“Dallas told me River showed up last night with info. I talked to Derek this morning. Where is River?”
“Sleeping,” I said bluntly. “And I’m not waking him up. He’s strung tighter than a virgin, and he needs rest.”
King chuckled. “Big bad Dom, aren’t you? I’d have never bet on you being one.” He studied me carefully, stroking his chin. “You a newbie or you done it before?”
I tensed and crossed my arms. “None of your business. Why are you here?”
He shrugged. “Like I said, I called Derek this morning. He handled Mitch, but apparently you needed something solid on Brickton.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out some papers from the inside pocket, throwing them onto the small kitchen table.
I reached for them and perused the paperwork, grinning at the proof we needed to bring Brickton in. It was a contract of sale for some poor soul named Van Clancy. I was boggled that they’d been stupid enough to draw something up quite like this. The buyer was only indicated with a number, though, which led me to believe there might be some sort of master file somewhere with the names of all the buyers. That had me excited on a professional level. There was no way this Brickton bastard was getting away with anything.
“It wasn’t so easy with Xander. Jason Bolton. Whatever. He’s a cockroach, low-level vermin in the ring. There’s no paper trail with him.” The kettle whistled and finally clicked off, so King turned and grabbed a mug from my drying rack. “Where’s your caffeine?”
“In the cupboard above you,” I muttered, reading over the banking numbers on the paper. Those could be traced by someone with resources. “So how do we get to Xander?”
King snorted as he made himself an instant espresso, eschewing my very lovely Twinings English Breakfast, and not bothering to get the milk. I never understood why people took their caffeine black, but I didn’t say a word. “We don’t. Ifyouwant him in prison, you’ll need to catch him.”
Awareness prickled at my skin and I glanced at him, jaw tight. “If I want him in prison? You don’t want him there. Are you planning on killing him?”
He turned to me again, sipping at his coffee. “Of course not.” But his eyes said a different story.
Fuck, they were planning on killing him. “And Brickton. You’ll let me bring him in?”
“You could… but there’s a slight issue. Haven’t you heard the morning news? He was found dead in his mansion last night. Hung himself. Poor guy knew the cops were coming for him.” He grinned.
Anger twisted at my insides, my fingers twitching with the urge to grab him by the neck. “Did you do that?”
“Do what?” King had looking innocent perfected. He smiled in what I thought might have been his attempt at sympathy. “At least he’ll never hurt another person again.”
“That’s rich coming from someone like you. He could have given usnamesof the higher-ups, the ones who bring in the sex slaves,” I snapped angrily.
“I’m sure he didn’t know anything,” King said, taking a longer sip of his coffee, but still staring at me over the rim like he expected me to attack him. That option wasn’t off the table.
“Did you ask him that before you killed him?” I stepped forward, hands curled into fists at my side.
“I don’t like what you are insinuating, Officer. I didn’t kill anyone. Mr. Brickton killed himself.” He shrugged again and smiled over my shoulder.
I turned to see River at the doorway, wearing nothing but a pair of my pajama bottoms. His hard chest gleamed under the morning sun that spilled through the curtains of the kitchen and his hair was beautifully mussed. He looked like he’d just woken up.
“King? What are you doing here?” he asked, stepping closer to me and touching my arm. His wrists still had the lightest redness around them where I’d looped the tie, and the sight made my belly warm with pleasure.
“I just came to tell you that Brickton, unfortunately, hung himself last night. Such a sad story. But Derek did give me what you needed.” He pointed at the papers in my hands. “It’s a little harder to get Xander, but Derek assures me Mitch has been taken care of, and you don’t have to worry about those photos ever surfacing. They’ve been deleted.”
“Oh.” River’s hold on me tightened and he smiled, which made my gut clench. I hated how easily he accepted what King and his men had obviously done. Had Hayden helped? The thought made me sick. “That’s good news.”
“Is it?” I asked before I could stop myself. “Convenient, more like.”
River gave me a hard look and leaned up to kiss me, and like the stupid man I was I melted into his touch. He made me weak, and that was dangerous for a cop. “Brickton obviously knew we were coming for him. It would have ruined him. It makes sense that he killed himself.”
Do you honestly believe that?As much as I wanted to ask him the question, I didn’t.
King grinned like he’d won and raised his cup to us. The fucker. “This is good. Might have to get some for the cabin.”
I wanted to tell him to get out of my house, but I knew River wouldn’t like it. I’d told him we needed to meet halfway, and as much as I hated King, he was River’s friend.
“Sir, can I have a minute alone with King?” River asked quietly.
It would have been easy to say no, to tell him that I didn’t want him alone with this killer, but I kissed his cheek instead. “Fine, but don’t be long. I’m going for a shower.”
