Conned (23 page)

"I love you," he said softly.

The sting in the back of her eyes warned her that she was
losing control and needed to go. Hearing those words from him meant more than
he could ever know. It would get her through whatever hell she had to go
through. She couldn't let him leave without telling him one last time.

"I love you, too." Rayce shifted beside her and
she scrambled for something to say to make him go away. "But it's not
enough. Not now."

He closed his eyes and kissed her hand once more before
releasing it and taking a step back. She kept her eyes on his again, hoping he
would be able to see how much she didn't mean those last words. Hoping he would
understand.

"I guess I'll see you later then." He winked,
contradicting the grim moment.

She stood straighter and nodded at him before quickly
shutting the door in his face. Rayce pulled her away from the door and slid the
deadbolt in place. He listened for a moment until the sound of footsteps faded
down the hall.

"Wasn't that romantic. Now let's go." He lowered
the gun and herded her back toward the bedrooms. "Get what you can carry.
I've got to make a plan."

They passed Givens, who was now unconscious, but his chest
was slowly rising and falling. Shaw was still out cold and Emily saw a trickle
of blood running down the side of the woman's face and assumed Rayce had hit
her over the head with his gun. She would be fine.

Givens wouldn't.

She had to find a way to get him some help before it became
impossible.

They were just reaching her bedroom when the front door
rattled with a loud knock.

"Jesus, what the fuck is wrong with these people?"
Rayce grumbled. "Get rid of him for good this time, or I will."

She hurried back to the door and he slid back in place
behind it. It was Conall again and she wanted to scream for his help, but she
kept her expression neutral.

"I forgot to tell you something," he said
immediately and she opened the door a little wider. Once her entire frame was
clear of the door, he reached for her arm and yanked her toward him at the same
time he kicked the door back into Rayce. The gun went off and she heard a grunt
on the other side as the weapon clattered to the floor.

Conall retrieved his gun from his shoulder holster and held
it out in front of him as he pushed through the doorway and turned to face her
brother. He kicked the gun out of Rayce's reach and she heard her brother
curse.

"You son of a bitch," Conall said dangerously.
"She's your sister!"

There was a short chuckle before he replied, "She's
obviously worthless."

Conall's jaw ticked as he stared her brother down and his
blue eyes flickered with resolve. "Not to me."

"How very touching," Rayce sneered.

She was still out in the hall, but she could see enough of
what was going on to know that it was over. Rayce couldn't get out of this, not
unless he wanted to get shot and by the look on Conall's face, he would shoot
him if he had to.

"Put your hands behind your head or I swear to God I'll
shoot you in the leg for good measure."

"Ha!"

Conall lunged forward and gripped the collar of Rayce's
shirt, easily lifting him off the ground before slamming him into the open
door. "Listen you little piece of shit. The only thing keeping me from
killing you right now is your sister over there. You're lucky to have her and
it's a damn shame you were such a lousy brother. But she's mine now and I won't
tolerate anyone fucking with her anymore."

Rayce didn't give any kind of response and the cold of his
eyes never changed.

He
was
completely gone and she finally accepted it.

"You're under arrest for the murder of Officer Greg
Daniels and you better pray these two deputies in here stay alive or I promise
you a lifetime of misery in the prison you'll be staying in. Courtesy of Lucien
Ripley who now knows you framed his brother."

The smugness that Rayce had held onto this whole time fell
and fear replaced it.

"That's right, Rayce Dawson. He's not going to help
you. Too bad I got to you first, huh?" He pulled her brother's arms behind
his back and cuffed him.

In the next moment, several officers came running down the
hall toward her, guns raised and ready for action. They pulled her aside and
rushed in. Conall disappeared in the next moment, probably to check on Givens
and she got lost in the mix.

An officer introduced himself, which she barely paid
attention to, and escorted her down the stairs of the complex and out the front
door where several police cars waited with an ambulance. She had no idea how
they had gotten there so fast, but it was the last thing that mattered to her.

Her brother was a murderer.

She had no more family.

She was alone.

A paramedic quickly checked her over, ignoring her protests
that she was just fine and nothing had happened to her. When he was satisfied
she didn't need to go to the hospital, the officer who escorted her down, lead
her to a police cruiser and helped her into the back seat.

She watched the front of the apartment, waiting to see some
sign of Conall. An hour passed and within that time, both Givens and Shaw were
each taken away in an ambulance and countless officers filed in and out.
Tenants rushed outside to see what was going on and several stayed in their
apartments, but were practically hanging out the windows to get a good look.

She didn't see Conall and the reason finally hit her. The
whole thing was a show. Just like it had been back with his family. That
explained why he already had back up and why she was hidden in a police car.

Why he hadn't come out to see her.

She sunk back into the seat and closed her eyes.
It's all
over
, she thought with a sigh, part relief and part sorrow.

"You're alone, Em," she whispered to herself.
"It doesn't mean your life is over, though. Take it back."

Minutes later, that same officer slid into the front seat
and without glancing back at her, drove away from the scene.

"Where are we going?"

His eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror before going back
to the road, "The station. You need to give a statement and Miller needs
to figure out what to do with you."

"And my brother?"

"Brannock took him already, went out the back, said he
didn't want you to have to see him again if he could help it."

So he was still taking care of her. She felt suddenly angry
at that. He had no right, she didn't deserve it.

"He was pretty concerned about you, but his hands were
full. Told me to keep an eye on you."

And just like that, the anger was gone. It didn't matter if
he didn't want her anymore, he still cared. She'd made her choices, now she was
going to live with them. She could do that. She could get through whatever the
hell life threw at her.

The officer went on, "Givens is in critical condition,
but I think he'll come out of it okay. Shaw was moving around a bit, but she'll
probably have a concussion. You on the other hand, are lucky. Your brother
didn't seem to want to give up fighting, kept making threats against you.
Brannock put him in his place, though."

"What?"

"Oh, I didn't see it, but Dawson shut up pretty quick
afterwards."

She could only imagine.

***

Conall

"Did you really have to hit him, Brannock?"
Captain Miller asked with a grin.

The two of us were watching Rayce Dawson get questioned from
the opposite side of the glass. The kid had quite the shiner and his eye was
almost completely swollen shut. Rayce had started flapping his mouth about
Emily again and my fist somehow found a soft spot to land, right over his eye.

"I don't know what you're talking about?" I
grinned back.

Miller rolled his eyes and listened as the officers casually
asked about his eye.

Rayce looked pale and his good eye darted back and forth
from the glass to the officers in front of him. The same green as Emily's, but
duller. Angrier.

"Um, nothing happened. It was my fault. I, um, ran into
something."

"Mmhmm. Are you sure about that?" the detective
asked and glanced over at the glass with a smirk.

"Yes, I'm sure," Rayce replied.

Miller chuckled beside me, "The kid is scared to death.
What the hell did you say to him?"

I frowned as I watched Rayce stand and allow the detectives
to cuff him once more. "Nothing he didn't already know."

I only informed him that Lucien wanted to speak with him
before he went off to prison, but the only way he could do that was if I
arranged it for him. Rayce was smart enough to realize that I would do just
that if he didn't cooperate. The kid may have lost his mind, all of his morals,
but he wasn't blind to the consequences.

Lucien wasn't going to be happy, but he had other means of
getting revenge on the kid. He was going to prison after all and a good portion
of the guys in there were loyal to Ripley.

I tried not to think about it, but I knew eventually I would
talk Lucien into taking it easy with him. He
was
Emily's brother, even
if he wasn't the same boy she raised and I got the feeling that Lucien had a
thing for Emily from the very beginning. He watched her for a long time, how
could he not?

"About Ms. Dawson," Miller mentioned casually.
"You do know she's going to be incarcerated, right?"

I nodded. Yeah, I knew that, but I already had a plan in
motion. No one was going to really care if she was manipulated into lying. With
Rayce's cooperation, however, she had a good chance of catching a break. That
and a new found friend happened to know the judge who would be doing the
sentencing. The only problem was that in order to keep me from being connected,
I had to keep my distance from Emily. From all of it.

"You've already risked your job," Lucien said.
"Leave it to me and just be ready to get her back when the time comes,
yeah?"

If I hadn't known about Ripley's history already, I would
have never thought the man was capable of the crimes he'd committed. He sure
did like a happy ending and I knew without a doubt, every woman in the world
would envy the one who caught him. As long as she could turn her head from his
past. He was a good guy deep down and Conall was glad that he got the chance to
speak with him.

"I'm getting tired," Lucien had said. "Think
I'd rather just own a bunch of hotels and call it quits."

"Why don't you?"

He sighed, "Too many enemies."

I asked to be pulled off the Ripley investigation the minute
I contacted Miller after I left Jack's Pub and my surprising meeting with
Lucien. He didn't question my motives and didn't hesitate when I arranged for
back up to be sent to Emily's new apartment. He'd already gotten word that
Rayce had been seen in Oakland early that morning and had boarded a plane back
to Denver.

Luke and Ash called to let me know they had spotted him
outside the apartment that was still in my name. He'd made the connection and
had come running.

I knew he was going to find her without the help of her
calling him this time. I had just hoped I could get to her before he did, but
I'd been a few minutes too late. If it hadn't been for the way her fingers
clutched at the hem of her shirt, I would have never known something was
seriously wrong. I wouldn't have left the building, but he would have had her
alone in there and judging by the reaction he had to finding out he was
screwed, it wouldn't have gone well.

"She's in five right now, if you want to talk to
her," Miller shrugged and walked right passed me. I didn't realize we had
been staring into an empty room for the last few minutes. I was lost in my
thoughts.

The door clicked shut and I debated on going to see her. I
meant every word that I had said at the apartment and it killed me to not go to
her once everything had calmed down. I snuck out the back door with her brother
and another officer like a coward, but it was all part of the deal.

I walked out of the room and down the hall to Interrogation
Room #5. I stood there staring at the door. Something I seemed to be doing a
lot in the last few months. Staring at the door that separated me and Emily.
The only barrier I had to pass to get to her.

People passed behind me, back and forth, going about their
business. Voices shouted, others whispered, the phones ringing in dispatch
sounded faint, but I could still hear them on occasion. All the while, I just
stood there. Staring. My pulse racing. Sweat beading on my skin.

I moved my hand to the door knob, feeling the cold brass
under my fingers. Deep breath in, out.
I shouldn't be doing this.

The shrill ring of my phone made me jump back from the door
and bump into someone behind me.

"Ouch!"

I turned around and saw Julia Sheen bending over and rubbing
her shin. Apparently, I had bumped her back enough to trip over a chair sitting
on the other side of the hallway.

"Sorry, Jules."

"It's okay, just a bump." She stood up straight
and flashed me a wicked smile when she realized it was me. "How's it
going? You back home for good now?"

My phone started ringing again and I checked the display.
Ash had already called me ten times and I had told her I would call her when I
knew what was going on. I hadn't spoken to Emily yet, so I didn't know
everything
.
At least, that's the excuse I was giving myself. Mostly, I just didn't want to
hear my little sister lecture me again.

I silenced my phone and looked back at Jules. "Yeah, I
think so. Just wrapping up a few things."

"Great. That's good news. This whole case has been a
total bummer. You need a break," she said and fluttered her eyelashes at
me.

I rolled my eyes and vaguely heard the sound of a door
opening, but Jules latched onto my arm and pressed against my side. Before I
could push her away, she tilted up on her toes and whispered in my ear,
"Let's go for a drink. You look tense."