Page 62 of Don't Lie To Me

“Maybe just find the asshole who’s doing this so we can both sleep a little more easily at night and do what you can to keep the commissioner off my back.”

Something shifts in his demeanor, and his face becomes more serious. “I plan on it, but first, you will need to accompany me down to the station while I have a forensic crew come through the place. We need to do this by the book. Sedgwick is riding my ass after I let you slip through our fingers last night.”

I inhale a deep breath, trying to keep my shit together. A trip to the station is the last thing I need this morning, but I need to keep Reef on our side and the commissioner off both of our backs.

Chapter 23

Lessthantwohourslater, I’m sitting in the interview room at the Ravens Hollow precinct with Detective Wilder and his trusty partner Detective Scout. The forensics team have been through the club and done their thing.

“We have a positive ID on the girl who was found in your club,” Reef says, a heaviness to his voice.

“A Miss Tamika Donalson, she’s a local working girl. Known to us quite well. What were you doing between the hours of two a.m. and nine a.m. today, Miss Stryker?” asks the young female detective, no real accusation to her voice.

I glance at Reef, knowing he’s not going to enjoy this answer. “We had an electrical blackout at my club, The Raven’s Nest, so I decided to stay for the night and make sure there wasn’t any more trouble. I was asleep all night in room one.”

Reef’s brow rises, but he doesn’t let on to his co-worker or me what he’s really thinking. “Is there anyone who can verify your whereabouts?”

I groan internally, knowing how bad this is going to look to him. I probably should have mentioned it before we were in an interrogation room and I couldn’t explain, not that I know how to explain this anyway. “My bodyguard and my business partner stayed with me to keep an eye on the place as well.”

Reef’s eyes flare with annoyance, but he doesn’t let it reach his face. “You all stayed together in separate rooms?” he snaps.

I meet his gaze head on. I have nothing to hide, even if this is a little awkward. “Yes, but in the same room. Do you need the play-by-play or is knowing the three of us were locked up together all night enough of an alibi for you?” I know I sound way sassier than I should when I’m trying to keep him on our side, but I meet his eyes head-on, and my lips turn up at the sides playfully, still trying to keep him in my corner.

His eyes scan over my body, and I wish I could read his mind because I can’t tell if he’s pissed about it or not. But the warmth he holds for me is still there and a twinkle of something else as well.

“We will have to confirm your alibi with the other two, but that should be all we need to know,” Detective Scout answers for him, as it seems Reef is at a loss for words.

“Look, Detectives, I need you to find the monster who did this to that poor girl, as much as you want to catch them.”

The woman looks to Reef then turns off the recorder. “Look, Miss Stryker, we’re not out to get you. I was born in this town, and I grew up watching you turn that club from a seedy brothel to what it is today. I have seen firsthand how you have changed the lives of thewomen who work for you.” Her eyes meet mine, and she stares right into the depths of my soul. “My mother being one of them.” I see the emotion all over her face. This is why she was looking at me like some kind of rockstar when we first met. “You are the reason I was able to get a good education and follow my dreams,” she says proudly.

Reef looks her over differently. That was a little fact even he didn’t know about his colleague.

“But you have to give us more if you want us to catch the person responsible,” she continues, flicking the recorder button on again. “Is there any more information you can give us to assist in our investigation?”

I stare back at her, her story reminding me of why I started this fight in the first place. It was never about money or my family and what they wanted. From the youngest age, I had a sense of right and wrong, and I knew the fight I had on my hands where I grew up. But I didn’t care because there were people who needed me to be strong for them, and that was all that mattered. The night I lost my mother, I made a decision to spend my life trying to keep those women safe. Katrina Stryker was the same. She might not have been my birth mother, but I learned everything I now know from her, and no matter how terrible a human Syd was, I know she did whatever she could to help keep me safe, no matter how I came to be in her possession. It was the only way she knew.

“All I know is someone cut all the electrical wires to my club not long after you guys left last night. We lost power for about five minutes. It could have been long enough for someone to get the body inside and do what they did. All our security systems would have been down during that time. But whoever it was, they had to have known the club layout to do it so quickly.”

She sits forward, tilting her head toward Reef. “You think it’s an inside job?”

I consider her question. It wasn’t what I was getting at, only that there wasn’t a lot of time and my club’s layout is complicated. “Why would anyone who works for me do something so awful?”

“Your line of business is dangerous. Maybe this girl had an abusive ex or she did something to piss off one of the men who paid for her services.”

“I don’t know what you’re implying, Detective, but this girl didn’t work for me. I have never seen her before in my life.”

Getting more agitated by the second, Reef slams his fists on the desk, but it’s not out of anger, it’s out of frustration. He can’t stand the fact that someone is doing this to me, I can see it in his eyes. And us having to dance around the truth must be making his job even harder. “Who then, Sloane, a disgruntled client, an ex-employee? Someone has targeted your club on purpose and left a working girl’s body in there. Why would they do that?”

I stare back at him, my heart racing in my chest. I’m not scared of whoever this is, but fuck, he’s right. It could literally be anyone, and they’re smart too, smart enough to think to shut off the electrical supply to the club. They could have done so much more damage, but instead, they left a threat for me. This is personal.

I push back my chair. “I think we’re done here. You have all you need from me. If you come up with anything more substantial to help bring the asshole responsible to justice, please let me know.” I offer Detective Scout a nod of acknowledgment. I remember her mother, she was a beautiful woman, one of the first I helped with my new payment scheme. She retired early and sent all of her three children to college on the money she was making. I know Reef looks at me like some innocent who needs to be plucked out of my life and saved, but he’s wrong. I’m the one saving them, and they need me. If I end up with a stalker in the process, so fucking be it. We will deal with whoever the fuck he is. My brothers and me.

She shuts off the recording and moves to open the door for me. Reef stops her. “Give us a second,” he asks her quietly, and she complies with a nod, her eyes flicking from him to me. She’s not silly, she can see there is more going on here, but I can already tell she doesn’t care.

She slips out the door, and he closes it behind her, standing in my way, leaning against it so I can’t get through.

“What is it, Reef? I have a PR nightmare to fixback at my club.”

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