A Chip and a Chair (Seven of Spades, #5)(11)
She grimaced. “I’d like to maintain at least the illusion of plausible deniability.”
“A lot of the surveillance you’d obtain would be illegal, too,” said Levi. “It couldn’t provide the basis for a warrant and wouldn’t be admissible in court.”
“It doesn’t need to. It just has to point us in the right direction.”
Releasing Dominic’s hands, Levi moved a few feet away and chewed on his lower lip. Dominic could see the war waging inside him as clearly as if he’d asked the question aloud-did these drastic, unprecedented circumstances make it acceptable for him to violate his oath to uphold the law?
Dominic, who was always in favor of rule-breaking in the interests of protecting innocent lives, kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t a cop, and he didn’t think like one. Levi and Martine’s perspective on this was vastly different from his own.
“All right,” Levi said at length. “I don’t see any other way. This has to end.”
Dominic nodded. “I’ll put everything in place tomorrow. And I’ll start checking Gibbs’s history for alibis for the murders as well.”
“I’ll focus part of the ketamine investigation on Leila. There’s a chance she could be getting the drugs in St. Louis instead of here.”
The conversation turned to technical matters as the three of them planned the next steps in their rogue investigation. Levi held himself together well, but Dominic could see the stress in the lines around his mouth and eyes, in the stiff set of his muscles that was sure to leave him with a terrible backache later. Though Dominic would do anything he could to help Levi through this, the only thing that would truly solve the problem was having the Seven of Spades behind bars.
Levi was right. This had to end.
Saturday morning, Levi was sitting in the dining nook, paging through the local news on his tablet while he ate breakfast. Rebel was sitting beside him, watching intently; she knew he would let her lick the remnants of his eggs off the plate when he was finished.
The headlines were grim and getting worse every day. Plummeting Tourism Panics Mayor, Local Businesses. Utopia Militia Claims Credit For Church Fire. City Council Seats In Danger As Angry Citizens Demand Change.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. After college, he’d moved to Las Vegas because it was about as far away from suburban New Jersey as he could get, both physically and culturally. From the start, he’d fallen in love with the city’s vibrancy, its non-stop energy, the sense of change and possibility that hovered around every corner. But now the city he’d adopted as his own was teetering on the razor’s edge of self-destruction.
Levi dropped his hand at the sound of shuffling footsteps. Carlos trudged into the kitchen from the spare room, rumpled and bleary-eyed, his shoulders hunched. He stopped when he saw Levi.
“I didn’t think anyone would be up this early,” he said, bending over to pet Rebel as she rushed over to greet him.
“I’m always up early.” Levi eyed Carlos critically. Jasmine and Carlos had gone the traditional route of spending the night before their wedding apart, so after last night’s rehearsal dinner, Carlos had come home with Levi and Dominic while Jasmine had gone to her parents’ horse farm in Henderson.
Carlos looked like he’d slept two or three hours, max.
Levi pushed back his chair and stood. “There’s coffee in the French press. I’ll make you some breakfast-scrambled eggs and turkey sausage okay?”
“I can make-”
“You’re a guest. Besides, it’s your wedding day.”
Carlos smiled. “Okay, thanks.”
Levi put together a quick meal, then rejoined Carlos at the table. He picked up his own fork again, but paused when he noticed the gray tinge to Carlos’s golden-brown skin and the way Carlos was just pushing his eggs around on the plate.
“Are you all right?” Levi asked.
“I had trouble sleeping. I’m so nervous-happy nervous, but still. I hate being the center of attention, and a hundred people are going to be watching my every move all day.” Carlos chewed and swallowed a mouthful of sausage before continuing. “You know, for most of my life, I never imagined this day would even be possible.”
Levi nodded. Their experiences weren’t the same, Carlos being trans, but he could empathize. He’d never been confused about his sexual orientation, so he’d grown up believing that an experience his peers took for granted-that they could get legally married one day-would always be out of his reach. Sometimes it was still surreal to realize that he and Dominic could get married tomorrow if they wanted to.
“And it’s stupid, but it sucks that my family won’t be there.” Carlos scraped his fork through his eggs. “I know I don’t owe them anything after the way they treated me, and actually having them there would make things worse, but . . . it hurts.”
“Of course it hurts. And that’s not stupid.” Levi hesitated, considering, then made up his mind and said, “Did you know I have an older sister?”
“No. You’ve never mentioned her.”
“Because we don’t speak. After I was attacked in college, she never said the words ‘It was your fault’, but she may as well have. She believed I’d brought it on myself-whether because I was gay, or because I was too weak to defend myself, I’m not sure.” Levi leaned back in his chair. “I’ve never understood it, because that’s not the way our parents raised us. Natasha says that some people blame the victim so they can deny the reality that terrible things can happen to anyone-could happen to them. Whatever the reason, it ruined our relationship forever.”