Chapter Thirteen #2
The dark-haired woman had disappeared back down the stairs, and we were left with the man in the chair, who I assumed to be the boss, and a handful of his bodyguards who stood at strategic spots around the balcony, no corner left unprotected.
“Who are you?” he barked. He didn’t need much volume to his voice, and I got the sense he could silence a room with a wave of his hand. Nerves overtook me, and I dug my nails into my palms to stop myself from trembling. Casting a quick glance at Cade, I did a double-take when I saw his expression.
Fear.
Cade’s jaw was tensing and twitching, a nervous tick I hadn’t seen from him before. I wasn’t the only one making fists at my sides, but Cade’s muscles also flexed on his neck. He was preparing for a fight.
Did he know this Emrick?
“I’m here for information,” I said, surprising myself at how steady I managed to keep my voice. Why was I so afraid? I don’t even know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this man who made my skin crawl, and I suppressed a shudder at the idea of him coming closer to me.
Please stay in your chair.
Turning his head slowly, he was now looking at me, and although I couldn’t see his eyes, I could certainly feel the power of his gaze drilling into me.
“Who. Are. You?” he repeated.
“My name is Nikki, and I’ve been investigating my father’s murder.”
“I don’t know him.”
My eyebrows raised. “You might. Garrett Porter.”
The slightest twitch of Emrick’s dark eyebrow betrayed him, and he lowered his hands to his lap, drumming his fingers against his knee while he continued to stare at me.
There was a movement of his cheeks like he was running his tongue along his teeth or rolling it in his mouth, maybe trying to decide what to say or do.
“What makes you think I know anything about it?” he finally asked.
“Anonymous tip.”
Somehow his laugh was worse than his gritted-teeth frustration, and he barked out a single note of amusement. Still chuckling, Emrick slid off his sunglasses, and I took a step back from him.
Black, his eyes were black. The irises were so dark they were barely indistinguishable from the pupil. I’d never seen anything like it, and there was something so distinctly unnatural about it. I’d have sworn he was wearing contacts, but he hardly seemed the type to bother.
No wonder he wore the damn sunglasses, he was terrifying.
Standing, Emrick made his way across the floor in a handful of strides, but he stopped in front of Cade, ignoring me almost entirely.
They were similar heights, and while Cade was no lightweight, Emrick’s arms were huge, like he spent every spare second working out, and it simply added to the intimidation factor.
To Cade’s credit, he didn’t flinch but held Emrick’s eye contact while they stared each other down.
“And where do you come into this?” Emrick asked.
Cade sneered at him. “None of your business.”
“Aww,” Emrick cooed, and I wanted to take Cade’s hand, more for my comfort than for his.
“I think it is my business.” He turned his gaze to me, and I was hypnotized by the darkness of his eyes.
Beyond the color, or lack of it, there was real darkness there.
I’d dealt with many criminals since being a cop, and I’d never felt this way in the presence of another human being before.
The thought hit me like a bolt of lightning—if this man tried to pay me off to keep my mouth shut, I might consider it just to get him to leave me alone.
Suddenly, I felt bad for Niles.
Fuck. We were in deep.
“What did your father do for a living?” Emrick asked me.
“He worked in real estate.”
Another laugh from Emrick, and I frowned. “Really? Are you sure about that?”
“I…” I’d had no reason not to be sure. Why would Dad lie to me?
But the creeping feeling up my spine told me that Emrick knew something I didn’t, something I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
The urge to run made my feet tingle. I’d never been one to run from my problems, but this room and all the people in it, aside from Cade, made me feel ill.
“Tell you what, Nikki. If your boyfriend here tells you what he knows about your father, I’ll tell you what I know.”
I turned to Cade, still staring at Emrick, his jaw tense and visibly shaking with rage. Emrick was smirking, almost daring Cade with his eyes to initiate a fight. “Cade, what’s he talking about? You don’t know anything. We just met.”
When Cade didn’t speak, Emrick moved to stand closer to him, invading his space as much as possible without touching him, toe-to-toe and chest-to-chest, neither man moving as they stared hard at each other. “Oh, I think he knows a lot more than he’s telling you, sweet thing.”
“Shut up,” Cade snapped.
Emrick simply grinned.
“Cade?” I whispered.
“You better tell her, or I will,” Emrick snarled out.
Reaching up to touch Cade’s arm, he tensed under his jacket at my touch, but I didn’t pull away. “Cade, what’s going on?”
Emrick had moved away to sit back down, crossing his ankle over his knee and leaning back, watching us as though we were his personal entertainment. Cade looked at the floor, grinding his teeth as a flush worked its way up his neck.
“Your father wasn’t who you think he was, Nikki,” he said after a pause. Sighing, he raised his eyes to mine, shining with pain and uncertainty.
“Turns out your boyfriend isn’t who you think he is either.” Emrick chuckled, and I ignored him. I wanted to know what Cade knew.
Swallowing against the dryness in my mouth and throat, I asked, “What do you mean?”
“Your father…” Cade closed his eyes before looking at me again.
“His real name was Mitch Murphy. I assume he created the alias to protect his family.” Cade tossed a look at Emrick, who smirked, and Cade snarled in return.
“He ran a large underground crime network in this city, one of the most powerful. He wasn’t a good man.
He killed several people and made his money at the expense of the less fortunate using intimidation and torture.
Beyond that, his fortune was grown from drugs and illegal gambling. ”
The sound from the club’s music was muted, and the room was shrinking to engulf me, the walls moving in and the lights too bright. Swallowing again, I licked my lips. God, I needed a drink. But not water, something stronger. Why would he be telling me this? Why was Cade saying these things?
“You’re lying,” I choked out.
He shook his head, slow, remorseful movements. “I’m sorry, angel, but I’m not.” He gestured around the club. “This was his. He ran his business from here.”
“But…”
But what? What was I going to say?
Dad was an extraordinarily rich man, but you can become rich from working in real estate if you know what you’re doing. And so what if he went away a lot on business trips? That wasn’t unusual for someone in his position.
But all the properties? They simply disappeared when he was killed. Expertly.
So if his murder wasn’t a crime organization taking my father out for his properties and assets, then it was…
“A change of ownership,” I said quietly.
Turning to Emrick, he still had that smug fucking grin plastered on his face. My world falling around my shoulders was amusing to him, and he took pleasure in the fact that he had caused my pain. What kind of sick fuck did that?
“You,” I said, pointing at Emrick, “If this was my father’s business, and it’s yours now, then you killed him. You fucking monster!”
Cade’s fingers scraped my arm as he reached out to grab me, but I launched myself across the room, desperate to get my hands around Emrick’s neck, and was met with the solid wall which was the chest of one of his guards.
He’d been on the other side of the room—his reflexes must have been incredible to get in front of me so quickly.
I struggled against his hold, but he spun me and wrapped his arms around me, crushing my arms to my sides as I kicked out and fought against him.
Cade cried out for him to let me go as he, too, was grabbed, but he didn’t go down as easy.
It took three of the men to restrain him, pressing him against the floor and using their weight to hold him down as he continued to writhe.
Emrick stood again, and when he traced a finger down my cheek, I shuddered.
“Shh…” he shushed me gently, the sound crawling against my skin and sending goose bumps exploding across my arms. “Nikki, Nikki, Nikki… what a shock this must be for you.” He continued to touch my cheek, and I snapped my teeth at him, hating the way he laughed as he drew his hand away from my face.
“Look into my eyes, Nikki.” Reluctantly I did and couldn’t look away as he held my gaze, taking a long moment to simply stare at me before he stated resolutely, “I didn’t kill your father. ”
We stared at each other for a beat longer.
I believed him.
“You could be making this up,” I said, grasping at straws and hoping.
Emrick stalked off, disappearing into a door behind where he had sat.
I remained in the hold of the bouncer until Emrick returned and shoved a framed picture in my hand.
Craning my neck to look over the large arm of the man who held me, I took in the image of my father, feet up on a large desk, cigar in mouth, and stacks of cash on either side of him.
“This doesn’t prove anything,” I spat. “So he came to the club? So what?”
Emrick ignored me. “He was a vain fucker. Who keeps photos of themselves in their office anyway? But there are a dozen employees still here who would ID him as Mitch.” Emrick’s lip curled into a sneer, amusement flashing in his eyes.
“And all of those would attest to the type of man he was, if you fancy to question them. But perhaps you’re not ready to hear what a sick fuck he was. He was me before I was me.”
“Do you know who killed him?” I asked again, but my certainty that I wanted to know the truth was ebbing away with each passing moment. Emrick claimed that people could identify my father as Mitch Murphy, but they were under Emrick’s employ and wouldn’t tell me anything unless instructed.
But what did Emrick have to gain from lying to me?
This isn’t where I thought this investigation would lead. When I saw the club, I assumed that it would lead me to the people responsible for Dad’s murder, not an unwelcome revelation about his history. A revelation I wasn’t convinced I was certain of.
But doubt was a powerful motivator.
“I don’t know,” Emrick said, brushing his fingers across my chin lightly and smirking when I yanked myself away from his touch.
“And that’s another truth. I will say that if I had known everything your father was responsible for before I took over, I’d have gladly killed him myself.
But sometimes, information takes a while to come to light.
” He cast a look over my shoulder at Cade. “But the truth always comes out.”
He turned away again, and the guard released me. I stood still, rubbing my arms. “You said you’d tell me what you knew,” I demanded.
Emrick assessed me. “And I did, and what I know is nothing. I didn’t kill Murphy.
He was killed by one of the many enemies he made along the way.
When I took over, he lost the protection of his business, and without it, he was taken down.
” His brow quirked. “I’m surprised his entire family wasn’t killed. ”
“He protected us.”
“So it seems.” Emrick seemed unimpressed, as though my father protecting me meant nothing compared to what else he had done.
“Did you take his properties?” I demanded.
Emrick smirked again. “Of course. He signed them over to me, willingly, once he knew the alternative.” When his eyes raked over my body, I shuddered again, imagining what threats he had promised against Dad and his family, against me.
“But you didn’t kill him?”
Emrick lifted a shoulder. “There was no need.” He sneered again, only serving to darken his expression. “Sometimes the stories that come out of survivors are more intimidating than a head on a stake, you see?”
Frowning, I stared at my feet. I didn’t move. This was too much, and I needed time to think.
And Cade…
Turning, Cade was straightening after being released from the crushing hold of the guards. When he met my eyes, he shrunk away from my gaze. “Nikki, I’m sorry.”
“You knew? You knew this whole time.” My hands twitched, I didn’t know if I wanted to slap him or throw my hands up in frustration. “Is this some sick joke to you? Did you know who I was when we met?”
“No, I swear I didn’t. I only found out later—”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to hurt you,” Cade said, raising his voice.
Screwing my face up, I shook my head. “I need to go.”
“Let me take you home.”
“Stay the fuck away from me, Cade!”
The guard at the door didn’t try to stop me and unlocked it, allowing me to run past and make my way down, the swirling of the winding staircase matching the chaos in my mind.