AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She still said she loved me. She kissed me…and she loves me.
That had been three days ago. The cops had questioned him over and over since that date. When Toula referenced hour four, she was talking about the four hours they’d wasted that day with the cops.
Oliver had advised Midas to stay away from Alina until the detectives were done with him.
His patience with that bullshit was at an end, too.
“Did you intend to break Bradford’s neck?” Calvin asked.
Midas opened his mouth.
Toula put a hand on his arm. “Asked and answered already. Numerous times. My client tackled Bradford Wells because the man was intent on killing Alina Bellamy. During the course of the tackle—and ensuing fight—Bradford’s neck was broken. The ice is slippery. Treacherous. There was very little control out there.”
Calvin leaned forward. “What about the skate blade that got buried in Bradford’s chest? Sure took a lot of force to do that, didn’t it? To go so deeply?”
“As I said before,” Midas growled, “he had the skate when I hit him. He was swinging it at Alina’s neck. He wanted to slice her fucking throat open with that thing.” Not happening. “When we collided, I think he landed on top of it.”
Toula cleared her throat. Her hold tightened on him. A subtle…I’ve-got-this. “Obviously, the slice of the blade did not kill Bradford instantly. He kept fighting my client on the very, very treacherous ice. That’s when the broken neck occurred. When my client was trying to fend off his attacker. A brutal end for a brutal man.”
Now it was Oliver’s turn to wade in. “Bradford confessed to witnessing Henry Monroe’s attack on Alina’s mother and to the fact that he was the one to suffocate her. He also confessed to being behind the kidnappings. He bragged to Alina about his crimes.”
Because he intended to kill Alina. Midas locked his jaw.
“I know your department is working with the Feds on the investigation,” Oliver continued smoothly. “Bradford’s home has already been searched. Evidence was acquired that indicates there were potentially more victims. Not only that, but the Feds have been able to link Bradford to Henry Monroe. Bradford arranged for several different lawyers to work with Henry over the years. Those lawyers would send messages back and forth between Henry and Bradford.”
“Is Xander Palmer cooperating with you?” Midas wanted to know.
Funny thing about Xander. Turned out, he was one of the few lawyers not linked to Bradford’s crimes. Xander had been working his own agenda. One Midas damn well wanted to know more about.
Joyce nodded. “Xander swears he had no involvement with Bradford. He was only in town because Henry was so insistent. Xander thought if he followed Henry’s order, he could get his client to reveal the locations of more victims.” Her lips pulled down. “Xander seems to believe that Henry might have been involved in his aunt’s disappearance. I believe he has a very personal stake in finding the locations of more victims.”
And that explained why Xander was in Henry’s web.
Someone needed to burn the web to the ground.
“Xander was following Henry’s orders when he pretended to be Oliver and got Ryker to hire me.” Midas shook his head. “Fool should have known he couldn’t make deals with the devil.” My dad used him. Played with me. Wrought his usual hell.
Silence.
“Ahem.” Joyce cleared her throat. “For the record,” she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, “you did not deliberately break Bradford’s neck and drive a skating blade deep into his chest?”
Midas stared back at her. He was trying to kill Alina.
“I don’t think Bradford knew you were out of town,” Calvin murmured. “If he’d killed Alina in that locker room, you believe Bradford would have tried blaming her murder on you?”
One hundred percent, I do. That’s why my old man was so angry that I wasn’t in town. I was the fall guy. “Alina isn’t dead. Bradford is.” His fingers drummed on the table again. “Isn’t it strange, the way monsters can hide right in front of us, and we don’t see them?” He raised his brows. “Chills you right to the bone, doesn’t it?”
***
“You’re not a monster, Midas,” Oliver said as he braked the car in front of Midas’s temporary home. The place that had—all too briefly—been Alina’s safe house.
“Thanks for the ride, my friend.” Midas unhooked his seatbelt. “And for the lawyer. And for all the Feds you pulled in to help so my ass didn’t get tossed into a cage.” He opened the door and climbed out.
“You killed to protect the woman you love. That doesn’t make you a monster.”
Midas leaned back into the vehicle so he could peer at Oliver. “No? Then what does it make me?”
Oliver’s gaze darted to the right. “Why don’t you ask her?”
