Rake (Wolfes of Manhattan 4)

I cleared my throat. Oh, she’s great. I gave her a good hard fucking. “She’s good. Ready to talk. I’ve told her I don’t believe she’ll be considered a suspect.”

“It’s unlikely,” Lacey said, “but I honestly don’t know. Somehow I’m a suspect and I have no motive at all.”

“We’re going to take care of that, babe,” Rock said soothingly.

Lacey was scared, though. She tried to hide it behind her lawyerly demeanor and a slight bit of humor, but I knew.

And so did Rock.

“I’m texting Roy,” Charlie said. “I don’t know what’s keeping him and Riley.”

“Riley’s still in her honeymoon phase,” Lacey said.

“I got married the same day she did,” Charlie countered.

“Yeah, but you and Roy were together longer.”

“About a week longer.” Charlie laughed.

I had to hand it to all of them. They were taking this better than I was. Rock and Riley both had more of a motive than I did, but they didn’t seem as concerned.

Rock had a decent alibi, of course.

But Riley?

No way would my little sister go down for this. No way would any of us go down for it.

Not on my watch.

“We need to take this seriously,” I said.

“We are,” Rock said. “But a little humor never hurt anyone.”

Lacey cleared her throat. “Actually, Reid is right. Things are coming to a head, so we have to be ready.”

“Turns out I was in the office the day that phone call was made to your landline, Rock,” I said. “I doubled checked everything against my calendar. I hope you believe me when I tell you I didn’t make that call.”

“I do believe you,” my brother affirmed. “But now we need to find out who did.”

“Dad was still alive,” I said. “My bet’s on him. All of our voices are similar enough that he could have made the call to you with enough confidence that you’d believe it was me.”

Rock nodded. “And then when Nieves intercepted the call, she just assumed it was you, never having heard your voice.”

“Right.” I inhaled deeply. “Which means we’ll never know why he made the call, since he’s not here to tell us.”

Rock sighed. “Which also means none of this helps at all.”

“We do know one thing, though,” Lacey said. “We know your father knew a hit was out on him. Or he wanted you to think there was a hit.”

“I’m still not ruling out that he orchestrated the whole thing,” I said. “It’s off brand for a megalomaniac, but I swear, I get a niggling at the back of my neck every time I consider it. I’ve learned never to ignore that feeling.”

“I hear you, brother,” Rock said. “The news from your men who searched St. Andrew’s should be in sometime today.”

“Did they search Father Jim’s living quarters too?” Charlie asked.

“Yep. All of it.” I took a drink of coffee. “They’re the best. No one will know they were ever there.”

“Where was Father Jim? And the staff?”

“They took care of it,” I said. “I’ve learned not to ask those kinds of questions.”

“Just out of curiosity,” Lacey said, “are these people who worked with your father?”

I shook my head. “No way. I hired all new people. I don’t trust anyone who worked with him.”

“Good call,” Rock said.

“We’re paying through the nose,” I went on, “but we can afford it.”

Roy rushed into the conference room. “Sorry!”

“Why are you so late?” his wife inquired.

“I got a phone call right as I was leaving,” he said. “A gallery got an offer on one of my older pieces. I felt I should consider it.”

“When all our lives are at stake?” I asked.

“Easy,” Rock said.

“Fuck easy. This is important!” I had to physically stop myself from pounding on the table.

“Reid,” Roy said, “I understand, and I’m sorry I’m late. What’s gotten into you? Until now, you’ve been… I don’t know. Cool and collected. Pretty business-like.”

He was right. I had been. I hadn’t worried too much about all of us being implicated because I knew damned well none of us had done this.

Now?

The game had changed.

Zee was involved.

Zee.

And I vowed to protect her just as I vowed to protect the rest of my family.

One way or the other, I’d get us out of this, but I needed all of their cooperation.

Riley shuffled in, finally, and my anger softened a bit. What she’d gone through at that monster’s hands…

What Zee had gone through…

Fuck.

“All right,” Rock said. “So are we going on the assumption that Dad made the call to me pretending to be Reid? Or do we investigate further?”

“I’ve got one of my men investigating on the inside,” I said. “Someone I trust. I hired him myself a few years ago.”

“Are you sure he was never tainted by Dad?” Rock asked.

“I’m sure. Besides, we’re in charge now. What good would any loyalty to Dad do him?”

“Fair point.” Rock nodded.

“So yeah, I’m investigating, but I’m still pretty convinced Dad made the call himself.”