Close Cover (Masters and Mercenaries #16)(45)

Remy had planned this? Remy had been calling about her case and he hadn’t once mentioned it?

“I want to know where you are on the Vallon case.” Remy got straight to the point.

Scarsdale huffed, scowling Maia’s way. “I guess you don’t want to talk about that job. This was some kind of setup?”

Maia shrugged. “I’m perfectly happy where I am. My office actually tries to prosecute criminals. Now answer the question or you’ll be the one looking for a job. Don’t think I don’t have some power with your office. I assure you I have shit on some of your bosses that would make you blush, Matty. Now spill. Are you going to re-file the case or not?”

Scarsdale sank onto his barstool. “I don’t know. If it’s up to me, absolutely not. It’s a losing case because the local cops fucked up.”

“I’m surprised because DPD is usually quite careful,” Maia said, suspicion plain in her eyes.

“Not this time,” Scarsdale replied. “Apparently the officer got a call from her babysitter about a break-in at her home. She panicked and raced there. There was a burglary of her house that night and her young daughter was injured, though it was minor. The books were left on the front seat of her squad car, and there’s proof that she didn’t lock the vehicle.”

“She was terrified for her child,” Lisa pointed out. If it had been one of her nephews, she would have flipped out, too. “You can’t expect her to ignore that.”

Scarsdale shrugged, still holding his briefcase like he expected to need it as a shield any moment. “This is why I don’t particularly think women should be cops. A man would have done his duty. Anyway, the defense argued that leaving the books in the open at another crime scene broke the chain of custody. And something was definitely done to those books. Several pages were missing.”

“That’s interesting,” Remy said, his fingers drumming along the bar.

She supposed she couldn’t expect him to not look into the case. He was a bodyguard by trade, but he’d done some PI work as well. He worked for a security and investigation firm. If he hadn’t shown some concern about what was going on with her case, she would know he was truly only interested in sex. The fact that he was looking into it, spending time on her when she couldn’t pay him a dime had to mean something, right?

Because she was a stupid girl and she was already wondering why they had to have an expiration date. Louisiana wasn’t that far away, after all. It was about eight hours in a car, and by plane? Well, by plane there was only an hour between New Orleans and Dallas.

She’d started to think a lot about where Remy’s family lived.

“So you can see why I don’t think it’s a good idea to retry the case,” Scarsdale said.

“I’m interested in who broke into the officer’s house,” Remy said quietly.

“You would have to ask DPD,” Scarsdale replied. “That’s not in my purview.”

“Oh, I think I will ask some questions.” Remy sat back. “So Vallon’s back in business?”

“We still have his accounts frozen.” The prosecutor adjusted his glasses. “But we can only keep them for another few days. We have to make a decision.”

“It sounds like you’ve already made your decision.” Maia downed the last of her martini and gestured for another.

“There’s some argument in the office. My second believes that the girl here would make a good witness. Apparently she remembers numbers quite well,” Scarsdale said. “One of the pages that ended up missing had a series of numbers that might or might not have been accounts.”

“Oh, they were accounts.” Lisa was happy to have something to do with her hands. “I’m pretty sure they were Cayman accounts. I could write them down for you.”

Scarsdale looked slightly ill. He stepped back from the bar. “No. It wouldn’t help anything at all. No one is going to believe some waitress can remember numbers like that.”

“She’s an accountant,” Remy shot back. “With a master’s degree. I think she can handle a few numbers.”

Scarsdale stood up, his shoulders straightening. “Well, I think it’s a bust and law enforcement moved too quickly, and all on the word of a twenty-nine-year-old working on her first big job. If we lose this case, it makes my whole office look soft. I’m not willing to risk that. Now, if you have any other questions, I hope you’ll refer them to my admin.”

Remy stood up, too, getting in Scarsdale’s way. “And what about her? What about Lisa? She’s the only one who can corroborate those books. Why wouldn’t Vallon come after her?”

“Vallon isn’t violent,” Scarsdale replied.

“What about the men he launders money for?” Remy wasn’t letting this go. He sounded a lot like her brother in that moment.

Scarsdale sighed like the whole thing bored him. “I don’t know who they are. If I did, I would be able to indict them.”

“But you suspect,” Remy shot back.

The lawyer shook his head. “Suspicions don’t form a case. I can’t put my reputation on the line when all I’ve got is one woman’s memory as my witness.”

“She’s the only witness,” Remy pointed out. “Give me one good reason they don’t come after her.”