Vaughn spread his hand on the desk, fighting that fist.“Your father died of a heart attack.”
“Did he?”
Patton jumped in again.“Your warrants also state Mr.Vaughn is under suspicion for an overly broad list of financial crimes.”
“Curtis Price was also a victim of those,” Cam replied.
Vaughn spoke directly to Nic.“Your father was a terrible businessman.”
“Duncan,” Patton warned.
“The deeds of trust are on record, Patton.”He waved his other hand in the air like he was swatting at a gnat.He probably did view his attorneys that way, convinced they were a necessary evil.“Yes, I made a loan to him.”
“And when he didn’t pay,” Cam said, “you made threats against him and Attorney Price to collect.”
“His word against my client’s,” Patton argued.Then to Nic, “And you should be recused.You stand to benefit if your father’s debts to Mr.Vaughn are excused.”
This was one of the scenarios Cam had thrown at him last night.As a result, Nic was prepared, and Cam knew it too, shifting back in his chair, smiling at the trap Patton had stepped into.Nic bit back his own, barely, as he pulled a folded paper out of his jacket pocket.“A pledge.”He set the unfolded sheet on top of the photos.“Any money I receive from my father’s estate will go to pay his debts that are deemed legal.If any money is left over, I’ll donate it to the Trevor Project and to RAINN.”
Patton snatched up the document while Vaughn tilted his head, considering him with assessing eyes.
“So you know the kind of man your father was?”
“The fact I thought the Navy during Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was a better place for my gay eighteen-year-old self than my own home should answer that question.”He leaned forward, forearms on the table.“I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again, with your attorney present, I don’t want a cent of Curtis’s money.There’s no conflict of interest.”
Picking up the serve Nic had lobbed, Cam got them back on track, likewise homing in on Vaughn’s motives.“Did you loan money to Mr.Price with a plan to ruin him for stealing Victoria Scott from you?”
Vaughn couldn’t stop the fist from forming this time.“She wasn’t mine to steal.”
“Answer the question,” Cam pressed.
“I did not,” Vaughn snapped.“We’re in the same business—real estate investment.I made him several loans, one businessman to another.”
“Even though you didn’t think highly of him as a businessman?”
“He needed a bailout,” Vaughn said.“I could provide it.”
It was a weak comeback and not a refutation of the argument.Patton knew it.Point for Cam as pride swelled in Nic.
And the agent had another teed up to go too.Reaching into the box again, Cam righted himself with two evidence bags, the pistols thumping on the table as they landed.“Do you provide guns too, Mr.Vaughn?”
“All of my client’s firearms are licensed,” Patton replied.
Cam tucked the bag tight around the weapon, the plastic stretched over the barrels.“Even these with the scratched-out serial numbers?”He pushed the bags farther across the table.
“Those are not Mr.Vaughn’s weapons.”
“I’ll admit that your client’s fingerprints are not on them,” Cam said.“They’re wiped clean.But they were collected from his office.”
Patton angled toward Vaughn.“How many other people are in your office each day?”
“At least a half dozen.”
“We’ll need their names.”
“We can provide that,” Vaughn replied.
“Who among them would be likely to use illegal weapons with their serial numbers scratched out?”Cam asked.
