Burning Embers (Alexis Parker Book 17)

by G. K. Parks

  “That’s where the unhealthy part comes in,” Martin said, knowing I was teasing him. “Now can we please go home?”

  I kissed him and locked up my office. When the elevator opened, Lucien was standing inside. He stepped back, making room for us.

  “Did you hear the news?” Lucien asked. “The police let Payne go. It’s my understanding Payne suspected someone in the fire department was behind the fires but didn’t have any proof and wouldn’t drag anyone’s name through the mud unless he could prove it. He went to Haskell for help, and Haskell led him on a wild goose chase.”

  “How did Haskell end up with one of the toy buildings from Payne’s display?”

  “Haskell used to hang out at Payne’s all the time. When the police searched Haskell’s apartment, they found a copy of Payne’s house keys. Since he had access, the police figure Haskell probably printed a copy of Sizzle’s key and broke in to set the fire.”

  “Why aren’t they charging Payne with obstruction?” Martin asked. “If he knew about the fires and failed to disclose, he’s responsible for allowing the damage to continue.”

  “You’d have to take that up with the police department,” Cross said bitterly.

  “Seriously, what is your deal with hating the police?” I asked, unable to hold my tongue. “Does it have anything to do with the woman with the leopard tattoo?”

  “Did you tell her?” Cross asked Martin.

  “No.”

  “Tell me what?”

  Cross narrowed his eyes. “You’re one hell of an investigator. I’ll give you that.” The doors to the elevator opened, and we exited into the garage. “James, I’ll see you Tuesday.”

  “Sounds good.” Martin shook Cross’s hand. “Thanks for reaching out. And thanks for today.”

  Cross nodded. “Anytime.” Martin slung his arm around my shoulders, heading toward the car when Cross cleared his throat. “Alex, I’ll speak to legal tomorrow about benefits under your new contract. We’ll work something out.”

  “I’m not holding my breath.” I waited until Lucien got into his car before asking, “What haven’t you told me?”

  “Cross and I are going into business together.”

  “Why?”

  “After the pitch he gave and hearing Jade’s story, I couldn’t say no.”

  I didn’t understand Martin’s sudden change of heart, and I fingered the charm around my neck, knowing the two events were somehow connected. “Jade?”

  “When Cross first started out, before this place became this place, a woman came to him. She was in an abusive relationship. Her boyfriend beat her, abused her, isolated her from everyone and everything. She was terrified to leave him and even more terrified to stay.” Martin looked uneasy and opened my car door. “He was a cop.”

  “Shit.”

  “Lucien promised he’d protect her. He set her up in an apartment, got her a new identity, but he didn’t have the resources and network he does now.”

  “Her boyfriend found her.”

  Martin nodded. “Lucien tried to shield her, but she was shot four times in the leg Apparently, he was shot several times in the back. It was touch and go for months. Officially, the police said it was an unknown assailant with an automatic rifle. They said Jade’s boyfriend intervened and was killed in the line of duty. However, it was a cover-up, and the police department settled with Cross. That’s how Cross Security became Cross Security. The settlement came with a gag order, which is why Lucien can’t talk about it, but that’s the story Jade told me. It’s why Lucien wants to develop body armor using biotextiles. He doesn’t want history to repeat itself. He doesn’t want any of his investigators or clients getting killed.”

  “And it’s why he hates the police.” I stared at Martin. “You’re afraid that’s going to happen to me.”

  “We practically lived the same story, except our villain wasn’t a cop and you would have died trying to save me.”

  “If I’m remembering correctly, you actually shoved me out of the way. You almost died.”

  “Alex, I’m doing this. I have to. I have to do something.”

  “I get it. I just hate that you’re compromising so much for me.”

  “I’m not.” He shut my door and slid in beside me. “What new contract was Cross talking about?”

  “I’m no longer a Cross Security employee. I’m a private contractor. He’ll pass any cases they can’t handle my way.”

  “How is that different from what you do now?”

  “It’s not,” I rubbed the platinum band on his ring finger, “but the new designation allows Lucien to distance himself from the police and frees me to consult and take whatever jobs I want without implicating his firm in any possible legal fallout or conflicts of interest.”

  “Is this what you want?”

  “It means I can walk anytime without penalty. You never know when that might come in handy, especially now that you and Lucien are in bed together. I thought we agreed to no threesomes.”

  “You can walk, just as long as the only person you’re walking away from is Cross.”

  I laughed. “I can’t walk away from you. You’re tracking my every move.”

  “Like you would let that stop you.”

  I entwined my fingers with his. “I told you I’m sticking around, and I meant it. But you know I’m skittish. Don’t push me too hard. And this better be the last time you do something without my consent.” I fingered the charm before circling the two rings around my neck. He loved me, even if he had an odd way of showing it.

  “It is. I swear.”

  “So what’s Tuesday? Is that when you’re implanting the tracking chip in my shoulder?”

  “No. After the fire at your apartment, I decided to set up a charity for fire victims. The city has some stuff in place, but it’s not enough. After witnessing the destruction firsthand, I wanted to do something. Apparently, Lucien had the same idea and approached me about partnering up. We’re meeting Tuesday at the MT building to discuss it and other things.”

  “You remember the money I tried to pay you?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Put it toward that.”

  Martin kissed my temple. “As our first official donor, you’re entitled to certain perks.”

  “Like what?”

  He whispered something highly inappropriate in my ear and gave me his patented devilish smirk. It was going to be a good night.

  Note from the Author:

  Thank you so much for taking the time to read this book. I hope you enjoyed Alex’s latest case as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have a few extra minutes, please consider leaving a review. They are always appreciated.

  * * *

  Don’t miss the next novel in the Alexis Parker series.

  Click here to pre-order Thick Fog now.

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  Love Alexis Parker? Meet Detective Liv DeMarco.

  Enjoy this preview of the first Liv DeMarco novel, Dangerous Stakes, now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, print, and audio.

  One

  A streak of yellow caught his eye. His pulse quickened. It was almost time. He knew he had to be patient. He couldn’t risk getting caught, not after all the planning and preparation that went into this.

  The yellow sports car whipped around the curb and slid to a stop in front of the valet stand. The parking attendant came around, opening the driver’s door. He watched the owner step out of the car and go inside the hotel. This would be easy.

  For a moment, he felt overheated, a combination of fear and excitement. The tingles raced up and down his spine. He was ready. He gripped the steering wheel harder to control the twitching, his knuckles turning white. The sudden adrenaline surge made his mind focus. He stared at the car, willing it to move.

  And when it did, he pulled into the garage right behind it. He had to act quickly. Soon, everyone would know what he had done.

  * * *

  My phone rang, and I sighed. Reaching into my pocket, I wasn’t
surprised to see my dad’s number on the caller ID. This was his third call in the last hour and a half, which meant I was running dangerously behind schedule. If I didn’t leave now, he’d send a search party to my last known location or have officers ping my phone. I typed a quick reply and put my phone away.

  “I have to go.” I rubbed my eyes and tucked the surveillance photos inside the file.

  “Hot date?” Logan Winters asked. The assistant district attorney raised an intrigued eyebrow before checking his watch.

  “Dinner with my dad.”

  “In that case, you better hurry. You don’t want to keep Captain DeMarco waiting.”

  “You do realize he’s retired.”

  “Cops like him never truly retire, Liv.” Logan shuffled through the paperwork, sticking a few files inside his messenger bag and the rest in the drawer. “Just make sure you don’t tell him I’m the reason you’re late.”

  “Why?” I teased. “Are you afraid of him?”

  “Absolutely. By the way, thanks for doing this. I know you’ve been slammed lately. How are things progressing at the club?”

  “It’s hard to say, but if something shakes loose, you’ll be my first call.” I looked down at the photo on his desk. “You’ll let me know if anything turns up, right?”

  “You’ll be my first call,” he parroted. “Truly, I appreciate all your help.”

  “I didn’t do anything.”

  “Let’s agree to disagree.” Logan opened his office door and pressed against the small of my back as he guided me out of the room. His hand lingered a moment longer than necessary. “Can I offer you a ride?” He palmed his car keys, a fancy fob for a luxury sedan.

  “No, but you can validate my parking.”

  We rode the elevator to the lobby, and he took my parking pass and handed it to someone at reception. He nodded at a harried-looking man who just made it through security. “Hey, Johnny, don’t forget we have that pretrial motion due at nine a.m.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m on it.” Johnny waved away the warning and gave me the quick once-over. “Detective, anything we can help you with?”

  “Not today. I’m off duty.”

  Logan held out the parking pass to get my attention, even though my eyes constantly roamed my surroundings, taking in every person, exit, and potentially volatile situation, a side effect from too much undercover work. I took the offered pass and pushed through the turnstile.

  Once we were outside, I turned to Logan, a new thought forming in my mind. “Do you really think your witness went into hiding?”

  “Where else would he be?”

  “Lying dead somewhere.”

  Logan bristled at my comment. He didn’t want to think about that possibility. He was still new at the DA’s office and determined to do a good job. This was his first big fuckup, and he was worried.

  My partner and I gave the DA a slam dunk case, but a key witness vanished before his court appearance. That’s why Logan wanted to meet tonight, but rehashing the details of the case and going over the witness’s life history and statement proved useless. My gut said it was foul play, but we had no proof.

  “I’ll find him. He’s probably camped out in some roadside motel.”

  “Where?” I asked.

  “Tahiti, Tijuana, Vegas, El Paso. How should I know? I didn’t stash him anywhere.”

  “Maybe you should have.”

  “He refused protection, and we had no reason to think he needed it.”

  “He witnessed a murder.”

  “Just like most of the witnesses you pass my way.” He ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. “If Duncan Crane should have been in protective custody, you people should have put him there.”

  I gave him a look. “Oh, so now I’m you people? When you called three hours ago, you were singing a different tune.”

  “For fuck’s sake, Liv, stop twisting my words. You’re the one who started pointing fingers. I’m just saying the police should have taken the first step. That doesn’t fall on me. It’s not my fault Crane’s in the wind.” He glanced back at the office building. “And I don’t need you accusing me of it.”

  I eyed him curiously. “I wasn’t accusing you of anything.”

  “Well, it sure sounded like it.”

  “Guilty conscience?”

  His eyes smoldered, and he let out an annoyed growl. Resisting the urge to continue the argument, I turned on my heel. I was already late.

  “I’ll see you around, Winters.”

  The drive to my parents’ house didn’t take long, but I needed to be careful. Even though I didn’t plan on taking work home with me, I feared it might follow anyway. So I took the scenic route, adding an extra ten minutes to the commute.

  My phone rang again, just as I arrived. Ignoring it, I let myself in and locked the door behind me. “Hey, Dad,” I called.

  My greeting was met with the distinctive sound of nails skittering against the tile floor. A brown and black mass raced toward me. I dropped to my knees and held out my arms. Gunnie stood on my thighs and tried to lick my face, his tail wagging a million miles an hour.

  “Your doting daughter is finally here. You can call off the search team.”

  “I was wondering what was taking you so long. I’m starving,” Vince DeMarco yelled from the kitchen. “After you get the food in the oven, you can fetch my slippers.”

  “You must have gotten me confused with your other daughter.” I entered the kitchen to find Dad dressed up. “Are we going out to eat?”

  “No, I had a meeting at city hall earlier, and then I met some of the guys from the precinct for drinks.”

  “Uh-huh.” I didn’t necessarily believe it, but Vince DeMarco could stonewall the best of them. “Where’s Mom?”

  He chuckled and turned back to chopping vegetables for salad. “She’s at her wino meeting.”

  “You mean book club?”

  “That’s the story she’s sticking with, but you and I know better.” He finished making the salad and wiped his hands on a towel before coming around the counter and giving me a hug. “How’s work? Did you catch a last minute case?”

  “No, I had to go over some things at the DA’s office.”

  “Are you testifying?”

  “Not anytime soon.”

  “Good. It’s never a good idea to speak out in open court when you’re in the midst of an undercover assignment. UCs should be exempt.”

  “Well, they do make the occasional exception.”

  Dad didn’t say anything. He put the salad on the table and grabbed the oven mitts. “I heard you put in for a transfer.” He took the steaks out of the oven and placed one on each plate, ladling some mushroom sauce over the top. “Anything I should know? Is someone giving you a hard time at the station?”

  I went to the sink to wash my hands, buying a few seconds to think. By the time I turned around, Dad had added Brussels sprouts and sweet potato fries to the plates and placed them on the table. He sat down heavily, ignoring Gunnie’s big brown eyes which silently begged for scraps.

  “Just the usual whispers and cackles.” I pulled out my chair and sat down. “My captain used to be your partner, so it comes with the territory. The brass thinks everything I do is amazing and incredible, and everyone else thinks I’m getting special treatment. I don’t want it to be like this. I hear the rumors and snickers. I want to do this on my own. To make my own name and my own way.”

  “Your achievements have nothing to do with me, Olive. You’re a good cop. You’re smart and dedicated, and the brass noticed. That’s how you got where you are.”

  I cringed at the use of my full first name. My mother must have been out of her mind to name me after a fruit, or she was ordering a martini when the nurse was filling out the paperwork. One or the other. “Yeah, well, tell that to the rumor mill. Making detective at twenty-eight and working in intelligence isn’t normal. A lot of the guys think it’s favoritism. Sometimes, I’m not sure they’re wrong.”

&nbs
p; Dad cut into his steak and spoke with his mouth full. “It’s called hard work.”

  “If that’s true, it won’t hurt to move to a new precinct and start fresh.”

  He shrugged and continued to eat, but from the silence, I knew he disagreed. However, it was my life. My career. My choice.

  Gunnie let out a soft whine, and I slipped the puppy a piece of sweet potato under the table. The furball understood how difficult it was to be a woman in uniform without the added difficulty of having a decorated police captain as your father, or at least that’s what those big brown eyes conveyed as he pawed at my leg for a piece of steak.

  My phone rang, and I fished it out of my pocket. “Dammit.”

  “Work?” Dad asked, wiping his hands on a napkin. This had been a constant occurrence growing up, but now it was my turn to answer the siren’s song.

  “Who else?”

  I hit answer, prepared for the worst. Calls after hours usually meant one of two things. Someone was dead, or an op was in trouble. Tonight, it was both.

  “We need you at the precinct,” Detective Brad Fennel, my partner, said. “Two high-end sports cars just got jacked. We’re talking a score of a cool million. The valet was killed, and we’re guessing Kincaid’s crew is behind it.”

  “You need help working the scene?” I asked.

  “Nah,” Brad replied. “We don’t want to risk someone making you as a cop. I’ll perform the preliminaries and let the techs process the rest. Homicide’s here to make sure we don’t screw it up, so I’ll meet you at the precinct. You’re gonna have to get in touch with Axel Kincaid and his boys sooner rather than later. If they get those cars out of the country before we stop them, they’ll likely get away with the murder.”

  “Do we have any evidence?” I asked.

  “Just the usual shit.”

  “So nada.”

  Brad sighed. “Get down here, Liv. We’re on a time crunch.”

  “I’m on my way.” I pushed away from the table and looked at my dad. “I have to go.”