“Roarke.” She put a hand over his. “I can get him without you, but it wouldn’t be as quick and it sure as hell wouldn’t be as satisfying. You could get him without me. Maybe quicker, and maybe more satisfying to you. But think about this: Wouldn’t you rather picture him living a long, miserable life in a cage than just throwing the switch on him?”
He considered it. “No.”
“You’re a scary guy, Roarke. A very scary guy.”
“But I’ll work with you on this, Lieutenant. And I’ll contemplate, depending on how that work goes, settling for that image. I’ll do that for you. I promise you, it costs me more than I can tell you.”
“I know that. So, thanks.”
“Don’t thank me until it’s done. Because if it doesn’t work your way, it will work mine. What do you need?”
She let out a breath. “First I need to know why IAB sent Kohli into Purgatory. What is there in the club or who is there they wanted? Bayliss said something today about Ricker’s connection to it, but you told me you severed business with him over ten years ago.”
“That’s right, I did, taking some of his more lucrative accounts with me. I’ve sold them off since, or adjusted them. As for Purgatory, he has no connection to it. But he did. I bought it from him five years ago. Or I should say,” he added when she gaped. “My representatives acquired it from his representatives.”
“He owned the place? And you didn’t tell me?”
“Lieutenant, I have to point out, you didn’t ask.”
“For God’s sake,” she grumbled and got to her feet to pace, to think.
“And at the time your Kohli was murdered, I didn’t think of it, see a connection, or consider it relevant. It’s been mine for a number of years and has been completely overhauled, remodeled, and restaffed.”
“If he used it for a front, it could be some of his people still come in. Do business.”
“None that’s ever been reported to me. If that’s the case, it’s very minor business.”
“A cop died there. That’s not minor.”
“Point taken.”
“Why did he sell it?”
“My research at the time indicated that it was becoming a little too warm. He often dispenses of businesses and property when they’ve outlived their usefulness to him. It’s basic business practice.”
“If he’s got this hard-on for you, why did he sell it to you?”
“He didn’t know until after the fact. I assume he was displeased, but the deal was done.” He sat back, doing some thinking himself. “Possibly he put out word that there was outside business being done there, or had some of his people come in to do some. He may have hoped to take a swipe at me that way. I can see that. He’d have waited until the club was well established, until it was running smoothly, then tried to disrupt it. He’s a patient man. A few years wouldn’t have been any time to wait.”
“And with his connections in the department, he’d have had a funnel for the rumors. IAB picked up on them, started looking into it, and put Kohli in. It plays. And it’s looking more and more like the poor guy died for nothing.”
“You’ll fix that.” Roarke got to his feet.
“Yeah, I’ll fix it. I want to look at some data, data I’m not supposed to see, without anyone knowing I’m looking.”
He smiled now. “Lieutenant, I believe I can help you with that.”
In his brilliantly lit lounging room in his expansive Connecticut estate, Max Ricker stomped viciously on the face of a house droid he’d called Marta.
She would never be the same.
Canarde wisely kept his distance during this torrent of temper. He’d seen it before, and it wasn’t always a droid Ricker broke to pieces when the rage was on him.
For a time, the only sounds in the room were harsh, ragged breathing and the distressing crunch of plastic and metal. Canarde had seen it before, yes indeed. But these lapses of control were getting much worse.
He began to think it would soon be time to put his carefully outlined escape plan into action, and spend the rest of his days in the relative peace and elegance of the home he’d purchased under a false name on the Paradise Colony.
But for now, he was confident he could weather the storm.