Page 71 of Necessary Evil

Chapter 16

Evil didn’t know what the fuck to do. This shit with Lucy’s brother was eating at him. To make matters worse, when he’d dropped her off at her office today hoping to talk to Jenny alone, Lucy’s asshole boss had called them both into his office and from the sound of it had read them the riot act about Bradford—or Bobby, as his devoted sister called him.

Riding directly home, Evil had gone straight to bed, hoping that a few more hours of sleep would make things better. It hadn’t, though, and now he had to listen to his friends talk about murdering his woman’s brother. They were already waiting for him in the boardroom, but at least they’d ordered in pizza for lunch.

Grabbing a slice with everything but the kitchen sink on it, Evil pretended he didn’t notice that all conversation stopped when he entered the room.

“I take it Sentinel filled you two in?” Evil launched himself into his chair.

“I’ll take the job,” Sentinel said.

“No,” Evil countered. “You’re going to be a suspect because you were his squeeze’s former lover and Lucy saw you two fight.”

“I’ll do it, then,” Ryder offered. “It will be easy to get close to him. He’s a player. Jenny’s not the only chick he’s been doing.”

It figured she had already done some reconnaissance. “Busy guy,” Evil said. “But no. It’s my job. I’ll make the call.”

“There is no call,” Warden said. “We’ve got our orders from the Judge. He dies. You don’t have to be the one to pull the trigger on your old lady’s brother.”

“One of us pulls the trigger, we all pull the trigger,” Evil said.

“You’re going to hesitate. And that might get you killed.”

“I said I’ll handle it. That means all of you can shut the fuck up about who is taking Bradford out. It might take a little longer than usual, but with all of the shit that’s been going on lately, that’s not necessarily a bad idea.”

“I told you she made you vulnerable,” Ryder said.

“Still not giving a fuck,” Evil replied. “Before I end the son of a bitch, however, I would like to know how he got from New York to California.”

“I think it can be done,” Ryder said. “If he had something to keep him from falling asleep, all he’d have to do is stop for bathroom breaks and to fill up the tank. It would be a brutal drive, even if he did have an accomplice switching off.”

“We know it wasn’t Jenny or Lucy. Did you notice if he has any other friends around here?” Warden asked.

Ryder shook her head. “No, he’s new to the area. But I’ve got a line of inquiry going down that route. I’ll let you know if I get a nibble.”

“I talked to Jenny last night and again this morning,” Sentinel said. “I wanted to see if his alibi was bullshit or not.”

“Well?” Evil asked. If Jenny hadn’t been with Bobby, his alibi would dry up and the detectives would be able to charge him. It might not solve the problem of the kill order, but it would delay it. “Is she lying?”

Sentinel looked sheepish. “I pissed her off.” He shrugged. “Last night she wouldn’t even open the door for me. Told me to go away because she wasn’t feeling well. I told her that I needed to talk to her about Bradford, and that puckered her up faster than a lemon. When she threatened to call the cops on me, I left. But I went to her office first thing this morning.”

Evil winced. “That would explain the ass-chewing Lucy walked in on.”

“Yeah, I might have lost my temper. She’s lying. I know her. She’s not good at it. I think she’s scared.”

“Do you think he hit her?” Ryder asked, cracking her knuckles.

Sentinel rubbed his hand over his face. He looked sick. “My gut says no. I think she’s afraid of losing her job or going to jail because she’s covering for him. I can’t tell you that for sure, but she wasn’t her usual bubbly self. She obviously hadn’t slept. She looks guilty as shit. I can’t believe the prosecutors didn’t put her in a box and sweat her.”

“Lucy wouldn’t let them question her without her being present,” Evil said.

“Fucking lawyer,” Ryder said.

“Respect my woman, Ryder. I’m not telling you again.” He hated the brief flash of hurt in her eyes and was even more regretful when Ryder slipped back behind the cold, emotionless façade that she used around strangers. It had taken them months to break that mask when she’d first come back to Babylon.

Sentinel, as usual, was oblivious to the undercurrents in the room. He had his own demons riding him on this, Evil knew. It had to be eating at him how similar this case was to his sister’s. Abused and then beaten to death, Sarah had been found in the trunk of her car at the bottom of a lake. They all hoped she had been dead before the car sank.

“I don’t know what set Jenny off,” Sentinel said. “I told her that the SOBs would protect her against Bradford, and she got all mad and started yelling at me. It was a scene.” He concentrated on eating his pizza slice. “I might have raised my voice,” he mumbled with his mouth half full.

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