“He’s never been a friend. When I was blind and alone, he was perfectly okay with keeping our relationship professional, no personal calls or invites to his frequent parties. I was the name behind the business that he got paid well for. We actually spoke personally maybe once or twice a year. We corresponded through our secretaries and emails. If I saw him on the street, I’d probably walk right by him, not knowing it was him. He… he was a business partner, Leo. That’s it. Maybe that’s why it wasn’t difficult for him to get rid of me. If he goes to jail, I can’t say I’d be devastated. It’s depressing but more for him than me. What the hell made him think he could pull off a conspiracy to commit murder?”
“I don’t know. In this line of work, I stopped asking that question long ago and trying to understand why people commit the crimes they do. Criminal psychologists are still stumped by that question,” Day said sadly, wishing his friend wasn’t going through this. Day’s business was narcotics. The entire organization of drug lords had one root cause… money. People did horrible things to get it.
“Ya know, the more I think about our past meetings, the more it’s making sense and pointing at him. He’s been wanting to do way more critiques overseas and advertise in more publications. Even suggested starting our own magazine, which would, no doubt be lucrative, but I’ve been focused on other ventures. Damn, what a shark. I never saw this coming.” Pres turned to look at him. “So, if God’s plan goes right and this Mercer guy confesses or has proof it was Adam, then what happens?”
“He’s arrested and the district attorney presses charges. There’ll be a trial, but he’ll probably have his attorneys plead it out.”
“Will I have to talk to him?” Pres asked uneasily.
“Absolutely not. For one, it’s prohibited… you’re the victim. You won’t have to face him. But when you go to court, you’ll see him.”
“That’s it. He’s arrested and that’s the end of it?” Pres shook his head.
“Yeah, honey. It is. You’ll need to contact your lawyers to handle his share of the critique business. Obviously, he’ll lose his rights to it when he’s found guilty.” Day hugged his friend. “You don’t deserve this.”
Pres hugged him for a long time before pulling back and cupping his face. “Enough about that for now. Let’s talk about your wedding. For instance… who’s catering it?” Pres flashed that gorgeous smile.
God
God let Ro hug Pres and his partners. They’d all hung out in the past, and like all men, Pres loved Ro’s company. God had known Ro would get in here and do everything he could to help. After they were done with pleasantries, Ro was handed the file containing all the information that Free and Tech had gathered. They were quiet again around the large conference table while Ro fingered the papers quickly.
“This looks pretty clear-cut.” Ro shrugged. With his blond hair a little longer on the top and his beard grown out to more than just stubble, Ro looked good, rested and ready to work.
“You can get a confession out of him?” Ric asked, pacing back and forth.
“Oh, he’ll talk.” Ro nodded. “He has no record at all. Even the threat of going to jail will rattle the shit out of him.”
“We don’t have a damn thing useful, Ro. One image of him at a public café isn’t probable cause to arrest him. Question him, yes, but that’s it,” God told Ro, although he was sure he already knew it. Ro was a vet at this.
Ro straightened his holster and walked with the rest of them to the interrogation rooms. He turned to Tech. “Tech, in three minutes come give me a few pieces of paper and say it’s from the cyber division and leave. Day, come in two minutes after with more papers and say it’s from forensics, then Syn, if he hasn’t cracked, come in with a CD and say it’s from the backup camera at the condominiums.” Ro nodded when they all agreed and turned the knob into room four.
The rest of them hurried into the viewing room. Ro’s entire face had changed from handsome and fun to uninterested. He looked at the man in front of him. Mercer had a bruise on his right cheek and a painful looking cut over his left eye and God was sure no one would know how they got there. Ro sat down, his sharp eyes locked on their suspect. He sat back and crossed one leg over the other like he was at a lounge and waiting for a waiter to bring him a cognac. Ro casually flipped through each page of the file. He took out the one legal piece of evidence they had, an image of Mercer in the café, hacking Pres’s security system, and slid it in front of him. Mercer looked at it and shrugged, rambling on about how he always went there… so what. Ro had yet to speak. Right on time, Tech went in with some papers he probably got from the recycling bin, said his lines and left. Their suspect’s Adam’s apple bobbed while Ro nodded his head and looked across the table at him. Mercer asked questions, but Ro didn’t answer.