by Shayla Black
The woman sent Everly a pointed glance. “That, I’ll believe. As soon as I’m sure the press won’t invade, I’ll sign you in.” She sighed. “I wish you rich boys would stop murdering each other.”
“Allegedly murdering,” Roman Calder pointed out.
“Yeah. Whatever. This is supposed to be a cushy precinct.” She stepped to the doors and flung one open. The sound of the crowd outside became a dull roar again. “You leeches step back. I mean it. Everyone get your asses off the steps. Do you think I won’t use tear gas on you? Because I did not like the way you talked about my man, Tom Cruise. Yeah, I’m talking to you.”
The policewoman let the door swing shut but continued to make faces at them through the glass.
“Hello, I Saw Her First.” The man who’d appeared through the glass now walked up behind Everly and smiled down at her—way down since he had to be at least six feet four. Besides looking absolutely stunning, he seemed familiar. He was dressed very differently from his elegant counterpart, in a black T-shirt that showed off his hard chest, a light windbreaker, and a pair of jeans that hugged his obviously toned body. His dark hair was cut in a military buzz that accentuated the angles of his masculine face.
“I’m sorry?”
He held out a hand. “How quickly they forget. Dax Spencer. We met at the bar last Friday night.”
Gabriel’s friend. Of course. She’d met him, but her brain had been on Gabriel. “I’m glad Scott found you.”
“Dax, did you secure the transportation I asked for?” Roman queried.
Dax nodded. “She’s a fine vehicle. It’s been a while since I got to take one of those beauties out for a stroll. She’ll be ready when the interview is over.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Everly. “I thought the VP of security for Crawford had someone contact Dax.” He froze before his very serious face turned mischievous. “Oh, please tell me you’re the head of security.”
Dax frowned. “No. This is Eve, Gabe’s girl from the other night. You know, the one he can’t stop talking about.”
That was an interesting piece of information she had absolutely no idea what to do with. Two hours ago it would have thrilled her. Now it just confused her more than ever.
The two men stared at her, and Everly felt a little awkward discussing her professional and personal life with two strangers. “I’m, um . . . both, sort of. My name is Everly Parker. I run Crawford’s cybersecurity department. I’m filling in for the head of building security since he’s out on vacation.”
“Thank god. For a minute, I thought the day would be boring.” Roman Calder pulled out his phone and punched in a few numbers. “Yes, I need to speak with Captain Charles. You tell him that Gabriel Bond’s lawyers are in the lobby and we’re ready to talk to the press about the fact that we’ve been refused access to our client. If we’re not allowed to see him in the next thirty seconds, the top story on the evening news will shine a bright light on this precinct’s abuse of a man’s constitutional rights.”
Despite the unmanned desk, a buzzing sound alerted them to the fact that someone had opened the precinct door.
“Thank you. Let’s go.” As he ended the call, it became glaringly obvious that Roman Calder was a man used to getting what he wanted, when he wanted it.
“I’d like to come back there, too.” Everly wondered what role she could play here, but she wasn’t going to leave her post because it seemed as if Gabriel had his own backup. She represented security for Crawford Industries right now. She had a responsibility to its new CEO.
And okay, a little piece of her wouldn’t rest until she knew he was all right. Even though he’d been an ass, and now had this cloud of suspicion hanging over his head, she still felt a pull between them. Besides, she’d been accused of being Maddox’s mistress and sleeping her way to the top, so she knew how it felt to be accused of something that wasn’t true. If Gabriel was innocent, this must feel wretched.
If.
Roman opened the door for her, gesturing her inside. “Oh, I insist. I have to hear this story. Well, first I have to make sure Gabe doesn’t do anything stupider than he’s already done, so please tell Dax the story. He can fill me in later.”
Everly frowned as she walked through, then waited for the men. Roman sounded amused. She wouldn’t have pictured the male-model gorgeous, ever-so-serious Roman Calder doing something as trivial as gossiping.
The men stepped in behind her, and Everly realized she didn’t know her way around. Roman obviously did, and he took the lead, striding toward the back of the building. How many of his previous clients had found themselves being questioned here? She and Dax followed, and Everly nearly had to jog to keep up.
“While you work on getting Mr. Bond out of here, I’ll find a way to slip him past the press as quietly as possible,” Everly said. Because clearly they couldn’t just walk past.
“Don’t worry about it,” Dax insisted.
Maybe he didn’t understand how overwhelming being shouted at by a couple of dozen people with the power of the press behind them felt. She was thankful they hadn’t been assembled there when she’d arrived. “Of course I’m going to worry. That crowd outside was awfully aggressive.”
“Them? They’re a bunch of babies. Give it half an hour and the nationals will show up,” Dax explained. “They’re pains in the ass. But don’t you worry. I’ve got an exit strategy already, so we can leave in peace.”
“Care to share?” If Dax had already done her job, why had they wanted her to stay?
“Need-to-know basis.” He winked. “Let’s talk about something important. Mr. Bond? Really?” He grinned. “Don’t you think that’s a little formal, given the circumstances?”
She ignored that question as Roman led them through another door. She kept her voice low, both to cut down on potential gossip and ensure she didn’t disrupt the detectives working around her. “He’s my boss. So I need to know.”
“I’ll bet he was surprised to find out he was your boss.” Dax stopped as they entered a narrow hallway.
A man in a captain’s uniform called out to Roman. “Mr. Bond is in here. You can talk to him. He hasn’t said a word, and I stopped the questioning when he lawyered up.”
“If I know Gabe, he lawyered up before you got him here, Captain,” Roman shot back. “These two are with me. They’ll be watching from the observation room. If you have a problem with that, I can get the chief on the phone. I promise you if he won’t take my call, I can find someone higher up the chain of command who will.”
“They can stay.” The captain scowled as he pointed to a window in front of the little room. “You won’t be able to hear anything until Calder says it’s all right, and we’ll be recording the session.”
He stepped aside and let Roman enter the interrogation room.
Everly slid into the adjacent space and looked through the two-way mirror. Gabriel sat in the utilitarian space, his face a polite blank. He didn’t smile or show any sign of relief as Roman walked in. He merely stood and shook hands with the man.
“Wait, Everly Parker?” Dax frowned. “You said your name was Eve the other night.”
Was this day never going to end? “My name is Everly. Eve is a nickname.”
Dax crossed his big arms over his chest with a shake of his head. “Shit. I can imagine how Gabe took that. Tell me he behaved himself when he found out.”
“I could, but why lie?” She shot him a perplexed glance. “I don’t really understand why he would be angry. Not that our personal affairs are any of your business.” She turned back to the scene in front of her. “I’m just here to do my job. Forget I said anything.”
“But he didn’t fire you yet, right? I’m going to count that as a win.”
She remained silent for a long moment before giving in to the urge. The scene back in the office kept playing through her head. “Shouldn’t I at least be given a chance to prove I’m good at my job? Does he have someone else he wants in my position? I underst
and that there’s a lot of turnover when a new boss comes in, but I think his objection was way more personal. I don’t understand why he was so angry.”
“No doubt. You have to give him a little time. I was helping him out by conducting preliminary interviews with the employees to get a feel for the company and individual roles. One of the things I heard more than once was that you and Maddox had a . . . very close relationship. Gabe couldn’t have taken that information well. He and Maddox had a falling out over Maddox’s romantic entanglements, if you know what I mean.”
She didn’t except in the vaguest sense. Everly only knew she was so tired of that gossip. “I wasn’t sleeping with Maddox, if that’s what you’re implying. I did not get my job by screwing the boss.”
He held his hands up in surrender. “I had to ask because I doubt Gabe was feeling levelheaded enough to do the same. He likely heard that rumor and accepted it as fact because the only way Mad spent time with a female was when he took her to bed.”
Everly knew his reputation. She’d heard of his many affairs with women at the office, but the possibility—even a hint of it—had never come up between them. He hadn’t treated her strictly like an employee, but he’d never come on to her. Instead, he’d behaved more like they were pals. “He never touched me. He didn’t even try. I think he was lonely and needed a friend.”
Dax’s eyes narrowed. “I find that very interesting and out of character. We’ve been Mad’s friends for years and he never went looking for more companionship. In fact, he was the one who taught me to be wary of getting close to anyone else.”
Everly didn’t know why the truth seemed to upset Dax, but she really wanted someone to believe that she hadn’t been one of many in Maddox’s bed. “I can’t explain why, but he was close to me. I cared about him.” In fact, she felt his loss more deeply than she’d expected. “He talked about all of you. He called you his brothers, but he only mentioned you by last names. It was odd.”
“In school, all of the teachers referred to us that way. Mr. Spencer, Mr. Bond, and so on. I’m sure they thought it would civilize us. Mad kept it up even after we left the academy. I’m sure if he was here right now, he would slap me on the back and say ‘Spencer, have you smartened up and left the navy yet?’” Dax laughed, but it was a bittersweet sound.
“I didn’t pay that much attention to who Maddox talked about. You were merely his friends to me. So I didn’t know that Gabriel was Bond or . . .” It probably sounded silly, and now she wished she’d paid more attention to the tabloids. But she couldn’t change the past. “I listened because Maddox seemed to want to talk.”
“If he was talking, it was because he trusted you.” Dax shot her a speculative look. “I’m going to guess that you’re still here because you care for Gabe at least a little.”
She flushed guiltily and cursed having such fair skin. Sometimes, it revealed her every emotion. Still, she wasn’t going to incriminate herself. It would be stupid to forget that Dax was Gabriel’s friend. His loyalties lay there, no matter how nice he seemed.
“Good. Look, Everly, I’m going to ask you to do something that’s not fair to you. Gabe needs some time to process everything that’s happened. Don’t judge him until he’s had a chance to really think about everything.”
“I’m not going to judge him at all,” she lied.
She’d already judged him. Yes, he’d lost a good friend, so he wasn’t at his best now. But even on a good day, he was a playboy who couldn’t possibly take a relationship seriously. He could offer a woman orgasms—and not much else. She’d already gotten everything good out of Gabriel Bond.
Now that she thought about it, his attitude reminded her of her mother’s. From what Everly could tell, her mother always believed she’d married beneath her. No matter how much her dad had loved her mother, he hadn’t been enough for her. She’d needed more and eventually she’d left her family behind to find it. Everly had no desire to replay her dad’s life. Though she’d loved her father dearly, he’d spent years pining for a woman who couldn’t love him. Gabriel might desire her, but he wouldn’t build a life with a woman who brought nothing but herself to the relationship. Certainly not a woman he thought slept her way into a career.
“I’m going to be professional with him,” she assured Dax. “I have a job to do. As long as that’s the extent of our relationship going forward, we’ll be fine.”
Dax shrugged. “That will work for now. If you stay close to him, he’ll come to the proper conclusions.”
“And what are those, Mr. Spencer?”
A smile tugged at his lips. “That you’re not the type of woman who would hop from one man’s bed to another so quickly, especially not for monetary gain.”
Everly bristled. “Of course not.”
“That you’re the kind of woman who will only sleep with a man to gain comfort, because he makes you feel safe. You would do it because you want love.”
The whole conversation was making her uncomfortable. Daxton Spencer didn’t know her. She certainly hadn’t slept with Gabriel Bond because she wanted his love.
God, she hoped she wasn’t fooling herself.
“That makes me sound like a helpless twit. I think I preferred it when everyone believed I was a whore.”
“No, you’re too smart for that. But you’re also innocent.” He studied her with knowing dark eyes. “You don’t come from the same world we do, and that might be a good reason for you to run as fast as you can. I’m asking you not to because I think you’re good for Gabe. I think he needs you. And this situation is going to get worse before it gets better.”
A shiver went down her spine, and she told herself the cause was nothing more than a blast from the air conditioning. Did Dax know something she didn’t? Should she tell the cops she was getting messages and pictures from someone who said they knew the truth about Maddox’s death? What if they gave her more proof that Gabriel was a killer? She couldn’t say anything or turn over whatever she had to the police until she figured out if this mystery person was legit. Then she’d find out what he knew—and wanted.
In order to do that, she had to start connecting the dots between Gabriel and whatever else was going on.
“Why do the police suspect Gabriel of murdering Maddox?”
The smile slid off Dax’s face and he went carefully blank. “Because he was the last person Mad met with, I suppose.”
Everly’s bullshit meter started ringing. Dax was lying. Or at the very least, he wasn’t telling her the whole truth. He’d been full of expression until she’d asked that question. Her father would have called that his tell.
She sent him a plastic smile. Sometimes being female and curvy meant people underestimated her. Everly found it annoying most of the time, but she’d also learned to turn it to her advantage. “He should be released soon, then.”
Being the last one to see Maddox alive shouldn’t make Gabriel a suspect. But he was. And there had to be a better reason.
Dax gave her a noncommittal shrug and nod. “Why don’t I find a more comfortable place for you to wait?”
So the big guy wanted her away from the interrogation? “I’m fine, but I am really thirsty. Do you think they have a vending machine or something around here?”
His face tightened but he took the bait. “I’ll find one. Coke, Pepsi, or something else?”
“Anything diet is fine. Thank you.”
Dax nodded her way, then went off in search of her drink. Halfway down the hall, he asked the officer stationed there, who gave him directions.
As Dax walked away, her cell buzzed in her pocket. She found a text from Scott asking if everything was all right. And another from Tavia asking the same. So the rumor that she’d followed Gabriel to the station after he’d been hauled in had made the rounds through the office grapevine.
She quickly wrote them both back to say that she was fine and waiting for more information. Once she’d finished, she pocketed her phone, then peered into the room where Gabriel
was talking to Roman.
How had all those reporters figured out so quickly that Gabriel had been brought in for questioning? If the police simply wanted questions answered in their investigation, they could have interrogated him far more easily at the office. Instead, they’d threatened to arrest him. Which meant they must have some motive or proof that he was a suspect.
Obviously, Dax wasn’t being honest with her.
Maybe the Internet would be. Well, not honest, but it might give her a clue as to why this interrogation seemed way more serious than routine.
She strode down the same hall through which Dax had disappeared and gave the cop standing there her most innocent smile. “I’ll be right back. I have to call the office and let them know Mr. Bond likely won’t be in again this afternoon.”
The officer nodded. “Yes, I wouldn’t expect him back today. He’s going to have his hands full.”
So everyone knew more than her. The officer made Gabriel sound like the primary—and perhaps only—suspect.
Digesting that supposition, she slipped away and found a bathroom, entering quietly. She was in luck. No one seemed to be here and, according to her little screen, the signal was strong. She pulled up the search engine on her phone and typed in the words Gabriel Bond, Maddox Crawford, and murder investigation.
