A Single Touch (Irresistible Attraction 3)
“He made a mistake coming back,” Seth responds and then sits back in his seat when I give him a look.
“What’s the other thing?” I ask Walsh, squaring my shoulders and moving away from the subject of Romano. “You said you had two things to say. The first is that you have Romano’s whereabouts. What’s the second? I’m guessing it’s these recordings you say you have? Negotiation and blackmail in the same conversation?”
Walsh tosses a small notebook into my lap. It’s small and something easily tucked away, like something that would fit inside of a wallet. “The hotel Romano’s been placed in and his room number. He’s got three police offers posted next door. If they hear banging around and screaming, they’ve been told to let it happen.”
“And you’re fine with that?” I question, feeling my shoulders tighten. “It’s got ‘setup’ written all over it.”
“I’m not letting Romano walk away. He’s the reason Marcus came back here.” Walsh leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees so he’s closer to me as he tells us, “I want him dead but it can’t be on our hands. Too many people are involved. Take him. I’ve read the files on Aria Talvery. I saw what happened with your brother.”
“You saw what happened to Tyler?” I question him, not understanding how he knew.
“Tyler?” he responds with a shake of his head. “Carter. Carter is with Aria, unless I’m mistaken.” It’s silent for a long moment.
“What happened with Tyler?” he asks when the quiet air lingers for too long.
“Nothing of your concern.” I shift my weight in my chair as Walsh leans back further. “I want Romano for an entirely different reason.”
“Then take him. I’m giving him to you, both to start off with a good rapport.”
“Seconds before blackmailing us?” Seth interrupts him and Officer Walsh shrugs. “Both to have a good rapport. And to show Marcus I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”
“Marcus came back… here? For Romano?” I question, thinking back nearly a decade ago when I first learned about the bogeyman that is Marcus. “How long have you been after him?”
“Six years now,” Officer Walsh tells me and it doesn’t add up. Marcus never left. Marcus couldn’t have been in New York fucking with Walsh while keeping up his reputation down here and pulling strings. The cogs turn slowly as I assess Walsh, wondering where it went wrong, needing to know what piece is missing.
The reality of what Walsh is willing to do in order to get to Marcus coming into focus.
Seth readjusts in the seat, shifting his gun from hand to hand and then he stands, pushing the metal chair back as he does and stating, “I’d rather stand if you two don’t mind.”
I don’t move my gaze from Walsh, who merely watches.
His pale blue eyes raise to mine and then to Seth’s as he says, “My only request is that you don’t kill him at the hotel. Make it look like he took off and skipped town. Do that and he’s yours.”
“In exchange for?” I wait for the other shoe to drop. Seth stands still to my left. His wrists are crossed in front of him and one hand still holds the gun.
“What do you think I want?” he asks lowly.
He’s slow to pull a recorder out of his pocket, and with the click of a button, Seth’s voice is heard and then the sound of something creaking. I recognize it immediately.
“Who’s this fuck?” he asks and I answer, “Hal. The second he wakes up, bring him to the cellar.”
“You have questions for him?” Seth asks.
“No. No questions.”
Officer Walsh stops the recording, although the visual memory of opening the trunk and showing Seth in the parking lot behind The Red Room continues playing out in my mind.
“What was bugged?” I ask Walsh, running my thumb along the rim of the barrel. Motherfucker. Anger courses through me uncontained inside, although I don’t let it show.
“I’m guessing a gift from Marcus?” Walsh speculates with a glimmer in his eye. “The recording has enough evidence for me to piece together how you got hold of Mr. Hal Brooks, that he was alive when you took him… and what you did to him after.”
“What exactly are you implying?” A trace of anger can be heard in the hiss of my question.
“That you’re fucked… unless you’ve got information for me. It was in his clothes and found on Mr. Brooks body.”
It sinks in slowly. Marcus bugged Hal. He set me up. Between Marcus, Walsh and Romano, the list of men to kill keeps getting longer.
“What information are you looking for?” I ask, looking him dead in the eyes.
Walsh merely stands, glancing at the dead man on the floor and the dark pool of red that’s staining his face as he looks off to the front double doors in the distance.