She shrugged. “There are no cameras in that part of the building. Perfect way to get someone in and out without being noticed.”
“What about the alley butting up against it?” Eric asked.
“Those were conveniently disabled. Know anyone capable of doing something like that?”
Exactly.Leaning forward again, Derek gave her a cocky grin. “You have a pic of me getting out of the cab, Detective. I’m assuming you also watched me go inside. You’ve already told me you saw me leave, so when did I have time to disable the surveillance system at the back of the building?”
The woman leaned forward, as well. Linking her delicate but strong fingers together in front of her, she looked back at him with confidence.
“I know who you work for and what your specialty is, Derek. I know R.I.S.C. has helped a lot of people over the past few years. However, it’s also fairly common knowledge within the local law enforcement community that you and your team don’t always stay within the confines of the law. I don’t like people who think they’re above the law, Derek. Nor, do I have any respect for those who support that type of behavior.” Her eyes slid to Eric’s and back to his.
Guess that explains the hard-on this woman has for me.
Derek smiled. “Any laws I may or may not have broken in relation to my job have no bearing on this case.”
“They do if you’ve used those same skills to disable the security footage so you could get away with murder.”
Sitting back in his seat, Derek sighed and shook his head. “I can assure you, if I were going to take the time to hack into the building’s security, I would’ve shut down the entire system. Not just part of it. I can also promise you, if I had been the one who killed Porter, you never would’ve found the body, let alone any identifiable evidence.”
“Or,” York countered. “You chose to burn Porter’s body in his car with his I.D., clothes, and watch to make it appear as though an amateur did the job.”
Eric glanced over at her, his frustration clear. “This screams set up, Riley, and you know it.”
Without giving her a chance to respond, Derek asked, “Has the M.E. in New York completed their examination yet?”
She scoffed. “I’m not obligated to give you any information pertaining to the case.”
“Right.” Derek grinned. “So, that’s a no. Okay, then.” He sat up straighter. “Let me fill you in on a little fact you may not be aware of. Human teeth can withstand temperatures of up to two thousand degrees.”
“Your point?”
Derek smiled and got his geek on.
“The person who did this most likely killed first and then used gasoline as the fuel for the fire. The ignition temperature would’ve been close to five hundred degrees. Now, if there was still enough of a body left to do a thorough examination, which I’m assuming there was or else you’d have the report by now, then that fire burned itself out before reaching a high enough temperature to destroy the teeth.”
“I’m still not sure where you’re going with this.” York pretended to be bored, but Derek could see the interest behind her hardened eyes.
He slid his gaze to his brother’s then back to hers. “I’m willin’ to bet when you do get that report, you’re gonna learn that body in Porter’s car wasn’t his.”
She rolled her pretty, brown eyes. “You’re saying Caleb Porter faked his own death? Why on earth would he do something like that?”
“To get me out of the way.”
“That would mean he would’ve had to have known you were coming to see him. How would that be possible?”
That part still made his gut churn. “I had someone watching him. To make sure he didn’t come to Dallas. I texted my contact before I boarded my plane last night to let him know I was coming. I sent him another message after I landed, but never got a response. I still haven’t heard back from him.”
“You think your contact ratted you out to Porter?”
“Either that or Porter got to him somehow.” Derek tried not to think of that burned body.
York mulled this over. “Okay, let’s say you’re right. Let’s pretend for a second that you’re telling the truth, and you didn’t kill Porter. Why would he go to all these lengths to set you up?”
“To get to Charlie.”
The second the words were out, Derek’s stomach dropped. Fear gripped his chest when he thought about how long he’d been in here. He glanced at his watch.
It had been almost two hours since he’d been hauled away from her apartment. Processing was busy as hell, so it had taken longer than normal to get him back here. After that, he’d sat here another twenty-minutes before Eric came in.
