Indecent Danger (Danger Incorporated #3)(44)
Prather’s eyes narrowed as he took in all of them enjoying their breakfast on the patio. “Actually, Mrs. Guinness, I’m here to speak to your husband. Mr. Guinness, have you ever seen this before?”
The detective pulled a plastic bag from his pocket that contained a small cufflink, black onyx with a diamond solitaire. Travis’s gut tightened. He’d seen that cufflink before.
“It’s mine.” Martin reached for the bag and Prather let him take it to examine the piece more closely. “How did you get this?”
The detective smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m glad you asked that question. This cufflink was found underneath Bruce Livingston’s body. We didn’t have any idea who it belonged to until we found a picture of you on the Internet wearing this same pair. Do you have any explanation for that?”
“This has to be a mistake,” Alana stepped forward and protested. “I’m sure there are other people with the same set. It could be anyone.”
“Except that you were at the party,” Prather replied. “Did you bring this set of cufflinks with you, Mr. Guinness? If these don’t belong to you, can I see yours?”
Martin had been still but he came out of his reverie, shaking his head and ducking into the bedroom, calling behind him. “I’ll get my set and you’ll see that those aren’t mine.”
Aubrey’s fingers curled tensely around Travis’s arm and he didn’t blame her a bit. They could hear Martin fumbling through drawers and a curse word here or there. It was hard to stay optimistic at the moment.
Martin stepped back into the living room, his mouth a grim line. He held up a single cufflink. “I can only find the one. The mate seems to be missing. I’m sure I’ll find it.”
“I think we already have,” Prather stated flatly.
“I didn’t do this. I would never take the life of another human being,” Martin protested but Travis could see it wasn’t going to work. The detective had made up his mind. “I wasn’t even wearing those cufflinks the night of the party. I was wearing a different pair.”
“Martin Guinness, you are under arrest for the murder of Bruce Livingston.” Prather’s recitation of Maranda rights was drowned out by Alana’s shrill scream and she slumped against Travis, her eyelids fluttering and her lips trembling with the shock. Aubrey immediately stepped forward to comfort the weeping woman, helping Alana over to the couch so she could sit down.
The detective managed to finish informing Martin of his right to remain silent which it appeared the billionaire was availing himself of, his own skin a pale ashy gray. “You may want to phone an attorney, Mrs. Guinness.”
Alana didn’t look capable of doing anything at the moment. Her hand was over her mouth as tears ran down her unlined cheeks, the mascara streaking her face. As Martin was cuffed he turned to Travis.
“Call Barry for me, will you? And get Caroline to sit with Alana. I’ll be in there until they can set bail.”
“Will do. Don’t worry about us out here,” Travis assured his friend and mentor. “We’ll have you out in no time.”
Travis hoped. It was a murder charge and bail might or might not be an option. The best action would be to prove that Martin was completely innocent.
This case wasn’t over.
* * *
Aubrey sighed as she clicked through photographs from the party on Travis’s laptop. Somehow he had managed to charm the official photographer into giving him a thumb drive with all the pictures from the night Bruce Livingston was murdered. There were literally hundreds to go through and every one had to be checked. They were hoping to be able to prove that Martin had been wearing different cufflinks just as he said.
“None of these photos of Martin show his wrists. They’re either from the shoulders up or he’s turned in the wrong direction.”
Travis was at the dining table looking through the file on Bruce one more time. Snapping it shut, he came to sit next to her, his arm across her shoulders. “If you’re tired and need to give your eyes a break I can take over. You’ve gone above and beyond today. This is my fight, not yours, sweetheart.”
He truly believed that and she needed to disabuse him of that notion as quickly as possible.
She perched on her knees so she could cup his jaw in her hands and look directly into his eyes. He needed to see she was sincere about this. “If it’s your fight then it’s our fight. We’re a team now—at least I thought we were. When you talk about your future am I just there for decoration? I want to be a real partner to you. I want to share everything and that means the work and the struggles, not just the fun and the wealth. If that’s not what you have in mind then tell me, because when I picture us together it isn’t me spending my days getting my nails done and shopping. It’s loving you, being with you, helping you.”
His hands caressed her spine and his expression softened, filling with a tenderness that took her breath away. “Sort of like for better or worse? Is that what you mean?”
Heat filled her cheeks at his intimation. She’d never presume to bring up a commitment like that this early in their relationship, but he just did and bravely too. She couldn’t let him twist in the wind out there all by himself.
“Yes,” she breathed softly, butterfly wings fluttering in her abdomen. “Kind of like that. But we’re talking about the future, remember?”