25. Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter twenty-five
N ick and Mason left Mrs. Lopez and her attorney and walked into the room next door. The vibe in this room was a lot different. It was hard to tell which of the two confident men were the lawyer and suspect, given they were both smug and smiling in their designer suits.
But Nick had already seen the bastard on the left, bare chested in his slacks, tossing money at Julia like it solved everything. He’d find out soon enough, money didn’t buy your way out of everything.
Nick gave Mason a subtle side-eye to go over and intimidate the asshole with a star stamp on the back of his hand. The stamp reminded him of the paper covered in heart and flower stamps hanging in Agent Hayward’s office that his little girl made for him.
It made Nick sick to think how he got that stamp on his hand and if he used the stamp to reward the children he abused.
Nick wiped that ugly, disgusting thought out of his head and faced off with fucking Gilbert David.
Before Gilbert said anything, his lawyer placed his forearms on the table and clasped his hands. “My client is an upstanding citizen with no record, not even a speeding ticket. He’s been detained on charges that are not just preposterous, but inflammatory.”
Nick glanced at Mason. “I guess we’ve been put in our place. I mean, all that evidence we have against this upstanding citizen is absolutely going to prove he’s a child predator, who should be locked up for the rest of his life. But we must be wrong.” Nick scoffed at the idea and glared at the two men across from him.
Gilbert squirmed in his seat. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Maybe in your sick fucking mind you think that. But according to the law, and decency in general, you’ve sexually and physically assaulted a minor.” Probably a lot of minors.
The lawyer scoffed. “These charges are baseless.”
Nick turned to Gilbert. “You know they aren’t. You saw me at the resort when you put your hands on Julia Lopez. Toby was inside that fucking cart, arm broken, probably terrified if he cried out or made a sound, you’d kill him. Or Javier would. Right?”
Gilbert’s eyes went wide with fear.
“We found Toby’s DNA in the cart and in that room right after you left. Scurried away is more accurate. You were afraid I’d arrest you right then and there. I’m sorry I didn’t ask more questions and find Toby in that cart. I’ll have to live with that. But you, you’ll have to live with the consequences of what you did to him. Because we both know you’re not sorry. You were more concerned about what Javier would do to you for breaking his product. You were frantic, throwing hundred-dollar bills onto the cart, telling her you hadn’t meant to break it .” Nick glared at Gilbert. “ It . He’s a boy. A child. Not an it you can use and abuse and toss out when you break him, like it means nothing. Like you’re not responsible for tearing that kid’s world apart.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“I don’t give a fuck what you meant, or how you feel about that boy. No doubt your excuse will be some twisted version of how you care for him.” Nick took a deep breath. “Back to the evidence. At the time we met, I thought you’d broken a coffee maker or something. You said it was an accident, but you twisted that little boy’s arm so severely it snapped. And you panicked and called Julia to fix your mess. You told her the money should be enough to make it right. That kid’s arm is going to take surgery and months to heal. It will take him years to work through his trauma. Who knows if he’ll ever get over what you did to him in that room. And I’m guessing he’s not the only one you hurt.”
Gilbert pounded on the desk with both hands. “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
His lawyer immediately put his hand on Gilbert’s arm and squeezed. “Don’t say another word.”
Nick didn’t relent. “You did hurt him. You traumatized him. And it wasn’t the first time.”
Gilbert quickly glanced at his lawyer.
“You were at that resort every day for a week. I have the surveillance footage of you going into the room marked “under construction.” The room Julia let you into after she rolled her cart in and left you alone with what you’d ordered.” Nick sat back in his seat. “Not exactly a room service item. But you knew just what to do to get your special delivery.”
“And now you’re going to tell us.” Mason’s tone made it clear it was a non-negotiable order.
Gilbert almost looked relieved they were giving him something he could do to make this better for him. “If I give you that, will you drop the charges?”
“You are facing multiple counts. And we’re sure this isn’t your first offense. What will we find when we go through your phone records, your laptop at home and at work, and start talking to your contacts? We’ve just begun.”
“You don’t know that Mr. David ever saw the child who was hurt.”
Mason growled under his breath. “The child identified him in a photo lineup. He’s prepared to do it again in person if your client requests it.”
“Will I get to see him?” Gilbert’s too anxious and excited question made Nick want to punch him in the face.
“No,” he and Mason snapped at the same time.
“But I want to talk to him. To explain why we can’t see each other anymore.”
It took everything Nick had not to pull his gun and shoot the fucker. Instead of talking to the dickhead, he turned to the lawyer. “Advise your client that when he says shit like that, I feel less inclined to take things off the table and not just throw the book at him.”
“Toby is special.” Gilbert, at six feet, one hundred and seventy pounds, almost looked like a child himself when he said that. But he was an adult, talking about a child he’d abused over and over again.
Nick slammed his hand on the table. “Don’t ever say his name again.”
The lawyer turned to his client. “You’re just helping them convict you.”
Gilbert finally seemed to be coming to terms with what he faced. “It’s over. I’m ruined.” He looked to Nick. “You’re not going to tell my wife, are you?”
“I think she’s going to find out when you don’t come home tonight and you’re in prison.”
Tears welled in his eyes. “She’ll never let me see my kids again.”
“I’d worry more about the damage this is going to do to your kids when the FBI interviews them about what you did to them.”
His back hit the chair as he scoffed. “I would never hurt my kids. I love them.”
“So it’s just other people’s kids you want to ruin and harm and steal their childhoods from.” Nick sneered, disgusted by this so-called man.
“I cared for them. I loved them.”
Not just Toby, but them .
“Gilbert, please, stop talking.” The lawyer looked stricken that his client had just copped to hurting more than just Toby. There were more.
Them.
How many?
He hoped they all came forward once Gilbert David was outed as a pedophile.
Nick stood and stared down at the lawyer. “Get your client to cooperate and write down what he knows. Because it is over. We aren’t going to stop until we find every single one of his victims.”
Gilbert laid his head on his arms on the table and broke down crying.
Nick had zero sympathy.
Mason even less it seemed as he spat out, “You’re a pathetic excuse for a man, let alone a father.”
Nick walked out of the room, hoping he’d done enough to get Gilbert to cooperate so that he didn’t have to bring in Toby to ID the guy in person. He didn’t want to put the little guy through that. Toby deserved to put this whole thing behind him. But Nick knew it was going to be a long road to get justice for him and the girls.