Chapter 24
24
I nara
I wander back to the evidence room in a daze. The board is a blank slate, waiting for the next big case.
“Wait.” I stop a grunt from packing up a box of evidence. “Where are you taking this?
“To storage for the DA to access before the court date.”
“Not yet. I need to check them for something.”
He shrugs and leaves the room.
I grab the clipboard with the list of stated evidence. There’s the blood-soaked shirt and the glass that held the liquid we tested, but no mention of the security tape. It should be filed with the evidence from Martin’s office.
Where’s the tape?
I know I took a screenshot of the filing number on the evidence label, so I pull it up and find the matching box.
There’s no tape. Besides the screenshot I took, there’s no paper trail to prove it was ever here.
The one piece of evidence I got, the video of Rex about to break into Martin Shipping to commit murder, is gone.
Rex allowed me to have it. And then he arranged for it to be lost.
I don’t know how long I spend looking through the boxes, painstakingly emptying each one. Finally, the grunts come back to take them away.
Just like that, the room is empty. It’s over.
But I refuse to admit defeat. It can’t end like this.
I have one move to make, one pawn to sacrifice.
I grab my phone and dial Rex. It rings again and again while my grip tightens.
Someone else answers.
“Roy Residence. How may I direct your call?” The voice is male, with a touch of an accent I can’t place.
“Is Rex there?”
“This is Mr. Roy’s residence, yes.”
I pull my phone away to check the number. The contact still reads Sir . “I thought this was his cell.”
“It automatically routes to this line when he’s unable to pick up. I’m Hamish Hitchcock, his house manager.”
Rich people and their freaking layers of staff. “I need to speak to him. “
“I can take a message for him. But he’s currently indisposed.”
“Is he there? At his residence?”
“At Roy Manor, yes. But?—”
I hang up. Rex isn’t going to avoid me so easily.
When I march out of the station, Ivan is idling in his black town car across the street. I head for him, and he sees me jaywalking and rolls down his window as I approach.
“I need you to take me somewhere.”
“Anywhere. I’m at your service.”
Excellent. It’s times like these I can see why a driving service would come in handy. I hop into the front seat and toss my bag into the back. “Roy Manor, please.”
Ivan doesn’t hesitate to put the car into drive. I settle back in the seat, plotting what I’ll say to him when I see him. In all my dealings with Rex, I’ve realized how powerful he is. How he wields his wealth like a weapon.
But he has a weakness, and it’s time I exploit it.
But as we pull into traffic, I remember Rex’s promise: Next time you come to me, I’m keeping you.
The route to Roy Manor takes us out of the city, and we wind through the northern boroughs until we come to a pine-lined parkway that leads through the hills. The sun is sinking as the car climbs higher and higher. In the rearview mirror, the high-rises downtown glow with the sunset’s flame-colored light.
Then the road dips and the city disappears.
I shift in my seat. It took us an hour to get through city traffic alone, and sitting this long is making me stiff. “Do you drive Rex all this way every day? It seems like a long way to commute.”
Ivan chuckles. “Naw. He has a place in the city. But when he heads to the Manor, he takes a chopper.”
“Right.” I’ve seen the helicopters flying in and out of the port. Of course, Rex would use one of them. Rich people don’t sit in traffic.
Ivan motions to the back seat. “Water?” At my nod, he hands me a bottle and helps himself to one. I hold out my hand for his and unscrew the cap for him.
“Thanks,” he says. There’s a pause while we drink, and then I make an attempt at conversation.
“How long have you worked for Rex?”
“Five years. He got me out of a bind.”
At my questioning look, he continues. “I told you I was in prison. Well, before that, a guy was messing with my sister. I was caught up with a crew, and I can’t say what we were doing was legal. When I went to tell this guy off, they went with me. Things got rough and. . .” He shrugs. “I went down for murder.” He lifts a hand and rubs his neck tattoos. I don’t think he realizes he’s doing it.
I can guess what happened next. “And then Rex got involved.”
“Yeah.” He drops his hand. “His lawyers showed up with video footage of the fight and helped me appeal. Saved my ass. I got my sentence reduced to a self-defense plea and was released with time served.”
I let my head fall back on the car seat. Night has fallen, and we’re driving through back roads now, winding between fields and forests.
“How’d Rex get the video footage?” I ask.
Ivan shrugs. “The fight was in an alley behind a bar,” he says. “The bar owner had cameras, but they were just for show. They weren’t running. And in the alley. . . nothing.”
I don’t need Ivan to tell me. I already know.
Rex told me he watches over me “by any means necessary.” The files Mina sent have company records of R&D into cutting edge surveillance equipment. Rex also said he monitored Gregory Martin’s movements in preparation to take his life.
But what if Rex is surveilling more than just his potential victims? What if he’s got eyes in every corner of the city?
It fits the profile. The death of his parents pushed him into hypervigilance. He wants to own everything, control everything. And to do that, he has to know everything.
I’m not the only one he’s watching. He might be more focused on me, but he’s watching everyone. It’s horrifying in scope, but it makes sense.
And so does my plan. If I get into Roy Manor, I can look for evidence of everything he’s done. I just have to be willing to use the leverage I have to gain access.
“How much longer?” I ask Ivan.
“Thirty minutes,” he says.
I try to settle into the seat and relax but find myself gnawing on my thumbnail instead. It’s fully dark now. The moon’s risen, but it’s only a sliver on an endless velvet sky. Every so often, there’s a bend in the road, and spots of light appear in the long grass that lines the roads. The headlights catch on some night creature’s eyes.
The knots in my insides twist tighter. “Does he know I’m coming?”
There’s a long pause, and I know my answer. “He’s my employer,” Ivan says, and it’s no consolation that his voice is tinged with regret. I go back to gnawing at my thumb.
All too soon, the headlights bump over a hill and hit a wall of weathered stone. We drive along the walled perimeter for at least a mile until we reach the entrance to Roy Manor—a two-story iron gate flanked by the statues of pacing lions on massive plinths. I crane my head to study their snarling faces.
All the privacy and security money could buy and still, the Roys couldn’t escape their fate. Rex is the last of their line.
When Roy Manor comes into view, I lose my breath. Compared to this place, all the grand mansions I’ve ever seen are shacks. It’s massive, overlooking miles of a garden estate.
“How big is this place?”
“Couple hundred rooms, not including the outbuildings like stables and pool houses. Or the servants’ quarters.”
Servants’ quarters. I roll my eyes.
“It takes a team of people to keep this estate running, with a grounds manager who oversees it all.”
“Hamish Hitchcock.” After our conversation, I looked him up on my phone before we left the city. There’s not much about his early life, but he served with the Scottish military before he came here and became close with the Roys. “He was Rex’s guardian.”
“Yeah. You know him?”
“Not yet.” I’m looking forward to putting a face to a name. “How close is the nearest neighbor?”
“There’s no one out here for miles. The Roy who built this place bought up all the farmland around it, but that was half a century ago. Since then, the family could’ve bought up more.”
He hits a button, and the windows roll down, startling me.
“Hear that?” He lets the car slow, and I concentrate. Beyond the purr of the car’s engine and the singing crickets, there’s a faint exhaling roar.
“That’s the sea. This place is on a huge cliff overlooking the sea.” We listen for another moment, and then he presses the gas.
The closer we get, the bigger the grand towers of Roy Manor grow. Rex spent his childhood here, in a palace fit for a king. I bet he keeps plenty of secrets hidden away, secrets I can gather as evidence. I just have to find them. But I have no idea how I’m going to search such a massive place.
The golden stone glows against the night sky, a brilliant bastion against the crouching darkness. Every stately window is illuminated. It must cost a fortune just to keep the lights on.
And we’re not the only ones rolling up the long drive. Rows of cars line the circle around a center fountain. Ferraris, limos, and Rolls Royces are picking up or dropping off guests. A flock of women stroll up a red carpet, shining like jewels in their fine dresses.
I grip the door handle. “What’s going on?”
“Some sort of party.” Ivan waves off a pair of valets in red velvet jackets and pulls into a reserved spot between topiaries in pots as tall as me. “So what now?” He drums his fingers on the steering wheel. “You want to sit here awhile? Or do you want me to gas up to drive you home?”
“No.” I turn my head to glare at him and meet his grin. He’s teasing me. My lips tug up in a reluctant smile. He knew what to say to calm my nerves. My anger turns to fuel, powering me. I push open the door and climb out before he can come around to open my door for me.
“Thanks for the ride. You can consider yourself off duty. I’ll find my own way home from here.”
“Tell you what. I’ll wait around for a bit. Hamish is a good guy. Staff gets first stab at whatever the chef makes for the guests.” He makes a show of looking around for spies and then cranes his head closer. “Don’t tell the missus, but I eat better here than at home.”
I want to protest but can only exhale. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” We both look at the grand entrance filled with golden light. “You gonna be okay in there?”
I take a step onto the red carpet. My scuffed boots and worn leather jacket look shabby compared to all these glittering guests, but that only strengthens my resolve. Just because someone has money to hire a stylist doesn’t mean they’re better than me. “I’ll be fine.”
“’Atta girl.” He raps the side of his car. “Go get ’em.”
I straighten, feeling the lights like a weight on my face. Above the mansion, I sense a dense cloud of darkness. A creature of the night is hovering, drawing me close, waiting to pounce.
There’s also a sense of inevitability in the air like I was always going to end up here. I’ve always been at Rex’s mercy. I just wasn’t aware of how completely he was controlling me and everyone in the city.
Now I know. And tonight will be different.
Tonight, I’m a willing victim. I’m the only one in the world who can get close enough to Rex. I have to bait the trap with something he wants. And I don’t know why, but Rex wants me. I’ll let him have me for a price.
I’ll get close enough to him to build my case. I’ll seduce him.
I’ll have to give myself to him, let him take me. Let the dark waters close over my head.
I only hope I don’t drown.