A Chip and a Chair (Seven of Spades, #5)(58)

He opened the door and stepped inside.

Sawyer watched him intently, but didn’t move as Levi shut the door behind himself, slowly approached the table, and took a seat. Levi’s eyes flicked toward the camera in the corner, turned off as agreed. The viewing room next door was empty, and Martine was standing guard to ensure it stayed that way.

He and Sawyer were truly alone.

Forcing himself to meet Sawyer’s eyes, Levi remained silent. Sleeping with Sawyer had been a mistake, for several reasons, but it hadn’t been wrong. Sawyer was the one who should be ashamed, not Levi.

After an uncomfortably long staring contest, Sawyer broke first. “I’m not the Seven of Spades.”

“Oh, okay,” said Levi. “I guess we’ll just let you go, then.”

Sawyer exhaled heavily through his nose. “I don’t understand what made you think this was even a possibility.”

“When Carolyn Royce was murdered, the Seven of Spades livestreamed it to the substation. They knew I would be there. You were supposed to meet me there at the same time, but you were over an hour late. Where were you?”

“You already know the answer to that. I had a flat tire.”

“Pretty convenient, don’t you think?”

“Actually, it was a massive inconvenience.”

“Did you request roadside assistance?” Levi asked. It would be an easy way to verify Sawyer’s story. “Call for a tow truck?”

“I changed the tire myself.”

That seemed so unlikely that Levi laughed aloud. “And it took you an hour?”

Sawyer threw his head back with a loud groan. “The lug nuts were rusted; it took forever to get them off.”

“In other words, you have no solid alibi for Royce’s murder.” Levi changed subjects abruptly, aiming to put Sawyer in a position where he’d have to struggle to keep up. “Let’s talk about the time the Seven of Spades used you to deliver my invitation to Volkov’s poker tournament. They leave me messages all the time without needing a go-between. Why break from their pattern?”

“Without context, would you have known what that invitation meant?” When Levi didn’t answer, Sawyer added, “And is there anyone else in your life who could have explained it to you?”

Dominic, technically, but the less said about that the better. “Any ideas how the invitation ended up in your locked car in your firm’s secured parking garage?”

“Do you have any thoughts? After all, I sent you the security footage-of my own initiative, I might add.”

“And we went through it with a fine-toothed comb, vetted every vehicle in and out. They all had legitimate reasons to be there. What’s interesting is that once your car was parked, it was no longer within the sightlines of any cameras.”

“Because those cameras are positioned to watch the gates.”

“Again, convenient. How did you find out about my IA hearing?”

“What?” Sawyer said, scowling. Levi’s ploy seemed to be working; Sawyer was vibrating with frustration, and he looked about ready to flip the table.

Levi took a moment to savor Sawyer’s irritation. “After Quintana was murdered, you found out about my suspension and Internal Affairs investigation almost as soon as I did. At the time, you said Leila called you, but she told me later that wasn’t true. Who really told you, and why did you lie about it?”

Releasing a long breath, Sawyer rubbed his eyes. “I lied to protect the person who actually called me. They would face serious consequences for it.”

“Not within the parameters you’ve set for this conversation, they won’t.”

Sawyer chewed that over, then nodded. “It was Detective Montoya.”

Okay, that was unexpected. Levi blinked and sat back.

“She called me as soon as she was assigned to your investigation,” Sawyer continued. “She believed you were being railroaded and thought I could help. She could lose her badge for that, Detective.”

True. And it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that Montoya would act to protect Levi behind the scenes, not when it came to the Seven of Spades case. “If I ask Montoya about this, will she tell me the same story?”

“Depends on how badly she wants to cover her ass, I guess.” Sawyer leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table. “Do you really believe the Seven of Spades would have sex with you, after everything else they’ve done to you? That would be fucked-up beyond measure.”

“The Seven of Spades has always had a weird fixation on me,” Levi said. “So have you.”

“You . . .” Sawyer’s mouth worked open and shut, his head shaking blankly. “You must be joking. Are you really that full of yourself?”

“You can’t deny you’ve spent years trying to get me in bed, no matter how many times I rejected you.”

“There’s this phenomenon called sexual attraction, you know. It’s possible for it to exist without obsession. Sure, I’ve always thought you had a great ass, and I wondered what it would be like to fuck someone so intense. The way you’d get all worked up when I hit on you only made the idea more intriguing. But that was the extent of my interest.”

Levi flushed, grateful that nobody else would ever hear this conversation.

“All of the things you’ve brought up so far are things you already knew.” Sawyer tilted his head. “You can’t expect me to believe you just put them together this way out of nowhere. What was the trigger? What really made you think I might be the Seven of Spades?”