Risk It All (Risqué #2) (23 page)

‘Rafe’s dead,’ Blaser said, knowing that the slow way Colt lifted his head wasn’t good. ‘It happened day before yesterday.’

‘How?’

‘I don’t know,’ Blaser said. ‘Didn’t ask. They want me to go to the station for questioning.’

‘You’re going to be honest, right?’

Scanning around to make sure they weren’t overheard Blaser lowered his voice. ‘If I tell them everything, about how I got that money to Rafe, they’ll put me away again. And it means ratting out Dax and his contacts, they’re not the kind of guys you fuck about with. They’d gut a guy and sell the dismembered pieces to the highest bidder.’

‘Maybe you should’ve thought about that before—‘

‘Yeah. Yeah. There’s the self-righteous Colt we all know and love,’ Blaser said. ‘I didn’t kill him. Why would I bother getting that money together if I was just going to slit the guy open?’

‘Day before yesterday?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Can you account for the full day?’

‘I got up, went to the club, then Dax and I paid Rafe a visit, we paid him his money and we left. That was it. He was alive when we left.’

‘Then what?’ Colt asked, angling his back to the corner wall of the apartment building.

‘I went to the garage for a while, came home to shower and then I took Bri to Lyssa’s, they had a session. From there I came to you at the club.’

‘Lys and I can back you up on that and Bri will—‘

‘Yeah, Bri will tell Hoburn that, but after we came back here… Gary came to visit, he threatened me and Dax took him out.’

‘Took him out?’ Colt asked. ‘What does that mean?’

‘Not murdered him if that’s what you think. Gary was pointing a gun at me, Dax made him drop it.’

‘A gun?’ Colt asked.

Activity near the apartment door made both of them turn to watch. Something was carried out of the building and taken to a vehicle, then Hoburn came out and split away from the group to come toward them.

‘You ready?’ Hoburn asked Blaser. ‘I can give you a ride down there.’

‘Are you arresting him?’ Colt asked.

‘Not yet,’ Hoburn said. ‘But unless what we just found checks out…’

‘What did you find?

‘Did you petition for the right to own firearms?’ Hoburn asked Blaser. ‘Despite your convictions being non-violent—‘

‘You have a gun?’ Colt asked. ‘What the hell do you need a gun for?’

‘I don’t… Shit.’ He did have a gun in his apartment, but it wasn’t his. The gun that was in his apartment had been left by Gary.

‘I’m pretty sure that what we found in your bedroom was a firearm. And the slug in the kitchen…?’

Rubbing his mouth, the prickle of foreboding sent adrenaline to his heart. ‘I’ve never fired that gun, you can test my hands, my clothes, there’s no residue—‘

‘Is this where you took the bullet that you claim didn’t exist?’ Hoburn asked.

Blaser had been shot weeks ago, before Gary was taken into custody, and that had happened nowhere near here. But letting the cop believe that he had been shot was better than letting him think that Blaser had been the one to do the shooting.

‘No one was shot here,’ Blaser said. ‘The gun went off by accident and I took it away from a friend so that he wouldn’t hurt anyone.’

‘What friend?’ Hoburn asked.

Blaser sealed his lips and the hope in the cop’s eyes became suspicion. If he gave Gary up, then there was a chance Gary would go back to jail and Bri might never forgive him for that.

‘Maybe I should talk to a lawyer,’ Blaser said.

‘Maybe you should,’ Hoburn agreed. ‘If I check the ballistics of that weapon against the bullet taken from the victim, what am I going to find?’

Gary was out of prison because of Mattie’s hotshot lawyer, but Blaser knew nothing about his movements before he came into Blaser’s apartment waving that gun around. Since then, Gary had stayed away, from him at least. He had been so preoccupied with his own issues that he hadn’t checked in with Bri, so it was possible that she had heard from her brother.

‘I have to get back to the club,’ Blaser said and took a step toward his truck, but Colt’s arm came up to block his chest preventing further movement.

‘You have to come to the station to answer my questions,’ Hoburn said.

‘You said that you weren’t arresting him,’ Colt said. ‘He has the right to an attorney either way and it’s unlikely his attorney will be available at this time of the morning.’

‘It doesn’t look good if he refuses to come to the station and talk,’ Hoburn said.

‘We know how it looks,’ Colt said. ‘But you know he’s not a flight risk. You’re not arresting him because you want to wait until the ballistics are back, after that, if they match you can get an arrest warrant without a hitch. Right now, you have nothing except circumstantial evidence.’

‘We have the word of two witnesses.’

‘Witnesses who have little credibility,’ Colt said. First bringing his arm up between them, Colt put his own body between Blaser and the detective.

‘How do you know—‘

‘Because if they were upstanding members of society you wouldn’t have bothered with the search warrant until after you obtained the arrest warrant… You don’t trust the witnesses, but you do know my family. Blaser was with Lyssa the day before yesterday and he was with me. You’ll also be able to check out the club cameras to see that he was there.’

‘You’re saying he’s innocent,’ Hoburn said.

‘Yeah, I am.’

‘As a brother or a former detective?’

‘Both. My brother isn’t going to fuck up everything he worked for just to wipe out some street scum. It doesn’t make sense, and you don’t think so either.’

‘I know that he’s been framed before,’ Hoburn said. ‘I know that the raid on the club was bogus and that there’s a history of people trying to get him into trouble.’

‘Which this could be another example of,’ Colt said. ‘If Blase was going to start murdering people then he wouldn’t start with that piece of shit. He’s never been violent, check out his rap sheet.’

‘I have.’

‘Then you know he’s been straight since he got out of prison. You’ve worked with him. You know he’s not the type to go around shooting people.’

‘And in your experience at the precinct, does every criminal seem like the type?’

Colt drew in a breath. ‘He’ll come to the station, tomorrow morning, with a lawyer and he’ll answer all of your questions… gives you time to gather more facts.’

Blaser knew that Colt was using a favour for him. Hoburn and Colt had history and it wasn’t all positive, they’d reached a tentative truce recently, and after this Colt would owe the detective in charge.

‘Fine,’ Hoburn said. ‘But stay in touch. I’ll be asking questions.’

Hoburn left the brothers and Colt wasted no time in turning to Blaser. ‘Get back to the club, tell Bri what is going on and talk to Dax, we have to know if he’s with us or not.’

‘Ok.’

‘I’m going to do some digging on my own.’

Colt turned to leave, but Blaser caught his shoulder. ‘Thanks.’

‘You’re my brother,’ Colt said. ‘Where else would I be?’

‘You could be warm in bed with your sexy as sin fiancée right now instead of out here in the cold cleaning up my mess.’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Colt said, offering a smile. ‘She’s ovulating next weekend. If you get yourself in trouble then, you’ll be on your own.’

Despite the drama Blaser had to smile at his brother, yes, Colt was concerned for the outcome here, but the happiness he exuded just talking about Lyssa lightened the load for a few seconds. Too soon Blaser had to shake off that contentment and the envy he had toward Colt for the security he had with Lyssa. He vowed to himself that as soon as this was all cleared up he was going to find that same stability with his girl.

The bouncers were just throwing out the last of the patrons when he got back to the club. Going in through the back, he passed the dancers at the rear exit, but he didn’t speak to any of them even when they called out to him.

When he stuck his head into the locker room, Crystal and Destiny were the only two people present. ‘Where have you been?’ Crystal asked him.

‘Where’s Bri?’ he asked, ignoring her question.

‘Out front, but—‘

There was no time for explanations, he had to get to Bri. Hoburn or another detective could come for him at any minute. With the witnesses and a gun showing up on his property they had enough probable cause.

Hoburn had only been decent enough to let him go because he had history with Colt and Lyssa too, but even he wouldn’t be able to stop the arrest if a judge felt that his alibi was insufficient. The witnesses had said they saw Blaser threaten Rafe, not kill him, that’s what Hoburn had said. The detective would be wise enough to know that was flimsy, circumstantial evidence which wouldn’t be enough for a conviction if they ended up at trial; especially if the ballistics of the gun found on his property didn’t match the murder weapon.

The waitresses took on the roles of cleaners after their shifts and with all the lights on they were sweeping up and clearing glasses. Interrupting the collegial banter, he took the brush from Bri, propped it on the bar and threaded his fingers through hers to pull her away from her work.

‘What’s going on?’ she asked as they went through the backstage door. ‘You were here then you disappeared with Crystal. She came back, but you didn’t. Where have you been?’

Storming into the office he closed the office door then held her against it.

‘Blase—‘

Bending his knees he stole her mouth, her plump lips gasped in a breath of surprise giving him the chance to dip his tongue inside her, past her teeth he licked and tasted every crevice of what he could be stolen from.

If he had needed further confirmation that he didn’t want to go back to jail then tonight was it. This kiss was his incentive, this woman his reward for being good. With his eyes still closed he forced himself to release her mouth but couldn’t separate his body from hers.

‘Rafe’s dead,’ he said and her pliable body became rigid. ‘The cops searched my place and they found Gary’s gun.’

‘Oh my god,’ she said. Although she increased pressure on his chest, he didn’t give her more than a couple of inches of room. ‘You’re a felon, you shouldn’t have a gun at all, should you? Did you tell them that it wasn’t yours?’

‘I said it belonged to a friend and the detective in charge of Rafe’s case is checking the ballistics.’

‘Rafe,’ she said and her gaze flitted around his chest. ‘How did he die?’

‘I guess he was shot,’ Blaser said. ‘Colt might be able to get more information.’

‘Will he be awake now? Won’t he be pissed if—‘

‘The cops took my place apart, Suzette called Lyssa, Colt got to my place not long after I did. He’s on the case, he’ll see what Chavez can glean from others.’

Chavez was a cop and another of the Warner cousins, Colt still had plenty of sway. ‘What will he find out? I mean, what does it matter? He knows that you didn’t do it, doesn’t he?’

‘Yeah, it helps that he and Lys can provide an alibi, except…’

‘What?’ she asked, curling her fingers into his tee-shirt.

‘There are witnesses who saw Dax and me there on the morning that Rafe died. He was alive when we left and I figure the witnesses said that or I would be behind bars right now.’

‘So they’re looking for Dax too?’

‘Hoburn didn’t ask me about him. Either the witnesses didn’t name him or the cops think he can’t be responsible, maybe they just can’t find him. I don’t know. I guess that will come up when I go to the station to answer their questions. Colt told Hoburn I’d go tomorrow with a lawyer. I think Hoburn wants more time for the forensics evidence to come back. After that, he’ll know if he’s got the murder weapon or not.’

‘You went over there, to Rafe’s, with Dax?’ she asked. ‘To give him the money from the fight night?’

‘What he was owed, yeah.’

Her face downturned and he resisted the urge to shake her or force her to look at him. Absorbing events still consumed him and the novelty of it had worn off. She needed to take in all of this information herself, and he had to give her some time to process it.

‘You could go back to prison,’ she whispered.

‘I didn’t do it. Why would I go to the trouble of having the fight night with Dax if I was just going to shoot the guy?’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said. ‘They could pin it on you and the only way you can argue what really happened is to admit that the fight night took place. You’ll go back to prison.’

‘I went to Rafe’s to give him money, they don’t need to know where that money came from. I won’t rat out Dax.’

‘And Gary?’ she asked. ‘You’ll have to tell the police what happened that afternoon in your apartment. It’s the only way to explain the gun.’ Her hands drifted to his abs. ‘Tell them it’s mine.’

‘Yours?’

‘Gary is my brother, I would’ve taken the gun away from him to protect him. People will probably have noticed that you and I have been spending time together.’

‘I’m not going to put any guilt onto you. None of this was your fault.’

‘It wasn’t yours either and I’m not suggesting I should take the blame for the murder. There’s no way that gun is the murder weapon.’

‘You don’t know where Gary got it from, it could be stolen, and maybe it was used in other crimes. You don’t take ownership of a weapon that you know nothing about.’

‘I’m not saying it’s mine. I’m saying that I took it from Gary and left it at my boyfriend’s home. That’s plausible.’

‘Plausible, yes, but the slug in the kitchen? Will you tell them that Gary was waving it around and that Dax took it away from him?’

Not knowing what was going through her head made his mind work in overtime. She eased him aside and wandered deeper into his office. Giving her time to absorb these developments, he remained by the door but had to put his hands into his jeans pockets otherwise he’d do some fidgeting of his own.

She slid her pinkie through the fingers of the other hand then used it to draw around them then go back. When indecision fled her, she dropped her hands and went for the door.

‘Where are you going?’

‘I’m glad that we… that we got the chance to be together again,’ she said.

‘I don’t like how that sounds,’ he said, intercepting her hand on its journey to the entrance handle.

‘I’m not saying goodbye. I just… I needed to let you know. Anything could break any minute and if they took you from me before I got the chance to…’ Smoothing her hands around his waist, she brought her form into the cocoon of his to hold him. ‘I love you, Blaser.’

‘Will you wait for me?’ he asked.

Startled, she brought her attention up to him. ‘What?’

‘If they put me away… If this all goes wrong and I end up doing time again… will you wait for me?’

‘You didn’t ask me that the last time.’

‘There wasn’t time and I was a different person back then. This time I’m asking.’

‘You won’t call me into visiting and dump me again, will you?’

‘I don’t want any other man to have you. I couldn’t stand to have you out here, on the market, for any guy to lay his hands on. You’re my girl, Bri… I need to know.’

‘I’ll wait,’ she said.

Seeing some of the uncertainty clear, her features relaxed and he brought his hands up to her face to guide their mouths together again.

‘What do you say we leave the scut work to the lackey’s tonight?’

She wasn’t tempted by his flirting. Bri left his embrace with a pat on his chest. ‘Another night,’ she said. ‘I have to get this straightened out. I’ll wait for you if I have to, but I’d rather not have to.’

‘What does that mean?’ he asked, snatching her hand again to prevent her exit. ‘I won’t let you go out of here alone.’

‘You don’t have a choice. Where I’m going, you’ll only make things worse.’

‘Make things worse? Where are you…?’

‘I’m going over to Gary’s,’ she said.

‘He’s going to convince you not to be with me,’ Blaser said. An ache of panic clambered up his spine and fumbled its way throughout his ribs. Right now they were all a little lost but one fact he knew with absolute clarity was that Gary didn’t want Bri anywhere near him.

‘He will try, just like he always does,’ she said. ‘But tonight’s visit isn’t about us.’

‘It’s three in the morning, he’ll be asleep.’

Dropping the door handle, she came back to him. ‘Every minute that we waste here is another minute that the police are investigating. The police might end up at Gary’s place. I have to talk to my brother while there’s time.’

‘If he had anything to do with this he’ll run.’

‘You don’t… do you think that he did this?’

‘No, I… I don’t know. You saw how desperate he was when he came into my apartment.’

‘Oh god,’ she paled. ‘He made a comment about taking care of Rafe and I corrected him.’

‘I’m sure he wouldn’t—‘

‘I don’t even know my own brother anymore. All those years I stayed away I only talked to him a handful of times and he never came to visit. Is it…? Is it possible that he…?’ Avoiding eye contact she went to the door and pressed both palms to the wood.

‘Gary’s a lot of things, but a murderer?’ Blaser asked unable to believe that his old friend would go that far. Though his erratic behaviour of late could be a symptom of a larger instability that Gary hadn’t faced in himself.

‘What if it was an accident?’ she asked. ‘Like with you, you said he shot you by mistake, maybe he was threatening Rafe and—‘

‘Maybe,’ Blaser said. ‘He could try and explain that to the cops.’ But Blaser knew the cops wouldn’t believe it, not with the way Gary’s rap sheet was laid out, especially of late.

‘Our father was violent with my mom. He’s in jail for murder… do you think…?’

‘I don’t know,’ Blaser said. ‘On purpose or an accident, it’s a possibility, so I don’t want you going over there alone. Take Dax if you won’t let me be there.’

‘He’s not our personal bodyguard. When I was outside your place with Ivy and the gun went off… I was terrified that something had happened to you, but Dax was in there because of us, if he had been shot… if Ivy had lost her husband…’

‘Lys is family, she patched me up great.’

Trying to lighten her burden wasn’t what she wanted now because she completely ignored his reassurance.

‘If he had been hit, Ivy would’ve been alone because of us. Gary has to know that his behaviour is damaging, or one day he will kill someone… if he hasn’t already.’ 

Blaser wanted to stop her, but Gary had never threatened her harm. If he went then a confrontation would ensue, it always did. So as she left the office he listened to her footsteps recede. Inhaling, he told himself to go back to his routine and he would, right after he called Colt for an update.