Hell Is Burning (47 page)

“He’s part of our circle, right?”

He nodded. “Of course he is. He’s family.”

“Then he’s a target too. Not only from this asshole tagging you, but also Marianna. He’s calm now, but who knows what’s going to happen in the near future. I don’t think the mob boss is going to take us running ‘his’ city lightly.”

Greyson stared at her.

“He could make a move on him. Here, he’s a sitting duck. We have to take care of it. We need to be proactive and cover all our bases. I don’t want to bury any more people, Grey. I don’t have it in me.”

Still, he didn't say anything.

“Please, Grey? What’s the point of having all this money, if we can’t share it with the people we love?”

“I’ll handle it, but if he protests, that’s on you. I like banging my head against a brick wall as much as the next guy, but your captain is as stubborn as a mule. If he’s anything like I think he is, this is going to be a point of contention.”

Emma knew she could handle it.

She and Chris worked well together, and there was a direct line to his sensibility. “Can you make it happen by tonight, or is that asking way too much?”

He laughed. “Emma, I’m not a freaking miracle worker. It takes time to buy a place, even if you have more money than God.”

“If you pull it off, there’s really hot, raunchy sex in our secret room. I mean full-blown, ‘tie me up and get your Croft on’, sex.”

“And if I can’t?”

“I like getting dirty with my husband, so you get it regardless, but by helping me, you have the satisfaction of knowing we might have saved his life.”

Okay, he liked those odds, and he really did like the man she served under. Chris Ford was a decent guy.

“I’ll try.”

“What was that?” she teased.

“I said, I’ll make it happen.”

“There’s that sexy man I have complete faith in when it comes to short deadlines.”

“You drive. I have some calls to make.”

Emma gave him a kiss. “I knew I loved you.”

“Yeah, well be prepared to say it with lots and lots of kink.”

Oh, she’d come through, and her sexy husband was going to enjoy every second of it.

Chapter Fourteen

Saturday Morning

FBI Las Vegas

In the conference room, they were taking a short breakfast break, and it was well deserved. Paris and Tessa had been up most of the night working on linking the women together, and when they did sleep, it was on an uncomfortably small couch.

It was unpleasant, despite the fact they were together. Sleep was still a luxury to every Fed and cop, and they knew it.

As they ate out of foam containers, Mace wanted to get to know them better. Since Emma was his partner, and she often worked with this particular group of people, he wanted to fit in.

He genuinely liked them.

They weren’t phony, and they said what they meant. That was a big plus for him.

“How are you two doing?” he asked.

“With work or our personal lives?” Paris inquired.

“I was thinking we could shut down the work for a few minutes, so I was talking life outside the FBI.”

“We’re getting married tomorrow.”

Mace smiled. “Well congrats to you both. I hope you have a really great life together.”

“We do to. Have any advice?” Tessa asked.

“Yeah, don’t cheat on your husband,” Mace said laughing.

“Amen,” Curtis stated, eating a piece of toast. “That usually kills it.”

Tessa leaned in to kiss her fiancé. “It’s never going to happen. I’ve found my other half.”

Paris grinned. “Yeah, you have, Tessie, my sweet.”

If they weren’t his friends, Curtis would have rolled his eyes. Instead, he let their love reassure him. That could be out there for him.

He only had to be patient--unlike before.

“You two will be fine,” Curtis admitted. “You can see it in everything you do. It’s sweet.”

Tessa glanced over. She knew how painful that had to be for Curtis. “Thanks, partner.”

He ate more toast.

Mace focused on him, flipping his long braid over his shoulder. “So, Curtis, it’s been a rough one. How are you really doing?”

He shrugged.

Mace knew he’d need to give some information to get some, so he shared his own past. “My wife cheated on me too, only she didn't die. What she did was take my kids hundreds of miles away to marry some asshole who promised her a better life.”

Curtis stared at him. “That had to hurt.”

“Yeah, I lost my children, lost a marriage I thought was fine, and now I pay out half my paycheck each week in child support and can’t see my children.”

“That sucks.”

“Cops are tough people to marry.” He glanced over at Tessa and Paris. “You’re both in law enforcement, so you’ll have it easier. Look at the Crofts. They pull it off.”

Curtis didn't buy that. “Brynn was a cop. That went sideways real fast.”

He patted the man’s shoulder in sympathy.

“Can I ask you something?” Curtis trusted the Feds in the room, and because Mace was Emma’s partner, he had to be a good guy.

“Sure. Shoot.”

“Do you ever get over it?”

“The betrayal?”

“Yeah, it’s a bitch.”

“Honestly, it’s going to be with you a long time. When someone betrays you, it’s hard to let it go.”

Paris spoke up, “You’ll find a way past it, Curtis. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” He pointed to his wheel chair.

Tessa agreed. “She’s out there. Maybe Brynn wasn’t the one for you.”

He was beginning to believe that all the way to what was left of his heart. He kept picturing Katerina, and it wasn’t easy to focus.

Curtis glanced over at Mace, needing to know. “This is awkward, but how long until you were back in the game?”

Mace thought about it.

Curtis wasn’t sure what the man was going to say. What he wanted to do was admit that he’d been kissed, and it made him feel again.

But then he’d feel like a dick.

Brynn wasn’t even in a grave…

Then again, for once, it might be nice to be pursued, instead of doing the chasing.

“I think I started noticing the opposite sex again after a few weeks. I started dating about three months after my wife left. I might have started earlier, but I was focused on my kids. I really missed them. Her, well, I can live without.”

Curtis appreciated Mace being so forthright with him. This was exactly what he needed. This talk was helping him work around the obstacles Brynn had thrown up in his life.

“Why do you ask, Curtis?”

“No reason.”

He started to flush red.

“Hey, you can tell us anything,” Tessa stated. “We have your back. No one here wants to hurt you. We want to get you back on your feet. I like having you as my partner.”

Paris agreed. “I can do my job because I trust Tessie with you. I know you’ll have her back.”

He thought about it.

“Is it weird that I think I met someone?”

They thought about it.

“No,” they all said together.

Mace agreed. “We all heal differently. You might have been meant to meet her at this time. You know…so you can heal.”

“But Brynn…”

Mace put his hand on his shoulder. “I liked Brynn, but honestly, she wasn’t the woman for you, Curtis. You may have to realize that. She wanted the captain bars more than anything, and she was ruthless.”

Yeah he was well aware.

“If you think you met someone already, there’s your answer. Your heart is telling you what your brain isn't getting yet. Always listen to your gut.”

They all agreed.

“I really appreciate this,” he stated. While he was intrigued with Katerina, he wasn’t rushing into anything, and he was never getting shitfaced drunk around her.

That was for damn sure.

A tablet beeped.

“The data is coming in,” Paris said. “We need to get back on it. Emma and Greyson will be heading in soon, and they’re going to want everything we found.”

They all knew that was true. This late in the game, they didn't have time to screw around.

Not with the bosses.

That was just a dangerous thing to do.

       
         
* * *
  Croft & Croft  * * *

Body and Soul Gym

Eight A.M.

Sitting in their vehicle, Emma and Greyson watched the people stream into the gym. Apparently, this was prime time to work out--right before work.

Emma was taking pictures of people entering and exiting the building, in hopes that if her team found anything, they could cross compare them to the data.

She was hoping for a miracle at this point.

“I’m glad our house has a gym,” she stated, pointing at the throng of people.

“Yeah, I don’t like sharing my equipment. Gyms are dirtier than public bathrooms,” Greyson stated.

“Yeah, I work with dirty detectives. I was thinking about something far worse. I just don’t like my husband checking out all the little tartlets in skimpy workout gear.”

He laughed. “Baby, you’re my only tartlet.”

Emma started laughing. “I think that’s a compliment, but I’m not really sure. How do you want to do this?” she asked. “Do you want to be good cop or bad cop when we head in?”

Greyson leaned over to kiss her. When his large hand held her head in place, refusing to let her go, she had her answer.

“Bad cop it is.”

Emma hopped out from behind the wheel and met her husband as they crossed the parking lot. Some of the arriving people were staring, and she didn't doubt they knew why they were there.

How could they not?

The case was all over the damn news.

Inside, they met a man at the counter, and when they asked for the owner, he didn't put up a fight. In fact, he was more than happy to get her.

That put them on guard. No one was that helpful at this time of the morning.

After all, this was Vegas.

As they waited, Emma watched a redhead coming their way. It had to be the boss, because she was greeting everyone on her way there.

Yeah, and she looked like she didn't work out a day in her life. A plastic surgeon had been the one sweating up a storm when it came to her body.

Holding out her hand, she greeted them. “I’m Cara Piedmont. How can I help you?” she asked.

Emma noticed the fake smile didn't even slip. What did slip was that she was now ogling Greyson. While Emma got why it was happening, she didn't have to like it.

“We’re here to talk about the recent murders that have been on the news,” Emma stated, driving the interview.

“Oh, murders?”

She pointed up at the TV right above them replaying the crime scene from that morning. “Yeah, the murders.”

Greyson lifted a brow. Apparently, he wasn’t going to be the bad cop after all. Emma was already visibly irritated.

He was going to enjoy watching this go down.

“Yes, I remember now.”

Emma pushed on. “You had three women who worked out here die. What can you tell me about them?”

The woman hesitated. “I’m not really supposed to…” When she looked at Greyson, batting her eyelashes, Emma had just about enough.

“Oh, okay, well how about I arrest you on impeding an investigation? Then you can sit in the tank with the killers, rapists, and hookers until you feel like talking. Maybe that will shake loose your willingness to help a girl out.”

Greyson wanted to smile. He loved watching his wife work.

“I didn't mean…”

“Shirley Golden was the first victim. Spill everything you know, or I’ll be seeing you at the LVPD, and I’ll shut this place down for weeks.”

That was what got her.

“She was a loner. Honestly, she wasn’t into the
‘Soul’
part of the business. She and her partner, I believe she was a lesbian, liked to lift weights. They’d come in almost every night and keep to themselves. She didn't take any classes here.”

“Was anyone bothering her?”

The woman shook her head. “Are you kidding me? Her girlfriend could kick half the men’s asses in this place. No one even said boo to her.”

Well, that was good to know.

Cara focused on Greyson. “Do you work out?”

He wasn’t sure where this was going, but he opted to be the good cop. “I do, yes.”

“I can tell.”

It was when she touched his arm that Emma nearly grabbed her head and beat it off the wall. This floosy reminded her of Lana Dumas, and how she’d try to break Emma by flirting with Greyson right in front of her.

Before he could say anything, Emma was handling it. “Know what I can tell?”

Cara glanced over at her. “What?”

“That you have no self-preservation. All of Vegas knows who his wife is,” she began, pointing at herself, “and few have the guts to flirt with him while his wife is standing right here. Want to know why?”

The woman watched her.

Emma pulled back her blazer and showed the woman her gun. “I haven’t slept in days, I'm wading around in dead women, and I have an attitude problem when women try to get into his boxers. You better hope I don’t accidentally discharge my weapon into your silicone laden body. It might cause a toxic spill.”

She closed her mouth.

“The last woman that hit on him ended up in the morgue.” Granted, she didn't kill Lana Dumas, but this woman didn't need to know that.

Greyson winked at his wife.

“Now, how about you tell me about the other two women? I know he’s a distraction in all his rich glory, but I’m sure you can muster a few minutes without drooling on his arm.”

“Um...okay.”

Emma continued, “Blanca Reilly.”

“Oh, she was a winner. We had nothing but issues with her while she was a member. I personally refunded her membership fees, and asked her to leave my establishment.”

That was news to them. Granted, they knew she didn't go there anymore, and they’d tracked her refund, but the issues part was a possible lead. “Why?”

“She was always flirting with the male patrons.”

Emma laughed. “Yeah, I haven’t seen that yet today. It seems so odd.”

The woman bristled, but didn't say anything in her defense. “She was causing a commotion with a man named Fred Dyson.”

Greyson transmitted the name back to Curtis so he could begin running him.