Chapter 23 – Stone
STONE
Ileft Whitney with Cora and ran into Sin in the hallway.
“Is she okay?” he asked.
“She will be. Your mom thinks she’s in shock.”
“Move it or lose it, motherfuckers!” Hadley shouted seconds before she barreled past us.
“We’re ready downstairs,” Sin said.
“After you, Prez.”
The interrogation room was hidden behind the elevator shaft on the ground floor. In the middle of the soundproofed room, Nathaniel Wood was tied to a metal folding chair with a piece of duct tape covering his mouth.
Tomb shrugged. “He wouldn’t stop screaming, and I figured you didn’t want him knocked out again.”
“If you want to live, keep your mouth shut and speak only when spoken to,” Sin ordered.
After Nathaniel nodded, Tomb ripped the tape from his lips, causing Nathaniel to shout in pain.
“Dude,” Tomb groaned. “What did we just tell you?”
“Knock it off,” Sin barked.
“Sorry, Prez,” Tomb pouted and stepped away from Nathaniel.
“Why did you try to kidnap Whitney Carlson today?”
“Because she killed my boys,” Nathaniel snarled.
“No the fuck she didn’t,” I snapped.
Nathaniel looked at me and laughed. “Take a look around, dumbass. People drop like flies around that bitch. You’re probably next on her list.”
“Who else do you think Whitney killed?”
He rolled his eyes. “She killed Glenn and framed my sons. Then she killed them.”
“She didn’t kill Glenn. I saw the video.”
“The video is fake.”
“Let’s say that were true. Why would she kill Glenn?”
Nathaniel grinned. “Because he found out that she shot her foster father and slowly poisoned her foster mother to death.”
“Do you have proof?” Sin asked.
Meanwhile, I stood there wondering if what he said could be true.
She did say she was happy when her foster father died, but that didn’t mean she killed him.
And then there was Glenn. She wouldn’t have killed him and put herself in a body bag with him on the off chance she might be able to escape.
That left Nate and Tate. I couldn’t immediately disprove that accusation because she wasn’t under our watch until after they were killed.
Although if she was the one who killed them, and she did it after I gave her my ring, then she was under our protection at the time.
“Do you have proof or not?” Sin demanded.
Shit. I’d been lost in my thoughts and missed something.
“I just told you. I found her picture in the trash can at the pawn shop. Her name and information were in Glenn’s folder. Her car can be seen on the security camera for a split second before whatever-the-fuck caused days’ worth of footage to go missing.”
“That proves nothing,” Sin said.
“It was enough for me.”
Sin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Church!”
Tomb slapped a new piece of duct tape over Nathaniel’s mouth before we locked him in the room and went upstairs.
“It’s your call, Stone,” Sin said. “Your ring, your murderer. What do you want to do?”
“He’s full of shit. Whitney didn’t kill his sons. I don’t know who did, but it wasn’t her.”
“I honestly don’t give a fuck if it was her,” Sin said. “But this shit has taken up enough of our time and energy. I’d like to put an end to all of it at the same time if possible.”
“I just want Whitney to no longer be a suspect on anyone’s list—police or otherwise.”
“You’re gonna need strong evidence that suggests someone else killed Glenn to make that happen,” Juice said. “Sounds like that detective has a hard-on for your girl.”
“Obit, let’s get a list going on the board,” Sin said. “What do we need to do to wrap this shit up?”
“Nate and Tate killed Glenn because he stopped making payments on his loan. There should be something at the pawn shop to support that,” Danger said.
“If not, I can fabricate it.” Glitch snapped his fingers.
“Just thought of something. While we were waiting for you to get here, I asked Hadley what she knew about the Wood brothers. She told me they moved here from Vegas a few years ago after a falling out with their father. Maybe he showed up here, and they had another one.”
“We could take Nathaniel back to the pawn shop and use one of their guns to shoot him,” I suggested. “Make it look like they had another disagreement with their dad and left town.”
“I don’t know. What about their shit?” Tomb asked. “If they left town, would they leave everything behind?”
“Doubt it. And we don’t have time to clean out their shop and wherever-the-fuck they lived,” Sin said.
“You don’t have to,” Juice said. “You have a body part from each brother. Plant them on Tori. Set it up so it looks like the brothers killed Glenn, then their dad. Then Tori killed them.”
“I don’t know. That timeline is sketchy. The body parts are already a week old.”
“So change it. They kill Glenn. Tori gets their dad to kill them. Then, she kills Nathaniel and disappears with everyone’s money.”
“That version might work better,” Sin said and looked at me. “What about Tori? What do you want to do about her?”
“Grab her and get rid of her. She was going to let Nathaniel kill Whitney for something she knew Whitney didn’t do. I’ve got no problem killing her in return.”
“All right. Stone and Tomb will go with me to get Tori. Then, we’ll finish up with Nathaniel at the pawn shop tonight. Danger, work out the details and have Glitch create whatever documents we need to plant.”
* * *
Tomb and I rode with Sin to Tori’s shithole apartment complex on the north side of Palmetto Harbor, but the Friday afternoon traffic was making it take longer than expected.
“Hey, Prez,” Tomb said. “Did you forget something?”
“No. Why?”
Tomb pointed at a car stopped at the light across the street. “Because I’m pretty sure that’s Stevie, and she looks pissed.”
“Fuck! I forgot to send someone to follow her back after work,” Sin groaned. “Call Stevie.”
When the call connected, Lily Allen’s Fuck You blared through Sin’s speakers.
“For fuck’s sake.”
“I don’t think she can hear you,” Tomb said helpfully.
Sin stabbed the screen with his finger and ended the call. “She’ll be fine.”
“Of course she will,” Tomb said. “Will you?”
“Yeah. She’s a lot of bark and no bite.”
“Damn. That sucks, Prez. I hope Hadley bites.”
“Stop talking.”
“But …”
“We’re here, dipshit,” I said.
“That’s hers,” Sin said, pointing out her car as we walked across the parking lot.
When we reached her door, it was partially open. Sin used the tip of his finger to slowly push it open. The place was a mess. I couldn’t tell if it had been tossed or if that was how she lived.
“She’s not home,” a woman said, scaring the shit out of me. I hadn’t heard anyone approaching.
I turned around and flinched again at the sight of the wrinkled old woman staring back at me, complete with curlers and a bathrobe.
She snapped her fingers in front of me. “Didn’t mean to render you speechless, beefcake.” She grinned, letting her cigarette hang from her dry lower lip. “I can take my teeth out and show you a real good time.”
“Is that an offer or a threat?” Tomb whispered.
“Do you know where Tori is?” Sin asked.
“No, but I might let you wait for her at my place. Turn around and let me see that ass.”
For reasons I’ll never know, Tomb turned around and showed her his ass.
“Woo! Look at that. Glad one of you listens.”
“Where is the woman who lives here?” Sin growled.
“You keep growling at me like that and you’ll have my cooter all wet and I ain’t got no drawers on.”
Tomb stepped in front of Sin before he exploded. “All that honey’s gonna go to waste if you don’t tell us where Tori is or when she’s gonna be back.”
When she tried to flutter her eyelashes at Tomb, I thought she was having a stroke for a moment. “Oh, my stars,” she said, fanning herself with her hand. “I don’t know where she went, but I’d guess she’ll be back in a couple of hours. You just missed her.”
Tomb smiled. “Thank you. Go wait for us at your place. We’ll be right there.”
“Hot damn!” Then, she popped her dentures out and grinned. “Can’t wait!”
“Let’s go,” Sin said as soon as she disappeared around the corner. “Call Danger and tell him to send a prospect to watch her apartment and let us know when she gets back. And don’t tell them about the neighbor. That can be a surprise.”