Page 12 of Justice for Francesca

Yes, she could call him Triumph, but she needed to detach. Seeing Tripoli again up close had sent her reeling. She thought she’d managed to hold it together, but he was perceptive and probably saw right through her. She couldn’t allow any other avenues of familiarity to open. Referring to people she had once pretended to be friends with by their club names was one of those avenues.

Once inside the elevator, she turned to him. “Mr. Zelinski,” she said to further solidify the divide again. “Can you give me a quick rundown of what happened this morning?”

It was unfortunate, but she felt him bristle at calling him by his real name and by how cold she was presenting herself. His tone immediately matched hers. “Tilly and I arrived at six fifty a.m. Our regular cleaning crew would be in at noon, but since we had another private party tonight, we came in early to do some things to help out. I went to the storeroom to get some of the cleaning supplies, and I heard her scream for me. Ran into the trapeze room… and there was our unexpected guest. I pushed Tilly out of the room, checked the woman for a pulse, and then came back out for Tilly. I took her to the boss’ office and called our bar manager at home.”

“And you don’t know the murdered woman?”

He grimaced again. “I couldn’t tell who she was.”

Francesca noticed he appeared to pale slightly.

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

He confessed, “I watched what was going on over the cameras. I know I shouldn’t have, but…” He shrugged. “I figured when Special Agent Livingston didn’t call me out, because I know he noticed the camera was on, he was okay with it. When they fingerprinted her, I heard the name.”

“Thanks for being honest,” Francesca replied. “And yes, he knew.”

The doors of the elevator opened on the first floor, and once again, Triumph motioned for her to proceed before him. “The entire warehouse is structured to be like a labyrinth. Part of the fun is for the patrons to get repeatedly lost. The path to your right will be the fastest, then take the second left. If you head straight for the light, you’ll just end up across the warehouse.” Triumph put a hand out to stop her. “Agent, I know this is your job, but… it’s pretty gruesome. I just thought you should be prepared.”

“On a scale of one to ten?”

“A fifteen.”

5

AN FBI AGENT, HER BROTHER, AND HER WOULD-BE LOVER

Tripoli

As soon as Francesca left the room, Tripoli sat back in his chair, thinking hard.

There was a knock at his door, followed by the muffled beeping that came when someone swiped their entry card at a door. When it opened, Cosmos, his head of security for all of the clubs, walked in, followed closely by Tripoli’s contacts from Tribe. While sending a text as he walked, Cosmos threw a thumb over his shoulder. “Look who I found skulking about.”

“If we hadn’t wanted you to find us, you wouldn’t have.” Lobo was a six-foot-seven, two-hundred-forty-pound behemoth with a deep, rumbly voice to match. Difficult to believe you could miss the giant, but he was accurate that unless they wanted you to know they were around, you didn’t.

The grin on Cosmos’ face was wide. “Always ruining my fun.” Text completed, he slid the phone into his pocket. “Triumph sentme a message. Video footage shows nothing from when Michael did his walk-through until Tilly entered just before seven a.m.”

Lobo threw himself into the chair Francesca had been sitting in minutes ago, sprawling as much as his frame allowed in the space. The damn thing actually creaked when he rocked it back on its hind legs. “All doors are locked tight. Logs show that no doors were opened or closed between Michael leaving and Tilly and Triumph arriving. Also, Triumph can’t find any signatures for a splice or a loop in the feed. Whoever did this, they’re good.”

“In other words, ‘Triumph good.’ Makes him more of a suspect,” Tripoli mused. “Probably doesn’t help that of all of the staff, he was the most vocal about his dislike for Mila.”

Steel leaned against the wall near the door. “Since the club space is on floor two, I did a walk-through of floor three. Nothing seemed out of place, and no one was hiding anywhere there. I couldn’t locate a basement.”

“Don’t have them in Texas. They would flood. Michael and Triumph cleared the main floor before anyone arrived, and I searched my residence and the rooftop.” Tripoli confirmed.

“They got everyone split up?” Cosmos asked.

“Sort of,” Tripoli explained. “I’m here. Michael is running around gathering shit up for them and doing door duty. Triumph’s been coding away on his laptop with Tilly. She had a total meltdown when the FBI tried to separate them, so he’s allowed to be with her, but they can’t talk to one another.” He looked at Cosmos. “You got an alibi for last night? Just in case.”

“Yeah.” Tripoli noticed the genuine smile on Cosmos’ face as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. Interesting. Before, his smiles always had a bite to them. Something must have happened on his recent trip to Chicago.

The man glanced at his texts, then frowned before sliding his phone into his pocket again. Cosmos reset himself to workmode. “Why would I need one though? I haven’t been here since the opening a year ago.”

“The body is Mila Sequeira.”

Cosmos stared at him. The only way Tripoli knew he was processing the information was that his nostrils flared when the man took a larger-than-normal breath. “They’re sure?”

“Yup. Fingerprint identification.”

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