Risking Trust (28 page)

After a long nap, Roxann sat on Michael’s couch with Vic across from her and decided having him around might be a good idea. She could bounce ideas off him about the mayor being a murderer and he’d be more objective than Michael.

She had questions. Big ones. “How would the mayor even know how to snap Alicia’s neck? He’d never served in the military or had any training where he might learn that.”

“Couldn’t tell ya.”

“And what time did he leave the PBA function the night Alicia was killed? Did he stay late or leave early? Has anyone bothered to check the timeline?”

“Couldn’t tell ya.”

So much for bouncing ideas off him. The man was useless right now. “I need to talk to my uncle.”

“I’ll go with you.”

She held her hand out. “I need to talk to him alone.”

No response. Probably thinking about how to handle her. He had to be bored stiff from an entire afternoon of small talk.

“I’ll drive you then.”

Rolling her eyes, she pulled her purse from the closet. “Fine. Just drop me off and leave. Max will drive me home.”

She didn’t want Vic sitting out in the car waiting, in case her meeting with Max ran long.

He pulled his cell phone. “Who’re you calling?”

“Mike.”

Roxann slipped her bag over her shoulder and threw her hands in the air. “Now I have to report in every time I want to go somewhere? This is stupid.”

Ignoring her, he spoke briefly to Michael, snapped his phone shut and grinned. “Ready, darlin’?”

She pushed by him. “Whatever.”

When she arrived at Max’s office, she was told she’d find him working out in the basement. The taxpayers had provided a professionally designed gym, including top of the line cardio equipment, heavy bags and a steam room. The
Banner
had covered that story and Roxann found it ironic that it was the catalyst to the problems with City Hall. After the story broke, the mayor hounded her and her father regarding their coverage of his office.

The desk sergeant waved Roxann through the swinging gate that allowed access to the administrative offices and the stairwell to the basement. Along the way, she wondered how to get a city job because at five-thirty the offices were barren.

She opened the door to the gym, expecting to hear a blast of weights clanging, stereos blaring and people grunting, but the room offered little of that. Several men worked out with free weights, a couple more on cardio machines and a television was on, but the volume had been turned down. The only noise in the room came from the clink of a weight being shifted onto a bar.

Max, dressed in a black karate gi, his black belt tied securely at his waist, sparred with another man in the far corner of the oversized room and Roxann stood back for a moment, watching as they kicked, retreated, kicked again. The
pfft-pfft-pfft
of feet connecting with clothing proved Max could move when he needed to.

Another man, also dressed in karate garb, stood with his back to the door and she stepped beside him. When he turned to her, recognition sparked and she thought back to where she might have met him. His sandy hair and long, angular face brought images of a man more pretty than handsome and she smiled.

“Ma’am.” He turned back to the action.

“The desk sergeant told me Max was here.”

“I think he’s almost done.”

She nodded and stuck her hand out. “I’m sorry. I can’t remember your name. I’m Roxann.”

Looking down at her hand, he pursed his lips, hesitated, then held his hand to her. “I’m Adam. I work for Max.”

Not the friendliest guy on staff, but she wasn’t here to see him anyway. She turned her attention back to Max who remained so focused on his opponent he failed to notice her standing there. He let a roundhouse kick fly and sent the enemy to the mat.

Roxann smiled. “I forget how good he is.”

“He could do some damage.”

Unfortunately, Roxann had seen that first hand. She turned toward a smiling Adam and froze.

Adam, who worked for Max, had a crooked front tooth.

A clawing darkness swallowed her and she held her breath, let it out slow. She’d never forget that tooth. Not when its owner had threatened her.

He tilted his head. “Are you okay?”

Pull it together
.
Shake it off. He doesn’t think you recognize him.

“I just remembered a call I forgot to make. Will you tell Max I’ll see him later?”

She turned and strode to the door.
Don’t run. Don’t run. Don’t run
.

“Roxann, wait,” Adam yelled.

She glanced back and saw Max stop his workout. He looked at Adam, then back to her.

Run.

She bolted through the door, taking the steps two at a time and thanking the little voice that had told her to stay in her jeans and sneakers. None of them could catch her when she wore running shoes.

She shot through the stairwell door expecting to see someone, but the corridor remained empty. She heard Max yell before the door closed and, sickly fear penetrating, she ran past the desk sergeant and out the main entrance.

Once on the sidewalk, she sprinted through an alley and zipped across a side street. She wanted to stop and dig her cell phone from her purse, but the loud thumping in her ears signaled her to keep going.

Why did she tell Vic to leave?

Think. Think. Think.
She darted around evening rush-hour pedestrians and cut across another alley. Three more blocks and she’d reach the
Banner.
The busy streets would keep her safe until she reached the newspaper. She hoped.

Her thoughts bounced with wild assumptions. Maybe Adam was asked by the mayor to threaten her? He said he worked for Max though. Could Max have asked him to do it? No.

A painful sob broke free and she urged herself not to get dramatic.
Rebuild. Rebuild. Start at the toes.
There had to be an explanation. Had to be.

A police cruiser came to a screaming halt in front of the
Banner
just as Roxann pushed through the lobby doors. She ran by the stunned security guards at the lobby desk and yelled not to let anyone up. No one.

Taking the stairs that would lead her to the executive suite, she dug out her keys as she made her way up. She hoped some of the executives were still working, but didn’t count on it. She’d heard something about drinks after work to celebrate the paper’s ace reporting.

After bolting the executive suite door, she locked herself in her office.

Michael.

Had to call him. Diving for the phone with trembling hands, she dialed and waited.
Come on. Come on. Answer.

Behind the wheel of his SUV, Michael glanced down at the ID on his phone and smiled. Roxann calling from the office. “Hey, I thought you were going to see Max.”

“Michael.” Her voice squealed and his body tensed.

“What’s wrong?”

He turned down an alley and shot through, knocking over a couple of garbage cans on his way to the
Banner
.

“Something’s happened. I think Max is involved. I don’t know.”

What the hell?

“The guy with the crooked tooth works for Max. I saw him at the station. “

Son of a bitch
.

“Rox, lock yourself in.”

“I am locked in. Someone’s here though. I saw a police cruiser pull up when I ran through the lobby. I told security not to let anyone up.”

“Good.”

Two blocks from the newspaper and he was stuck in traffic.
Damn.
“Just stay on the line with me. I’m in traffic, but I’ll be there in a few.”

“Security is on my other line. Hold on.”

He waited an endless minute for her to pick up again, but reached another alley that stretched two blocks and would get him to the newspaper. Bingo.

“Sorry,” she said, her voice littered with tension. “Max is on his way up. I told them not to let anyone up.
Dammit!
”

Michael nearly crushed the phone in his hand. “Don’t let him in. I’m about to pull around the corner.”

“There he is,” Rox said. “He’s knocking on the outside door.”

“Don’t let him in.”

She didn’t answer. Bad sign. “Roxi, whatever you’re thinking, stop.”

“I can get it out of him. Whatever his involvement, I’ll get him to tell me.”

“No.”

“I have to go.” The phone clicked.

Roxann stood staring at Max through the glass doors. He held his hands out. “What the hell’s going on? Why’d you tear out of there?”

This was it. She had to open the door. It struck her as odd that last night she’d called on her uncle for help, but now he brought terror.

Taking a deep breath, she flipped the lock and opened the door. Still wearing his workout gear, he stepped forward and hugged her. Roxann kept her hands at her sides until he released her.

When had he become someone she didn’t know?

“Who is Adam?”

“He works for me.”

“What does he do?”

He held his hands wide. “What the hell is this about?”

“Did you send him to scare me that day? On my run?”

“He’s a police officer. He protects people.”

“Not all do, Max. You know that. Cops are corruptible.”

“Right.” He waved his arms. “Is this the kind of crap Taylor feeds you?”

“Don’t bring him into it. This is me talking and I think you know something about Alicia’s murder. I think you didn’t want me involved and you sent Adam to scare me.”

Max moved to one of the sofas in the reception area, sat down and leaned forward on his elbows, the weight of his body pressing him down. For the first time, she noticed his exhaustion. She knew that feeling.

“I knew Richmond did it.”

“You covered it up?”

“Absolutely not. There was no proof. I had a feeling.”

“And you were willing to let an innocent man go to jail?”

“The evidence said it was Taylor. We had to go with what we had.”

“Bull, Max. You could have done something.”

“He did do something,” Michael said.

Roxann spun toward him and Max’s head shot up. Michael had been standing in the doorway listening and a thought too preposterous to believe struck him.

“Michael,” she said. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

Max stood and faced him. “This is a private conversation.”

The look of hatred only gave more merit to Michael’s thoughts.

“I want him here,” Rox said then shifted back to Michael. “What did he do?”

Michael stepped into the room, placed a hand on her forearm and squeezed. “He killed Alicia.”

“
What
?”

Max laughed. “This is brilliant. Cut the crap. You’re scaring her.”

Rox remained silent while she absorbed what he’d said, but her arm tensed under his hand. The idea that she’d take Max’s side never occurred to Michael, but her silence made him wonder if he should have considered it.

“Why would you say that?” she asked.

“It’s true, Roxi. Your uncle is a stone cold killer.”

Still standing between them, Roxann brought her palms to her forehead. Maybe holding them there would stop the unruly battering to her brain. “Where is this coming from?”

Michael kept his eyes fixed on Max. Two gladiators about to engage. “Max has been trying to get you off this case. He’s manipulated you, rejected your theories, and any leads you’ve given him have not been investigated. He’s hiding something. At first I thought he was covering for the mayor or Carl, but Carl doesn’t have the balls and the mayor wouldn’t have gotten his hands dirty.”

“That’s a wild assumption,” Max said.

“Yeah? Why don’t you explain why you hit Richmond with a lethal blow when you could have incapacitated him? I’m no black belt and even I know you can do a palm strike to the nose without killing someone. You chose to aim up rather than straight on which would have only broken his nose. You
chose
to kill him.”

“Shut your mouth,” Max roared.

Roxann faced her uncle. “Tell me what you did.”

Her control tight-roped along the edge of hysteria, but she refused to break down. She needed to focus on getting the answers they needed.

Max’s stormy eyes snapped at her. “You cannot believe this garbage?”

With Michael standing behind her, she raised her chin. “I wouldn’t have believed my father would drop dead in his office. I wouldn’t have believed Craig Rawlins could destroy our press, and I certainly wouldn’t have believed you could murder someone. But I don’t hear you denying it. The mayor never told me he killed Alicia. All he said was he told Carl to handle Alicia blackmailing him. That’s it, Max. Tell me what you did.”

Silence.

That shattered her. If he didn’t do it, he should be denying it. And suddenly it all made sense. “When I called you last night asking for help with the mayor, you knew I was getting close to figuring it out. After the
Banner
ran the story on the mayor being involved with the pressroom damage, you knew he was coming undone. You
knew
he wouldn’t let himself be blamed for Alicia’s murder. He came to see me to save himself, and what better way for you to protect yourself than eliminate the threat? With all the corruption and payoffs, who wouldn’t believe he was a murderer? You were going to manipulate me, just as you’ve always done, into believing the mayor did it.”

“Roxann—”

“And you sent your staffer to scare me. You blew up my car! All to get me running to you for help. You terrorized me, Max. How could you do that?”

“You son of a bitch,” Michael said.

A groan came from Max and his face morphed into something hard and dark and evil. “Just so you know,” he said to Michael. “Your wife was a great fuck.”

Roxann let out a gush of air. Sucker punched. “It was you?
You
had the affair with Alicia?”

Her uncle lunged forward and Michael shoved her aside the second before Max’s fist connected with his jaw. He stumbled backward, recovered quickly and blocked the second punch.

Roxann ran to the phone on Mrs. Mackey’s desk, dialed security first and then, with furious fingers, called 9-1-1.