The Eligible Suspect (13 page)

Chapter 11

A
t 3:00 a.m. Savanna left the apartment building. She’d taken just enough cash from Korbin’s wallet to get to the hotel where she’d heard Macon was staying. It wasn’t difficult to find him with all of his recent fame.

Taking the elevator down to the lobby, she searched for any suspicious characters. Seeing none, she did the same in front of the building. Since getting a cab here might put Korbin at risk, she walked several blocks to a nearby hotel. A taxi was parked at the entrance. She went there and got in, telling him to take her to Macon’s hotel.

She had mixed feelings the entire way there. Relief. Depression. It was good and healthy for her to distance herself, but at the same time she couldn’t help wondering if they had the real thing. She hadn’t felt that powerfully making love with her fiancé or the lawyer. The swell of emotion was behind a wall she’d erected ever since deciding to leave.

Paying the driver, she entered the posh hotel, the nicest in Denver. At the front desk, she asked the attendant to ring Macon’s room. It amazed her that she’d gotten this far undetected.

“Tell him Savanna is here,” she instructed when the attendant got him to finally answer.

“He said to send you up.” The attendant gave her a card. “And to give you a key.”

“Thanks.” She took the card and rode the elevator to the top floor.

Warley waited outside the door. When he saw her, assured she was who she said she was, he went back to his room. Macon opened the door and took her into his arms.

“Savanna, thank God you’re here.” He took her inside. “I’ll get room service to brew some coffee.”

“No. Will you take me to Evergreen?” She needed seclusion. It would be her sanctuary. With any luck, no one would be there. She’d rather go home, but the security was better at the Evergreen mansion.

He put his hands on her shoulders and crouched a little, observing her closely. “What’s wrong? Are you all right?” Now he scanned her whole body. “Did he kidnap you like the news said? I didn’t think he did, but you look a wreck.”

“No. He didn’t. I don’t want to talk about it.” She moved away from him and deeper into the suite. The wall had crumbled some and she felt near tears. She clung to her strength. She’d gotten through this before, she could do it again. She should be good at this by now. Letting go and moving on.

He followed. “Okay. Where is he?”

“I left him.”

Moving around her, he angled his head to get another close look at her face. “Are you all right?”

She managed a nod. “I can’t talk about it. Will you take me to Evergreen?”

“Yeah. Sure. I’ll tell Warley to get everything ready.” He went to find his phone.

She listened to him give polite orders to his head of security.

Savanna lowered her head, besieged with the notion that she’d never see Korbin again. Or very likely never. She had to plan for that, anyway. Allowing herself to hope would not only be desperate, it would make her unhappy.
Keep
her unhappy—she was already unhappy. She sat on the sofa, fighting despair. What she and Korbin had was real. But she couldn’t have it. She’d lost again.

Macon came to her. “It’ll take about an hour.” He stood there watching her. “Do you need anything?”

She shook her head.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” He sat next to her and her wall fell away. Turning to him, she let go and cried.

* * *

Korbin woke to emptiness. He knew she was gone before he checked. He could feel it in the stillness and in his heart. Why had he let her go? Even his will to protect her had failed to prevent her from going. And now that she was gone, he felt a black hole gape inside him, light circling a deep, dark abyss. It was almost like losing his wife all over again. And that unsettled him. He struggled to picture her face. Only images of her bloody body after she was shot inundated him. But he could picture Savanna’s face as clearly as though she stood in the room. Why had he let her go? She’d dug the answer out of him.

Savanna was a fine woman. She’d make a fine companion for him. What was wrong with being with her? He did love his wife, and quite possibly always would—the memory of her. Maybe Savanna was right and he wasn’t ready to move on. He did feel a mess. Losing someone he loved in such a way would affect anyone like this, wouldn’t it? Life as usual wasn’t usual anymore. He was displaced, fighting to find his footing again, new footing. He couldn’t step where he’d once stepped because the ground had slid away from underneath him.

Meeting Savanna had reversed any progress he’d thought he’d made. And now, in the quiet loneliness of this strange apartment, he realized he hadn’t made any progress. No. He’d buried what had happened. Progress would have been if he’d told Damen to go straight to hell after her death. Progress would have been refusing to allow him to attend her funeral services. To even be his friend.

Anger hadn’t begun to settle in until after Damen had approached him with a new hacking job. It had taken him a year to get to that stage of grief. Disbelief had held him back for a long time. He hadn’t been able to believe Niya was dead. He’d lived in a gray, ghostly realm of existence. Beating himself up with memories of her, of their love, and of her violent death.

Now, as he lay there staring at the ceiling, he couldn’t think of her any other way than the day she was shot. Where once her beautiful face occupied his mind day and night, Savanna’s had taken her place at the throne of his admiration. It gave him a hollow, wretched feeling. How could he betray Niya so easily? He was torn between finding the new ground he needed to move forward with his life and remaining true to Niya. All he had to do was take that first step. And yet...he couldn’t. Because doing so would mean he was walking away from Niya, leaving her behind.

Getting out of bed, he wiped his face in distress and turned on the TV. He was about to get into the shower when he heard a report about Savanna and Macon leaving a posh downtown hotel. He saw her holding up her jacket to shield her face. Macon’s security personnel warded off the throng and one of them kept saying, “Sorry, no comment.”

As she got into the Escalade he caught a glimpse of her face. She looked beautiful but drawn. Not happy. He fancied that was because of him and not the media crushing down upon her, and then felt terrible for that. She had been right to go. He wasn’t ready to move on. He wasn’t ready for her.

Seeing her ripped apart his sense of devotion for Niya and plunged him into mucky disorder. Where had these feelings come from? Why did they threaten him so? He felt cornered. Compelled to go after Savanna. Honor-bound not to.

After a shower that he spent mostly lost in thought, he dressed in the same outfit as yesterday. He had no idea what he’d do today. Would he take a chance and go after Savanna or would he fight for his innocence? Why was he still contemplating going after her?

He did have a responsibility to see to her protection. It didn’t matter that her father could see to that much easier than he could. He’d gotten her into trouble. He should get her out of it. But that wasn’t all of it. Maybe none of it. He wanted her. Plain and simple. Fair to her or not. He wanted her with a ferocity that astounded him.

Despite what his honor told him to do, he looked up the Ivy estate in Evergreen. It showed up on a map.

His cell rang.

“Korbin Maguire?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Tennessee Kidd from the FBI. Julio Chavis gave me your number.”

“Yes.” Korbin felt stiff all over with anticipation. What had the agent discovered about Tony?

“He told me a little about your situation, but not all of it. Not what’s all over the news.”

Korbin wilted. What agent would help him if he believed what the news said?

“I didn’t kill anyone,” he said.

“That’s what Julio said as well. He said you’re being crucified for something you didn’t do.”

Korbin stiffened again, waiting for the agent to go on. He’d either help him or not.

“Tony Bartoszewicz checks out. I ran every background I could. He’s got no arrests. His company is a bit questionable, but there’s nothing any cop would raise a brow at. You’re a better suspect than him, I’m afraid.”

Not the information he’d hoped for. “Why is his company questionable?”

“A janitorial service that doesn’t show much profit. Until recently. He’s showing a three hundred percent markup in revenue. Could be that it just took some time to get the business up and running.”

“Or it could be that he’s using the business as a front.”

“I found no evidence of that.”

And evidence he’d need.

“Why’d you ask to have him checked out?” Tennessee asked. “Julio told me about Damen, but what connection does he have with Tony?”

“That’s what I was hoping to find out. They’re planning something. I just don’t know what. What’s Tony’s business called?”

“United Janitorial Services. Headquartered in Miami, but he’s got contracts all over the US and he’s flown to Denver on numerous occasions.”

Likely to meet with Damen. “He contracts janitors all over the US?”

“Appears so.”

“Can you get me a list of them?”

“The contracts?” The agent sighed. “I don’t know. You’re a suspect in two homicides. If I help you I could get in trouble.”

“I’ll get them myself.” He’d hack his way to the information if he had to.

“Sorry I can’t be of more help. My brother-in-law is a good man and a good judge of character. I’m inclined to believe you’re innocent. But—”

“Without evidence, yeah, I know.” He was painfully aware of the need for evidence. “Thanks.”

“If I find anything that will help you, I’ll see that the proper authorities receive it.”

He’d hand what evidence he found—if any—to the police, not him. “Thanks again.”

After disconnecting, Korbin accepted that he’d never hear from the agent again. But if he did find evidence that would help him, he didn’t have to turn it over to anyone. It was good knowing that the agent would. All Korbin needed now was a computer.

* * *

In order to do this right, Korbin had to go home and gather some gear. That would be risky. Cops would be watching the place. Although it had been torture waiting until dark with nothing to do but think about Savanna, he had. She consumed him. Memories of his wife faded to the recesses of his mind, and repentance kept him unsettled.

He drove Julio’s car to a side street a few blocks away from his house in Lone Tree. The houses were spaced farther apart than average subdivisions, but there weren’t any lone trees here. Each yard was impeccably landscaped. He stuck to shrubs and trees.

Nearing his house, he spotted an unmarked car parked on the street. It was too dark to see who was inside, but he’d bet someone was. Out of sight of the car, he made his way to the back door. He used a patio chair to break the window. It was cold out so the men in front had their windows up and hopefully wouldn’t hear anything. With a quick glance back at the nearest house, he was fairly sure no one had seen or heard him.

Inside, he saw how everything was displaced and realized the police must have claimed probable cause and gone in and searched his house. His computers—all of them—were gone. Going out to his garage, he saw that his safe had been taken, too.

He couldn’t very well go to an internet café and do what he needed to do. Now what?

Leaving his house, he jogged back to Julio’s car and got in, undetected. He drove to Damen’s house next, finding a hidden key he’d seen him use before. Damen hadn’t thought to move it. He hadn’t thought Korbin had noticed where he kept it. With a final glance around, he unlocked the front door to get in. There were no cops watching Damen’s house. He went to Damen’s computer and emailed a clever virus to Tony’s main business contact. Someone other than him would likely handle general correspondence. With any luck, he’d be able to hack in tomorrow morning.

Korbin searched Damen’s house and found nothing that he didn’t already know, no suspicious people he’d been in contact with, no information. He didn’t even find any correspondence with Tony, but he hadn’t expected to. Damen would be careful about that.

Taking Damen’s laptop with him, he left the house feeling a little like Harrison Ford in
The Fugitive
, always staying one step ahead of the law.

* * *

Savanna stared out the window of the formal living room, the only place she could find to be by herself other than her room. She wished she was home. She’d arrived at the Evergreen house to find her parents there. That had been a disappointment. She loved them dearly, but she desperately needed to be alone right now.

Rubbing her arms, she wondered how Korbin was doing. The news hadn’t reported anything about him today, so he must still be at Julio’s apartment. She pictured him there and then herself there with him. With none of this trouble in the way. Without the death of his wife holding him back.

But that’s not how it was. He was probably glad she was gone. She was no longer a threat to his elevated worship of his dead wife. Savanna tried not to be a terrible person and be jealous of her, but that irrational part of her wouldn’t stop taunting. She
was
jealous. Why did this always happen to her? Why couldn’t she have a man she wanted? Why did he always, one way or another, gravitate to other women? Never her. Why? It was hard not to take it personally.

Did she want Korbin? They’d met so recently. Maybe the sex made her believe this was more than it was. Then again, if the sex was that great, then didn’t that mean they were a good match? That their relationship was worth a risk? All of that didn’t matter if Korbin couldn’t let go of his wife.

“Savanna?”

Turning, she saw her mother stop in the doorway, flipping on a light. The sun had set with Savanna standing here.

“Why don’t you come and join us for a movie downstairs?”

“I think I’ll just go to bed.”

Savanna had explained everything to her. Wearing jeans and a soft, long-sleeved knit shirt, her mother’s blond bob was smooth and combed and her blue eyes sharp with knowledge.

“You’ve been through a lot, Savanna. You must feel like you’re recovering from a disaster, but besides being chased by police and a gunman, what’s got you so down?” her mother asked.