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The door opened again, and Gary froze when he caught sight of Travers’s cool expression.
“My office. Now. Both of you.” He glanced at Dan. “Not you, Mr. Porter. You have nothing to do with this.”
“Actually, would it be okay if I came too? I won’t interfere, but I do have some insights that might be valuable.”
Travers pursed his lips. “Very well.”
They followed Travers through the building to his office, Gary, Dan, and Riley trailing behind him, Gary’s face and neck feeling impossibly hot.I probably look like a school kid being summoned to the principal’s office.Some of his coworkers aimed sympathetic glances in their direction, and others turned away to hide their expressions.
When they entered, Lewis was waiting for them, pacing up and down in front of Travers’s desk. Travers pointed a bony finger at the chairs, and Gary dropped into one like a stone. Dan stood behind them, his hands clasped.
Lewis’s eyes bulged. “What’shedoing here?”
Travers’s nostrils flared. “If you don’t mind, I’ll be the one asking the questions. And I agreed to Mr. Porter’s presence. Do you have a problem with that?”
“No, sir.” Lewis’s face was sullen.
Travers addressed Gary. “Did you ask Lewis to bring in Monroe?”
Gary straightened. “Yes, sir. We established a connection between him and all the victims and wanted to investigate it further.”
“But you were in charge at the scene.” Travers fixed Lewis with an intense gaze.
“Yes, sir.”
Travers sighed. “Congratulations. You’ve only gone and created a PR nightmare.”
“All we did was bring in a—”
Travers cut off Lewis’s explanation with a hard stare. “Thanks to you, Boston PD appears to be victimizing a well-known member of the leather community.”
“Who might have knowledge of these murders,” Lewis protested. “And we’re not victimizing any—”
There was a knock at the door, and an officer stepped in. “Sir, I have Adam Winton here. He’s the law—”
“It’s okay, Trent, I know who he is. Let him in.”
The officer withdrew, and a moment later, a tall, bald man in a dark suit entered, a briefcase in one hand. He extended the other to Travers, they shook, and Riley stood to let him sit.
“I’ve spoken with my client.” Mr. Winton arched his dark brows. “I assume the police department will replace his front door?”
“We were acting out of concern,” Lewis ground out. “A neighbor heard noises that made us fear we were too late to save another victim.”
Mr. Winton nodded. “I asked my client about this neighbor. He described him as… let me be sure I quote him accurately….” He removed a notepad from his briefcase and flicked through it. “Ah yes, a ‘homophobic asshole.’”
Gary bit his lip.
“Mr. Brading has complained to the concierge on numerous occasions about my client,” Mr. Winton continued. “Said complaints have been petty, vindictive, and bordering on hate speech. Your arrival was manna from heaven, and he took full advantage of it.” He placed his briefcase on the floor beside his chair. “Now, about the scene your officers interrupted….”
“Scene?” Lewis’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me, but—”
Mr. Winton’s blue eyes were glacial. “Do you have any firsthand experience of BDSM, Detective?”
“No, but that’s not the point.”
Mr. Winton blinked. “I rather think it is. Everything taking place in that apartment was consensual.”
“Does that include drugs? Because he had GHB.”
