No One Left to Tell (29 page)

She answered immediately. ‘Don’t even think about ditching me for dinner.’

‘No, I’m not,’ he said grimly. ‘I just need to change the venue.’

‘Grayson, honey,’ she said, alarmed by his tone of voice. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Pretty much everything.’

Chapter Eleven

Wednesday, April 6, 11.00
A.M
.

P
aige looked around the hotel room suspiciously. It adjoined the one she’d just been in with the suits – a mirror-image layout. Joseph and Stevie had whisked her inside as soon as she’d been dismissed by Charlie Anderson.

‘Why am I here?’ she asked.

Stevie shrugged. ‘You need to talk to Grayson. I’m just following orders. Why don’t you sit down before you fall down, Paige?’

Paige eyed the soft sofa. ‘If I sit down there, I’ll go to sleep.’

‘Not a bad idea actually,’ Joseph said. ‘You got circles under your circles.’

Paige dropped her backpack on the small dinette table and dropped her ass onto one of its chairs. ‘I’ll stay awake, thanks. Dark circles notwithstanding.’

Stevie sat next to her. ‘You did good in there, kid.’

‘Thanks.’ Parts had felt simply awful, other parts almost cathartic. ‘But they could have read the report and know everything they needed to know.’

‘They’re trying to catch you in a lie,’ Joseph said. ‘I take it that they did not.’

‘No. Because it’s all the truth. I wish it were someone else’s truth, but it’s all mine.’

‘I’m sorry it happened to you,’ Stevie said kindly. ‘I’m sorry they were cops.’

‘There are bad apples in every barrel,’ Paige murmured, ready to think about something else. ‘I called the hospital but they wouldn’t tell me anything about Logan.’

‘He’s stable,’ Stevie said. ‘Out of surgery. In shock. They saved his leg, though.’

Paige closed her eyes. ‘Thank goodness.’ She still felt guilty as hell, even though she knew she hadn’t directly caused any of this. ‘Did you get his video and computer from Radcliffe?’

‘No,’ Stevie said. ‘He told me to get a warrant. Although I think I played it wrong. I asked him in front of the other reporters. I got the impression that if we’d been alone, he would have given it to me. He had to save face.’

‘How long will the warrant take?’ Paige asked.

‘My partner’s working with Grayson’s assistant to get it signed. If they get the right judge, by lunchtime. If not . . . we’d need to wait until Radcliffe gives it back to Logan.’

Paige gritted her teeth against the sudden roil of rage. ‘Did he show any remorse?’

‘He looked like he cared. But it’s hard to say for sure.’

‘He makes his money looking like he cares,’ Paige said, then paused. ‘What the hell?’ A suitcase sat next to the TV. ‘That’s my bag. And . . . what the fuck?’ Beside it was a bag of dog food. She twisted in her seat. Met Joseph’s inscrutable stare. ‘This is my room? Are you trying to tell me that this is
my
room?’

‘Yes. And yes,’ Joseph said.

Stevie winced. ‘Ooh. Grayson didn’t ask you first?’

‘No, he did not.’ Paige lurched to her feet, pacing. ‘How long am I supposed to stay here? Who packed my things?’ She stopped, pointed at Joseph. ‘Well?’

‘I don’t know. Grayson. While you were sleeping,’ he added before she could demand to know when he’d done so.

‘Oh, this is great. Just rich. I guess he is good at that. Booking a goddamn suite.’

‘You don’t like it?’ Joseph asked blandly.

‘That’s not the point. The point is, he didn’t
ask
.’ Another thought struck her and she recoiled. ‘Is this a safe house? Am I some kind of prisoner here?’

Joseph didn’t blink. ‘Kind of. And sort of.’

‘Are you my babysitter?’ she demanded, her breath hitching in her throat.

‘No,’ Joseph said.

Paige looked up at the ceiling, fighting tears of fury. ‘Then who is my babysitter?’

‘That I don’t know. I’m only the temp.’

Paige looked at Stevie, who said, ‘Sorry, Paige. I didn’t know about any of this. Although I have to say it makes a lot of sense. I’m surprised last night’s shooter didn’t come after you instead of Logan.’

‘He didn’t need me,’ Paige ground out. ‘He needed the tape.’

‘Still.’ Stevie tapped her throat. ‘You’re a target. Somebody wants you dead, girl.’

This yanked some of the starch from Paige’s ire. Stevie was right. But . . . ‘I can’t be locked up like some prisoner. This could take a long time to resolve. I’ve got a job to do, rent to pay. Responsibilities. I can’t just sit around and—’

The door opened and Grayson walked in. Paige opened her mouth to rail at him, but her anger fizzled. He looked terrible. Pale. Like he was in shock. Instead of yelling, she ran to him, bracketing his face between her palms.

‘What happened to you?’ she asked.

His eyes were stark, filled with devastation. And fear. ‘My boss knew too. He knew Ramon was innocent.’

Paige stared. ‘Oh my God.’

‘What the hell?’ Stevie said, stunned. ‘How do you know?’

‘He told me.’ He slumped on the sofa.

‘Just like that?’ Stevie demanded. ‘He just came out and told you?’

‘Pretty much. This is much, much worse than I’d ever thought possible. And on top of that, I’ve been reassigned. To the fraud division.’

‘As of when?’ Joseph asked.

‘As of three hours ago.’ Grayson scrubbed his face with his palms. ‘I just tried to access my files on the server but was denied. Tech Support said they’d received a request to transfer my access and that it would take a few days.’

Stevie sat on the arm of the sofa. ‘Damn. You’ve been locked out.’

‘Yes. They don’t want me getting to the bottom of this.’

Paige sat on the coffee table, facing him. ‘Who exactly is “they”? How high does this go? How many people knew Ramon was innocent? And how many other trials might they have manipulated?’

Grayson shook his head. ‘Good questions. At least Anderson. Could be others are involved. As for other trials, I can’t even contemplate. This is . . . mind-boggling.’

‘And potentially life-threatening.’ Joseph stood, arms locked over his chest. ‘They’ve already killed three people to cover their tracks.’

‘Four,’ Grayson murmured. ‘Logan’s mother made four.’

Joseph scowled. ‘I won’t let you become number five. What will you do next?’

‘I’m going to find out who gave the order to frame Ramon and who carried it out. And who knew it was happening. Which will hopefully answer the big question – who should have been prosecuted instead?’ Grayson looked at Stevie. ‘You can go, if you want. This won’t be pretty for either of our careers if it goes wrong, which it probably will.’

She gave him a quelling look. ‘Shut up. You know I’m not walking away from you.’

He nodded, his eyes flickering relief. ‘Thanks.’

‘I should hit you for even suggesting it. I’ve got work to do. I got Hyatt to give me and JD last night’s shootings. Since they’ve declared Elena’s case closed because of Sandoval’s suicide note, they can’t say Elena and Sandoval are connected to Delgado and Logan’s mother. Not unless they agree that the sniper is still on the loose, and they aren’t ready to backtrack on that yet.’

‘Smart,’ Paige murmured.

‘I have my moments,’ Stevie said. ‘I’ll check with Ballistics on yesterday’s shootings when I get to my desk. JD will call as soon as he and Daphne get the court order for Radcliffe’s tape. Be careful, both of you.’ She left, closing the door behind her.

Paige frowned. ‘Why did Anderson tell you? How does it benefit you to know?’

‘He threatened me with it. Said that if the truth came out, “the right people” would wonder if I wasn’t in on it too. And if they did believe I prosecuted honestly, that they’d find me too naïve to be effective. He said he was “saving my career”.’

‘Sonofabitch,’ Joseph gritted. ‘Who does he report to? The state’s attorney?’

‘No. There are three layers of management between Anderson and the state’s attorney. Enough room to do real damage if any of the people in between are dirty.’

‘Then take this straight to the top,’ Joseph said.

‘And prove it how?’ Grayson said wearily. ‘Once I can prove it, I can have him disbarred, but right now, it’s my word against his.’

‘You’re right,’ Joseph said, his jaw tight. ‘But dammit.’

Paige had a disturbing thought. ‘Grayson, if you can’t access your server, does that mean we can’t get to the video taken of the pool party where Crystal Jones was killed?’

He looked grimly satisfied. ‘It might have meant that, if I’d waited until this morning to go looking for it. I downloaded it last night while you were sleeping.’

She lifted her brows. ‘You were a busy bee while I was sleeping last night.’

Grayson glanced at Joseph, who shrugged. ‘She guessed. I didn’t lie.’

Grayson’s mouth hardened. ‘I’m not going to apologize. I need you safe.’

‘I appreciate that.’ She could fight him, but he looked beaten already. She looked around her. ‘I appreciate all this. But you should have asked me first.’

‘I figured you’d say no.’

She controlled what would have been an irate huff. ‘Because I’m apparently stupid.’ She flicked her hand when he tried to backpedal. ‘Don’t even try. What about Peabody?’

‘He can stay here with you. The manager approved it.’

Paige weighed her words. ‘I’m not going to be a prisoner, Grayson. I’m
not
stupid, and I don’t take foolish risks, but I can’t stay here indefinitely. The sooner we get this cleared up, the sooner we can all go back to our lives.’

‘Already in progress,’ he murmured.

Her heart squeezed without warning, startling her. They’d go back to the lives they’d been living before yesterday morning. Before they’d met. Because he didn’t do relationships. Even though every instinct she possessed told her that he yearned to.

But look how well her instincts had served her in the past. Not.

‘Already in progress,’ she repeated. ‘I’ll be careful. You have my word. But I won’t be idle. If you don’t want to work with me, I’ll work on my own. I won’t go anywhere alone. I’ll wait for Clay or I’ll call my friend to come from Minnesota. She’s offered to come if I need her. I won’t risk my life, but I will not be a prisoner. So what will it be?’

A muscle twitched in his cheek. ‘What about at night?’

‘If you want me to stay here instead of my apartment, I’ll do that as long as they let me have Peabody. It’s your dime. If you want me to have babysitters, I’ll agree. I assume that’s who the adjoining room is for.’

Again the muscle twitched. ‘It is.’

‘Fine. Just don’t try to lock me up and we’ll have no disagreement.’

He looked away. ‘Okay.’

She was surprised. ‘Okay? That’s it?’

‘You promised to take precautions. That’s all I can ask. For now, I’d like you to review the video of the pool party and match as many of the guests as you can to the partial guest list that Rex McCloud gave us five years ago. Most of them have an online presence. You should be able to locate a current photograph to compare to the video. I want to know who left the pool area at any time during that party.’

‘What will you be doing?’ Paige asked.

‘Reconstructing my witness list. I need to track them down and talk to them again.’

‘While they’re still alive,’ Joseph muttered. ‘Your witnesses are dropping like flies.’

‘True enough,’ Grayson said evenly. ‘I want Anderson and everyone who manipulated this case to pay.’

Wednesday, April 6, 11.35
A.M
.

Adele held her breath while Darren opened their front door. ‘Oh God,’ she said, grimacing. The smell was still strong. ‘I set up fans and sprayed and everything.’

‘It didn’t help.’ They hadn’t said much on their way home. He was waiting for her to talk to him, but she still didn’t know where to start. It sounded crazy.
Maybe I am crazy
.

She followed him to their bedroom where he began taking off his clothes.

‘Where are you going?’ she asked, her voice small.

‘Work. I barely have time for a shower and a shave before my afternoon meeting.’

‘Can I fix you some food?’

‘I can’t eat.’ He went into the bathroom and she heard the shower. She stared out the window, down to the street where the black car had been last night. Or had it?

She pressed her fingers to her temples, not sure of anything anymore. Except someone had poisoned Darren’s dog. And the box of chocolates was empty.

Poor little Rusty
. She swallowed back the bile that rose in her throat.
It could have been me that ate the chocolate
. Worse, it could have been Darren. Or even Allie.

The water shut off. Darren stood in the bathroom doorway, a towel draped over his hips, watching her. ‘Adele?’ he said quietly. ‘You need to tell me the truth because the possibilities I’m making up in my mind are driving me crazy.’

Interesting choice of words
. ‘I think the poison came from the chocolates,’ she said.

He stared, stunned. ‘The ones that you got in the mail yesterday?’

‘They weren’t mailed. They were just dropped off.’

‘Whatever. Why would you think that?’

‘Lately some things have been happening. Strange things.’

‘Such as?’ he asked, guarded.

He already thinks I’m crazy
. ‘I was run off the road two weeks ago.’

‘When you popped the tire. You said you swerved to avoid a cat.’

‘No. It was a car. A black one. It ran me off the road and I almost hit a tree.’

‘Why did you lie?’

‘Because a few days earlier someone pushed me down an escalator.’

‘You said you fell.’

‘I told myself that I had, because nothing else made sense. I was meeting a client in DC, near the zoo. There’s that long escalator in the subway.’

‘I know it,’ he said, no emotion in his voice.

‘My hands were full of shopping bags and all of a sudden I felt someone push me. I fell down a bunch of stairs before I caught the railing. When I looked back up, there wasn’t anyone there. Then that car ran me off the road.’ She glanced over at him. His face was like stone, unreadable. ‘Then it happened again.’