30. You Don’t Have to Join the Rat Race
“Any idea what this is about?” Wes, my lawyer, asked quietly.
“Not a clue.” And it was the truth.
“No disgruntled casino guests?”
There were always those, but nothing that any cop worth a damn would pursue.
When Maximo and I had pulled into Moonlight after being at the Black Moon site all day, cops had been waiting for me. They hadn’t said why.
Thank Christ Mila stayed home since I was supposed to be in meetings all day. She would’ve lost her mind and ended up cuffed in the back seat.
My dick twitched.
I was in a police station, not dead.
The door opened, and two suited men entered. One of them looked familiar, but I couldn’t place where I’d seen him.
If this is all because he’s a disgruntled guest who got tossed from one of the casinos and now he’s having a power trip, I’m going to be pissed.
They both sat, but it was the unfamiliar one who spoke. “I’m Officer Boden, this is Agent Nash. We’d like to ask you some questions, starting with your whereabouts last night.”
“Why?” Wes shot back.
“Because we’re asking.”
Wes answered for me again. “If this is about comparing social calendars, that could’ve been done without picking my client up at his place of employment. So I’ll ask again, why?”
“A body was found this morning.”
“And? It’s Vegas. Bodies are found all the time.”
The familiar man leaned back in his chair, his expression stoic. “Do you recall telling Veronica Rogers that her time was up?”
My gut prickled.
“What about that if you see her again, she’ll regret it?”
It was nearly imperceptible, but Wes sat up a little straighter. “What is this about?”
“Veronica Rogers was found dead this morning.”
Fuck.
Mila. She’s going to be a mess.
Wes asked the question before I could. “How’d she die?”
“Stabbed,” Officer Boden shared. Wes leaned forward, but the officer just shook his head. “They don’t think they’re related.”
“That’s what they always say.”
Agent Nash shot me a suspicious look. “Want to explain why you were seen threatening her twice yesterday and then she was killed that night?”
“I’m sure I don’t have to point it out to you,” Wes said, “but part of my client’s job is security. He kicks people out of the casino all the time. Including telling them not to return, or they’ll get hit with trespassing charges. Something they would surely regret. How is this different?”
“Because the victim was his girlfriend’s mother.”
“Yes, tumultuous family relationships are very sad.” Wes gave a slow shake of his head. “That is why my client should be comforting his girlfriend during this difficult time.”
“You know,” the familiar agent said, “most people in this situation would have verbal diarrhea while they fought to clear their name. There a reason why you’re not saying anything?”
Wes fielded that one, too. “Because he pays me a hefty retainer and an insane billable hours rate to do it for him.”
“Where were you last night between the hours of seven and ten?” the officer asked.
Wes nudged me.
“Moonlight until almost eight and then home with my girlfriend,” I answered.
“Can anyone verify this?”
“Security cameras at the resort, my car GPS, and the security cameras at my house.”
Officer Boden scowled, his eyes cutting to the agent next to him.
The agent didn’t look fazed by my tripled-up alibi. “But you’re a man with money, correct? You come from an esteemed family and have a trust fund, yet you work a demanding job you don’t even need. Is telling people they’ll be charged with trespassing really that satisfying to you?”
Wes wasn’t amused at the waste of time. “Jesus appeared to him on a piece of toast and said it was his calling in life. What does it matter?”
“Because he has the means to pay someone to do his dirty work.”
Never. That’s my favorite part and the whole reason I deal with the rest of it.
“So coming from money is a crime now?” Wes asked.
“He also has connections.”
“Also not a crime.”
“It is if he utilized those connections and money to arrange the murder of his girlfriend’s estranged mother.”
“It’s also a crime if he rides a camel on the highway. Or hula hoops on Freemont St. If we’re going to sit here listing off all the hypothetical crimes my client could commit, I’m going to need a coffee.”
The agent’s focus went to me. “Did you spend some time in your basement while you were at Moonlight last night?”
That time, my gut didn’t prickle.
It tightened with anger because there was no way that was a coincidence.
Must be cheese around because I smell a rat.
Officer Boden looked like he was fighting not to roll his eyes as he shared, “Every casino in this city has a room like that.”
“What goes on down there?” the agent pushed.
“Laundry,” Wes said.
“What I find myself wondering is, if you’re willing to rough up people for cheating or not paying their loans or what have you, then what would you do to the woman who cost you fifty grand?”
That’s it. That’s where I’ve seen him before.
The gate guard who was way too chipper.
Clearly, he’s good at his undercover act because he’s a miserable asshole in real life.
“Which is it? Is he outsourcing the violence with his money and connections or is he a Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robot punching machine? Since there doesn’t seem to be any facts or that pesky little thing known as proof attached to any of this, my client and I are leaving.” Wes stood and I followed his lead.
Agent Nash kept talking. “It must’ve made you pretty ticked that you dropped that much money, just for Veronica to run right back to Abraham.”
Caught off guard, I couldn’t hide my surprise at that.
That dumb bitch got two steps from the end of the maze just to turn back instead.
The agent’s gotcha smirk dropped at my genuine reaction. “You didn’t know.”
“I didn’t, but I also don’t care. I didn’t pay the money for her.”
He ran a palm down his face. “Start at the beginning.”
After getting the okay from Wes, I kept it succinct. “Veronica told my girlfriend she owed someone. To keep Veronica’s bullshit away from my girlfriend, I paid it.”
“That’s a lot of cash to drop because of a woman.”
“Then you haven’t met a woman like mine.”
“Have you been back to Eternal Sun since then?”
“No. That was the end of my interaction with Veronica and that place until Veronica showed up to ask her daughter for money or a plane ticket.”
“Why?”
“No idea.”
“Did she say anything about Eternal Sun?”
“That Abraham was dangerous.”
“Nothing about any upcoming plans?”
“Not a thing.”
“Fuck.” Agent Nash looked ready to throw the table through the wall. “Nearly a year under for nothing. Think hard. They closed ranks and cut out anyone not in the inner circle. There has to be a reason.”
The fact I was sitting there was proof that someone was bad at their job, but I helpfully spelled that out, too. “I went there, paid the money, and left in a hurry because that place fucking creeped me out. I had the displeasure of talking to Veronica a grand total of three times. And they were short conversations. Whoever connected those three dots?—”
“Four dots,” he cut in. “There’s also the Moonlight employee with connections to Eternal Sun.”
“Which one?” I asked because that was news to me.
He remained tightlipped.
“Fine. Whoever connected those four dots and thought they had some conspiracy because I’m a guy with money and connections must’ve had a lot of yarn because they’re so spaced out, they’re on different corkboards.”
“How’d Abraham react when you paid the debt?”
“Like he was happy to be done with Veronica.”
The agent shook his head. “He wasn’t. He’s been obsessed with her since she dared leave. He didn’t give a shit about the money other than it fuels his organization, and he’s a power-hungry bastard.”
So long as it didn’t touch my circle, I didn’t give a damn about that, either. “Am I good to go now?”
“Yes,” Officer Boden said.
Wes and I were nearly to the door when Agent Nash called, “One last thing.”
I turned around.
“If you have such an amazing woman who you’re willing to spend such exorbitant amounts of money on… Why was she seen running away from you at your work?”
I whispered to consult with my lawyer. Once I got the okay, I shared, “It’s a kink thing.”
And then I left to go take care of my woman.
“She good?” I asked as soon as I climbed from Wes’ car to meet Cole on the sidewalk outside of Moonlight.
“Freaked, but good,” Cole said.
After I’d gotten picked up by the cops, Maximo had been on his way to get Mila when she’d texted about her own interaction with a cop and an FBI agent. As much as I’d dreaded breaking the news about Veronica, I still should’ve been the one to do it. To be there for her.
To take care of her.
I just wasn’t sure she’d want me to.
She had to know I hadn’t been the one to physically kill her mother since we’d been watching TV together at that time. But like Agent Nash, she could easily assume I had someone do it for me—like Marco, Cole, or even Maximo.
Men who’d already helped kill for her.
“Trust me, man,” Cole said, reading my disbelief. “She’s just worried about you. I’m pretty sure she’s up in Maximo and Juliet’s penthouse, baking you a cake with a file in it.”
I would feel a lot better once I saw her for myself. But before I could do that, we had to attend to a time-sensitive matter.
Cole and I headed up to Maximo’s office to find the three of them already waiting.
When I’d threatened Veronica, the only people who should’ve been able to hear were Mila and Veronica herself. Since she was dead, that kind of crossed her off the list. My woman would never turn on me, so that left the next closest person.
“I had an interesting afternoon, Elliot.”
To his credit, he didn’t play dumb. Standing tall like he had the day before, he waited for his punishment.
Only that time, Mila wasn’t there to help the FBI rat.
“I need to explain,” he said.
“I’m all ears.”
“The first day I watched Mila, there was already an FBI agent here watching you. They saw her run away from you. When I got off shift, two agents were waiting at my house. They said they were investigating a big case involving kidnapping, false imprisonment, and other awful crimes. They thought Mila was underage, but even once they cleared that up, they believed she was here against her will. Since I’d been guarding her, they asked me to be an informant.”
“And you jumped at the chance to do your civic duty?”
“No, I said no. But they kept pushing. They threatened to make my life harder. They said if there was nothing bad happening, then it didn’t matter that I was informing. But if there was something bad, and one of you committed a crime, I would be charged, too. I still didn’t tell them anything because there was nothing to tell.”
“Except about The Basement.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Except that. Agent Nash kept pushing me to get incriminating information, and I slipped and mentioned anything bad would probably be down there. He wouldn’t let it go.”
Not the brightest…
If it was up to me, Elliot would be leaving with a broken nose at a minimum because Mila was going to be so disappointed in his betrayal. But with his FBI BFFs, it wasn’t a good idea.
The Basement would be out of order for a while, too.
At least for the major stuff.
My gaze moved to Maximo, and he lifted his chin, giving the okay.
“You’re fired, Elliot,” I said. “Once it gets out that you’re a rat, no one else will hire you. And it will get out because I’m going to spread that message far and wide.”
He nodded. “Please tell Mila that I’m sorry.”
“Wait.” I thought back to what the agent had said. “What do you know about Eternal Sun?”
“Nothing. I don’t even know what that is.”
I studied him for a moment before giving a single nod.
“Let’s go.” Marco glared daggers that Elliot pretended not to see.
Once they were gone, I quickly filled Cole and Maximo in on the entire day, including the bad feeling Eternal Sun left in my gut.
“They didn’t mention who the employee with the connection is?” Maximo asked.
“No. I assumed it was Elliot.”
Cole looked anxious to park his ass in front of his computers. “I’ll dig in.”
We talked for a few minutes more before I couldn’t take it any longer. I needed to get my woman.
Heading up to Maximo’s penthouse, I prepared for tears. For hesitancy. For her to be pulled into herself like before.
But the moment I stepped off the elevator, Mila launched herself at me—and not in an attempt to punch my dick again. If I hadn’t lifted her, I was pretty sure she would’ve climbed me like a tree.
Thank fucking hell.
The tightness that’d bunched my shoulders and the acid that’d burned in my gut both instantly lessened the second I had her in my arms.
I cupped the back of her head. “Hey, sunshine.”
“Daddy,” she breathed, clutching me tight. “Tell me everything.”
“When we get to our place.”
“You better mean here because there is no way I can make it all the way home.”
“Here it is.”
With a quick goodbye to Juliet, Mila and I got on the elevator. As soon as we stepped out into the penthouse, she repeated her order. “Tell me everything.”
“Camila, baby, you gotta know, I had nothing to?—”
She waved away my assertion. “I know that.”
I was sure as shit glad to hear it, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t shocking. “You do?”
“You wouldn’t physically hurt a woman.” A small smile curved her mouth. “Not in that way, and not anyone but me. But that still doesn’t explain what happened.”
Before I could give her the rundown of the meeting at the station, I had to backtrack to fill her in on Eternal Sun. Like my initial assumption, she’d guessed her mother was indebted to a wannabe mobster or shot caller. A cult leader was a curveball she hadn’t seen coming. Even though she hadn’t known about her mother’s involvement with the organization, she wasn’t surprised.
Apparently, Veronica had always been a magnet for an assortment of different fuckery.
When I was done, I gathered Mila closer on my lap and kissed her forehead. “How’re you really doing?”
“I feel awful,” she admitted. “After everything yesterday…”
“I know. A lot of shit was said and?—”
“No, not that. I stand by everything I said. I’m actually really relieved I had the chance to say it all, which makes me feel guilty. And then I feel worse for not feeling sad. I’m just left with the same vague sadness someone might feel when they hear a stranger died. But that’s it. Does that make me the worst person?”
“No, baby. I think that’s normal.”
“I still feel guilty.”
“What can I do?”
“Would it be awful if we just acted like it’s a normal day?”
I squeezed her ass. “Even if that means a punishment?”
She shot me a stern look. “I’m not the one who earned one for lying.”
“You’re not spanking Daddy.”
She laughed. “Nope, your punishment is the infamous lobster story. You owe me that much.”
At her sweet laughter, I would’ve given her the world.
I could give her my shame instead.
Pulling my phone out, I shot off a text to Cole.
He responded instantly, like he’d had the message sitting in his drafts.
Cole: One video
I handed it to Mila. “Press play.”
She watched the phone, and I watched her. Her brows were lowered as she squinted at the footage of an empty restaurant. A moment later, she squealed with delight when three dozen lobsters scuttled into the frame. And then she threw her head back and laughed as I drunkenly stumbled onto the screen wearing a tablecloth like a toga.
“I was Poseidon, freeing the sea creatures.”
“Of course,” she gasped through more laughter. “This is way better than the bourbon phone.”
For the rest of the night, I gave her what she wanted by treating it like any other day. We watched TV. She rode my face before she rode my dick. And when we went to sleep that night with my body around hers and both of her hands bound together in a prayer tie, I waited.
For her tears.
Her anger.
Her nightmares.
But they never came.