Page 40 of Blood Money

Warning flags began to wave in the back of Gray’s head, but then he recalled overhearing two women at One PP discussing how Alex spent her spare time scavenging yard sales, so he supposed it was possible she acquired them legitimately and at low prices. She’d obviously been on a very tight budget for quite some time, which was why the Pyramid had chosen her. Like One PP’s janitor, she had major money problems.

But did they also choose her because she has access to the lead detective on the Pyramid case?

Gray shoved his hands into his pockets. His internal truth detector had to be on the fritz. His gut told him Alex hadn’t used him to get confidential police information, but too many lives were at stake for him to ever fully trust his instincts again. He needed proof.

“Dammit.” Protocol dictated that if anyone was officially assigned to protect Alex at night, it would be a policewoman. Lt. Frye would have his ass over his breach of conduct for staying overnight at Alex’s apartment. And he didn’t give a shit.

“Something wrong?” Alex stood near the sofa, a pile of sheets, a blanket, and towels piled high in her arms.

“No.” When he shook his head, she gave him a look that said she didn’t believe him. He took the back cushions and embroidered pillows from the sofa and stacked them neatly on the floor. Wordlessly, they made up the sofa with the sheets and blanket.

When they were done, he sat on one end of the sofa. “Let’s talk.” He hoped like hell she’d sit on the other end like she did last night. If he had to take in any more of her perfume or glimpses of her cleavage, he’d get a hard-on the size of the Empire State Building. Grateful didn’t begin to describe what he experienced when she sat as far away from him as possible.

“I’ve made arrangements for Nicky,” he began.

Alex paused as she tucked a thick lock of blond hair behind her ear. “What kind of arrangements?”

“If you agree, tomorrow we’ll drive Nicky to Hopewell Springs. Cassie and her husband, Mike, have agreed to take him in until this is over. You said he doesn’t need his next treatment for another three weeks and your part in this operation should be over long before then. He’ll be safe there. I promise.”

Alex looked at him warily. “Does Cassie know everything, including what you think I’ve done?”

Gray nodded. He knew she was referring to the part about her using him. “I told her today.”

“Then why would she be willing to care for my son?” Her tone was laced with suspicion and anxiety. “She must think I’m a total bitch for using you.”

“Actually, she doesn’t believe you did that.” Odd, since Gray wasn’t sure of it himself. “Cassie understood you using the money to pay for Nicky’s treatment. She said she would die to keep her unborn child safe.”

“But you don’t believe me.” Alex clenched her jaw.

Shit, I honestly don’t know.

Yes, you do know.

Rather than answer her question, he stated the one truth he was sure of. “Nicky is an innocent, and I’ll keep him safe. Taking him to Cassie’s is the best way I know how to do this.”

Alex narrowed her eyes. “The department won’t provide official protection?”

“Not an option.” He’d already investigated that possibility.

“Why not?” She looked at him with disbelief. “You said it yourself, Pyramid assassins are dangerous. If they find out I’m cooperating with the police to set them up, don’t you think they’ll kill me? Or worse, hurt Nicky?”

“It doesn’t matter what I think.” Although that was exactly what he’d been worrying about every second since Alex signed that damned cooperator agreement. “Officially sanctioned police protection is only offered to crucial witnesses whose testimony is considered by the District Attorney’s Office to be critical to the prosecution of a criminal case, and which puts the witness in immediate danger.”

Gray ran a hand through his hair, exasperated at the logistical reality of the situation. “You’re a witness, but there’s nothing you’re privy to yet that would convict anyone. As far as Nicky goes, he’s not a witness to anything.” He paused to let that sink in, watching the play of emotions on Alex’s face. “You should be thankful for the money the department agreed to pay for Nicky’s treatments.”

“And what good will those treatments be if my son gets killed?” Alex’s eyes were bright with anger that lasered straight through Gray’s chest. “So leaving my son in the care of virtual strangers—let alone strangers who might have a grudge against me—is my only option?”

“They’re not strangers to me,” Gray answered. “I wouldn’t have suggested it if I didn’t think he’d be safe with my sister and her husband. Cassie may have turned in her badge, but she’s still a cop at heart, even though she won’t admit it. And Mike is the chief of police.”

Gray watched Alex with a growing sense of just how hard this separation from her son would be. “Nicky will be safe with them.”

Alex let out a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll tell Nicky in the morning. I’ll have to call his school and make something up as to why he’ll be out for a while.”

“We’ll drive upstate first thing in the morning.” Gray watched as she rose from the sofa, knowing she was straddling a fine line between keeping it together and losing it. He prayed she didn’t lose it. If she did, he’d be hard-pressed not to take her in his arms and comfort her, and he didn’t trust himself that things wouldn’t spiral out of control from there.

“If there’s nothing else you need,” Alex said, then chewed her bottom lip, “I’ll say good night.”

“Good night.” Gray watched her head down the hallway.