This time, the lights flashed brighter as unconsciousness tried to take over.
Longineu jerked his head to the side, signaling the men around him to clear out, far enough away to give him and Luke some privacy but close enough to let Luke know he wasn’t in the clear.
“So why don’t you tell me what you think you know?”
“I know that you’re a bad, bad man.” Luke looked over the man he was about to bring down. Longineu had taken off his suit jacket somewhere and was in a blue button-down and black trousers. The sleeves were rolled up and top few buttons undone, as though he were lounging at home instead of trying to wrangle another investor into the Thirteen Stars. “Had a rough day?”
“The old Farrell bastard effectively shot me down.” Longineu crossed his arms over his chest. “So I’m excited to hear how you plan to ruin my night so I can tell you exactly how you’ll fail.”
“Well, I know about Bella.”
Longineu was stone-faced. “I got that from your delightful phone call. But to be honest, I couldn’t care less about what you know. Exactly how much can you prove?”
“It was suspicious, you know. That Joslyn had something on you that petrified you into paying whatever she demanded and then was mum once she got into prison. And we threw everything we could legally throw at her. The best interrogators, all of our family visited her and yet she didn’t give one word about what she had to blackmail you.”
“As your delightful cousin, Emma, informed my people, Joslyn was full of shit. Like I suspect you are.”
“The electronic copy of the birth certificate she claimed she had didn’t exist,” said Luke.
Longineu narrowed his eyes. “So you got Joslyn to talk?”
“Well, once we exhausted all the legal options, I tried some illegal ones.” And Colin Carter had plenty of resources for Luke to use. “It wasn’t too hard to find a guard who would help with scaring the hell out of her.”
“You have a strange way of treating your family.”
“I’d do anything for my family. But Joslyn separated herself from us years ago. You, on the other hand, have gone pretty far out of the way to hurt your family, haven’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Prison isn’t nice to people who hurt children, you know.”
“And I’m still waiting for that proof.”
“Bear Creek.” Stark fear covered Longineu’s features and Luke knew he had struck a nerve.
“Where did you hear that from?”
“From a long line of gardeners, landscapers, nannies, old police files, and various other associates of yours who you’ve managed to piss off since then.”
“What do you want me to do? The people I work with aren’t going to just let you and your girlfriend walk free.”
“This isn’t about me walking free. I’m going to be getting out of this no matter what. This conversation is about your future.”
Longineu strode up to Luke and shoved his finger in Luke’s chest; it took everything in Luke to hold off from punching him in the face.
“No,” said Longineu. “I’m going to tell you how this conversation is going to go. You’re going to turn around and walk away and I’ll pretend you were never here, or you can keep talking and I’ll have my men throw you off the balcony.”
Luke glanced down at Longineu’s hand, still pressed against his chest, and backed up. “Before you throw me off the balcony, do you want me to show you the exact spot you buried the daughter you murdered? Or do you want to keep on thinking I’m bluffing?
“So let me tell you what’s going to happen.” Luke grabbed Longineu’s hand and twisted it off his chest, making sure to add enough pressure to make the grip painful. “You’re going to turn yourself in and you’re going to tell the FBI everything they want to know.”
“You’re crazy if you think I’d agree to that.”
“And in exchange, I won’t tell them that you murdered Bella. You know, white-collar crime prison is much nicer than child-killer prison. And you also know I’m angry enough to do it.”
“Give me one good reason not to kill you right here. Surrounded by people and no one would see me do it. I promise you that.”
“Two words: Automated. Email. Kill me, and all the proof the government will need to fry you will be sent over at a time I’ve already chosen and you don’t get to fucking know. So make up your mind.”
“Boss,” called one of the men from behind Luke.
“I’m busy!” called Longineu.
“Harper is with the FBI chick right now. Says he has her contained.”
Longineu pulled his hand out of Luke’s grip. “Your move, Devereaux.”
Evelyn opened her eyes right as Easson kicked her in the ribs. She let out a pained cough as she took in any possible weapon before he struck again. Thinking straight was too hard and her eyes refused to focus.
Just hang on. Backup would be here soon and someone had to have heard the gunshot.
He started to rear back for another kick, and all Evelyn could do was brace herself until the electronic sound of a ringing phone cut through her pained gasps for breath.
“Hold on, love.” He pulled out his phone. It must have been a text, because he didn’t answer. “Damn. I really wanted to make this last, too...” He typed something into the phone.
The brief interlude was enough for Evelyn to get some of her senses back. There it was. One-quart paint cans right within reach. She snatched the closest one up and slammed it into his leg. He grunted in pain and she swung again, hitting his ankle, throwing him off balance.
It was just enough time for Evelyn to push herself up. She hit him in the head as hard as possible with the can, the force so hard that the can popped out of her hands.
He swung wildly, but she was just able to avoid it, and she slammed the side of her palm into his throat. Even as he coughed, Easson lunged forward, jamming his shoulder into her side and pushing her back into the concrete wall.
Under normal circumstances, the hit would be painful enough as is, but the blow to her already sore ribs practically blinded her with pain. She bit back a curse as she slammed an elbow into his back, but he only grunted as he punched her in the ribs.
Evelyn scanned the room for anything she could use to help her get out of this when the door pushed open. Easson let her go, and she fell to the ground with a thump as he turned to face the newcomer.
Luke. Holding a gun. Pointed straight at Easson.
What the hell was he doing here? Evelyn grabbed her gun and clip, slamming it back together and pointing it at Easson’s back.
“Still have those zip ties?” asked Luke.
Evelyn glared at him as she bent down until she could grab her handbag that had been discarded at some point during the fight. With her free hand, she managed to pull out one of the restraints.
“Shit. Are you bleeding?” Luke’s eyes went to her side.
She looked down and saw the red smears along her dress, and then up to Easson. Finally some good news. “Not me. Him. Where the hell did you get a gun?”
“I brought it with me,” he said dismissively.
Easson stared daggers at the two of them. “You can’t arrest me, you know. I’ve got friends in high places.”
Luke started to step closer and Evelyn shook her head. “Keep the gun out of his reach,” she warned as she poked his shoulder with the butt of her gun. The more she touched him, the more chances he had to disarm her and use her as leverage to get past Luke, so she refused to take any chances. She’d shot him once already and she wasn’t afraid to do it again.
“If you’re talking about Longineu, he’s not going to help you anymore. He can hardly help himself at this point. In fact, he’s going to be turning himself into police custody pretty much as we speak. So don’t expect anyone to save your ass.”
“He would never do that,” said Easson, for the first time sounding less sure of himself.
Evelyn met Luke’s
gaze over Easson’s shoulder, silently agreeing with him. Why the hell would Longineu turn himself over? She carefully set the gun between her arm and side and tightened the restraints a tad tighter than was probably necessary, so there was no way he was squeezing out, even if he broke his thumbs. This dude was the exact kind of crazy who would pull some stunt like that.
As soon as he was secured, she pulled out her phone and called into the local police, who connected her to the officers who were already headed up. “Go in the hallway and wait for them, Luke. Keep me in sight, though. After what happened earlier, I don’t know how much I trust these restraints.”
He nodded and started to back up.
“And after this, we’re going to talk,” she warned.
Evelyn leaned against the hallway and hugged Luke’s jacket closer to her as Longineu was pulled into the elevator in handcuffs. She shook her head at the scene as Luke approached with some coffee. It was normally too late for caffeine, but she was going to the hospital after this to get a barrage of tests and x-rays, so she needed all the help she could get to make it through the night.
“Thanks,” she muttered as he handed her the cup. “So are you going to spill your secrets?”
He leaned against the wall next to her. “I’m a man of many secrets. You’ll have to be more specific.”
“Brian Longineu. You must’ve scared the hell out of him, and since you didn’t tell me, I’m assuming I wouldn’t approve.”
“I found out the secret that started it all. What Joslyn discovered to hold over his head and what he almost killed Emma over to cover up.”
“I thought she had something on Thirteen Stars.”
“That’s what he told them, but it was his personal secrets this time. His family is old money, but his father’s will had a morality clause in it. He had to destroy all the evidence of a crime to avoid the possibility of charges and losing his inheritance.”
“Destroy the evidence?”
“In this case, the evidence was a child conceived between him and a fifteen-year-old he was with.”
Evelyn’s eyes widened as her mouth dropped. “You’re not serious.”
“Completely serious. This dude is the scum of the earth. He probably thought he was lucky when the mother died of an overdose shortly after giving birth, but all they need is a DNA test and the mom’s birth certificate to put him away. So he took the baby.”
“That’s horrible. Joslyn found out and threatened him?”
“Yep. And I found the evidence she pretended to have.”
“What part of all this caused him to turn himself in, though?”
“I told him I wouldn’t turn over my evidence to the FBI or any other government authority if he turned over everything he knew about the Thirteen Stars and a full confession to all the white-collar stuff.”
Evelyn pushed away from the door and stared at him in shock. “You can’t be serious! After everything that man has done, you can’t let that poor child—”
“Relax.” He set a hand on each of her arms. “I lied. Everything is being emailed to you right now. All you have to do is hold off on pressing charges for a few days while the other arrests are made.”
She let out a sigh of relief.
“You don’t really think I’m that evil, right? I mean, you probably did at first. But I’d like to think we moved past that.”
“You should’ve told me,” she said.
“I didn’t use completely legal methods to get this information. I figured the less you knew the better.”
“You’re wrong, you know. I did think of you as a partner. At least I wanted to.”
“Until you go to Texas, right?”
“There is no Texas in my future,” she said, admitting it for the first time out loud.
Luke frowned. “Was it, um, why did you decide to stay?”
Evelyn knew he wanted her to say it was him. That she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving him. And on some level, that was true. She didn’t want to leave him. But she wanted to be honest too. “Apparently I’m on the cartel’s shit list, and people on their shit list don’t have a high survival rate down there.”
He nodded. “It’s good to stay safe.”
Evelyn reached up to thread his tie through her fingers, not pulling him closer, but not letting go either. “I was less broken up about the news than I thought I’d be.”
“Is that right?” Luke set his hands on her hips. “I thought you hated the city.”
“I do,” she blurted out. “I did. I don’t know. There are a few things in it that I’m rather partial to.”
“A little bird told me there are a few things in it that you love.”
She bit her lip and looked up at him. He stared at her as though she were the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, which was much funnier when she thought about how black and blue her face was probably turning. “That did slip out, didn’t it?”
“It did. Was it an accident, or did you mean it?”
Of course she found the one guy in Manhattan who wanted to talk about his feelings. Just her luck. “Well, I’ve never been one to half-ass things. I tend to dive straight in.”
“I’ve noticed. But you didn’t answer my question.”
He was really going to make her do this, wasn’t he? “I know I probably freaked you out back there, and I was upset and emotional and really pissed off, but I’m not taking it back.”
Luke pulled her in closer, but she could tell he was being mindful of her sore body. “I love you too.”
Evelyn couldn’t help the smile that formed. “Really?”
He nodded, resting his forehead against hers. “Really.”
“Shocking. How many times has Luke Devereaux told a woman he loved her?”
“Including this time?” He squinted as though he thought about it. “Once.”
The elevator down the hall opened, and two uniformed officers strode intently toward Evelyn and Luke. It looked as if their little moment was over.
“I have to head to the hospital.” She pulled away. “Hotchins was working on contacting your family and letting them know the gist of what happened tonight.”
But as the police got closer, she realized they were much too tense for a quick debriefing. Evelyn straightened and pulled away from Luke as the police reached them. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Easson Harper escaped,” said the first cop.
“He got out of the restraints and shot two officers. We’re pulling all our available men to look for him, but we’d like to get you to the hospital now.”
“He escaped!” shouted Luke. “We practically gift wrapped him for you.”
Evelyn set a hand on his arm even as she tried to control her own anger. But in her experience, little good ever came from insulting police. Especially police who had just had two of their own wounded. “Let’s go. There’s nothing we can do for now, and with the information Longineu can tell us, we might be able to find him.” Evelyn intertwined her fingers with his. “Trust me.”
Evelyn walked past Cali’s empty desk and headed to Luke’s office. She paused in the doorway as Luke stared intently at the computer, but it didn’t take long for him to realize she was there. “Hey.” He jumped up and ran around the desk.
“Hey yourself.” He stopped just short of her and leaned in for a kiss, barely touching her.
“You know you can’t treat me with kid gloves forever.”
He pressed a hand softly over the bandage wrapped around her ribs. “At least until the bandages are off.”
“And here I thought you’d like me in a dress.” Which she’d be wearing until the act of buttoning pants didn’t hurt so much.
The corner of his mouth hooked up as he reached down until he was at her knee and moved his hand up, bunching her white dress as he moved farther and farther up her thigh. “I do kind of like this dress thing,” he whispered.
“Oh my,” said a woman with a hint of a Southern accent.
Evelyn jerked at th
e interruption, but Luke stayed in place. “Emma, so glad you could make it.”
“Emma. Nice to meet you. I’m—”
“Evelyn. I figured that you were his girlfriend by the way, well, you know.”
“Yes, this is my girlfriend, Evelyn Price. Evelyn, this is my baby cousin, Emma.”
Evelyn smiled at the petite reddish blonde. Her skin was tanned from the Southern sun, and she looked decidedly less beat-up than Evelyn did. “Michael and Lori just got here. They’re waiting for you.”
Luke let go of Evelyn and took her hand as they headed toward the conference room.
She clenched his hand. This was her first time seeing his family when they weren’t on official duty, and it would’ve made her feel better if she’d known ahead of time. “I didn’t realize everyone was here.”
“Well, Emma and Jace were coming up the second they heard we made a major arrest and once they found out that someone was getting us video footage of the party at Farrell’s.”
“Everyone’s a voyeur,” she muttered.
The second she stepped into the conference room, everyone stood and stared as though she was some being from another planet. Good grief, she didn’t know whether she’d felt this uncomfortable the last time she was surrounded by cartel gangsters.
These were no gangsters, though. This was her boyfriend’s family. She didn’t think she’d ever met a guy’s family before, let alone been in a room with a brother, cousin, and their other halves. At least Jace was a more familiar face. She shot him a quick nod as Michael broke out into a huge grin. “Agent Price. I hear you and Luke have reconciled your differences.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Hey, you’re still my favorite brother, but only if you stop making cracks like that.”
“Awww. He’s my favorite brother too.” Lori winked.
Luke held her hand tighter. “Hey, hey. I have it on high authority that I am now Evelyn’s favorite, okay. Be nice to her. She came bearing presents.”
Jace leaned forward, ready to get down to business. “You have the security footage from the hotel?”
Devereaux Billionaires Complete Series: Books 1-4 Page 50
