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LEE
Don’t say a fuckin’ word.
It was the thing I kept repeating to myself over and over as the asshole that cuffed me dragged me out of my office and shoved me into the back of a car. It’s what I thought every time he said anything on the ride to the police station. The thing that had me biting my tongue as they guided me into an interrogation room before slamming the door shut.
When Special Agent Hernandez slipped into the room not long after I’d been left alone, it was still going through my head.
Don’t say a word. Not one fuckin’ word.
There was only one word that needed saying. One single word that would stop them in their fuckin’ tracks.
Lawyer.
Except, as she leaned her back against the wall and opened her mouth to speak, what came flying off my tongue was something else completely.
“Is Dennis okay?”
Something like a grimace cut across her face. “He’s going to be.” She pushed off the wall, her attention flashing to the camera near the ceiling before she pulled out the chair across from me and took a seat. “They’ve got him resting in a room down the hall.”
Despite my fuckin’ mantra, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. “They hurt him?”
Her lips pressed into a thin line. For a moment, I didn’t think she was going to respond. While she didn’t answer my question, she did finally open her mouth. “Look.” She leaned toward me, her eyes trained on mine. “Special Agent Carlson is on a witch hunt. He barged his way into my investigation, took it over, and he’s adamant he’s going to put you away and use this case as a springboard for his career. He’s read your files, he knows what you and Dennis did to Baker in January, and he’s sure it was you two who strung him up.”
My eyes narrowed at her words, but I held my tongue. Her gaze darted to the side before coming back to mine.
“Baker was found hanging by a rope from his apartment window. He wasn’t wearing anything other than a bathrobe.” She paused, her lips forming a straight line once again. “His dick was mangled.”
Though I wanted to look away, I didn’t.
Though I wanted to swallow hard, I couldn’t.
The last time I’d seen Donald Baker, he’d been smoking a cigar near the swimming pool, wearing nothing but his bathrobe and a pair of swim trunks. Quinn Radnor, the ex-cop with the mafia ties, had squished Baker’s balls between his foot and the wooden bench in the sauna.
Baker had been arrested shortly after, when the pressure on his balls became too much and he’d caved, insisting he’d give us the names and numbers we needed to find the kid we were looking for. We’d brought him upstairs to his apartment, only to find an underage teenager naked and chained to his living room floor.
Though Radnor, Dennis, and I were adamant we never touched him, Donnie’d been just as adamant that we had.
Looks like he got what he deserved.
Hernandez broke eye contact. She sat back in her chair, scratching at her cheek before turning her attention back to me. She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “I have it on good authority that you and Dennis were not at Baker’s apartment last night.”
There was nothing that could keep me from reacting to that. I titled my head, and Hernandez dropped her gaze to the table. My mind spun a mile a minute, piecing things together that I’d previously missed, thinking back to the funeral and the way Van had acted since he—they—got back.
“Unfortunately for you,” Hernandez continued, “Special Agent Carlson doesn’t care. He’s convinced you two killed Baker, and he’s going to do everything he can to put you away for it.”
Leaning closer to her, I asked, “What if your good authority has proof?”
Dark, wide eyes flashed to mine. The woman seemed to sink into her chair, guilt flashing across her face. Then she recovered, lifting her chin so it almost looked like she was looking down her nose at me.
“I was never here.”
With that, she rose from her seat and slinked out of the room. Minutes later, the little red light on the camera turned on.
* * *
It felt like hours passed. I was tired, hungry, thirsty, and scared. Wasn’t me I was scared for, though. It was Kelly. Couldn’t help but worry this would put her over the edge. That she wouldn’t be strong enough to hold on for me. I’d do everything in my power to make sure she was safe, but I couldn’t do that if I was locked up or sent away.
The asshole who’d acted like he was calling the shots back at my office came strutting through the door with a smug look on his face. His shiny black shoes and his fancy suit and tie were a contrast to every other agent I’d seen. Even Hernandez, who wore an all-black suit, didn’t look like she was trying to impress.
