Page 57 of Wicked Games
“Because he raped my mother, he can’t also be interested in men? You’re assuming when I said whore, I meant a woman. It’s incredibly sexist of you, Lucky. He’s an equal opportunity sadist and employs both male and female prostitutes.” Carmen leaned forward. “In case I haven’t been clear, every single one of his male prostitutes look eerily similar to you.” The urge to vomit returned.
“Why do you think Lucky’s in danger?” Ryder asked her. Thank God one of us was still thinking.
“Dev’saccidentwas no accident,” Carmen said. “I don’t have proof yet, but I can feel it in my bones. I was already in the city when it happened. I overheard police officers discussing the hit and run while I was in line to get coffee the day after. They mentioned the traffic cameras had malfunctioned on that side of the city which they found odd. They also never found the SUV that hit Dev, and it had to be one hell of a crash. Unless they were driving an armored truck, the SUV would’ve sustained significant damage.”
“Which meant the driver had help stashing it,” I said, rolling it over in my head.
“It probably left the city in the back of a semi-truck trailer,” Carmen said.
“Jesus,” Ryder said, sounding like he was finally at the end of his rope. “Why would Banks want to kill Dev?”
“Because he’s Lucky’s only friend.”
I tried to deny it but couldn’t. My line of work didn’t allow many friendships, and it fostered paranoia instead of trust. It took everything I had to suppress the urge to doubt Carmen even with the evidence in my hand.
“Lucky, what I’m going to say next is going to be painful, but you need to know how serious this is.”
“What?” I asked shakily.
“News broke right before I came to get you at the club. There was a boating accident off the coast of Maldives, and—”
“No,” I said, shaking my head vigorously.
“There were no survivors, including Hiram Chandio.”
“No, Carmen.” I stood up from the table so fast my chair tipped over. “No.” I saw the truth in her eyes, and I lost the battle to calm my riotous stomach. I walked a few feet away and vomited in the perfectly maintained flowerbed.
Ryder followed me and placed his hand between my shoulder blades. “I’m sorry, baby,” he whispered, rubbing my back. I rose to my feet once I had nothing left to purge, and Ryder took me in his arms. Even his body heat couldn’t thaw the chill caused by Carmen’s shocking news.
“It can’t be real,” I told her, approaching the table. I downed the rest of my Scotch to kill the nasty taste in my mouth. The burn was ten times worse on my raw throat. “Why would Banks kill the only leverage he had over me. Why try to kill Dev and send me to Cincinnati?”
“Because of me,” Ryder said, stiffening against me. “He knew I was there all along, and he wanted to hurt me. He probably meant for you to get arrested while stealing the vessel.”
“Recovering it,” I corrected.
“‘Recovering it.’ Sorry.” Ryder’s eyes widened when he realized he’d used air quotes, but did he remember what I said would happen next time? Even with all the shocking discoveries, I hadn’t forgotten. “Later, Lucky,” Ryder said, waving me off. He remembered.
My heart sped up, reminding me I was alive, and more importantly, so was Ryder. I needed to keep it that way. I had to focus on what needed to be done instead of the things I couldn’t change.
“I knew from the start something was off about the Cincinnati job. Banks’s demeanor made me suspicious, and I started looking for the reason why. When I saw Ryder had been hired to work at the museum, I assumed Banks didn’t want me to know, or didn’t know himself. He wanted me to get in and get out.”
“Banks knows everything you do. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he planted a tracking device in your ass.”
“He never got close enough to plant one,” I countered dryly.
“Yes, or there’d be plenty of photographic evidence in his Lucien Clarke spank bank.”
“Come on, Carmen,” I said, feeling extremely uncomfortable. “I feel like my head is about to explode.”
“I’m sorry. Let’s wrap this up, and we can turn in for the night and regroup in the morning.” Ryder and I both nodded. “I do not have any proof Banks tried to kill Dev, set up Lucky for the fall in Cincinnati, or sunk the boat carrying Hiram and his friends, but I’ve studied everything I could about the man, and my gut tells me he’s behind it all. He wanted to eliminate everyone you care about so you can spend the rest of your days wallowing in prison.” I wanted to deny everything she said, but I couldn’t when she laid the truth in front of me. “We also need to assume Banks knows you’re in Miami with Ryder. Assume the worst.”
“And hope for the best?” Ryder asked.
“Hoping only gets you so far, sweetheart. By assuming the worst, we plan for all contingencies, and it makes us better warriors.”
“Warriors?” he asked Carmen weakly.
“We are going to war; make no mistake about it.”