Page 27 of Dirty Big Sins

I pulled out my phone and fired off a text to my attorney. Bastard had better fucking answer. I didn’t care how late it was. This was the kind of bullshit my manager should be handling, except that fucker was the one who seemed to have caused this.

“What the hell do you expect to find? I already told you I had no knowledge of my manager being involved in anything illegal. That hasn’t changed.”

“Have you talked to him since our little chat?”

By the look in his eyes, I could see that he knew I hadn’t. Hell, he probably knew more about Brian’s disappearance than I did. I shook my head. “Fucker hasn’t turned up in over a week.” And for a man who seemed glued to his cell phone, it was more than a little unusual at this point. I had grave concerns that he was going to turn up dead in a ditch somewhere.

“That usual behavior for him? From what we can tell, he hasn’t been to his apartment either.”

The hairs lifted at the back of my neck. It sounded like this situation had progressed far beyond a simple chat and I didn’t like it. “Nah,” I started just as my phone chimed with an incoming text.

On my way. Be there in twenty. Contacted Gabe. He’ll be there in less. Hotel management should have been alerted and weren’t. Something not right. Send me a pic of the warrant. And whatever you do, don’t say anything to the FBI until I get there. Don’t make my job harder.

I lifted my head and caught Agent Reed staring down at the phone in my hand. “Problem?” he asked.

“Not sure. Can I get another look at that warrant? My attorney wants me to snap him a pic. He bills by the minute so whatever gets him to work this out quickly works for me.”

Before Agent Reed could fish the official document from his pocket again, a commotion in the hallway drew both of our attention.

“Let me fucking through. This is my hotel and without official notice, you’re fucking trespassing.”

Gabe Michaels had entered the fray and he didn’t sound pleased.

“Sir, this is official business. You’ll have to take it up with Agent Reed.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do. What the hell, Reed? Get these men away from me.”

“Let him through.”

A few more choice words were uttered in the hall and part of me wanted to laugh. Not that this was any kind of laughing matter. But listening to Gabe steamroll his way into the situation did strike me as entertaining. And right now I needed something to counteract the anger at Brian brewing just under the surface. I wanted some answers and as far as I was concerned, he was the only one who could give them to me.

“What is going on here?” Gabe filled the doorway next to Agent Reed, who I’d not formally invited in, and then pushed his way past and into my suite.

“They’ve got a search warrant. Say it’s for my suite.”

“The hell they do. This is my property. If anyone’s getting served with anything, it would be me. Let’s see it.”

Reed handed over the document to Gabe, although from the look on his face he didn’t look too pleased about it.

While the manager read over it, I moved away from the door to send a text back to my attorney. It had been a long day and my patience had worn thin hours ago. This wasn’t how I’d planned for my night to go.

My plan had involved righting the situation with Zia, not getting involved in some kind of half-assed intrigue that may or may not involve diamonds.

My head jerked up. Fuck. What if any of this was true. I’d gotten pissed that my manager had gotten me involved in something. But fucking diamonds? That had been too ludicrous to take seriously. At the time. Now I wasn’t so sure. I glanced around the suite. Had he hidden them here?

“This thing is expired.”

That last statement from Gabe snagged my attention as I turned back to the two men arguing at the door.

“That’s because we’ve been unable to gain access until now. One thirty-second phone call to the judge and I can get that fixed.”

Gabe barked out a laugh. “You call Judge Harris at this hour, he’ll have your ass and badge by morning. That bastard will flay you alive.”

For several heart beats Agent Reed seemed to hesitate over Gabe’s outburst. He didn’t look quite as sure of himself as he had five minutes ago. How Gabe knew the judge who’d signed the warrant was beyond me, but it didn’t come as much of a surprise. The manager of The Sinclair had always seemed like more than he appeared to the public.

Agent Reed snatched the paper from Gabe’s hand and shoved it back into his jacket pocket. “I’ll be back first thing in the morning.” He turned toward me. “Mr. Cabrini, you need to be here. I’m starting to lose my patience and that’s not good for you. If I have to hunt for you, then the discretion I’ve afforded you will end. We can let the media track you down. They’re pretty good at ignoring your privacy. How do you think that will play out?”

White hot rage rushed through my head as I clenched my fists and stalked forward. “Are you threatening me?

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