Page 34

Unfortunately, it was after eight on a Sunday night.

Even if the judge had a soft spot for Aslan, even if we were dealing with a missing child, Madison might refuse to see him until morning.

We’d been harassing her all weekend. Aslan might have to hunt down another willing judge.

Getting warrants signed after hours on a weekend wasn’t always easy or doable.

Once Aslan left, Jordyn announced she was going to write up some of the paperwork for our case, so we were on top of it. “The second we solve this, I know you’ll jump ship and swim for the horizon, and I’ll be left to close it. ”

She was right since I wasn’t supposed to be there to begin with. On that thought, I tugged my phone from my pocket to ensure Bryn hadn’t messaged or called. Nothing.

I followed Costa to the dungeon. Part of me wanted to urge him to head home since he was dragging his feet.

He’d given up his weekend and abandoned his wife and kids because I couldn’t say no to a case, and he couldn’t say no to me.

Who knew it would turn out like this? Another part of me wanted to hover over my best friend’s shoulder as he poked into Benedict Davis’s finances, which was exactly what I did.

It was rare that I understood what Costa did on the computer.

I wasn’t tech-savvy, and he worked too fast for me to follow, often multitasking and flipping between screens as he went.

He no longer protested when I dragged my chair too close or lingered in his personal bubble.

The man might object if we had an audience, but not when it was the two of us.

When we were alone, he teased. “I can feel your breath on my neck.”

“Does it turn you on?”

“No, but if I go home smelling like your cologne again, Tia’s gonna wonder if I switched teams.”

I chuckled and gave him space. “You’re such a liar. You’ve never gone home smelling like me.”

Costa’s cocky grin told me I was right.

I let him work, staying out of his way so he could think. “How’s your cousin?”

“Tallus? Good. He’s… happy. Mostly staying out of trouble, and considering he’s hanging around with Krause full-time, that’s saying something. I haven’t gotten a phone call to bail his ass out of trouble lately.” He held up crossed fingers, and I smiled.

Costa’s cousin, Tallus Domingo, had been a full-time employee with the department, working as a records clerk alongside Kitty Lavendar.

He’d recently gone to part-time after going into business with his private investigator boyfriend and ex-cop, Diem Krause.

The two were an odd pair, but they seemed to work.

Diem’s gruff personality balanced well with Tallus’s outgoing, sassy nature.

“He’s kidding, you know.” Costa’s concentration never left the computer screen.

“What are you talking about? I feel like I missed the segue.”

“Aslan and his porn star names for your child.”

“Oh.” I chuckled. “I know. He’s trying to get a rise out of me.”

“It’s working. I’ve seen the face.”

I elbowed Costa in the ribs and earned a shove.

“Have you come up with your boy’s name?” he asked.

“Nothing concrete. I have a few ideas. I haven’t run them past Az, so he might veto them.”

Costa glanced over with a curious twinkle in his eye. “Care to share with me?”

“Not yet.”

“But I’m your bestie.”

“Nope.”

“Come on. I’m your boy…” He made an extended rolling motion with his hand, exaggerating the pause. “Friend.”

“You’re really afraid of that pause going unnoticed, aren’t you.”

“It’s the rumors. You’re a married man, and I’m not a home-wrecker.”

I snorted. “Yes, because that’s why. Costa, if we were both single, that pause would be bigger than ever.”

“You know it.”

“You probably wouldn’t be my friend.”

“I would so. ”

A tiny shadow of hurt eclipsed his smile. It was still possible to bruise his feelings. I’d long ago forgiven him for his past behavior, but I doubted Costa would ever forgive himself.

“What about you? Did you have boy’s names picked out before you had your kids?”

His smile returned as he nodded. “Yep. If Tia and I had a boy, his name would have been Matias or Alejandro.”

“Very Spanish.”

“That was the point.”

“Your girls don’t have Spanish names.”

“Tia named them. We had the same deal as you and Az. She got to name the girls, and I got to name any boys. Only, the boys never happened.”

Aslan told me the previous night that Costa and Tia had been trying unsuccessfully to have another baby for two years. My best friend had never mentioned it to me, but I could tell by the tone of his final statement that it was a sore spot. “Maybe someday.”

“Doubt it. Things aren’t… happening like we hoped.”

It was as much of a confession as I was going to get. “Does that make you sad?”

“We’re not discussing feelings, Quaid. I don’t do that.”

“God forbid you have an emotion. Did you get a say at all in the girl’s names?”

“I had veto power.” He nodded to the computer screen. “I found something interesting. You ready?”

I focused on the monitor, unsure what I was looking at.

Costa explained. “Old man Benny is in a financial pickle. Considering he spent over thirty years as a well-paid lawyer, it’s surprising.

It looks like he burned through his retirement savings at a fantastic rate of speed, and a great deal of it was paid to Imogen.

Look at this.” Costa pointed. “He gets nominal pay from his shares in Nixon’s company.

Not enough to keep him afloat, but you can see the income here.

Starting about two years ago, another payment starts trickling in with a similar code.

” He indicated several additional payments.

“They get more substantial and regular. Not a lot, but a couple of thousand a month. Wanna bet they originate from NexGen?”

“You’re saying Benedict is the one embezzling funds?”

“I’ll have to dig deeper into that code, but I bet I’m right.”

“Can you tell when he started paying Imogen?”

Costa grew quiet for a long moment, clicking and flipping through windows, scrolling long lines of text that made no sense to me before shaking his head.

“Can’t go back that far. It would be more than seven years.

That’s all I can tell you. He’s got some credit problems, too. His debt is piling up, and—”

Costa’s phone vibrated on the desk. An image of his girls filled the screen. He cursed under his breath and hesitated.

“Take it.”

He answered as I checked to see if Aslan had texted. It was long past nine. Nothing.

I texted him.

Quaid: Any luck?

His response came immediately.

Aslan: I think we’re SOL tonight. I’m leaving them for Madison to sign in the morning. Heading back to you.

Quaid: Head home. I’ll meet you there shortly. I think we need to call it.

I earned a kissy-face emoji followed by a heart.

Costa chatted quietly with his wife for a few minutes, a mixture of apologies and empty promises. Guilt swamped me. When he expressed uncertainty about when he’d be home, I touched his arm. “Go,” I whispered. “It’s getting late, and we aren’t going to make any more progress tonight.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Go see your girls, Costa. They need you.”

He bumped his knee with mine in silent thanks and told Tia he was leaving. They hung up, and my best friend took a second to evaluate me. It wasn’t often his expression was unguarded or showed concern. “Get some sleep tonight. You’re looking rough.”

“I will.”

“I’m serious, Quaid.”

I resisted pointing out his protective nature. It would only serve to make him shut down. “You too. I’ve run you ragged all weekend.”

“I can take it.” He punched the power buttons on his monitors, collected his belongings, and we headed to the elevators together.

I left him on the ground level and rode to the fourth floor, finding Jordyn at her desk, buried in work. “Go home. Aslan failed his mission. No warrants tonight.”

I told her about Costa’s discovery with Benedict’s accounts, and she scrubbed her face as it sank in. “He ticks a lot of boxes.”

“Tomorrow.”

She looked as worn out as I felt and didn’t argue, packing up and heading home.