Page 68 of Emerald Vices
I meet his eyes only because it would be really suspicious not to. “I’m not sure what you want me to say, Detective. As far as I’m concerned, there was nothing after that.”
“According to several of your coworkers, Mr. Wells had something of an altercation with your ‘rich businessman’ boyfriend, Mr. Kuznetsov. Do you confirm or deny?”
The bastard is smiling at me as though he’s having the time of his life. No wonder he got Remi’s hackles up. I’m this close to growling at him myself. I’d bite a chunk out of him, too, if I wasn’t so sure it would taste like polyester, cigarettes, and gas station aftershave.
“He was hitting on me at work, Detective,” I explain tiredly. “He was my superior; I was his subordinate. It was nothing less than sexual harassment, so of course my partner wasn’t happy about it. They exchanged words and Byron left me alone after that.”
“And by ‘left you alone,’ you mean that he disappeared.”
“By ‘left me alone,’ I mean that he stopped making inappropriate sexual advances towards me.”
“Seems a little convenient, don’t you think?”
“That my intimidating boyfriend would tell Byron to back off and then Byron would back off? Sounds like clear cause and effect to me. Even if it wasn’t, last I checked, coincidences aren’t crimes.”
Harris’s eyes flare wide for a moment. That menacing smile is back on his face. “That remains to be seen.”
“Are you accusing me of something?” I ask. “Because if you are, I’d rather you stop beating around the bush.”
There are times I need to learn to shut the hell up.
This is one of those times.
“You’re right, Ms. Boone. Let’s not beat around the bush any longer. I’m going to need you to come down to the station with me and answer a few more questions.”
My body goes cold instantly. That’s all the foreboding I need to shake my head. “No.”
Detective Harris pops off the desk. “No?”
“I’m not obligated to go anywhere with you. If you want to bring me in for questioning, then show up next time with an arrest warrant. Otherwise?—”
I gasp when I feel something cold and hard pressed into my side. I don’t have to turn my head very far at all before I come face to face with the silent cop, who’s no longer a statue in the corner. He’s wearing a look of such cold detachment that I need to double-check to make sure he really is pressing a gun to my body.
“What is this?” I croak.
“This is what happens when people think they’re above the law,” Harris quips with a pleasant smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Now, you’re going to walk out of here with us right now. Or my colleague here is gonna get real sloppy with his gun.”
“Detective,” my ass. They’re not who they say they are.
I swallow down the sob rising in my throat. “I’m pregnant.”
“And if you want to stay that way, I suggest you do exactly as I say.” Harris smiles again, sending a shiver down my spine. “Is that clear?”
I can only nod.
“Excellent. Let’s go. Arkady, make sure you walk behind her. If she tips off her watch dogs… shoot her.”
I wipe my sweaty palms on my trousers before walking out of the conference room behind the fake detective. The police officer stays close behind me.
The fresh air of the lobby is a minor relief. The stench of the conference room was starting to feel like mud in my lungs.
But even fresh air doesn’t ease the heaviness in my chest.
“I need to go down to the station for a bit,” I say to Leif and Leonty as they crowd toward us.
Both men scowl immediately.
I glance nervously at Harris, who’s busy adjusting the collar of his jacket as if nothing is amiss. “Yeah, it’s routine apparently. Nothing to be alarmed about. They said they’ll release me in an hour or so.”