The man didn’t move, but it was clear he was horrified. The look on his face said it all.
“Where did you get that file?”
“You mean the file that mysteriously went missing with the Philadelphia police the second you were offered the job here as Captain?”
He didn’t move.
Then he signaled the glass mirror, and the light went off.
“If you’re going to play games, Tommy, you should know your enemy. I’ve done my research. I’ve also done everything in my power to build one hell of a file for my personal amusement.”
Okay, he hadn’t, but he was going to the first thing when he got out of there.
He was going to fight fire with fire.
“Well, as long as we’re on the same page,” Thomas Christ said, standing up.
“I also know that none of those medals are real. The man who wore that uniform before you earned them. He deserved them. You don’t.”
He said nothing.
The slam of the door said it all.
Greyson laughed.
Oh, Commissioner Raye.
It was on.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Emma sat beside Delilah Fleur, their attorney. She was pricey, she was vicious, and Emma loved her. This woman went for the jugular, and she didn’t hold back.
When men thought she was just pretty in the sexy suit, they were shocked when she handed them their balls on a silver platter.
Yeah, this was going to be fun.
When the detective walked in, he was holding a folder and coffee cup. For a brief moment, Emma missed that part of her job. It was the thrill of the chase.
She would come in, scare the suspect, and nail his or her ass to the wall.
Yeah, it was a beautiful thing.
Now she was on the other side of the table, and she knew what was coming.
Fast and hard.
The cops were predictable if nothing.
“Mrs. Croft, do you know why you’re here today?”
Delilah answered for her. “She’s aware, Detective. Get to the point. Her son is getting married in fifteen minutes, and if she’s still sitting here, I’ll turn into a raging bitch.”
He stared at her. “Turn into one?”
Delilah laughed despite herself.
“Yeah, you should see me when I’m angry. Mrs. Croft had nothing to do with the incident last night. In order to rush through this, we’re asking you release the time of death.”
He flipped through his autopsy notes. “It was roughly around midnight, give or take a few minutes.”
Delilah took out a disc. She slid it into her laptop and turned it around. “For your viewing pleasure, here is the alibi for my clients,” she stated.
It was eleven thirty when the Crofts pulled into Terrace Glen.
She pointed at them going into the house. “Notice the time stamp.”
“I am,” he stated.
“Now, let’s watch the next few minutes.”
At midnight, Greyson croft carried a laughing Emma up their stairs where they were then lost to the cameras.
“Time stamps can be altered,” the detective stated.
Delilah figured he’d say that.
“Zoom into the clock on the foyer table. The really old one,” she directed.
He did just that.
It said midnight.
“So, while my clients could alter this tape, switch up the times to make them have an alibi, how would they manage to alter the actual clock?”
“Maybe it doesn’t work.”
Emma pulled out her cell and pulled up the security app. She clicked on the camera angle that showed the foyer, and all the family walking around.
“What time does it say, Detective?” Delilah asked.
He sighed when he saw that the clock was, indeed, working.
Well, shit!
“Your point is made, Councilor.”
They went to stand up.
“Wait.”
Emma took a seat.
“I was told by two other detectives, and our captain, that you were at a scene where another body was found.”
Emma smiled. “Was I? I thought I was at a property I owned. How wrong of me to be on my own property?”
The detective got it.
This was going nowhere.
“You’re free to go.”
When the women stood, AGAIN, the detective stopped them. “Mrs. Croft, you dropped something,” he said, handing her the paper.
“Thank you.”
Outside, Emma watched as her attorney headed down the hall after the detective. When she opened the piece of paper that she knew she hadn’t dropped, she saw a message scrawled by the detective.
‘I believe you both. Meet me at ‘Aquarius’ tonight around nine. We need to talk.’
That was interesting. She’d show Greyson in the limo. She didn’t want to discuss it in the police headquarters. The place was filthy with cops, and she didn’t know who was on the take, and who wasn’t.
Dimitri, the second he saw her, was at her side, and he looked concerned.
“Well?”
“It was easy. We have an alibi. We’ve lucked out twice now,” she stated. “First with us finding out Mays wanted to frame us with his drugs, and now with his death.”
Dimitri was glad they were in the clear.
He was also glad he didn’t leave the estate last night to go handle the man who abused Sam.
He’d planned on it, but fate had intervened.
“Will Greyson be okay?” Emma asked.
Dimitri didn’t know if he should tell her or not.
“What?”
“Thomas Christ was in there a few minutes ago. He just left.”
Emma knew that was bad.
“We’re never getting out of here.”
Yeah, he was thinking that too.
Greyson looked over as the door opened. Delilah entered in all of her glory. She looked like she’d won a victory, and he hoped so. They paid her enough.
“Emma?”
“She’s fine. She’s with Dimitri, and we’re getting you out of here in the next ten minutes, aren’t we, Detective?”
“You’re crossing into bitch, aren’t you?” he asked back.
She snorted.
He was kind of sexy for a cop. She liked more powerful men, but those green eyes were pretty intriguing. Too bad they were on the opposite side of the law.
Delilah was there to get her clients off—whether they were guilty or not. It was a game to her. If she could spring them, she had a victory.
The cop didn’t know who he was playing against. Sexy only got you so far.
“Mr. Croft, do you know why you’re here?” he asked.
Delilah went to speak, but he stopped her. “I have this, Ms. Fleur.”
She let him speak.
“You think I killed Tony Mays.”
“Yes, and did you?”
“Nope. I didn’t.”
“Did you leave the body in his warehouse?” he asked, making notes.
“That’s a different case,” Delilah stated, cutting Croft off. “If you want us to stay, make it relevant.”
“Were you and Mr. Mays involved in a squabble at the gallery party last night?”
“Yes. He insulted my wife, she told him off. Emma doesn’t tolerate rudeness.”
The man made notes.
“You’ve been known to threaten…”
She shut him down. “We’re out of here. You have your discs proving their innocence. The next time you contact my clients, make sure you have a warrant. If not, cease and desist. You, and the LVPD, are bordering on harassing them case after case. First they killed a cop, who wasn’t a cop, and you couldn’t prove it. Now they killed a mob guy, but you have the proof they didn’t, and it’s not good enough for you. You’re done. Here’s a thought, Detective. There are plenty of other people in the city. Maybe one of them is your criminal. Start there.”
De
lilah stood. “Come on, Mr. Croft. You have a wedding to attend.”
They headed out.
Detective Riley Henderson stared after the attorney. There was something about her that made him want to strangle her or kiss her.
He wasn’t sure which.
All he knew was the Crofts were involved in this mess, one way or the other.
He just had to figure out how.
And fast.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Terrace Glen
They were late.
Curtis was staring at his watch, waiting for his mother and father to return. Only, he had that sick feeling that they wouldn’t be there in time.
Dante and Steele were standing by him at the altar.
They were trying to calm him down.
First it was wedding jitters.
Now there was this mess.
“What do you want to do?” Dante asked. “They told us to start without them.”
Curtis weighed his options.
“No, we’re going to wait. I’m not getting married again without my family. They need to be here. We wait, even if it takes all day. Will one of you tell Katerina?” he asked.
“I’ll go,” Steele offered.
“Are you sure?” Dante asked once more.
“Yes. I’m waiting for Mom and Dad. They brought all of this together with falling in love, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to marry my soulmate without them.”
Dante hugged him.
“What the hell was that for?” he asked.
“I’ll deny this if you repeat it.”
“What?” asked Curtis.
“Our family wasn’t even close to being whole until you came into it. I love you.”
Curtis stared at him.
His eyes filled with tears.
“You are so gay,” he stated.
Dante laughed, and then slapped him on the back of the head.
“You don’t say.”
Curtis grinned.
Yeah, he couldn’t get married today without his WHOLE family.
It wouldn’t be right.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
LVPD
Precinct
Detective Riley Henderson was heading back to his desk when he heard his name being called. It was Detective Heath Spencer and his partner, Lester Lucas.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“You had the Crofts in here and you didn’t let me take a shot at them for the body in the warehouse?” he all but shouted.
Gee.
Riley wondered why that would be a horrible idea.
“Uh, did you see that legal barracuda they had with them?” he asked. “I was lucky I was even able to get them into the building for an interview. I won’t get a second shot at it, and I wasn’t going to screw it up. I tried to bring up your case. Their attorney shut me down and threatened a lawsuit. Review the recordings if you want.”
“Oh, I will.”
Riley didn’t doubt that.
“You know they killed them, right?” Heath said. “They are as crooked as they come.”
“They had proof they didn’t have anything to do with this, Heath.”
“They fabricated it.”
“Heath, I know you want them to be guilty of killing your partner, and maybe they are, but they didn’t kill Tony Mays. I have evidence that says it wasn’t them. I have them entering their home, I have them going up to bed, and I have it stamped.”
“They can…”
He stopped him.
“There’s a clock in the picture. The times match. While they might be able to change the timestamp, they can’t alter the picture, and not within the twenty minutes of me getting to their place and them driving in.”
Heath ran his hands through his hair.
“They are crooked.”
At that moment, he wasn’t buying it.
Detective Riley Henderson might be new to the force, Mace Bristol’s replacement, but he’d studied all of the files he could on Emma Croft.
She was a straight arrow.
Her T’s were crossed, and her I’s were dotted. The woman didn’t take the shortcut on cases.
Heath on the other hand…his were less cut and dried.
“Listen, Heath, I’m on your side,” he offered. “If I find anything that says they were involved, I’ll pull you in. For now, I just have to see who I can tie to this, and it’s not the Crofts.”
“Look at that bastard who works for them,” he stated.
“I already have, Heath.”
“And?”
Riley sighed. “He’s clear. He’s in the videos, and he’s patrolling the house the entire night until about two in the morning when he, too, headed up the stairs. I have him on twelve different cameras.”
The man kicked his desk.
“How the fuck are they doing this?”
“Maybe they hired someone?” Lester offered.
“Dimitri Gideon does his own work. If there’s a sliced jugular, he’s been there.”
Riley patted him on the shoulder. “Mays COD was blunt force trauma. He didn’t have his jugular cut. By your own words, you said that’s not his style, and Greyson Croft was a sniper in the military. Mays wasn’t shot either. If it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit.”
The man sighed.
“Let me know if you get anything,” Heath said.
As he walked past the man and toward his cubical, his name was shouted again, but this time it was the new captain.
“My office! Now.”
When he went in the office, the commissioner was sitting there, waiting for him.
“Update me on this case and the Crofts’ involvement,” Thomas Christ ordered.
“They aren’t involved so far,” he stated. “I have their security footage.”
Again, before they could tell him it was altered, he informed them about the clock.
“Son of a bitch!”
“I would have put this one on Croft,” the commissioner said. “His property is right next to the building where the one body was found, and it was Tony Mays’s building.”
“Coincidence.”
“If you believe that, son, you shouldn’t be a cop,” Jeffery Raye stated.
He ignored the man’s condescending attitude.
Riley was a good cop, and he knew the Crofts weren’t involved. Until he had a suspect, he’d play along.
“Find me something to make them look guilty,” stated Commissioner Raye.
“Sir, if they aren’t…”
“You’re not getting me. Find me something, and you’ll have a long life here as a cop.”
Well, that was crystal clear, and not in a good way.
The man was threatening him.
“Sure thing, boss. May I go? I have to get down for the autopsy. It should be done by now.”
They waved him out.
Riley was glad to get the hell out of there. As of late, their precinct was becoming a hot freaking mess.
There were whispers from the other precincts in the city that something dirty was going on, and Riley had a pretty good idea what that was.
The boss was off.
WAY.
OFF.
Riley knew he needed to stay clear of that. His career depended on it.
For now, he’d do his job, keep quiet, and listen to what he heard all around him.
He’d come to Vegas to make a difference.
Now, it was about staying afloat.
On his way down the stairs, Riley knew bad things were coming, and he was wading into the mess.
Why was he bothering?
Oh, yeah.
Because he was a damn good cop, and he had to put up the good fight.
For him.
For the people of Vegas.
And in his father’s memory.
* * * G r e y s o n C r o f t * * *
Across Vegas
The killer was amused.
This was going pretty much how
it had been planned. At first, it was cut and dry, but now that the plan had to be switched up, it was fun to involve the Crofts.
Everything was falling into place.
It couldn’t get any better than this.
Well, that wasn’t true.
Tony could die over and over again, and that would pretty much be the icing on the cake. Who didn’t love killing that pathetic mob man?
That was like an early Christmas present.
Then the Crofts were toted into the police station to answer to the killings.
That was perfect.
As long as the police focused on that, they wouldn’t really investigate.
It was all going to be okay.
The groundwork had been laid months ago, and now it was coming to fruition.
Two men were dead, and no one was going to tie it together.
No one.
Chapter Twenty
Sunday Noon
O nce in the limo, there was the collective sigh of relief. They were out of the line of fire, and safely on their way back home. At least behind the walls of Terrace Glen, they could regroup and figure out what to do next.
Before Greyson could even say anything about his interview, and the fact that he’d had a little visit from Thomas Christ, Emma handed him the note.
“Are you passing me love notes, kitten?” he asked.
She snorted. “You wish, Greyson Croft, you wicked pirate.”
Yeah, he really did.
“Detective Henderson handed me this,” she said, passing it to him and Dimitri.
The men scoured it.
“I don’t like it,” the Russian admitted. “What if this is a trap?”
They all knew that was a distinct possibility.
“We’ll be in ‘Aquarius’, so you could block recording, right?” she asked.
He could.
And he would.
Lost Justice (Croft Family Mob Series Book 2) Page 34
