Page 28 of Fatal Attraction

“We need you to look at some photos,” said Spike, who nudged his head at me. “Correction—heneeds you to look at some photos.”

“I think I may know who’s behind these attacks.” Opening the folder, I lifted up Karl’s picture first. “Do you recognize this man?”

Felix glanced at the photo, shaking his head after a moment. “Sorry, no, I don’t.”

“His name is Karl Greene. He’s being framed for Amber and Delilah’s rapes.”

“Framed?” Felix reiterated, his brows furrowing. “Framed by who?”

“By this man,” I said, sounding confident as I grabbed Peter’s photo, watching as Felix took it and thoroughly scanned it over, his lips parted. Spike rolled his eyes, still under the impression I was wasting my time.

And hell, maybe I was.

But I refused to rule Peter out until I got the phone call from Kendall, which I hoped would be soon. She promised she’d check into it after she was done pilfering through his financials.

“His name is Peter Welch. He—”

“I know who he is,” said Felix, who blinked down at the picture again, his face stamped with shock. “He’s the lawyer who helped put the son of a bitch responsible for my sister’s overdose behind bars. He works with Gibbs and Hammett in Narcotics.”

Spike and I shared a look.

That, most definitely, wasnota coincidence.

“Narcotics, you say?” Spike asked, fishing out his pad so he could jot the details down.

“Yeah. Fiona used to be a CI for Gibbs and Hammett. She’d gotten involved with this thug who calls himself Rio. Not long after they started dating, he’d gotten her hooked on some nasty drugs, and then had her out in the streets, selling them. She got busted with a hefty load and in exchange for not locking her up, she agreed to be their CI. Two months later, I found her in her apartment with a needle sticking out of her arm. There was nothing I could do. Peter showed up with Gibbs and Hammett after I reported her death.”

“Is Peter a member of the club?” I asked.

Much to my dismay, Felix shook his head. “What has you so certain he hurt those girls?”

“I’m sorry, Felix. You know we can’t disclose that information.”

“Bullshit,” he scoffed, pinning me with a nasty glare. “We’re talking about the same man who helped get justice for Fiona’s death. You can’t just come in here, drop this bomb on me, and then expect me not to demand an explanation. My business is suffering because of this shit. Ideserveto know.”

I sighed, facing Spike for his input.

“Harley will probably put him on the stand when Karl goes on trial.”

“Exactly,” Felix stated firmly, giving us both pleading looks. “You think I haven’t already considered this shit ahead of time? I’m not dumb, Detectives. I need to know what the hell is going on, that way I’m not hit with more surprises down the road.”

It fell silent as I weighed my options, not liking the odds the longer I pondered it. I hadn’t expected Felix to have a personal connection with Peter, and the fact he’d helped Felix get justice for Fiona’s death could possibly compel Felix to warn Peter about my suspicions—assuming they were still in contact with each other—if we didn’t tell him. Hell, he could still warn Peter either way.

Fuck this was not good.

“Okay,” I said after a moment, raising a stiff, stern finger at Felix when his face broke out in a relieved smile. “We’ll tell youeverythingwe know. But you cannot, under any circumstances, repeat this to anyone, not even Peter. You’re sworn to secrecy, Felix. I don’t like threatening people, but I swear to fucking God if you fuck us over—”

“Then you’re dead,” Spike said simply, offering Felix a grin that had him cowering a few steps back, swallowing hard as he gaped fearfully between us. “We’ll put a bullet in your head faster than you can blink. Understood?”

“Ye-yes.” Felix frantically bobbed his head. “Understood.”

Fourteen

Spike

When we arrived at the precinct after lunch, we were greeted again by Captain Burgess, who instructed us to head to the conference room, stating we had to go over what he, Chief, Harley, and Kendall found while we were gone. Phoenix began mentioning the tip we received from Felix, just to get shut down as Cap told us whatever it was would have to wait. Phoenix was still high and mighty on thePetertrain and wanted answers, and although I wasn’t one hundred percent in agreement, there was a small chance Phoenix may have been right. He made plenty of reasonable points about our perp—and yes, I did agree Peter fit the part. But when it came down to the facts, there was one crucial thing I’d learned since I became a cop. It wasn’t common for theguiltyto willingly submit their DNA inanycase, especially if they knew it would connect them to other crimes they committed in the past.

It turned out I was right.

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