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The woman sent Everly a pointed glance. “That, I’ll believe. As soon as I’m sure the press won’t invade, I’ll sign you in.” She sighed. “I wish you rich boys would stop murdering each other.”
“Allegedly murdering,” Roman Calder pointed out.
“Yeah. Whatever. This is supposed to be a cushy precinct.” She stepped to the doors and flung one open. The sound of the crowd outside became a dull roar again. “You leeches step back. I mean it. Everyone get your asses off the steps. Do you think I won’t use tear gas on you? Because I did not like the way you talked about my man, Tom Cruise. Yeah, I’m talking to you.”
The policewoman let the door swing shut but continued to make faces at them through the glass.
“Hello, I Saw Her First.” The man who’d appeared through the glass now walked up behind Everly and smiled down at her—way down since he had to be at least six feet four. Besides looking absolutely stunning, he seemed familiar. He was dressed very differently from his elegant counterpart, in a black T-shirt that showed off his hard chest, a light windbreaker, and a pair of jeans that hugged his obviously toned body. His dark hair was cut in a military buzz that accentuated the angles of his masculine face.
“I’m sorry?”
He held out a hand. “How quickly they forget. Dax Spencer. We met at the bar last Friday night.”
Gabriel’s friend. Of course. She’d met him, but her brain had been on Gabriel. “I’m glad Scott found you.”
“Dax, did you secure the transportation I asked for?” Roman queried.
Dax nodded. “She’s a fine vehicle. It’s been a while since I got to take one of those beauties out for a stroll. She’ll be ready when the interview is over.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Everly. “I thought the VP of security for Crawford had someone contact Dax.” He froze before his very serious face turned mischievous. “Oh, please tell me you’re the head of security.”
Dax frowned. “No. This is Eve, Gabe’s girl from the other night. You know, the one he can’t stop talking about.”
That was an interesting piece of information she had absolutely no idea what to do with. Two hours ago it would have thrilled her. Now it just confused her more than ever.
The two men stared at her, and Everly felt a little awkward discussing her professional and personal life with two strangers. “I’m, um . . . both, sort of. My name is Everly Parker. I run Crawford’s cybersecurity department. I’m filling in for the head of building security since he’s out on vacation.”
“Thank god. For a minute, I thought the day would be boring.” Roman Calder pulled out his phone and punched in a few numbers. “Yes, I need to speak with Captain Charles. You tell him that Gabriel Bond’s lawyers are in the lobby and we’re ready to talk to the press about the fact that we’ve been refused access to our client. If we’re not allowed to see him in the next thirty seconds, the top story on the evening news will shine a bright light on this precinct’s abuse of a man’s constitutional rights.”
Despite the unmanned desk, a buzzing sound alerted them to the fact that someone had opened the precinct door.
“Thank you. Let’s go.” As he ended the call, it became glaringly obvious that Roman Calder was a man used to getting what he wanted, when he wanted it.
“I’d like to come back there, too.” Everly wondered what role she could play here, but she wasn’t going to leave her post because it seemed as if Gabriel had his own backup. She represented security for Crawford Industries right now. She had a responsibility to its new CEO.
And okay, a little piece of her wouldn’t rest until she knew he was all right. Even though he’d been an ass, and now had this cloud of suspicion hanging over his head, she still felt a pull between them. Besides, she’d been accused of being Maddox’s mistress and sleeping her way to the top, so she knew how it felt to be accused of something that wasn’t true. If Gabriel was innocent, this must feel wretched.
If.
Roman opened the door for her, gesturing her inside. “Oh, I insist. I have to hear this story. Well, first I have to make sure Gabe doesn’t do anything stupider than he’s already done, so please tell Dax the story. He can fill me in later.”
Everly frowned as she walked through, then waited for the men. Roman sounded amused. She wouldn’t have pictured the male-model gorgeous, ever-so-serious Roman Calder doing something as trivial as gossiping.
The men stepped in behind her, and Everly realized she didn’t know her way around. Roman obviously did, and he took the lead, striding toward the back of the building. How many of his previous clients had found themselves being questioned here? She and Dax followed, and Everly nearly had to jog to keep up.
“While you work on getting Mr. Bond out of here, I’ll find a way to slip him past the press as quietly as possible,” Everly said. Because clearly they couldn’t just walk past.
“Don’t worry about it,” Dax insisted.
Maybe he didn’t understand how overwhelming being shouted at by a couple of dozen people with the power of the press behind them felt. She was thankful they hadn’t been assembled there when she’d arrived. “Of course I’m going to worry. That crowd outside was awfully aggressive.”
“Them? They’re a bunch of babies. Give it half an hour and the nationals will show up,” Dax explained. “They’re pains in the ass. But don’t you worry. I’ve got an exit strategy already, so we can leave in peace.”
“Care to share?” If Dax had already done her job, why had they wanted her to stay?
“Need-to-know basis.” He winked. “Let’s talk about something important. Mr. Bond? Really?” He grinned. “Don’t you think that’s a little formal, given the circumstances?”
She ignored that question as Roman led them through another door. She kept her voice low, both to cut down on potential gossip and ensure she didn’t disrupt the detectives working around her. “He’s my boss. So I need to know.”
“I’ll bet he was surprised to find out he was your boss.” Dax stopped as they entered a narrow hallway.
A man in a captain’s uniform called out to Roman. “Mr. Bond is in here. You can talk to him. He hasn’t said a word, and I stopped the questioning when he lawyered up.”
“If I know Gabe, he lawyered up before you got him here, Captain,” Roman shot back. “These two are with me. They’ll be watching from the observation room. If you have a problem with that, I can get the chief on the phone. I promise you if he won’t take my call, I can find someone higher up the chain of command who will.”
“They can stay.” The captain scowled as he pointed to a window in front of the little room. “You won’t be able to hear anything until Calder says it’s all right, and we’ll be recording the session.”
He stepped aside and let Roman enter the interrogation room.
Everly slid into the adjacent space and looked through the two-way mirror. Gabriel sat in the utilitarian space, his face a polite blank. He didn’t smile or show any sign of relief as Roman walked in. He merely stood and shook hands with the man.
“Wait, Everly Parker?” Dax frowned. “You said your name was Eve the other night.”
Was this day never going to end? “My name is Everly. Eve is a nickname.”
Dax crossed his big arms over his chest with a shake of his head. “Shit. I can imagine how Gabe took that. Tell me he behaved himself when he found out.”
“I could, but why lie?” She shot him a perplexed glance. “I don’t really understand why he would be angry. Not that our personal affairs are any of your business.” She turned back to the scene in front of her. “I’m just here to do my job. Forget I said anything.”
“But he didn’t fire you yet, right? I’m going to count that as a win.”
She remained silent for a long moment before giving in to the urge. The scene back in the office kept playing through her head. “Shouldn’t I at least be given a chance to prove I’m good at my job? Does he have someone else he wants in my position? I underst
and that there’s a lot of turnover when a new boss comes in, but I think his objection was way more personal. I don’t understand why he was so angry.”
“No doubt. You have to give him a little time. I was helping him out by conducting preliminary interviews with the employees to get a feel for the company and individual roles. One of the things I heard more than once was that you and Maddox had a . . . very close relationship. Gabe couldn’t have taken that information well. He and Maddox had a falling out over Maddox’s romantic entanglements, if you know what I mean.”
She didn’t except in the vaguest sense. Everly only knew she was so tired of that gossip. “I wasn’t sleeping with Maddox, if that’s what you’re implying. I did not get my job by screwing the boss.”
He held his hands up in surrender. “I had to ask because I doubt Gabe was feeling levelheaded enough to do the same. He likely heard that rumor and accepted it as fact because the only way Mad spent time with a female was when he took her to bed.”
Everly knew his reputation. She’d heard of his many affairs with women at the office, but the possibility—even a hint of it—had never come up between them. He hadn’t treated her strictly like an employee, but he’d never come on to her. Instead, he’d behaved more like they were pals. “He never touched me. He didn’t even try. I think he was lonely and needed a friend.”
Dax’s eyes narrowed. “I find that very interesting and out of character. We’ve been Mad’s friends for years and he never went looking for more companionship. In fact, he was the one who taught me to be wary of getting close to anyone else.”
