Richard looked like he wanted to protest, but he didn’t, sinking into his chair. “I will look into it. From now on, you need to be extra careful around Catherine,” he said weakly. “She brought you back here for a reason, Riley. If it’s to ensure that we can vote in this upcoming meeting, then that means she is going to vote Huntley into Delta.”
“Remove her as your proxy,” Dylan demanded. “Do it immediately, otherwise you cannot guarantee the safety of the vote.”
Richard shook his head. “If I do that, and Catherine is our mole, then we will all be in danger. She knows too much. She has power now she didn’t before. It’s better if we draw her out, and then when we have the evidence, we’ll go to the board and have her taken down.”
Something told me that whatever Catherine did to make Richard take her in to his life, to protect her, was still there for him. Maybe he loved her fucked up ass. Or maybe he liked the drama. Either way, he wasn’t ready to just throw her under the bus yet.
Richard glanced at his watch and stood rather gracefully. “I have a meeting to get to. Seems I need to become more involved in the company again, at least in small increments, until we figure out what to do about Catherine.”
We all stood as well. Richard gave us a nod before bestowing a sad smile on me. “You probably don’t believe this, Riley, but I’m not your enemy. I don’t always make the right decisions, but I do always have the well-being of my family and company at heart.”
With that, he turned and left, and I just shook my head, as information overloaded my brain. Dylan asked Beck a few questions about the Catherine and Graeme thing, mainly what I’d seen. I just tried to work out my next move.
“We need to talk to Dante,” I said when they’d finished their rushed discussion. “He knows something. Maybe it will help us get to the bottom of whatever fucked up shit Catherine and Graeme are up to.”
Right now my best friend—or ex best friend depending on what secrets he was keeping—was sitting in Jefferson lockup as a murder suspect.
“Yep. Good idea,” Dylan said.
I had a dark thought. “Do you think Graeme knows about Katelyn yet? I mean, he didn’t look upset or anything, but surely he’d care that his daughter died.”
“His phone was off,” Beck said. “One of the officers told me that as they led Dante away. So I doubt he knew.”
Clearly turned off so they could have their clandestine affair or whatever.
I almost wished I could see Graeme’s reaction when he found out, because I was starting to suspect that no one in this world had normal emotions. Or normal relationships with their children. What was to say that Katelyn was even biologically his. Was there anything we could believe about the relationships we’d learned of so far?
We left the same way we’d entered, and this time Beck pushed the Bugatti harder and faster, especially once we were back on the main road. Both of us needed the speed. A moment where we could forget the mess of the world we were firmly stuck in.
Forget Delta, just for five fucking minutes.
3
Adifferent person was on the front desk at the police station this time. A man who didn’t look much older than us, with dark skin and pretty blue eyes. It was a nice contrast, and I wondered if he’d be easier to deal with than the last gatekeeper.
“Beck,” he said, nodding respectfully when we stopped across from him.
“Johnson, didn’t know you’d started work here,” Beck said, sounding like he didn’t hate this guy. Which was a very good start. “Heard you transferred out of state for a few years. Good to see you back.”
Johnson nodded, looking relaxed and happy. “Yeah, I started at another station on beat duty before finally working my way up the ranks and ending up back here.”
His eyes brushed briefly over me, but didn’t linger, and I didn’t bother to engage in any sort of conversation. A need to talk to Dante was starting to eat away at my insides. Like, I could not wait one more second to get the truth from him. Even with all of the truths I’d gotten tonight, this one was probably going to be one of the biggest. One of the most important.
Life changing.
“You were always interested in law enforcement,” Beck said, not sounding surprised. They shot the shit for a few more minutes before Beck got to business. “We had a friend brought in earlier on some bullshit charges. Do you think you could get us in to see him? Dante, the gangbanger.”
I arched a brow at Beck while Johnson tapped at his computer for a moment then let out a low whistle. “Arrested on charges of aggravated assault, rape, and murder in the first degree. Uh, those are hardly bullshit charges, Beck.” He gave us a pained look. “You sure don’t want to make my first few weeks on the job easy, huh?”
Beck gave him a charming smile. “Just a misunderstanding,” Beck replied. “We just need ten minutes with him. My girlfriend has a couple of things to ask him.”
Johnson’s blue eyes flicked to me again, and this time there was something in that gaze. Curiosity no doubt about the chick who finally got the “girlfriend” label from Beck. Just when it started to get uncomfortable, he sighed and checked his watch.
“Five minutes,” he said in a no-nonsense tone. “That’s the best I can do. If Saunders comes back from his lunch break early, he’ll kick you out. So get your answers quick.”
Johnson buzzed someone on the intercom and a few moments later a bored looking middle-aged woman in uniform escorted us through the station to a vacant interview room.
“Just wait here,” she told us. “Your friend will be brought in shortly.”
