“Old meets new,” she said with a defiant smile.
I shook my head with a reluctant smile. “Come on, all these emotions are making me thirsty.”
A stiff drink was just what I needed, but I accepted the glass of soda and bitters Kat put in my hand.
In the middle of the chaos, in the middle of the afternoon, Kat and I shared a moment of recognition. We didn’t have to be the same to get along, as long as we got along. That was all I gave a fuck about.
“Aw, isn’t this sweet.” Agent Beck’s grating voice interrupted the moment, and I turned to her with a glare.
“What the fuck are you doing in my house?” I upped my outrage to make the bitch feel better and because she had Jamie with her. “Well?”
“I’m here to arrest you, of course.”
I rolled my eyes and let out a put-upon sigh. “Haven’t we been over this already?”
Beck flashed a smug smile. “We have, but we’re here for your shoes, and as soon as I find them, I’ll slap the cuffs on you myself.”
“What shoes are you talking about. I have a few pair.”
I batted my eyes, giving my innocent Sadie look.
Beck tossed the search warrant on the table, her smug smile even bigger. “The description’s on page two. I’m sure you’ll recognize them. Not many women own them.”
I leafed through the warrant and threw it down in disgust.
“Is that how smart but frumpy FBI chicks get their clothes these days? By stealing them from rich suspects? Not how I’d do it, but to each her own, I guess.”
I shrugged and flashed a smile guaranteed to rile her up even more.
“Laugh while you can, Sadie.”
“I’ll laugh every day I wake up, Addison.”
I wasn’t worried, not anymore. I knew what she thought she had, and I’d already followed Jameson’s advice on how to dispose of the shoes. “Thomas, please show Addy to my shoe closet.”
“Uh-huh,” Beck insisted with a shake of her head. “Any and all places where your shoes are kept.”
“For fuck’s sake,” I growled. “I’m not some common animal like you, Addy. I have a closet for my shoes.”
“I’ll find those shoes,” she promised.
I looked up from the warrant with a grin of my own. “This says you want to search my shoe collection, which is in my shoe closet. Thomas, make sure they only search the closet.”
Beck growled and turned to face Thomas, who led her and Jamie, along with two uniformed officers up to my dressing room.
“Should I call your lawyer, Ma?”
I wanted to say no if for no other reason than to ease Kat’s mind, but she was a grown-ass woman who didn’t need the world sugar-coated for her benefit.
“Yes. Call Andrew and tell him what’s going on. She won’t find anything.” Of that, I was absolutely certain.
“Maybe not,” Kat agreed, “but I don’t trust that bitch not to arrest you for shits and giggles. I’ll tell Andrew everything and keep him on the line until she’s gone.”
I nodded my approval, feeling proud once again that Kat wasn’t the woman I thought. She was smart and capable, and most of all, she was strong. “Thanks.”
Not even fifteen minutes later, I heard the sound of Beck’s feet as she angrily descended the staircase, Jameson’s heavier, slower footsteps followed behind her. “What did you do with them?”
I turned to get a look at her angry expression, an innocent look on my face. “With what, exactly? I don’t even know what you’re looking for. Care to share?”
“Fuck that.” She reached behind her to dangle the handcuffs from two fingers because she was a fucking drama queen. “You, Sadie Ashby, are under arrest.”
“Because you didn’t find what you’re looking for?”
“I’m sure you have nothing to do with that.”
“Nothing at all,” I assured her as she placed the cuffs on my wrist.
“Bullshit. Sadie Ashby, you are under arrest for the murders of Fathers Eric Maloney and Raymundo Sullivan.” I turned around, but I didn’t need to see her freckled face to know she was smiling; I could hear the glee in her voice.
Thomas, hands balled into fists, stood with a frown, clearly furious that he couldn’t step in and help.
I shook my head. “Tell Andrew to meet me at the precinct.”
“This is federal,” she growled happily. “You’re not going where you have cops in your pocket.”
Jameson glared at me. “You’ll be at the federal building in downtown Vegas.”
“What the fuck, Ellison?”
Jameson merely shrugged. “I’m still new, and I’ll be around here long after you’re gone, Beck. I’m not burning bridges just so you can fuck with an old lady.”
Beck laughed.
I chuckled. “Who are you calling old?”
Jameson turned to me and winked. “I apologize. Is the acceptable term, elderly?”
“Asshole,” I grunted as he gripped my arm and led me outside to the waiting patrol car.
I sat in the back of the car, and my gaze found Thomas standing at the front door, fury blazing in his eyes. I gave him a short nod of acknowledgment before the car pulled off.