Chapter 27 Nolan
NOLAN
Viks eyes where I have Juliet perched on my lap, but doesn’t comment as he addresses the room. “The investigation into Calloway’s death has stalled out,” he announces. “Rylie’s been able to hack into SPD’s reports and they don’t have shit. Juliet is their only suspect.”
“I didn’t—” My hand slides around Juliet’s waist as she attempts to jump up to defend herself and I pull her back into my chest.
“Hush, Princess,” I warn her. “We know you didn’t kill him.
You were with us when he died.” The reminder that she has an actual alibi and that this group isn’t the one that needs convincing is enough to get her to calm down somewhat.
Still, she remains stiff in my arms and on my thighs, her back ramrod straight even if her hair flutters against my cheek.
If I had my way, I’d carry her into a bedroom and lock the door behind us and fuck her until she couldn’t remember her own name, much less all of the bullshit we’ve been dealing with for the last several months.
Unfortunately, that’s not an option. We have to face the music and we have to gather information that will help in the inevitability that she ends up on the stand, accused of murder.
“Lann came to her work,” I say, redirecting the conversation. “We’re pretty sure he’s convinced she did it. Did you get anything from him when you called, Abel?”
Abel’s expression darkens as he sinks his chin atop his wife’s shoulder.
“I’ve tried everything. Lann’s stonewalling me.
Won’t budge on any further details about the case.
He won’t give me anything that isn’t already public record either.
” He scrubs a hand down his face, frustration cracking through the lawyer polish. “We’re blind here.”
“Darrio Vargas is becoming another issue,” Viks says. “We looked into the information that friend of yours provided, Juliet.”
“Margo’s not my friend,” Juliet says absently, as if the denial is the first thing that pops into her mind. Then she shakes her head and refocuses on the man. “What did you find, though?”
Viks glances to the lavender-haired woman that Abel is practically humping on the couch. I roll my eyes. He’s almost as bad as Lex.
Rylie, in response, leans forward and grabs the laptop sitting on the coffee table.
She flips it open and pulls it into her lap as her fingers fly over the keyboard and mouse pad.
“I managed to hack into Calloway’s phone records.
There are several phone calls to a burner phone that’s not registered—if we assume the witness did actually see Morpheus Calloway meeting with Darrio Vargas, then we can also assume that was the primary method of their communication.
” She rakes her teeth over her bottom lip before glancing away from the screen.
“However, we don’t have concrete evidence,” she admits with a wince. “At this point, it’s only conjecture and puzzling the pieces of what we think we know. To accuse Darrio Vargas of murdering Morpheus, we’d have to find a motive.”
“Calloway tried to kidnap and then kill Juliet a few months ago,” I snap. “I’m sure Darrio probably provided him with the names of the men who could pull off that job.”
The burn of Juliet’s curious gaze sears into the side of my face, but I don’t look back at her as I focus on Abel’s little hacker. Rylie shrugs. “Possibly,” she answers. “But again, there’s no irrefutable evidence. That’s what we’ll need if she does have to take the stand.”
“Darrio threatened us.” A low growl sticks in my throat as my grip on the woman in my arms tightens. “I’m sure he was behind his own son’s attack.”
Juliet lifts a hand and places it over one of my forearms, her cool palm stroking back and forth. Her scent invades my senses. I breathe it in and slowly exhale, feeling some of my violent urges ease.
“He’s not going to be an issue for now,” Viks states. All eyes fall on him.
“What do you mean?” I demand.
“With the information you gave us about his plans for his drug running, I managed to track down his contacts in Eastpoint.” His gaze flicks, deliberately, to me before shifting away.
“Right now, he thinks he’s still got a pipeline to the city, but it’s not happening.
Eastpoint isn’t his to touch and it never will be, but, for now, we’ll let him think he has a chance. It buys us some breathing room.”
Juliet inhales. “Breathing room for what?”
Silence stretches in the too large room, the cool temperature of the nearly empty house sitting heavy on our shoulders. Juliet glances back at me. “Nolan?”
I shake my head and her brow furrows, irritation flashing in her gaze. “What the fuck are we doing here if you’re not telling me what the plan is?”
“You’re here because all crimes need to start somewhere,” Abel says, amusement clear in his tone. I send the other man a dark glare as Juliet whips her head in his direction.
“Fucking thanks,” I snap.
He winks—fucking winks. Asshole. “You’re welcome, kid.”
“What crime?” Juliet sinks her nails into my skin and I wince, but don’t pull away. If digging her claws into me will give her any sense of relief then I’ll let it happen. Damn—maybe I’m just as bad as Lex too.
“Morpheus’ house is under lockdown and I haven’t been able to hack into some of his more secure files from the outside,” Rylie says. “So, we need someone to break into his house and give me an in.”
Juliet goes still against me. “Break in?” she repeats.
“The guys are covering for us right now,” I say. “If anyone asks—we both went home with fevers.”
“Wait—what?” Juliet’s head turns to me and back to Rylie. “You want us to break into Morpheus’ house?”
“Who else would it be?” Viks asks.
“You!” she says. “No one knows who you are or why you’d be involved. He has cameras and—”
Viks is already shaking his head before she can finish her reasoning and I wince as her ass moves against my dick, rubbing back and forth as she crosses her arms over her chest and glares at the other man.
“You know the inside of his house better than anyone else here would,” Viks states. “And if you do get caught—which we’re hoping to ensure you don’t—but just in case, you might have more of a reason to be there. Regardless, we aren’t sending you alone.” His gaze moves from her to me.
I nod. “Which is why I’ll go with you.”
Juliet’s muscles tense under my hold. She’s quiet for a long moment and then, in a low voice, she asks, “What about his staff?”
“Most of the staff is no longer a concern,” Abel pipes up. “There’s no point in having so many people working for a dead man.”
Back straight, chin tilted down, Juliet remains quiet for a long, tense moment. “When are we doing this?” she finally asks.
I exchange a look with Viks and Abel, but it’s Rylie that gives her the answer. “Today, Juliet.”
“Right.” Jules bobs her head. “I guess that explains why Lex and Gio are covering for us now.”
“The only one left working at the house is Calloway’s previous executive secretary,” Abel says.
Juliet lifts up, straightening before she grips both of the chair’s arms. “Stuart?”
Rylie clicks something on her computer, scanning the screen. “Yes, that’s his name. Stuart Rodgers.”
“Ugh.” Juliet sinks back into me. “I don’t know if this is going to work—he hates my guts. I’m pretty sure he was in love with Morpheus or something.”
My hands move down, smoothing over her thighs and adjusting her more comfortably against me. “It doesn’t matter now,” I state. “You have every right to go in and get your things.” At least, that’s the story we’re going with.
Juliet hums but doesn’t respond. I graze my lips along the back of her neck.
Though she shivers and gooseflesh rises along her skin, her lips remain pinched shut without any resistance.
I haven’t said as much, but another reason why I wanted it to be me going in with her is because I want to see exactly where she was when she left us.
I want to know just what she had to put up with, what she had to face, when she thought she was protecting us.
“It’ll be a simple in-and-out mission,” Viks says. “Rylie will provide you with a small flash drive. All you need to do is get into his home office, find his computer, and plug it in.”
Rylie nods at his words, though her eyes remain glued to the screen as she types out something.
“The flash drive is loaded with a virus that’ll infiltrate his system and open up a back window in the locked files I haven’t been able to get ahold of.
Anything not uploaded to a cloud or used offline will be accessible to me and we might finally get the information we need that’ll incriminate Darrio. ”
“What do we do when we have that information?” I ask.
Abel leans forward around his wife. “We send it to the SPD anonymously,” he says.
Juliet snorts derisively. “Do you really think they’re just going to accept some anonymous information like that?” She shakes her head. “They’ll still blame me.” Her shoulders slump and she rubs a hand over her face. “Fuck, I’m so damn tired of this fucking town.”
“They won’t be able to deny the information,” Abel assures her.
“I have a meeting with Detective Lann next week in person and Rylie is here to make sure it’s sent at the right time where I’ll be able to conveniently see it and ensure that neither he nor anyone else in the department can bury the information.
They’ll be required to bring it to light and it’ll clear you of being the only suspect. ”
Juliet’s expression is still tense and doubtful, but she doesn’t argue anymore. I cup her thigh, squeezing lightly as I direct my attention to Viks.
“All right,” I say. “Get us set up and let’s do this.”
Hours later, as twilight bleeds into night outside the SUV’s windows, Juliet and I roll up the long drive toward Morpheus Calloway’s estate.
The three-story mansion cuts into the skyline like a monstrous beacon.
I glance her way, noting that her eyes are locked on the building, her expression haunted.