail that snake Raye to the wall.”
They didn’t doubt that.
“Thank you,” Poppy stated. “Thank you so much.”
“Family takes care of each other,” he admitted. “It’s my job to make sure everyone is safe and happy.”
Poppy saw that.
She got it.
“Thank you,” Dimitri added. “I know you didn’t have to do that,” he stated.
“I did. For her, and for my brother.”
Dimitri loved him for that.
“What else?” Emma asked.
“They want to help us, and the cops have been told by the new FBI Director that it’s hands-off the Crofts. We’ve been outed.”
“WHAT?” they all stated.
He laughed.
“Blackhawk told them we are working for the FBI. We won’t have cops gunning for us anymore.”
Well, that was a blessing.
They could now help people who needed it.
“The new commissioner wants open lines of communication,” he stated.
They all began laughing.
He joined them.
“Yeah, that’s not happening,” Emma stated.
He was aware.
“Let them think. We’ll cross that bridge later. All in all, it was productive. He wants us to build a case against Raye.”
“He’s a dead man,” Dimitri stated. “There will be no case. He had my woman raped and ruined her career. I won’t let a court get to him.”
Delilah covered her hears and hummed really loudly.
“I mean it.”
They didn’t doubt it.
“Dimitri,” Poppy stated.
He cut her off.
“No. He’s dead,” he snapped.
“I was just going to tell you thank you,” Poppy offered, keeping calm. She could see he was still suffering. She didn’t want him upset.
He relaxed.
“You don’t have to thank me, Poppy,” he admitted. The fact that she was still here, and hadn’t been chained to the couch was a start.
It helped him relax.
“We’ll cross that bridge too,” Emma stated, knowing they weren’t going to discuss it.
Loose lips sank ships.
While they trusted everyone here, preservation was key.
Greyson seemed to read her mind. He changed the subject, and fast. There was no doubt Jeffrey Raye was a dead man.
It was only time.
“Anything on Harold Cline?” Greyson asked, keeping them focused.
Poppy took that as her cue and hit another button. All of the man’s rap sheets scrolled by on the screen. They’d seen them, but Chris, Dimitri, and Greyson had not.
They gave them time to catch up.
Chris whistled.
Yeah, he was definitely an asshole.
AND a criminal.
“What are you thinking?” Greyson asked, wanting to know what Emma was going with on this guy.
She told him what she’d told Chris.
“That he’s the pickup man,” Emma stated. “We all know some rich dude isn’t doing his own dirty work. Let’s face it. He’s got money to burn. He’s having someone pick them up. I’m willing to bet this is step one.”
They’d thought the same.
“Can you run the motel?” Chris asked. “That’s our next spot. The madam gave it up.”
“We already did,” Emma admitted. “Sugar makes me work faster.”
Greyson lifted a brow.
“Or maybe it was my love of detecting,” she corrected.
He laughed.
“Kitten, don’t be bold.”
Poppy pulled it up on the screen.
“Do we have a picture of Misty? I know she’s not going to be in that second bag since we know for a fact she disappeared after Poppy was given the cases, but you can use it at the no-tell motel.”
She had a point.
Dimitri offered up what he’d managed to do.
“I took a picture of one of the call girls’ pictures from the house. We have Misty and Alexsandra together,” he said, handing over his phone.
Emma took it, plugged it into the tablet, and the picture went to the screen and all of their phones so they’d have it.
Poppy looked at it.
“Yeah, she’s definitely not the next victim. Maybe she’s alive.”
They could only hope.
“Emma, for the record, I need to say one thing,” Dimitri offered.
“What?”
“Your husband hired Nikita against my wishes,” he stated. “He was being a bully.”
Greyson stared at him.
“Really, son? You ratted me out to my wife?”
“I told you I’d get even.”
Greyson shook his head.
“That’s a low shot.”
Emma heard the humor in her husband’s voice. At first, she was surprised, since she knew what happened between Nikita and Dimitri.
“You hired her?”
“Mom, make him unhire her,” Dimitri stated, playing it up to Emma’s mom sensibilities.
“I can’t do that. I love her. She’s fun. Plus, Heath has a big ol’ hard…”
Greyson pointed at her.
“Who are you? First, the sugar, and now, you’re talking like a…,” he asked.
“A cop?” she asked, smiling.
“Point taken. Carry on with breaking his poor Russian heart.”
She laughed.
“We need the help. We’re down people, and now Poppy is going to go back to work once we get Raye handled.”
Dimitri sighed.
“How disappointing. Et tu, Emma?”
She snorted.
“You once threatened to rat me out to him over a cupcake. Suck it up, Brutus.”
He finally laughed.
This was a losing battle.
He gave up.
“Anyway,” Poppy said, amused by all of them. She loved watching them work as a family. It made her want to be part of that, even if she went back to work.
Could she be both?
“Here’s the proprietor of the motel. They have one hell of a motto at that joint,” Emma stated, seeing it on a sign in a picture.
Greyson read it.
‘Get lucky, get laid, and no one’s the wiser.’
Greyson laughed.
“Whoever came up with that should be shot,” Emma stated. “Clearly, they didn’t have a husband or wife. Sin City doesn’t need help in the lying and perversion department.”
Clearly.
“What about the owner?”
His picture came up.
“We have Lee Davidson. He’s the owner, and he’s the proud purveyor of that saying.”
Emma couldn’t believe someone named a place The Hidden Pearl, and it had that tagline. If you were naming your business after clitorises and promoted cheating, it made you look really nasty.
Shocking.
It was a hooker pickup joint.
She almost wished she could meet him to boot his ass around.
“He looks reputable,” Chris said. “In a steal from his own mother kinda way since she’s dead in the basement.”
She agreed there.
“Anything on him?” Greyson asked, grateful for the FBI gear to do the heavy lifting.
“Minor things,” Emma stated, gasping as she grabbed her stomach. She sat up, and Greyson was on his feet—freaked-out.
Lite
rally.
“Is it time?” he asked, nearly running around.
His wife stayed calm, breathing through the contractions. She shook her head and Chris explained.
“It happened last night. I googled it. Those are the Braxton Hicks. She’s all good. I swear.”
Greyson relaxed.
He almost vaulted the couch, grabbed her bag, and carried her out to the car. He was ready for his son, but this was a bit too early—even for him.
“I’m good,” she stated. “I’m just tired. I noticed they happen if I exert myself.”
That was all he had to hear.
“Okay, you’re done working. We’ll go interview the guy at the hotel, and you rest.”
“I’m good.”
She saw the look in his eyes.
“On second thought, I could use a nap.”
No one needed Greyson on a rampage running through town as he worried about her and Mac.
She accepted a kiss in reward for not fighting him on it.
“Thank you,” he said, calmly.
His son would be coming into the world before they knew it. Until then, it was about keeping him focused and out of Emma’s hair. She didn’t need to stress.
“Okay, Greyson. Be careful.”
He would.
Before he could leave, the women began clucking over his wife, and that worked for him.
Poppy moved closer to her on the couch and held her hand reassuringly.
“How about I make you some tea?” she offered. “It might help you relax.”
“Yes, please.”
She headed into the kitchen.
Delilah reassured her it was going to be fine.
“Maybe we should get her something to eat!” she called after Poppy.
That stopped him in his tracks.
“NO more sugar for her!” Greyson stated. “My son will come out wearing frosting.”
She found that amusing.
“You know that’s not how it works, right?” Delilah asked. “If only.”
He gave her the look.
“Do something legal-like, okay?”
She snorted.
“Fine. Go. You’re stressing us out.”
Greyson rolled his eyes and pointed at the door. Dimitri was right behind him. When they were gone, Chris sat beside Emma, and she rested her head on his lap.
“Hang in there, kiddo,” he stated.
She would.
What choice did she have?
It wasn’t like she could stop now.
Their baby would be coming.
Soon.
* * * G R E Y S O N C R O F T * * *
The Hidden Pearl
Motel
Dive
Roach Coach
When they pulled up, it was pretty much what he thought it would be. The place was painted in aqua and white, and it had a mermaid painted on the wall. Beside her was a giant clam and a big pearl.
Yeah, this…
This was Vegas at its finest.
The place screamed of family fun—about forty years ago when it was clean, less filled with hookers, and not nearly as hepatitis-y.
They doubted that anyone not hooking up with a prostitute or a meth dealer hung out there. The place was not the kind of place you frequented in Vegas unless you were looking for something.
HIV.
Hepatitis.
A hookup.
“Are you shocked?” Dimitri asked, reading the expression on his face.
“NO. This was exactly what I expected. No, that’s not true. By now, I had expected to be propositioned by at least two hookers, a transvestite, and a gay man.”
Dimitri laughed.
“You have some freaking fetishes. I just like a woman’s ass.”
Greyson laughed.
Fetishes, no, but he knew what likely would happen. They had money, and that was like a hooker beacon going off.
“Ass is good,” he stated, knowing that Dimitri hadn’t really said much the last two days. He was internalizing.
That he knew.
“That boat has sailed,” Dimitri stated, matter-of-factly.
“Are we talking about sex with Poppy?” Croft asked, making sure.
He nodded.
“Yeah, I think I can live without sex. I don’t know if I can live without her as a person. When she laughed in the condo, my heart did this flip-flop thing in my chest.”
“You’re in love. It’s normal. Are you good with not getting back on the sex train if she can’t?” he asked, going there. It was the big pink elephant in the room.
Dimitri had needed sex.
Now his woman was fractured apart. It might be temporary, or it might not. One couldn’t tell.
“I’m good with it.”
And oddly, he was.
When he thought about hookers, and sex with anyone but her, he was completely turned off. What he wanted was her, and that was it.
If she couldn’t do it, then he couldn’t. That was how he knew he was in love. Sex had been a way to get off, work out frustration, and vent. Now it was a symbol of love and unity.
He understood that now.
“That you said that shows you’re really into her. I applaud you.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong. I hope it comes back. If not, it would suck. The sex was hot, but she was violated. I know how she feels. I wouldn't even try to go there. I will let her figure it out and talk about it.”
“So, you’ve forgiven her?”
He paused.
Then finally answered.
“Yes. Aren’t you going to question me about Nikita and what happened?”
He smiled.
HUGELY.
“Hell, yes, I am! How can I let that one go? You’re my best friend. You have to tell me too,” he said, pointing at a bruise on his face. “You owe me. How the hell did that happen? Talk slowly.”
“Pervert.”
“No, your accent is back, I don’t want to miss a word,” he teased.
Dimitri laughed.
“Rub your hands together and grin. That’ll make it creepier.”
He punched him in the arm.
Greyson was glad to see the smile was back.
He saw it the second they got back to their place. When Poppy was still there, that was step one in the battle.
BABY STEPS.
Day by day.
It made the weight less daunting.
“We were working an operation. We were both young. We were supposed to be a young couple on our honeymoon. The man two doors down from us was going to die.”
Greyson listened.
Truth be told, Dimitri’s stories were fun.
All he did was snipe.
Dimitri acted.
“We were bedded down and told that we had eyes on us. We had to make it look good if the room was bugged. So, we did it.”
He grinned.
“What was that like?”
“Horrible.”
“Why?”
“She’s like a Praying Mantis. She rips the head off of her bedmate.”
He snorted.
“And here you are…”
“You know what I mean. I don’t trust her. Gee, thanks for hiring her.”
“Did you just say ‘gee’? Pussy. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
He laughed.
“Let’s go. Don’t touch anything. You’ll give your baby a bad case of HIV.”
He looked horrified.
Then he opened the glove compartment and pulled out a pair of leather gloves.
JUST.
IN.
CASE.
Together, they went into the dive motel to see what they could ferret out—other than meth. Once inside, they found the man behind the counter. Since they’d seen him, they knew that was Lee Davidson.
They didn’t know the other man who was with him. If possible, he looked a million times more skeezy.
“Room?” Lee asked.
“Yeah, we’d like the one Har
old rents,” he said, without hesitating to dive right into the investigation.
That had the man’s attention.
When he looked up, his face said it all. Oh, he recognized him, and he knew the truth.
He was screwed.
They didn’t doubt he would have made a run for it had they not been blocking the only way out.
“MR. CROFT!”
“Yeah, that’s me, and you must know, Lee, that if I’m here, it’s not good. I don’t come trolling in shit-hole dives like this one for fun. This is business,” he said, clenching and unclenching his fists.
The man swallowed.
“What do you want?”
Well, at least he was talking.
That was step one.
“What do you know about a man named Harold Cline?” he asked as Dimitri watched the other man.
They both looked scared.
The other man looked like he was trying to sneak away without anyone seeing him. He must have thought they were hopped up on the same shit he was because it was fairly hard to lose a person in a room of four.
Dimitri pulled back his jacket, showing the man the gun. That stopped him in his tracks.
“Who the hell are you?” Greyson asked as Lee was trying to figure out if he should answer his question or not.
“I’m Milo Horner. I’m the maintenance guy.”
Someone should fire him.
Or slap him.
The place was a rundown mess. That was likely why Harold was using it as his pickup location. Who would notice anything going on here?
“Mr. Croft, all I know is that he has a woman come here, pickup money, and that’s it.”
“What room does he stay in?”
“He only stayed once.”
Okay, that sounded odd—even to him in this dive. Greyson hoped the man wasn’t screwing with him.
“Out of how many times?” Greyson asked.
He thought about it.
“Maybe it was five times—max.”
“Okay, so let me see if I have this right. He has a girl come in here, pickup the money he left for her, and then she does what?”
“There’s a car out front. They leave.”
What the hell?
This was odd.
“And that one time you mentioned?”
Lee didn’t hesitate. “It was about three months ago. Maybe a little less. Time flies.”
“Yeah, when you’re dead, it’s a nonstop fun fest,” he said sarcastically.
No Justice_A Croft Mob Family Book Page 31
