Trust No One

by Velvet Vaughn

  Dorian removed the lunch tray and placed it on the floor. He opened his laptop, scooted the table in front of Alex and pushed a button. "We brought you a murderer."

  #

  Alex was transfixed by the beautiful woman recounting her story on the small screen. Pieces of the puzzle were falling into place. He wiped a hand down his face when the video ended. "Governor Denton?" He sighed. "I thought it was odd that he was inquiring into the investigation, especially right after it happened. If he is responsible, we know he has influential men in his pockets, maybe even my chief."

  "He definitely has someone on the inside," Dorian agreed, "but unless Saunders is an accomplished actor, he couldn't fake the shock and worry when you were shot."

  "He's been a good boss." Alex closed the lid on the laptop. "I'm praying it's not him."

  "How do we handle this? You're in no shape to make the arrest."

  Alex thought about it for a minute. "We need to be careful. Since we don't know who's involved, we don't want to tip them off. Millson has been in on this with me from the start, and he hasn't given me any reason not to trust him. I'll give him a call." Dorian handed Alex his cell from the table beside the bed. Alex put the call on speaker.

  "Millson."

  "It's Alex."

  "Hey buddy. I was just on my way to see you."

  "I've got some news. We know who's responsible for murdering the senator's wife."

  "You're shitting me." Alex winced at his crude language with Kendall in the room, but in his defense, Millson didn't know she was present.

  "Demarchis has a taped witness account."

  Barry whistled. "Have you heard it?"

  "Yes."

  "Well, don't keep me in suspense. Who did it?"

  "Governor Carson Denton."

  "You are shitting me," Millson repeated, louder this time. "This is huge man. We can't just go accusing the governor."

  "We can't broadcast this one. He has help on the inside."

  "You mean one of us?"

  "Exactly."

  Millson exclaimed another harsh curse and Alex considered taking him off speaker phone.

  "Is Demarchis there now?"

  "Yes."

  "And he has the tape?" At Alex's confirmation, Millson added, "How does he feel about accompanying me to pay the governor a visit?"

  "He definitely wants to be there."

  "Tell him to meet me in the parking lot by the emergency room doors. I want to hear the tape first and then we can go catch a killer."

  "He'll meet you there."

  "We'll get 'er done."

  #

  "I want you to stay in the car while all of this goes down," Dorian said to Kendall as they stepped in to the elevator. He pushed the button for the main floor.

  "I don't think so."

  "What was that?"

  "I said no, Dorian. I will not sit in the car. They were my friends and I need to avenge their deaths. I want to see Denton's face when Millson slaps cuffs around his wrists."

  Dorian opened his mouth to argue but she cut him off. "I can take care of myself. I've been doing it for thirty years."

  "Yes, but—"

  "No buts," she interrupted. "I'm not an idiot. I'll follow your lead. I won't do anything to put myself or anyone else in danger."

  The bell dinged and the elevator doors swished open. Dorian waited for her to exit and then followed. She knew he wanted to argue but this was one fight he wouldn't win. She wanted—no, needed—to look the man who had Stefani and Bridget and Kiki killed in the face and let him know he hadn't gotten away with it. Her friends' lives mattered. They were human beings with families who loved them and bright futures. He stole that from each one of them.

  A black car was parked behind Dorian's truck and a man was reclining against the hood with his arms crossed.

  "That's Barry Millson," Dorian told her as his phone beeped. "It's my boss, I need to take this and grab the gear from the truck."

  "I'll go meet Barry," she said, walking towards the man. He'd pushed off the car. "Are you Alex's partner?" Kendall asked.

  "Barry Millson," he said offering his hand.

  Kendall started to shake his hand and gasped, her arm frozen in place. "The scar," she whispered.

  Millson's eyes narrowed and he grabbed her hand, yanking her against him. "I believe I owe you one for the breath spray to the eyes. He backhanded her and her head jerked to the side. She froze in shock. She'd never been hit that hard in her life. "And for the knee to the balls." He hit the other side of the face. She cried out in pain, her legs buckling. The only thing that kept her upright was Millson's crushing grip on her upper arm. Blackness threatened.

  "What the hell?" Dorian roared, jumping from the car.

  Barry hooked an arm around her neck while pointing his gun at Dorian.

  "Stay right where you are," he ordered. "Drop the gun."

  He was holding on so tight, Kendall couldn't breathe. Spots swam before her eyes. She clawed at his arm.

  "Enough of that," he said, wrenching her hands behind her back, he clicked on handcuffs. Hold out your hands and walk slowly to me," he ordered Dorian.

  #

  Dorian knew there was a reason he never like the punk. He was a murderous bastard. He gave him a thunderous look but did as he asked. Barry secured a zip tie around his hands. "You've got me," he said. "Let her go."

  Barry threw back his head and roared with laughter. "Are you kidding? I've been looking everywhere for this bitch." He shoved her roughly at Dorian. She landed hard against his chest and he gritted his teeth in anger, needing to beat the daylights out of Millson. He glanced around the area, hoping to see someone walking by, calling the cops, anything. The lot was eerily empty.

  Millson jerked open the back door on his cruiser. "Get inside, both of you." When they didn’t move fast enough for him, he grabbed Kendall and shoved her inside. She went sprawling face first onto the seat.

  Dorian ground his teeth and lowered his head until he could look Millson in the eyes. "I will kill you for that," he growled. "Don't doubt me."

  "You might be the big, bad SEAL, but there's no way out of this for you now, hero. I win," he taunted.

  "Don't bet on it," Dorian asserted.

  Millson shoved him inside and he aimed for the floor to avoid smashing Kendall. He'd barely pulled his legs in when Millson slammed the door.

  Whistling, Millson climbed in and started the engine. "We're going to take a little ride," he announced. "Bloodstains are so hard to get out of upholstery. And don't even think of trying to escape. First of all you'd have to be Houdini to get out of the cuffs, and second, the sweet thing about taking a police car is that there are no handles back there, so you can't get out." Then he cranked the radio, some mournful country music blaring through the speakers.

  Dorian considered easing up so he could get his hands around Millson's neck to choke the life out of him, but he didn't want to risk Kendall getting hurt in the crash. He'd have an opportunity to save them and he intended to take it.

  "Are you okay, baby?" he whispered to Kendall. Her back was against the seat. He brushed her tears with his bound hands and caressed her red cheek.

  She nodded. "I'm okay." Another tear slipped out, belying what she just said. Dorian kissed it away. "I'll get us out of this."

  "I know you will. I trust you, Dorian. With my life."

  The rush of emotion that surged through him took his breath. He'd been fighting it from the beginning, but it was a losing battle. He loved her. He kissed her, pouring all of his feelings into the mating of their lips. She met him in intensity and he hoped, prayed she felt the same way. He reluctantly broke the kiss, not wanting Millson to see how much she meant to him.

  Anything could happen when they reached whatever destination Millson had in mind for them. He wanted him to answer some questions first. Millson was a cocky son of a bitch…he'd love to brag about his duplicity.

  He angled his head away from Kendall before he yelled, "S
o, Millson. How'd you hide the scar from Alex?"

  Millson turned down the radio, held up his wrist and examined the puckered flesh. "Watchband. I never take it off while I’m on duty. But the damn thing itches, so I don't wear it when I'm off. It's my shooting hand so if the department found out, they'd take my badge. Doesn't matter that I can still shoot with dead-on precision. I was a sniper in the military, did you know that? Over one hundred confirmed kills."

  "Congratulations. So you killed the three women in the hotel room with whom? Williams?"

  Millson snorted. "Are you kidding me? That disgusting pig couldn't stay sober long enough to do the job."

  "Then who? Gray Posten?"

  Millson scoffed. "Posten? Where are you getting these ideas? I doubt that pansy ass could pull a trigger to save his life."

  "Byron Wilks, then." All of the puzzle pieces were snapping neatly into place. "You killed him so he wouldn't talk to the police."

  "See, there was a perfect example of my sniper skills at work. The wrist didn't bother me at all. I nailed that bastard between the eyes," he boasted. Then he clucked his tongue. "It was a shame to have to get rid of Wilks, he was a good partner. Wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty. But that pretty boy would have broken with a little prodding. And he actually felt remorse for having to kill his girlfriend. Me, I had none."

  "You bastard," Kendall spat, tears pouring down her cheeks. Dorian tried to soothe her but he needed to keep Millson talking.

  "It was you who tried to kill Alex that first night in the hospital," Dorian accused.

  Millson sighed. "Guess I should've turned off the damn oxygen machine first. Who knew? Live and learn."

  Dorian couldn't believe he was acting so cavalier about attempted murder of his partner. "Alex trusted you."

  "And yet he didn't share any details of this case with me, now did he?"

  "He didn't confide in you, so you sic Williams on him?"

  Millson chuckled. "I needed information and he'd do anything for a free case of beer."

  "You killed him, too."

  "He'd definitely break under the slightest pressure and he'd have ratted me out. Plus, I couldn't risk Mylonas remembering him from the attack."

  "If he was so untrustworthy, why involve him?"

  "Because Rick Fleming's wife called and ratted her husband out to Williams. Stupid bastard didn't realize what the information meant so he was going to pass it along to the chief. I heard him talking, realized Fleming was poking his nose into something he shouldn't have been, told Williams it was about him. Idiot believed it. We devised the plan for him to run Fleming off the road. He was supposed to kill him and take his notes, but he hit him too hard and the car caught fire, destroying the files. So I had no idea who Fleming's informant was until the next day. Wilks and I paid a visit to—"

  "Hank Colbert."

  "Was that his name?" Millson shrugged. "Wilks caught a flash of his girlfriend taking a picture on her cell and leaving the scene. He tried to call her but she wouldn't answer, and didn't return his urgent message. We drove by her place but she wasn't there. That's when we knew she was the source. He knew she was meeting her friends for the weekend, so it was just a matter of finding out what hotel and room number."

  Dorian could tell by Kendall's heavy breathing that she wanted to say something but she nodded and he smiled at her, proud of her restraint.

  Millson continued without any prodding. "When Mylonas kept getting tips, it pissed me off. He's already Supercop, gets all the attention and accolades. We're the same age but he's my superior. I'm the one with the impressive military record but I have to defer to him. I offered Williams a chance to get back at his nemesis and he jumped at it…well, jiggled is a better description." He chuckled.

  "Who else in the department was involved? What about Monte Woods?"

  "Good God, no. I don't trust any of those losers. Now the people I hooked up with in Greece, they were good. Found your sister in a matter of hours."

  "Piss you off that she escaped?"

  He sighed. "You can't hire good help these days."

  "How do you think you'll get away with this? Alex knows we're meeting you."

  Millson shrugged. "I'm great at improvising. I give myself a couple of black eyes, say someone carjacked me, or hell, who knows? I'll come up with something…I always do."

  "He'll put two and two together and come up with you as the suspect."

  "Then I'll just have to get rid of him after I take care of you two."

  Millson's cell phone rang. He checked the display and cursed. He put the phone to his ear. "It's not a good time," he said. There was a pause. "I can't right now. No…but…I've…fine. I'll be there." He punched the off button and cursed, tossing the phone in the cup holder. "Slight change of plans. You get a little reprieve. We need to make a detour. He jerked the car into a U-turn and Dorian slammed hard to the floor. His gunshot wound burned but he gritted his teeth. Millson was talking to himself under his breath.

  "Dorian?"

  Kendall's voice was pitched so low, he moved closer to hear.

  "In case anything happens, I want to thank you for helping me. I feel like Stefani and Kiki and Bridget can cross over knowing their killer will be brought to justice. And I want to let you know that even though we haven't known each other long, I've fallen in love with you."

  Dorian's heart thumped painfully in his chest, an overwhelming sense of joy coursing through his veins. She loved him, too. He leaned forward to kiss her just as Millson slammed on the breaks. Their foreheads clunked together.

  "Oh baby, I'm sorry."

  She winced then smiled. "I'm tougher than I look."

  He brushed a stray hair from her face with his bound hands. "That you are." He feathered another quick kiss across her lips. "When I say now, hit the ground," he whispered, as Millson turned off the car, stepped out and jerked open the back door. "Get out."

  Dorian eased out first, putting his body between Millson and Kendall. He looked around to get his bearings. They were at Senator Hofstra's house.

  "Walk, both of you." Millson trained his gun on them and prodded them through an open garage door with an empty bay. Dorian made sure the zip tie was secure, pulling the strap tight with his teeth. He positioned the locking mechanism between his hands. He was thankful Millson didn't have steel reinforced ties.

  "Now," he yelled. Kendall dropped to the ground with perfect timing. At the same time, Dorian unleashed a reverse roundhouse kick—a sweet Muay Thai move that Dante taught him—landing a solid blow to Millson's midsection. Air whooshed out of Millson's lungs and he flew backwards, hitting the wall of the garage. The gun went skittering along the floor. Dorian lifted his hands over his head and brought them down quickly against his stomach, flaring out his arms. The zip tie snapped easily. He dove for the gun before Millson could catch his breath. He placed the barrel against Millson's head. "Who has the upper hand now?" he taunted.

  Millson was panting, desperately trying to re-inflate a lung. Dorian grabbed the keys from his pocket. "Come here, Kendall."

  She hurried over, her face starting to bruise. It was all he could do to not give Millson the same treatment. "Turn around and I'll get those cuffs off you." Keeping the gun trained on the still heaving cop, Dorian unlocked Kendall's hands.

  "Ow," she said, slowly shaking her arms to get the feeling back.

  He shoved Millson to his stomach and added a kick for good measure. Then he yanked his hands behind his back using more force than necessary. Millson tried to protest but he still couldn't catch his breath. Dorian slapped the cuffs on him and cinched them tightly. Millson groaned. Then he grabbed Kendall and devoured her mouth. He pulled back, his hands gently framing her damaged face. "I'm so sorry he hurt you. I'll kill him if you want me to."

  She smiled and his heart did that little flip it did each time she looked at him. "I don't want you getting in trouble…he's not worth it."

  "No, but you are." He kissed her again. "Let me get rid of this
murderous bastard." Dorian jerked Millson up roughly and shoved him forward.

  "Where are you taking him?"

  "Thought we'd leave him in the car." He used Millson's keys to unlock the trunk. Millson tried to protest but Dorian dumped him in and slammed the lid, not even bothering to check to see if there was anything inside. He hoped Millson landed on a tire iron.

  Tires squealed as a car sped towards them. Dorian shoved Kendall behind him as he whipped out his gun.

  #

  After Dorian and Kendall left, Alex was chomping at the bit, wanting to be part of the takedown. This was his case and he was lying in bed like a slug. He needed to be part of the action. He wasn't at one-hundred percent, but he was feeling better each day.

  With a sigh, he reclined against the pillow and punched on the TV. He scrolled through the channels three times, not finding anything to watch. He settled on ESPN and muted the sound. Then he pushed the button to raise the bed. The doctors would have a fit if they found out he was working, but he didn't care. He couldn't sit around and do nothing while one of the biggest crimes Chicago had seen in ages happened. With effort because he had tubes everywhere, he grabbed his laptop from the drawer beside the bed and started reading through the case files. Even though he was benched, he'd still have to fill out several reports when this was over.

  He flipped through the pictures Kendall's friend Stefani took of Hank Colbert, then stopped. Something caught his attention, triggering a memory. He scanned them slowly, his gaze zooming in, something niggling at him on the shot of the man with the scar pulling something from the dead man's pocket. He zoomed in and waited for the image to pixelate. When it did, he sucked in his breath. He knew those shoes. They were hideous and distinctive and he'd seen them many times on the feet of his partner, Barry Millson. Then Barry's parting comment flashed in his memory. "Get 'er done." That was the same annoying phrase the man accompanying Williams said right before he was shot.

  Pieces started to fall into place. His partner was the one who was supposed to bring in the witness but that man died. When Wilks' head was blown off, Millson arrived minutes later, from the same direction the shot had been taken. He was the first in the room when someone tried to kill him.