“I haven’t done anything.” Melvin shoved the autopsy pictures back. “Period.”
“Where’s the lab, Melvin? Give me the info, and I’ll make sure you get a good deal. A safe deal that keeps you far away from Devlin and his motorcycle gang.” Pierce pressed him.
Nick glanced at me. “Pierce is pretty good at this, but I’ll bet you twenty Melvin lawyers-up before giving the info.”
“I’ll take the bet,” I murmured, leaning forward. Melvin was starting to sweat, and his thin hair was looking greasy from the extra moisture. “Pierce has him.” Where was the Beast lab, and who was the distributor?
Pierce sighed. “All right. Let’s go easier. You’re obviously a genius, having learned how to cheaply mass produce opioids. You’ll be famous if word gets out.”
Melvin flattened his hands on the table. “I work for a seed company, splicing all sorts of grass. Legally. No opioids.”
“You know how I know?” Pierce leaned forward. “Remember a guy named Mark Channelton? Young guy?”
Melvin paled.
“Yeah. Channelton turned snitch about three months ago because he helped you acquire the yeast. This guy can finger you. The walls are starting to close in,” Pierce murmured.
Melvin looked away from the table. “Never heard of him.”
Nick cleared his throat. “We have Channelton in Boise on ice as we wait for a trial. Gave the asshole complete immunity and will hand him over to the US Marshals for a new life once this is over.”
Pierce pressed Melvin harder. “Tell me about the distribution plans. We have a copy of the map, so we know the routes and times. How are you planning to transport the opioids?”
Melvin looked toward the mirror and then back at Pierce. Red burst across his thin facial skin, highlighting the myriad of early dark spots. He’d definitely spent some time in the sun to have aged his skin so badly so young. “Opiods? What in the world are you talking about?”
I bit my lip. “He’s really not a good liar.”
“No. A jury will hate him,” Nick agreed.
Pierce leaned forward. “Work with me, Melvin. I can protect you from these guys. Tell me about the manufacture of Beast, give me the location of the lab, and fill me in with the distribution plans. For all of that, I’ll give you a deal you won’t believe.”
“Immunity from all,” Melvin said evenly, dropping his chin.
Pierce sighed. “Not a chance. Plead guilty to manufacture, and you’ll only serve five to ten years. That’s a phenomenal deal, but you have to tell me everything.”
Melvin studied him. His shoulders dropped.
I held my breath.
“I want a lawyer,” Melvin said.
Nick snorted. “You owe me twenty, counselor. Told you.”
Darn it. I thought we’d have him. Well. Maybe Pierce would get more out of Aiden. I kicked back to wait for the next show, my heart battering my rib cage.
Aiden walked in before Pierce; his hands cuffed behind him. Even so, he looked dangerous, and once again, bored. When Pierce uncuffed him, Aiden pulled out a chair and winked toward the window.
My breath caught and my abdomen performed a slow roll.
“What a jerk,” Nick muttered.
Pierce sat in the same place as before.
Aiden cocked his head. “The bulletproof vest and gun at the waist don’t impress me, Pierce. You might as well get comfortable for this one.”
Pierce didn’t move. “You ever worn one of these?”
“Nope,” Aiden said.
“They’re far more comfortable than you think.” Pierce dropped a much heavier case file on the table than he’d had for Melvin.
I swallowed. “Double or nothing, Nick? I bet Aiden doesn’t give up a thing.”
Nick studied Aiden through the glass. “No bet. He’s been through this before. He’s not gonna talk, and he’s not gonna ask for a lawyer. We don’t have enough to hold him, and he knows it.”
“Then why did we bring him in?” I asked.
“The Lordes are getting nervous. Antsy. They know we have Devlin, and while he’s in an important position, he’s only been with them for two years. They have to wonder how he escaped being charged with the other Diablos. I have no doubt Pierce will have Spider in here at some time and hint at that very thing.” Nick’s long legs reached the floor.
Mine dangled in the air. Wouldn’t that put Aiden in even more danger? “Pierce is just applying more pressure?”
“Yeah, and he’ll put Melvin in hot water. Soon.”
Pierce tapped the table. “Melvin Whitaker gave you up, Devlin. Completely.”
“See?” Nick said.
Aiden flashed a quick smile, and while I’d like to say it didn’t do something funny to my abdomen, I’d be lying. “Not gonna discuss other people with you, Pierce.”
“Smart,” Nick muttered. “Didn’t lie, so we can’t cross-examine him on his statement. Man, I hate this guy.”
I should, too. In ordinary circumstances, I probably would. But not Aiden.
“What about pretty Anna Albertini?” Pierce asked, his voice lowering. “Want to talk about the spunky lawyer with the green eyes?”
My jaw dropped, and I shut it.
“He’s just trying to get into Devlin’s head,” Nick said quickly.
Aiden looked around Pierce to the window, somehow zeroing in on me again. “Her eyes are more gray than green. Obviously, you haven’t been that close to her, or you’d know that.”
“Have you been that close to her?” Pierce asked.
“Fourteen years ago, she was all eyes,” Aiden rumbled. “Skinny little thing with tons of brunette hair and big eyes. You know what she was doing the first time I saw her? Really saw her?”
I couldn’t breathe.
“No, what?” Pierce asked.
Aiden focused back on him. “She was swinging a cast-iron skillet that weighed more than she did at a monster. That’s what she was doing.” He leaned forward, threat in every line of his body. “She’s not somebody you use in an interrogation, in any manner. Say her name again, and I walk. Instantly.”
My lungs protested, and I forced myself to exhale. Air in. Air out.
Pierce leaned back. “Those are some strong emotions, Devlin.”
“Moments define us,” Aiden said softly. “Anna and I shared one. An important one that probably shaped us both in ways you can’t imagine. Years later, here we are.”
There was something poetic about his words, and his meaning shot right to my heart.
“She’s a lawyer and you’re a criminal,” Pierce snapped. “In fact, she’s been put in danger more than once because of you and because of this case. So how about you do the right thing, for the second time in your miserable life, and tell me what I need to know to close this thing? Protect her again, Devlin. It’s the only way.”
Aiden’s chin lifted very slightly. “You gonna protect her? Be her hero, Pierce?” His chuckle lacked humor. “You want it, don’t you? Man, she has an effect. One of a kind.”
I shifted uneasily on the table. This line of questioning, this back and forth, really sucked.
Pierce’s chuckle was just as dark as Aiden’s. “Oh, no. She has a hero, buddy. It’s all you. Now why don’t you prove it?”
That hit so close to home I had to look away. Just for a second.
“It’s part of the game, Albertini,” Nick said, not looking my way. “Take yourself out of the equation. Pierce knows what he’s doing, and it’s a good strategy. Devlin’s getting worked up.”
I turned back to study both men. Nick was wrong. Aiden was as calm as possible, although his eyes blazed that fierce blue they got when he was pissed. “Maybe I should talk to him.”
“Not yet,” Nick said. “Pierce is going down a good path.”
Pierce flipped open the top page of the case file. “You knew her as a kid, when you were almost a man. She was ten, you were sixteen. Got a thing for young girls?”
Aiden rolled his eyes. “No
. She was cute and hung around. I didn’t see her as a woman until, well, last week. Now I know she’s all woman.”
My chest did a funny jumping thing.
Pierce straightened. “Know what I’ve learned in this job? Criminals, no matter how smart, always make a mistake. We know Whitaker has created a viable Beast, and we know the Lorde’s are financing and planning to manufacture, and we know the plan for transportation.” He pushed a picture toward Devlin. “Of course, I’m going to get you on murder in the first degree.”
I angled my neck to see better, and it was an autopsy picture of the flat-faced guy.
Aiden didn’t even look down at it. “Is that a fact?”
“Yeah, and even better, since this kill wasn’t part of your job, I’m sure you made a mistake.” Pierce pushed another autopsy picture toward Aiden. “This was heated, and this was emotional, and this was because of pretty Annabella Fiona Albertini.”
I blinked. Pierce knew my whole name?
“You said her name,” Aiden said quietly, pushing away from the table and standing. “I gave you one warning.”
Pierce slapped the table. “Sit back down.”
“No. You brought me in here on arrest, in cuffs, and you read me my rights. You’re fishing, asshole, and it isn’t going to work.” Aiden looked toward the window and directly at me, his gaze heated. “I want a lawyer.” The way he said it was dark and deep and full of innuendo.
For me.
Chapter 34
Something was nagging at me, and I couldn’t place it as I finished a late Sunday lunch at McQuirk’s Deli with two cranky oversized men. Detective Pierce kept glaring at a group of teenagers over in the corner who weren’t doing anything wrong, and Nick kept drifting off into silence, no doubt planning his next opening argument.
I, on the other hand, enjoyed a spinach salad and tried to filter through my brain to see what I was missing.
Various women, from college students to tourists to grandmothers did a double take as they went by. I guess Pierce and Basanelli were hot, but for now, I had set them both firmly in the colleague column. It made things so much easier.
Pierce finally focused on me. “Do you have even more bruises on your face than you did before?”
“Yeah. I thought your guy told you.” I set my napkin down and told him about the naked guy in court. By the time I finished, his cheek had creased in a very appealing way.
“Interesting things happen to you,” he murmured, finishing his diet coke.
Yeah. I couldn’t argue that. My brain finally snapped to attention. “That’s it. Oh. Okay.” I gathered my thoughts. “Beast hasn’t been distributed yet, has it?”
Nick swung his focus back to me.
“No,” Pierce said. “Well, not really. We think there has been a test run to Los Angeles because limited amounts were found during two drug busts.”
Nick nodded, taking a big bite of his pastrami sandwich. He chewed thoughtfully, smiled back at a couple of women out walking their dogs, and then cleared his throat. “It’s kind of like a sample sale. They send the drugs out, get good word going, and then flood the market. Why?”
“The naked guy. He said he’d taken blue pills and Beast.” Adrenaline pumped through my blood. “Where did he get Beast?”
Both men sat back in almost an identical movement. Interesting. “Go find out,” Nick said.
Pierce nodded. “Yeah. If they put him under observation, he’s in the hospital’s psych ward for the three days.”
I sipped my iced tea. “Can I just go talk to him? Without a warrant?”
“Did he ask for a lawyer?” Nick asked.
“No, but he was sent away to the psych ward,” I countered. “An argument can be made that he’s not able to consent.”
Pierce shrugged. “Sure, but we’re not after him. He might just provide a lead, and we’ll worry later how we got there.”
“Maybe you should go,” I said, already sorry I’d opened my mouth.
“No,” Nick returned. “He likes women, and it sounds like he thought you were cute. Use that.”
Okay. I did not like that. At all. But it did make sense. “Fine. Lunch is on one of you.” I pushed away from the table, and every bruise I had ached in protest.
“Anna?” Pierce also stood. “We’re cutting both Melvin and Devlin loose. Just so you know.”
I’d figured. There wasn’t enough to hold either one, and they were more likely to make a mistake outside of custody. “Got it.”
“Watch your back, and I have a cop on you.” Pierce moved around the table and took my arm to head for the door. “I’ll walk you to your car where he’s waiting.”
“Lunch is on me,” Nick said wryly.
“Your expense account is much larger than mine, lawyer,” Pierce returned, grinning and looking younger than usual. As soon as we had moved down the sidewalk a ways, he coughed. “I, ah, wanted to apologize if I said anything that made you uncomfortable in the interview with Devlin.”
Wow. Okay. Pierce apologizing? He was much easier to keep at a distance when he was being a jerk. “I understood the strategy,” I said, stepping over a winding crack in the sidewalk.
“Just be careful.” We made it past my office building to the adjacent parking lot. “Whether it makes sense or not, he has feelings for you, and he obviously doesn’t know what to do with them.”
Aiden wasn’t the only confused one in this situation. I nodded.
We reached my car, which had the top on, and I nodded at Bud, who sat in his patrol car two parking spots away. He nodded back, looking big and beefy even sitting in the car. I wasn’t sure I needed protection, but I had to admit that I liked it. Just in case.
Pierce opened my door for me. “I was thinking.” He angled his head to check out the back seat, probably to make sure it was empty. “I’ve been invited to a barbecue in Silverville tomorrow at Sheriff Franco’s house. Kind of a Monday evening get together, I guess?”
“Yeah?” I looked up at him, surprised again by how bright his eyes really were. Did he need directions or something?
“Want to go with me?” he asked.
My head bobbed. “Are you asking me on a date?” I wasn’t being coy. The words came out fast and curious.
He shifted his weight. “Kind of. You’ll know everyone there, and I don’t. We are working together.”
Man, he really didn’t understand small towns. “It’ll be seen as a date, Pierce. Even if we spend the entire barbecue mingling around and not with each other. My grandmothers will be pulling out their wedding dresses and fighting over whose lace I’m going to wear at our nuptials.” I shouldn’t have taken such glee in watching the color drain from Pierce’s bronze face, but hey. I’m just human.
“Oh.” He glanced at Bud and then back at me. “Well then, let’s make it official. It’s a date.”
“Why?” I asked, suspicious. Did he think this would draw Aiden out or something?
Pierce pinched the bridge of his nose as if a headache was attacking him. “Why are you such a pain?” he muttered. Then he focused on me again. “Because I want to see you outside of work. I’m interested. Why not just go to a simple picnic and find out if we have fun together?”
It probably was as close to an ‘I like you’ as Pierce was able to get. Warmth flushed me. He really was cute and didn’t seem fifteen years older than me. I’d slept with Aiden, but we weren’t dating, so why not hang out with Pierce a little? “All right,” I surprised myself by saying. “Why not?”
I left Bud at the door and walked through the hospital entrance toward the elevator bank, which took me swiftly to the small east wing of the third floor. I’d never visited the crisis wing, oddly enough. Pastel colors made up the floor, walls, and reception area. I smiled at the blonde behind the counter. “Hi, Cathy.”
“Hey.” Cathy Bacca graduated the year before I had and was on her third marriage. She had wild blonde hair, heavily made up brown eyes, and a smile that brightened all of the pastels around
us. She had the shoulders of a Montana girl and could rope a steer in seconds if I remembered right. “What’s up?”
“Well, I was hoping I could visit Charles Monroe, even though it’s Sunday.” Figured I’d just go the direct path.
Cathy typed into her computer. “What happened to your face? I have a bat if you need to borrow it.”
I grinned. “No, I’m good. It has been a serious of incidents one after the other. I did fall out of a tree.”
“Nice.” She leaned forward. “Did I hear that Nick Basanelli was back in town?”
“Yes,” I murmured. Was she looking for husband number four? “And yes, he looks even better than in high school.”
Her grin reminded me of a cat my cousin Lacey had saved years ago. Then Cathy read her screen. “It looks like Monroe can have visitors. Go through the light green door to the left, which leads to the rec area. I’ll have him brought in.”
“Thanks.” I paused near the door. “Basanelli likes to eat lunch at McQuirk’s most days.”
Cathy’s eyes gleamed. “Thanks. Appreciate it.”
“Any time.” If anybody needed some fun, it was Basanelli. Plus, if he was seeing somebody else, he was off the table for me, and I was wimp enough to admit it. The guy was tempting, and I had too much temptation going on around me at the moment. I pushed through the door and stopped short. It was just like on television. Patients watched movies in an area sporting a sofa and chairs, while others played checkers or board games at tables scattered throughout. One elderly lady in a housecoat stood at a window and just looked outside.
I scouted the room for a good place to chat just as Charles entered from the far peach-colored doors. He zeroed in on me and danced my way, shimmying his butt in the thick robe as he arrived. They’d let him keep on his slippers, and I swear, they winked at me.
“Hiya cutie,” he said, stopping right in front of me and reaching for the belt at his robe. “Come for a second look?”
“No.” I waved the air. “I just wanted to visit you and talk. You undo that robe, and I’m out of here.”
His bottom lip pouted out, and since he had to be late seventies, he looked kind of adorable. “You’re no fun.” He dropped his hand and pointed to a vacant table to the right. “Wanna sit?”
Disorderly Conduct (The Anna Albertini Files Book 1) Page 23
