“Somebody shot him and stripped him in the restroom. It might’ve been random, but I did see some guys who acted hinky on the way out.” Four security guards ran in and Lou stepped away from the stall. “I’ll call you later.”
Lou closed the phone but made no move to put it back in the holder on his belt. “You need to call the police,” he told the group as he held his hands slightly upward. He knew the pose would make his gun holster visible, but he thought it would be better to get the fact that he was armed out of the way. “It’s my friend.”
He made no attempt to fight when the guards came forward and pushed him to the floor face down. The force they used to pull his hands back into cuffs made Lou exhale, but he stayed quiet otherwise. At least one of his captors was calling the police, and Lou took one last look at Rick as he was escorted out. The security personnel had laid him in the spot where Rick had been killed, and Lou noticed some of his blood was smeared on the front of his shirt.
They had already compromised and contaminated the crime scene, and Lou thought he was losing valuable time dealing with such incompetence, but this wasn’t the place to flex his muscle. He didn’t want to spend any more time than necessary cuffed by the pretend-cops. He wanted to hunt down the idiots who’d done this.
As the police arrived, Lou was escorted to a windowless room close to the customs office. They sat him in a chair, leaving his cuffs on, and only one of the guards stayed with him; the others, he was sure, were going back to take another look at the men’s room.
“Don’t I get a phone call or something?” Lou asked.
“We’re waiting for a unit to come pick you up, so shut up and get comfortable.”
“I have a permit for the gun you took off me, and if you bothered to check, it hasn’t been fired recently.”
The guard closed his eyes and sat back in his chair, evidently sure Lou wasn’t going anywhere. “You can save your innocent routine for the guys who’ll arrest you. I’m not interested.”
Lou didn’t have a choice but to wait, so he closed his eyes as well and tried to remember anything about the guys he’d seen on the way in. He had a gut feeling they were responsible for what had happened to Rick, and he intended to find a way to ask the questions that would get Rick the payback he deserved.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Since telling Dallas good night the previous evening, Remi hadn’t thought about anything but her. At least she was still sleeping behind the closed door, or so Remi guessed, since she hadn’t heard a sound from the room all morning. She reread the first line of the lead story in the morning’s paper for the twentieth time and still didn’t have an inkling of what it said.
She put the paper aside and decided to concentrate on the view instead. Maybe she could do that while trying to organize her jumbled brain. When the elevator doors opened, Remi was so startled she almost went for a kitchen knife. Simon and Juno lived a floor below her, and they were the only ones who occasionally popped in unexpectedly. But Dallas stood in the foyer wearing a T-shirt and a pair of sweat pants, and judging from the perspiration running down her face, she’d been out exercising.
“I thought you were asleep,” Remi said as she tried not to put her hand to her chest and calm her heart to a steadier pace.
“Sorry, I checked with Simon and she let me down and came and got me so I could take my morning walk. I would’ve let you know but you were still in your room, and I didn’t want to bother you.”
“You shouldn’t go out this early alone,” Remi said, putting her finger up to keep Dallas from wandering off since the phone was ringing. She looked at Dallas after she picked up but didn’t say anything once she pressed it to her ear.
When Dallas pointed in the direction of her room Remi shook her head, not wanting her to leave. “Do you have any idea who?” Remi finally said, then fell silent again and listened. “You need me to send someone out there? Call me if you change your mind.”
“Something wrong?” Dallas asked when Remi hung up.
“Someone killed one of Cain’s men this morning at the airport.”
“God, that’s tragic. What happened?”
“Whoever it was made it look like Rick got rolled and shot, but people usually don’t get mugged in an airport.”
Dallas kept her distance and wiped her hands on her pants like she needed to dry them. “Do you need to go see Cain? I could sit with Emma if you want me to come along.”
“You might want to stay here,” Remi said, then cleared her throat as Dallas neared.
“I’d like to help.”
“I know,” Remi said, and exhaled deeply, “but you might not want to get too involved in this.”
“Why am I here, Remi? I mean really here?”
“We’ve been over this already. You staying home isn’t a good idea right now, if Bob has some problem with you.”
Dallas laid her hand flat on Remi’s chest and looked into her eyes as if trying to find something in them. “That doesn’t answer my question. If that’s the only reason, there are plenty of hotel rooms in this city where it would’ve taken Bob a year to find me. Why am I here?”
“I’m not sure what answer you want, because that’s the only one I’ve got,” Remi said, dropping her gaze to Dallas’s hand. It appeared delicate against the green, heavy silk of her robe.
“You have another one, but maybe you’re not ready to share it with me.” Dallas moved her hand up until she reached Remi’s shoulder. “But that’s okay.” She stood on tiptoe. “I’m willing to wait you out until you’re ready.” She put her hand behind Remi’s head, encouraging Remi to bend down so she could reach her lips.
