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Aaron’s eyes narrowed. “By whom?”
“By Jace. He witnessed it.”
Aaron flinched. “Where?”
“Corey was holding them at your camp. Well, your former camp. Corey blew it up.”
Aaron sucked in a startled breath. “He did what? What an asshole.”
“He’s hunkered down somewhere else now. Do you know where he might be?”
“He really blew it all up?”
“There appeared to have been four buildings impacted. Nothing was left.”
Aaron swallowed hard, then shook his head. “He blew up his own quarters, too.” He glared over Kaj’s shoulder at Reuben. “I got a few things to share, Mr.Hogan. I want them recorded so that a judge will take them into consideration when I’m sentenced.”
Aaron seemed to assume he’d be found guilty. That would make things easier. It was always harder when they were in denial.
“This session is being recorded,” Reuben said. “I already told you that.”
“Hold on,” the defense attorney said, speaking for the first time. “Aaron, I recommend you share nothing.”
“I’m interested only in Corey,” Kaj said. “I won’t be pressuring Mr.Gates to admit anything about himself.”
The attorney considered. “I still recommend you share nothing.”
Aaron turned his glare on his lawyer. “I want my brother to pay. I’m not admitting to any of my own shit. I’m not that stupid. But I have information on Corey, and I’ll share it for the sheer pleasure of seeing him taken down a peg or two. If you can shave a few years off my sentence, then that’s a bonus. I’ll save disclosures about the stuff I did—along with the names of the city’s fancy people who’re doing worse than I ever did—to help myself. Are we clear?”
The man shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
“What do you know about Corey?” Kaj asked, steering the conversation back on track.
“What do you want to know?” Aaron asked, abruptly cagey.
Kaj wanted to roll his eyes. Guys like Aaron couldn’t help themselves. Everything was a transaction. So Kaj pulled out the big guns. “Corey tried to kill Jace.”
Aaron went still. “When?”
“After Jace escaped the camp. He’d seen Dewey murdered and knew that Corey had hurt Rick. Jace figured he’d be next, so he got away and found help. Law enforcement suspected they had a leak, so they planted a false story that Jace was being held in a safe house. That night, two masked men whose body types matched Corey and his business partner Bobby entered the safe house and sprayed the place with gunfire, injuring the two officers who were waiting for them. Jace remained unhurt because he wasn’t there, but that told law enforcement that Jace wasn’t safe from his brother.”
Aaron’s expression grew murderous, and Kaj saw the man who’d beaten another man to death with his bare hands. “Can you prove this?”
Kaj lifted one shoulder. “Bullets in the safe house matched the bullets found at a crime scene last night where Corey shot at me.”
“Well, the thing about Corey is that he thinks he’s smarter than everyone else. He’s been operating a murder-for-hire racket out of his quarters that he blew up. I wasn’t involved,” Aaron stated. “Corey thinks he’s so clever that nobody knew he was doing it. But I knew. I’m not sure exactly what kind of shit he was doing, but I know he’s killed one or two people at least. Robbed a few others. He does the dirty work for rich folks who don’t want to soil their own hands. He runs the show, but his friend Bobby works with him. Bobby’s an ex-cop who still has a lot of friends in the NOPD.”
Kaj listened, not letting on that they’d already figured all that out. “I thought Corey and Bobby ran a construction company.”
Aaron rolled his eyes. “It’s a front.”
“Corey’s not at his camp any longer. Where would he go?”
“You’ll make sure you catch him?” Aaron asked. “And that Rick and Jace will be safe?”
“I will,” Kaj promised. “Rick will have to do some time, but we can make sure he’s in a safe place. And we will take care of Jace.”
“Okay then. Corey’s got another camp. Not in his name.”
