Page 30 of Wicked Love
“That doesn’t sound ominous at all,” Slade muttered wryly.
Beckett’s mouth twitched with a hint of a smile. “He is a little over the top. But that doesn’t stop him from being just as dangerous as his name sounds.”
“What does he have to do with my dad?” I broke in.
“I’m trying to figure that out,” Beckett said. “I only just confirmed that he’s even involved. When I first found out that someone had been framing me and that Mr. Silver’s death was connected to specific businesses in the city, I wasn’t sure whether those were under Doom’s Seed’s control or part of some upstart criminal enterprise that was so new none of the Devil’s Dozen had exerted authority over it yet.”
My mouth had gone dry. “What we did at the seafood market this morning—was that to help you answer that question?”
Beckett nodded. “A man who has a definite interest in the shady transactions happening there is one of Doom’s Seed’s top lieutenants, Clarence Lindell. He’s the one who called you up and tried to browbeat you. I was pretty sure I recognized his voice—and his attitudes about certain types of crime. A little digging confirmed his connection to the deliveries passing through the market.”
I couldn’t restrain a shiver, remembering the harsh voice that had threatened me.
Logan had tensed where he was leaning forward in his chair. “So, he’s tied up in whatever illegal business the seafood market is handling. How does that tie him to Maddie’s dad?”
Beckett aimed a baleful look at my stepbrother. “We know that Mr. Silver stumbled on something that made him a target. We know that whatever it was, it brought him to the seafood market and the warehouse that’s also part of their delivery chain. We also know that someone with a lot of resources was able to set up Maddie’s mother’s accident and the fire at your office, as well as arranging evidence to frame me. It doesn’t really make sense for it to have been anyone else.”
I groped for my words. “Then we’re assuming that this Doom’s Seed guy had my dad murdered to protect his business. Whatever he found, it was part of this guy’s dealings?”
“I’d imagine it’s something like that,” Beckett said, his voice softening. “It might not have even been Doom’s Seed himself but his underlings handling operations for him that they don’t think are important enough to run by him. Or that they don’t think he’ll approve of. I have trouble imagining them thinking coming at me was a good idea unless he’d either approved of it or they’d decided they didn’t care what he wants.”
“Maybe they’ve gone rogue,” Dexter suggested.
“That’s a possibility. Whatever the case, I’m going to confront the man in charge and tackle the problem head on.”
Logan frowned. “And where do we come in?”
Beckett’s jaw tightened. “You don’t. The one thing we do know for sure is that Doom’s Seed and his lackeys are incredibly dangerous on a level far beyond anything you’ve needed to deal with before. They have a thousand times more resources than four college students do, and it’d be much too easy for them to arrange a few more ‘accidents’ to dispose of you if they feel you’re causing too much trouble again.”
“They haven’t come at us directly so far,” I pointed out, though my heart was thumping faster.
“I think that’s only because you’ve appeared to stop investigating,” Beckett said. “And they’d only take measures that extreme if they believed they had no other choice, because itwouldlook suspicious if something happened to all of you. But I don’t know how long they’ll hold off, especially if it becomes clear that you’re still on the case.”
He paused and swallowed audibly, the first outward sign of distress he’d shown since arriving. “I don’t think I can fully protect you. I’m not even sure I can protect myself.”
Those words punched a hole in my gut. I could hear how much Beckett hated admitting it—how much he hated this whole situation.
“It isn’t your fault,” I had to say.
“It’s not,” he agreed. “But I’m tangled up in it now, and I’mgladthat I am. I know how to handle these people—I’ve got by far the best chance of getting us all out of this situation alive and well, with justice served.”
“What does that mean, exactly?” Dexter asked.
“I’m going to handle the entire investigation from here with my own people. The four of you should stay out of it—as far out of it as you can. Go completely back to your regular lives, whatever you’d have been doing if you didn’t believe a murder had happened. That’s the only way to ensure you won’t become targets. I’ll find out why Maddie’s father was targeted and keep you all in the loop about everything I uncover. I promise you that.”
Slade snorted. “You’re going to take all this on your shoulders by yourself? Are you kidding me?”
Beckett’s mouth curved into a tight smile. “I won’t be alone. I’ll have plenty of help—from my people, who’ve trained for this, who’ve dealt with Doom’s Seed before.”
“No fucking way.” Logan shoved himself to his feet, his muscles flexing. “If you think you’re going to steal our case out from under us after—”
“I’m not trying to steal anything,” Beckett interrupted sharply. “I’m trying to keep you allalive. It’s the only thing I know Icando.”
Logan hesitated. Silence fell over the room again as the full impact of Beckett’s stand sank in.
He was willing to take on all of the danger and the responsibility himself to avoid putting us at any risk. He’d rather go it alone than take the chance of backlash against us. Even though Logan had been tearing into him at every opportunity over the past several days; even though the other guys had viewed him with suspicion.
He’d told me he had a code of ethics, lines he wouldn’t cross. That he tried to protect innocent people as much as possible. He couldn’t have given a more concrete display of those principles than he was right now.
