Shadow Warrior (Shadow Riders 4)

“Thanks for coming, cousin,” he greeted. “I know we shouldn’t need a lawyer, but it’s always nice to have one just to be safe.”

Grace ran events that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. She was intelligent and quick, she couldn’t fail to perceive his warning. He wanted her to be very cautious in what she said to the cops. Cooperative, but cautious. He didn’t want Art and Jason to consider for one moment that she was anything other than Haydon’s victim.

“Grace was just telling us how Phillips lured her to his car even though she knew it was stolen,” Art said helpfully.

Vinci frowned. “That sounds like a question designed to entrap my client.”

“Since when did Grace Murphy become your client, Sanchez?” Jason asked.

“She’s family. Every family member is my client. Grace, perhaps you should use that oxygen mask.”

She shook her head. “I want to help them catch him if it’s at all possible. I had refused to take out another loan. I have three already outstanding major debts and I told him that. He acted like he understood, but I knew he would do something. I tried to explain it was a matter of economics, I couldn’t take out another loan. I was already in over my head. He told me that I’d left my sweater at a venue and he’d grabbed it. My sweater had been missing for a couple of weeks and just to freak me out, Haydon sometimes showed up at the KB events. He asked me to walk out to his car with him.”

“Did it occur to you that you could be in danger?”

“I was always in danger. Always. I felt every minute of the day that I was walking a tightrope and any moment I was going to fall. Part of me just wanted it over.” She looked at Vittorio and there was a plea for understanding as well as definite shame.

“Il mia bellissima gattina.” Vittorio kept his voice low as he turned her hand over and brought it to his mouth, so he could press a kiss into the center of her palm. “You are very brave. Very few people could have held up all those years of living in terror.”

Her gaze clung to his for a moment as if drawing strength from him and he hoped she would. He wanted to be her strength. He couldn’t imagine growing up knowing the boy who had protected you was a serial killer.

“I didn’t see a way out. Once, a long time ago, I had told a cop I was certain Haydon had had something to do with a death. The cop all but laughed at me and implied I was jealous because he was seeing another girl. That didn’t go over so well with Haydon.” A shiver went through her. “I had to have proof and I never got it. He never once admitted to doing anything wrong.”

She looked Art straight in the eyes. “I thought killers liked to brag. That’s the way they’re portrayed in the movies. He never did. He would throw out scary lines, like it would be terrible if anything happened to you, or to them or to that dog, but he never said anything that I could record or admit anything that would help me convince the police he was guilty. I wouldn’t have even been able to tell them where to find him.”

Vittorio could see she was just about done. The pain meds were wearing off and she was struggling a little with breathing, although he thought that was more emotional than because she’d been exposed to too much gas. They’d gotten there quickly. Phillips had started the gas and then when the alarms went off, he must have taken off and left the hospital. Vinci had twice given Vittorio the signal to stop Grace from saying anything more. His cousin wanted time to talk to her first and go through everything that she could say and caution her how to say it.

“Grace needs to rest now.” He turned on the oxygen machine and fit the mask over her mouth and nose. “She’s going home today.”

Art’s eyebrow shot up. “To her apartment?”

“Of course not. She’s coming home with me,” Vittorio said. “All along we were planning to move in together eventually. This just sped up the process. We knew we couldn’t keep our relationship out of the tabloids forever, but we liked having privacy.” Again, he curled his fingers around her wrist and brought her knuckles to his mouth, distracting the two detectives. “Dr. Arnold is adamant that she not move around too much, although later she’ll need aggressive physical therapy. He wants another week before she gets active, which means it will be difficult for her to answer more questions at the police station, but you’re welcome to come to my home.”