Page 16

“It’s not,” Lacy was quick to respond. “This goes well beyond you. There’s a lot more at play, and we need to find out what it is.” She got to her feet. “Why don’t you and I start working on that. I’ll call my father again and see if he has any more information. Did you get in touch with Leo?”

Alex stood. “No, and it’s worrying me. He’s usually not this hard to track down. I hope he’s okay.”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Logan said soothingly. “He’s probably just visiting a friend or his Nonna.”

“Maybe,” Alex mumbled as she followed Lacy to the elevator.

Mitch sat on a stool in front of Logan. “Pour me a drink.”

Logan didn’t hesitate. He poured his brother two fingers of bourbon and did the same for himself. “Don’t worry, I can still function,” he commented.

“I wasn’t going to say a thing. I have total faith in you, Logan.”

Logan’s stomach rolled. Fear sat like a stone in the pit of his gut. “I’m worried.”

“We all are,” Mitch agreed and took a swig of his drink.

“I’m putting a plan in place to help him if we need to until we can get this figured out.

” He held up a hand to stop Logan’s impending request. “I’m not going to tell you anything about it, giving you plausible deniability.

He won’t last in prison. Not with Dani pregnant.

He’ll lose his mind. I know I sure as hell would, and so would you. ”

Logan wanted to deny it, but Mitch was not wrong. Lacy seven months pregnant, and him being trapped in prison for something he didn’t do? Yeah, he’d lose his shit in no time.

“Let’s hope we can find out the truth. For all our sakes.”

At four o’clock on the dot, Logan, Gage, and Dani walked into the precinct. The detectives were there to greet them.

“Let’s get you processed,” Montrose said.

“Is there a rush?” Logan asked. “Why don’t we sit and discuss this first?”

Montrose got into Logan’s face. “You’re on our turf, Counselor. We’re going to do this our way.”

Logan was pretty sure he heard Connors sigh. The taller man commented. “Let’s just get him in a room and go from there.” He gripped Gage’s arm and walked him back to the interview room. Montrose’s lip curled, but he said nothing as he followed. Logan and Dani brought up the rear.

At the door of the interview room, Montrose stopped Dani. “No way, sweetheart. You go no further.”

Dani’s brows dipped, and she opened her mouth to utter what Logan was sure was an insult.

“Ms. Pierce is an investigator with my office. She is also my assistant. I would like her to be present.”

“No,” Montrose growled.

He turned to Connors, but he too shook his head.

Logan turned to Dani and whispered, “Go sit out in the waiting area in the front of the precinct. Tell Lacy so she can come sit with you. I’ll get you in here when I can.”

Dani nodded once, glared at the two cops, and then stalked awkwardly down the corridor, pulling her phone out as she went. Logan hauled in a deep breath and then went into the interview room. He pulled out a chair next to his brother and sat.

“Mr. Callahan,” Connors started as he took a seat across from Gage. “We have in our possession some photographs that show you in Central Park at the time of the theft.”

Logan had told Gage beforehand not to answer any questions or say anything unless Logan instructed him to do so. Gage remained silent.

Connor spread the photographs out on the table in front of Gage.

Both he and Logan leaned forward to study them.

Sweat broke out across Logan’s shoulders.

They really were photos of Gage walking in Central Park.

They had snapshots of him walking along a pathway and then disappearing into the trees by the Met.

“Care to tell us what you were doing there?” Connors asked.

Gage glanced at Logan. They’d gone over a story just in case, but it was lame. Unfortunately, they didn’t have a choice. He was going to have to say something. Logan nodded once.

Gage cleared his throat. “I went for a walk.”

Montrose, who was standing leaning against the wall, snorted. “A walk. After midnight? Leaving your pregnant girlfriend at home? Try again.”

“It’s the truth. I was out for a walk. I needed to clear my head. Do you have children, Detective? Fatherhood is coming up fast, and I gotta tell you, the anxiety is crushing.” Gage was almost serene with his answer.

Montrose shifted his stance, but didn’t respond to Gage’s question.

Logan kept a straight face and showed no emotion, but inside he was cracking up. Gage, of all people, was probably the least likely to be anxious about anything. Fatherhood would look good on him, no doubt.

Connors narrowed his eyes. “And you just wandered off the path into the woods, for what? Something to do?”

“I had to take a whiz. There were no open bathrooms around, so I watered a tree.” Again, Gage answered with a straight face, no fear. That was important. Fear could sink a man in this situation. If the cops even started to smell it, they would go for the kill no matter what evidence they had.

“Public urination,” Connors pointed out.

“Write me a ticket. I will happily pay it,” Gage stated.

“So, you were just out taking a walk, and you happened to be next to the Met where a statue happened to get stolen.” Connors appeared to be frustrated. He drummed his fingers on the table.

Gage shrugged. “I guess so. I have no idea about what happened at the Met. Was the statue expensive, or a national treasure?” He waited for a reply, but when the detectives stayed silent, he shrugged. “I was just out for a walk.”

“What if I told you we have video of you holding the statue that was stolen from the Met?” Connors asked.

Gage frowned. “I would say you are lying. I can tell you categorically I did not steal a statue from the Met, and I have never held a stolen statue in my hands.”

Logan said nothing. It was better to let Gage handle it at this point. He appeared to be telling the truth. He was being logical and calm.

Logan, on the other hand, was feeling the tension.

His gut was tight, and he struggled to keep his breathing even.

It was always like this when he went to court.

They used to call him Satan because he was so cool and calm, but if they’d only known what he was really feeling, his adversaries would have been shocked.

He glanced at his brother. Gage, too, was calm under pressure.

They all were. Must have gotten it from their mom.

Their father grew increasingly agitated when he was upset.

Montrose crossed his arms over his chest. “Nice try. You should stop lying to us and tell us the truth. You know you can help yourself here. You tell us who hired you to steal the statue, and we might be able to put a good word in for you with the D.A.”

“No one hired me to steal the statue. I did not steal anything from the Met. You cannot possibly have video of me with the statue, because it did not happen. I will say again, I did not steal anything from the Met.”

Montrose started to snarl something, but Connors held up a hand to stop his partner. “So, you are saying it wasn’t you with the statue.”

“Yes,” Gage agreed. “That is exactly what I am saying.”

Connors took a different tack. “You were in Naval Intelligence.”

Gage glanced at Logan, as if to ask where the hell this was going? Logan had no idea, but his gut was telling him to be wary.

“Yes, I was,” Gage confirmed.

“And in your job in Naval Intelligence… you acquired a certain set of skills,” Connors continued.

“Who am I? Liam Neeson?” Gage retorted.

Montrose pushed off the wall. “Just answer the question.”

Gage shrugged. “I acquired skills, yes.”

“If you wanted to break into a building like the Met, would those skills have allowed you to do so?”

Logan touched his brother’s arm and then spoke. “My client will not answer that question. Anything he may have done or skills he may have acquired during his time in the military are not open for discussion. You do not have the clearance level required for that knowledge.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Montrose started. “Just answer the fucking question.” He was pacing now.

“Detective Montrose, I will advise you to treat my client with the respect he deserves. He is a decorated Naval officer and cannot answer your questions without violating national security protocols or his oath to the Constitution.”

Logan turned to Connors. “As for this video, if you do, in fact, have a video of my client with the statue, then I can reliably tell you it’s a fake. My client has never held the statue in question, and my client did not steal anything from the Met.”

“A fake. That’s what you’re going with?” Montrose demanded.

“It has to be a fake,” Gage stated. “I haven’t held any statue.”

“Why don’t you show us the video?” Logan offered. “If you are so confident in its authenticity, then it shouldn’t matter if we see it.”

“Oh no. No way. You’ll see it in court, Counselor,” Montrose barked.

Logan ignored the detective’s outburst and locked gazes with Connors. “ You know there’s something wrong with this case. Why did it come down on high from the D.A.’s office to search my client’s apartment without any kind of police investigation?”

“We were already assigned the break-in at the Met and were investigating when the D.A.’s office sent the warrant.” Connors’ eyes narrowed. “And just how did you know the warrant came through the D.A.’s office?”

Logan ignored the question. “You might have been assigned the case but you were nowhere near having a suspect until the D.A’s office threw the warrant into your lap along with my client as your suspect.

You still haven’t had time to investigate fully, and now you want to arrest my client.

It’s all too fast and too neat. And where did this video come from?

Did it suddenly turn up? Did the D.A.’s office just drop it in your lap, saying they got it from a source? Go arrest Gage Callahan?”

Connors frowned, and Logan knew he’d hit the truth. “Someone is trying to frame my client.”