Page 117 of I Stop Somewhere Waiting For You

MAV

“For the seven-fifty an hour I pay you I expected to be out of here by now, Murray.” My eyes narrow as I glare at him from the side.

“This isn’t a fucking traffic ticket, Maverick. It’s a murder charge. I’m good, I’ll win this at trial, but I’m not get-you-out-of-jail-before-the-body’s-cold kind of good. Jesus.” He snuffs, cursing under his breath as he opens his briefcase and shuffles through some papers. “They pulled her out of the Hudson River yesterday morning. Medical examiner puts time of death at roughly ten o’clock the night before.”

“I was with J. All night. She’ll vouch for me.”

“J? As in your girlfriend, Joanna Hunter? As in known gangster Daniel Conners’ sister?” He pins me with a look that suggests that doesn’t hold a whole lot of weight. “Why were you not at work? That alibi would have been solid.”

I was supposed to be at one of my clubs. J was even going to come with me, but then she walked out wearing this smoking little red number and before I knew it, I was fucking her on the dining room table. Needless to say, we never made it out the door.

“I got distracted.”

Murray offers up a dramatic eye roll in response.

“Fuck, Murray.” I drag my fingers through my hair. “I just got her back. I’m making up for lost time. Cut me a little slack.”

“I hope that distraction was worth it because now you’re fucked, and we have quite the battle ahead of us.” He shifts slightly in his seat to face me. “Any chance she’s involved?”

“None.” My response is instantaneous, without a shred of doubt.

Murray eyes me for a moment before he relents with a slow nod. “Yeah, I don’t think so either.”

I eye him with suspicion, my brow furrowing. “What do you mean? How do you know Jones?”

“I don’t, but you’ve been here twelve hours and she’s already called my office seventeen times demanding to know ‘what the fuck is taking so long’ in bringing you home. I swear, Maverick, she’s like the female version of you.”

I snort, my thin-lipped scowl cracking into a crooked smirk. That’s my girl.

“And you’re obviously nuts over her. Three and a half years as your lawyer, I don’t think you’ve ever missed work once. Now, you’re banging in just to spend time with her? Yeah, obviously their theory for motive is horse shit.”

“Which is?” I gesture for him to move it along.

“They’re proposing you killed Amber in a jealous rage when you found out she was sleeping with Lucian Devoreaux. He’s already been here, came in voluntarily giving a full statement about how he was unfaithful to his fiancé and has been sleeping with Amber for several months. Said you found out about them recently and kicked her out, torching all her stuff in the process.”

“Of course that motherfucker did.” I scoff. “I didn’t torch shit.”

“Good.” Murray’s shoulders visibly relax.

“I had Finn do it.”

“Goddammit, Maverick!” He pinches the bridge of his nose.

“She broke into my apartment,” I hiss. “Trashed my shit. Fuck, Murray, she’s been stalking me and J.”

“Well, she’s not here to defend herself, is she?”

I sink back into my chair, the frustration evident on my face. Blowing out a breath, I take a beat to think. Shit, how did such a great day go south so fast? I can’t believe that fuck got the drop on me like that. We underestimated him. Makes me worry about what else he has in the works that we haven’t accounted for. “I gotta call Nicky. What time was he released last night?”

“He wasn’t,” Murray replies, causing my head to snap to his attention.

“What they fuck you mean ‘he wasn’t’? He popped a fucker in the face. His lawyer should have had him out same day.” I don’t know why Nicky snapped and started wailing on Caleb, or Cabir, or whatever the fuck his name is, but I’m not mad at him for it. Asshole deserved way worse.

Murray’s shaking his head. “His lawyer’s not here. He’s sitting in a cell right now refusing to talk to anyone. And that guy he beat left the hospital last night with stitches and nursing a pretty serious concussion, so it’s a bit more than popping someone in the face.”

“Wh—?” My words are cut off as the door to the interrogation room opens. Spinning in my chair, I lock eyes on Nicky being led into the room by Agent Kellerman. I sit up a little straighter, my eyes pinging between the two of them. “Murray, get out,” I command.

“What?” He rears back, staring at me in bewilderment.

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