He thought they were closer than that.
“Chris.”
He moved around the desk to sit on the corner facing her. “Emma, honey, come on. What has you this upset?”
“Friend or boss?” she asked again. “It’s important.”
Okay, if that’s how she wanted to play it, so be it.
“I’m asking as someone who cares about you. I’m asking as your brother.”
She’d called him that not too long ago, and since then, they’d really become close. He wanted to help her.
No matter what was going on in her head.
Still, she hesitated.
For the first time in the year she’d been close to this man, she had to worry. It wasn’t only about her.
It was about all of them.
“Wow. It’s bad, isn’t it?”
She nodded. “It’s real bad, Chris.”
“Are you and Greyson okay?” he asked.
When she looked down, he crouched in front of her. “Hey!” Using his fingers, he lifted her chin. “Did he hurt you? Did Greyson put his hands on you? Are you’re afraid to tell me? I’ll kick his ass if he did.”
Her mouth dropped open. “What? No! Greyson wouldn’t hurt me. He’s a puddle of mush. Why would you even go there?”
Were they talking about the same man?
The same Fed?
Of course that was his first thought.
“I went there because you look like you’re afraid, and that can’t be good, Emma. Just tell me what has you spooked so I can help you through it.”
“I’m in a tough situation, Chris. I need to rely on people I trust.”
He stared into her eyes—brown meeting green. “Emma, honey, you can trust me. I have your back. Nothing you say to me in here will get out. I promise you.”
“Pinky swear?”
“What are you, twelve?” he asked, grinning. “What’s next? Wet willies?”
That made her laugh, despite the worry in her heart. “Just do it.”
She held up her finger until he relented.
“Jesus, okay!”
He did the pinky swear.
“I promise it will stay between us. It’s private. Now spill it!”
She told him everything.
Emma held nothing back, and honestly, she was relieved. There was a weight off her shoulders. She could breathe again.
“Randall had a secret file.”
“What was in it?”
Emma didn't hold back, even when his mouth dropped open at what she was telling him, she kept going. It was clear what was going through his mind.
Hell!
It was going through hers too.
Emma Croft was neck deep in potential danger, and they all knew it. She was baiting a very dangerous shark by chumming the water with her own ass.
“Emma! Are you out of your freaking mind?” he asked, standing to begin pacing the room.
“Before you give me the lecture, I need to go on the record here. We both know the kind of man my husband is, and that’s why I’m putting it on the line.”
“Yeah, he’s the kind to snap and kill people when you get a papercut. He comes by every week just to give the janitor dirty looks for touching your garbage can. Imagine what’s going to happen to the people who hide this little clusterfuck from him.”
Oh, she was aware.
And that was why she didn’t tell him.
“Chris, you promised. You said you would keep this in this room. I trusted you, and I have your word,” she said, holding up her pinkie.
Damn!
Damn!
Damn!
Yes, yes, he did.
He’d been married. Chris should have known this was going to be a mess. Of course, Emma Croft was going to go head to head with the crookedest, wickedest dick in Vegas.
Why was he shocked?
A part of him shouldn’t be. The Crofts were out of their damn minds—both of them!
And somehow, that was going to come back and bite him in the ass. Now his ass was in the water with a totally different shark.
A Fed one.
“Emma.”
“If there was another way, Chris, I’d do it. The list isn’t admissible in court, and even if I managed to get Dominic Marianna behind bars on that, he’d walk. His high priced lawyer Kenneth James will get him off. It happens almost yearly, and nothing, up to this point, has stuck to that slimy bastard.”
Yeah, he was aware.
Half the time his homicide detectives were pulling bodies out of the desert with Marianna’s fingerprints all over them.
Figuratively, of course.
Lawyers who defended criminals sucked, and he had no respect for them. Marianna’s lawyer was damn good at getting the man off.
“Where did this list come from? How did Randall, who is dead, get it to you?”
“Dimitri.”
Chris glared at her. “Emma.”
She knew what he thought of the man. He’d made it crystal clear. Chris was aware that Dimitri spent most of his life doing things that Chris worked hard at stopping.
They were on opposite sides of the spectrum.
Their only connection?
Emma and Greyson Croft.
Hell!
“He’s not that bad,” she stated.
Chris Ford stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. They both knew how bad he was. On the first day he met the man, he pulled Emma aside and told her that Dimitri was a killer and to watch her ass.
Then he found out he worked for them.
This killer was the one protecting their backs in Las Vegas.
Oh, the irony of the entire situation. Emma knew Chris didn’t understand it.
She respected his opinion, but she knew Dimitri. They’d all gotten close the last few weeks. That happened when you had to trust someone with your life.
“Do we know this list is on the up and up? Let’s face it. Randall Mason was a huge, sneaky douchebag. How do we know he’s not yanking your chain from the great beyond?” Then he laughed. “Let me rephrase that—from Hell. Randall Mason definitely has an office with a window there.”
She understood where his concern was coming from, but she also knew Randall wouldn’t cause her harm. Well, except he did give them all his money and make their lives a billion times more difficult.
Okay, but this time, it appeared to be on the up and up.
She told him about the two bodies—the one last year, and the most recent one.
“They were on the list.”
He sighed.
“Greyson…”
She cut him off. “He can’t know about this. He isn’t aware I’m working this case, and he needs to be kept in the dark—for now. You promised me, Chris.”
He stared at her. “You think the head Fed, in this city, won’t hear about this the second Marianna gets wind of you digging up his corpses? Greyson has his FBI fingers in every pot. The man is connected to this office, the commissioner’s office, and the freaking mayor’s office, Emma! He plays golf with all of them on Saturdays.”
She knew the chances were slim to none.
Still, she had to hope.
“He’s going to lose it,” Chris said, “No, he lost it when that reporter mentioned that you looked like you had put on weight. Imagine what will happen when someone is gunning for you. He’s going to take the freaking city apart brick by brick. The gangsters in the fifties have NOTHING on him. Do you know that the commissioner calls him Bugsy behind his back? No one messes with Greyson for a reason. Hell! He’s probably watching me!”
She looked around, hoping the office wasn’t bugged.
“Chris, if I don’t do this, he’s going to do something against the law. Dominic has been provoking him. One shot at me, and Greyson is going to flip out and kill him. He’s going to go right at him, and that’s very bad for EVERYONE in Vegas. He is the one keeping the criminal floodgates intact. If this city loses Greyson, the criminals will have a free-for-all.”
Ford was well aware. The seedy element feared him.
“We don’t need him going off the rails because of his wife. He’s got too many issues to worry about.”
He couldn’t blame Greyson for losing it over Emma. Men were supposed to keep their women safe. If they didn't, in his book, they weren’t really men.
Well, that was his motto.
Apparently, hanging around with Greyson Croft was rubbing off on him.
Great.
Women didn’t like crazed cavemen. He was going to be single for the rest of his damn life.
“I have to do this the legal way to keep my husband from doing it any other way. If I’m tied to this case, Greyson won’t cross that line. He wouldn’t risk me.”
He got the point.
“This is risky as hell, Emma. You know that, right? This can blow up on all of us and get someone killed.”
“If Dominic is coming for me, he’s not going to stop. Dimitri said there’s chatter. He hasn’t told Greyson yet, because the second he does…”
Chris got it.
Croft would go nuclear.
He couldn’t blame him. He wanted to kill the man for screwing with the people he cared about in life too.
“The second he gets that file, he’s going headlong at Marianna. I’m the calm one. I have the police on my side. Greyson won’t bother. That scares me.”
It scared him too.
Ford could easily see the man going over the edge and taking the mob boss’s life.
Easily.
“I don’t want my husband playing this game with him. Marianna wants him engaged in it, and that’s the last thing we need.”
She was right.
“Help me keep him alive. Help me keep Greyson from wading into this game. He’s a big target. I can’t live with hitmen aiming at my husband. He won’t stay inside Terrace Glen. He’ll go out to prove a point or to keep the rest of us safe. He’s already told Dimitri to watch me. He’s already at risk.”
Chris closed his eyes and rubbed them. “Emma, you’re asking me to hold back a hurricane with a plastic bag. Once Greyson finds out, he’s going to spank you, and I don’t mean in the kinky fun way.”
She snorted. “Chris, I’ll take the heat if it means keeping my husband alive. His focus is divided. He’s carrying the FBI, our finances, the business world, Vegas, and Marianna on his shoulders. He’s scattered. The last thing we need is for him to miss that one subtle clue and it gets him killed.”
He got it.
“Emma.”
“I trust you. You’re part of my family and I trust you, Chris. I know you’ll help me do what’s right. I believe in the man I call brother.”
He didn't say a word.
She was right.
The only issue was that they had a bond, but he also had one with Greyson Croft.
“Please, Chris. I’m begging you. Let me work this. Clear my desk and let this have my entire focus until I crack it wide open. I have faith in my skills. I need you to have that same faith.”
“Emma, I do have that faith in you. I just see the big picture. Your husband is going to find out and lose it.”
“I’ll handle Greyson.”
He started laughing. “Do you know your husband? He’s a caveman. He’s not going to let his cave babe act as armor against Marianna.”
She knew he was right.
“If he finds out…”
“I’ll take the heat. I just need you to promise you’ll keep this between us and buy me a little bit of time to work this case.”
“You can’t keep him out for long. The man has fingers in every pot. He’s the freaking king of Vegas for a reason.”
She was well aware.
“Vegas is devouring his soul. When everyone thought he was a criminal, it made him into something he didn't like, Chris. He’s finally back, vindicated, and cleaning up his town. If he loses that by his own choice, he won’t survive, and you know it.”
“And I appreciate that. Trust me, I do, but keeping him out of the loop is going to be damn hard, even for you.”
She had to try.
“What if he loses it, Emma, and kills Marianna? Will you turn your husband in to face justice?”
She stared Chris right in the eyes. “Never. I’ll hire Kenneth James and give him all our money to get him off.”
He sighed. “Emma. I’m a cop. You’re a cop. Hell! He’s a cop too. We can’t make the laws up as we go. Justice can’t be doled out to the people we think deserve it. There’s a process, and it’s all or none.”
“If he crosses the line, I’ll turn in my badge, Chris. I’ll call it quits before I turn on Greyson. I love him, and I have faith in him.”
Yeah, well he did too.
As misplaced as that might be.
“Jesus.”
“Please, Chris, as a favor? Have my back for me.”
He shook his head. “Okay, fine. I’ll do it, Emma, but if he comes right out and asks, or finds out, I’m not lying to him. You know how I feel about that. I can’t change who I am for anyone. If he falls into this mess and asks for my help, I can’t choose between you guys. I care and love you both.”
“Just buy me some time, Chris, and I’ll handle the rest of this mess.”
Before he could speak, she was up, out of her seat, and planting a kiss on his cheek.
Chris flushed.
“Thank you, Chris, and I love you too!”
With that, she rushed out.
What the hell had he just done?
There had to be something in his coffee today. Christopher Ford just agreed to pull the wool over Greyson Croft’s eyes, and for a woman—one he wasn’t even having sex with—so what was his problem?
Holy bloody hell!
This wasn’t going to end well.
He could feel it.
In fact, he was pretty sure he was going to get his ass handed to him in the end.
By one Croft or the other…
Chapter Two
FBI Las Vegas
Greyson’s Office
He was going to need a little extra help on this one, and he didn't mean the cops. Greyson had a little extra someone special in his back pocket, and he wasn’t afraid to use him. After all, it was his job to protect him and his wife, and this would be right up his alley.
When his secretary buzzed him, alerting him to Dimitri’s arrival, he stood. As the man sauntered in, visitor’s badge on his pricy shirt, Croft almost wanted to laugh.
He didn’t belong upstairs.
They all knew he should be in lock up.
This man was trouble, and he knew it.
“Director, you needed to see me? I was under the impression that you weren’t going to need my services today,” Dimitri Gideon said, Russian lilt tinting his voice.
His black hair was pulled back into a knot at the back of his neck, and his aqua eyes were calm but missed nothing.
Greyson knew he’d wanted in this part of the building in the worst way.
“Oh, were you busy?” he asked.
“Your wife pulled a case. I was following her around most of the day.”
Greyson looked alarmed. “You didn’t leave her out there unguarded, did you?”
He laughed before taking a seat in front of the man’s desk. “I can reassure you that this isn’t my first day on the job. She had just made it back to the precinct when you called me. She’s safely tucked away, and if she heads out, Natasha is lurking.”
Croft had only seen the woman once. She liked to blend in, so much so that she changed her wigs, makeup, and clothes to do it. One minute she could be a redhead, then when she walked around a corner, she was a blonde.
It was that fast.
She was a mystery.
“Great. Thank you.”
Again, his intercom buzzed.
“Director, Agent Briggs is here to see you. He said you called for him.”
“I did, Linda. Send him in.”
They waited for him. Once in t
he door, he hugged the man who adopted him. “Yo, Dad, what’s happening? Are we getting lunch? I’m starving.”
Greyson smacked him on the back of the head. “I warned you about that in the office.”
He snorted. “You called, sire? Would thou liketh me to fill the trough with vittles?”
Dimitri grinned at the two. He knew Greyson had a fondness for the man. You could see it in his eyes.
“Curtis, don’t be a smart ass or there’s no food for you until dinner.”
He gasped.
That was the only threat needed.
Greyson took a seat behind his desk. His silver eyes were filled with concern.
“You look worried,” Dimitri stated. He hoped the cat wasn’t out of the bag about Emma’s plan.
“I am. Something has come up.”
Then he told them all about Rutherford Bentley.
Curtis looked surprised.
Dimitri didn’t.
Greyson didn’t miss it. Something about that alarmed him, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
“Is Steele okay?” Curtis asked. When Brynn had died, the man had been a really good friend, helping him through it. Curtis wanted to return the favor for him.
“He’s had better moments. I promised him I’d find who killed his father.”
Dimitri kept his face neutral.
This was the opposite of what they wanted. He was going to have to alert Emma as soon as he could get away. She wasn’t going to be happy.
This wasn’t good. Already, he could see the look on Croft’s face, and it bode trouble for him and Emma.
Hell’s bells!
“Why do you look like you know something?” Greyson asked, glancing over at his head of security. “Normally, your face is emotionless, but you reacted. Why?”
“I know plenty about Doctor Bentley’s father. I was here just starting out when he was working for Marianna. Dominic and I are the same age, and we arrived on the scene at the same time. He fell into money, and I fell into…my businesses.”
Croft already knew what the man fell into when he hit Vegas. Once he got Katerina’s DNA, it was easy to track her to Russia, find out who her family was, and learn all about their indiscretions.
And there were a shitload of them.
Dimitri Gideon made Randall Mason and Dominic Marianna look clean.
Justice is Dead (Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Book 7) Page 5
