Reckoning (Wolfes of Manhattan 5)

“They do. How else do you think they got to Leta? If they wanted anything from you, they’d have brought you in already. You have nothing to offer us.”

“But—”

Rock kicked Hoss in the jaw to shut him up. “No buts. This is over.”

I stifled a jerk when my burner phone vibrated in my pocket. The only person who had this number was Buck.

I walked out of earshot of the others and put the phone to my ear. “Yeah?”

30

Lacey

I couldn’t wait with the information. I called a night meeting with Riley, Matt, Roy, and Charlie. They met me in our hotel suite.

“I’ve got Morgan.” I held up the thumb drive.

Roy looked to the ceiling. “You sure it’s safe here?”

I nodded. “Rock had this place wired while I was locked up. His guys didn’t find anything else while they were here.”

Roy breathed a sigh of relief. “Good deal.”

“Morgan’s dirty,” I said. “I’ve got proof. He’s setting me up, though I still haven’t figured out why. But I’ve got him dead to rights asking for a bribe right here.” I hooked the thumb drive into my laptop and played the video.

“Nice job.” Riley smiled. “Is this really over now?”

“Unfortunately, no,” I said. “We can prove Morgan’s dirty, but that doesn’t make the case go away. Someone else will take over, but the fact that the evidence against me is purely circumstantial will help. I believe Morgan must have fabricated evidence to get the DA to go along with the charges against me. Either that or the DA is in on it too.”

“Don’t they have to tell you what they’ve got on you?” Matt asked.

“Technically, yeah.” I shook my head. “But we’re dealing with people who don’t think the rules apply to them.”

“I can’t believe Morgan actually came to see you,” Charlie said.

“I was skeptical myself. He was looking for Rock, and I was shaken for a minute.”

“You hid it well,” Matt said. “You looked cool as ever in the video.”

“I’m glad I pulled it off. Now, though, we have to figure out who’s on the up and up at the NYPD that we can take this to.”

“I’ll check that out in the morning,” Charlie said. “I can get Jarrod on board.”

“No, not Jarrod.”

“I thought Terrence was the leak,” Charlie said.

“Terrence is definitely not clean,” I said, “but Jarrod used to work for Derek, so let’s leave him out of this. Plus, he and Terrence are good friends.”

Charlie nodded. “Got it.” She made some notes on her phone.

“I wish Rock and Reid were here,” Riley said. “They’d know exactly what to do with this info.”

“Should we wait for them?” Charlie asked me.

I shook my head. “I don’t want to wait. We have no idea how long they’ll be gone, and I don’t want to sit on this. If Morgan’s asking for bribes, he’s antsy. He could up and disappear, and then we’re sunk.”

Charlie nodded. “Got it.”

“I’ve been thinking…” Riley cleared her throat.

“What?” I asked.

“I’m the only one who’s ever been to that island of Dad’s. I should be with my brothers.”

“Baby”—Matt grabbed her hand—“they’ll be fine. They want you here. Safe.”

I drew in a breath. “I can’t say I’m not worried about Rock, but if anyone can deal with this, he and Reid can. Reid knew Derek better than anyone, and Rock…” I couldn’t finish. Rock could be a hothead, and that scared me more than a little.

“Let’s go through what we have,” Roy suggested.

“Okay,” I agreed. “One. The gun used to kill Derek had Rock’s fingerprints on it, but Rock wasn’t in New York when the murder happened. His gun, the exact same model as the one used, was stolen from his place before the murder took place. However, the serial numbers don’t match.”

“Except the serial number on the murder weapon was tampered with,” Roy added.

“True,” I said. “Still, though, we’ve proved Rock wasn’t in New York at the time and couldn’t have killed Derek.”

“We’ve got me,” I continued. “No alibi, but I was in my apartment. Of course, the video from the surveillance that would show me leaving and entering is missing from that time period.”

“We’ve got Zee,” Roy said. “Except now she’s missing as well. All of our evidence seems to fly the coop.”

Riley bit her lower lip. “I’m so worried about her.”

“I know, baby,” Matt said. “We all are.”

Roy went on. “Then there’s Nieves. She got a phone call saying Derek had been killed an hour before he actually was killed. The number of the person who called her is untraceable.”

“And,” Charlie added, “she’s far from innocent. Her sister, for some reason, told Manny what was going on during a gynecological exam. That still doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Me either,” I agreed.

“Then there’s the man who seems to be at the center of all of this. Father Jim.”

“And he’s dead,” Matt said.