Page 90 of Romeo

I shake my head.“You’re wasting your time.My brother will prove my alibi—see, he’s got video footage of the entire night—and this entire time you’re sitting here with me when we could be working together to nail Dodger.”

“I don’t trust rogue operatives like you.Cowboys who think they’re above the law.”

“And I don’t trust cops who would rather sit and wait for evidence to fall into their laps than actually risk their necks to find it.”

We glare at each other.

Someone knocks on the door, and a uniformed officer opens and peers inside.“Someone is asking for you, Detective.”

“Fine.”He stands.“Don’t go anywhere.We’re not done.”

“Not planning on it.”I tug on the chains gently in demonstration.

The door closes, and I glare at the wall as I go over everything I know.

Odie Landers was aware of what happened to his sister and likely used that to blackmail Dodger into moving things in and out of the country.After all, if he could do it with Odie’s sister, he could move just about anything, right?

Dodger decides to run for office and realizes he has one massive loose end to tie up.Not only is he being blackmailed, but his old friend is asking questions about what happened to his granddaughter all those years ago.

Either he pressures Odie into ordering the hit on Edgar or orders it himself.

Then he does the same on Jules.

And finally on Odie.First at the cemetery—and finally at his house where the killer ultimately succeeded.

But how am I supposed to prove it when there is no trail we can find?

The door opens, and I expect Sampson to walk back in.Instead, a man wearing a police uniform comes in.His eyes give him away though.This is no officer.He shuts the door behind him then reaches into his pocket and withdraws a garrote.

Dear God, please grant me strength.

I could yell, but given these rooms are relatively soundproof, no one is going to hear a thing.

The man charges toward me.I remain sitting until he’s only a few feet from me.Lunging to my feet, I kick the metal chair out.It slams into him, and he growls.My hands are still cuffed to the table, but I manage to land a kick to his gut as he tries to get the garrote around my throat.

I move out of the way as he lunges for me again, managing to duck my head and tuck my chin to my chest so he can’t get it around my throat.

He grips my hair and slams my face down onto the table.I kick out, twisting in his grip and slamming my boot into his groin.He grunts.

“Hey!”I yell.“A little help in here!”

“No one is coming,” he growls as he comes for me again.He manages to slip the garrote around my throat.I keep my head down toward the table and try to get my fingers around it with what little slack I have in the cuffs.

Spots invade my vision as my oxygen is cut off.

I keep fighting, thrashing against the hold.

Jules.I have to survive for her.

The door flies open.

Bang.Bang.Two shots, and the garrote loosens enough that I can suck in a breath.I choke on the air, sucking in ragged breath after ragged breath.My throat burns.

“You going to survive?”Sampson holsters his weapon and unlocks my cuffs.

“Yeah, I’ll be all right.”I straighten and look down at the man who’d tried to kill me.His eyes are frozen open, blood pouring from a hole in his chest and another in his throat.“Thanks for that.”

“He never should have gotten in here in the first place.It’s the whole reason I didn’t put you in a cell when we booked you.I’ll find out how he got in.You have my word on that.”

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