Page 36 of Zero Divergence
Royce stiffened at learning about the benefit, but his steps didn’t falter. He hoped his shock didn’t register on his face. The likelihood Evangeline hadn’t invited Sawyer to attend was small, but Sawyer had never brought it up. Was it because Royce hadn’t been included? No way. That wasn’t Evangeline’s style, and the woman loved him, which meant she’d invited them both, and Sawyer hadn’t even seen fit to mention it to him. Just like Royce’s celebration dinner that never happened because of their injuries from the fire. Insecurities Royce thought he’d conquered rose to the surface once again. Was Sawyer embarrassed by him?
“This is my partner, Sergeant Locke,” Sawyer said, yanking his mind back to the case. “I don’t think the two of you have met.”
“I haven’t had the honor, yet,” Royce said, extending his hand to Vincenzo. Royce hoped his irritation and resentment weren’t obvious because it wasn’t aimed at either of the men standing on the porch with him. He directed it solely at himself for his inability to bury his feelings of inadequacy. He needed to trust Sawyer had a good reason and set it aside to discuss later when they weren’t about to tell a state senator that a person he once loved, a woman he was supposedly still wed to, had been murdered.
“The honor is mine,” Vincenzo said, firmly shaking Royce’s hand. “Come on in. We can talk in my study.”
When they stepped inside the home, Royce noticed a woman wrapped in a pale-yellow terry cloth robe standing on the landing at the top of a grand spiral staircase. He nodded and said, “Ma’am.”
Vincenzo looked up to the second story when Royce spoke, and his eyes softened when they landed on his fiancée. “Go back to bed, dear. Everything will be fine.”
“The police are here. Something is very wrong,” she countered. “Is Jack in some kind of danger?”
Royce thought it said a lot about their relationship that she assumed he was in danger instead of legal trouble. “No, ma’am,” he assured her. He returned his gaze to meet the senator’s. “This shouldn’t take long.”
“By all means,” Vincenzo said, gesturing his hand down the hall. “Follow me.” The senator headed toward the back of the house without waiting to see if they listened. He was used to people obeying his commands, and it showed in his proud bearing and confident stride.
But they didn’t immediately follow him, because Sawyer had turned to look at Royce. Dark eyes searched his gaze. He knew, or at least suspected, where Royce’s mind had gone upon learning about the benefit, and he wanted assurances they were okay.
Royce’s demons were his to battle, and he knew Sawyer had his own to contend with. He had every intention of discussing it with Sawyer like a grown-ass adult, but it would wait for an appropriate time. He winked at Sawyer and said, “Let’s not keep the senator waiting, asshole.”
The dread in the pit of Sawyer’s stomach eased when Royce winked and used his pet name, but his reprieve was short-lived. The politician’s plastic veneer cracked when they reached his study, exposing human vulnerability on the statesman’s handsome features. The room was designed to give a bold, masculine feel with a dark stain on the desk and built-in bookcases, navy blue leather furniture and red and blue plaid wallpaper covering the walls. The strategically placed windows would allow enough sunlight to keep the space from feeling oppressive, but at the early hour, the dark colors seemed to absorb the light from the fixtures throughout the room.
Rather than make a power move and sit behind a desk fit for a president, Vincenzo opted for the sitting area near a grand fireplace. The senator looked like he’d aged a dozen years since he first greeted them outside. “A million scenarios have run through my mind during the short walk to my study. Lucinda is correct; no good comes out of a visit from the police at this hour of the day. So, let’s just rip off the Band-Aid, shall we?”
Before they could notify him of Vivian’s death, they had to first confirm he was legally her next of kin. Since Sawyer knew the senator on a more personal level, he decided to take the lead. “Senator, I have to ask questions that are awkward and will feel invasive, but it’s unavoidable.” Vincenzo flinched but nodded for him to continue. “Are you the legal spouse of Vivian Gross?”
Vincenzo’s eyes widened, and the color leached from his face. “Vivian? Oh my god. What’s this about?”
“Before I can answer your question, I need you to answer mine,” Sawyer said.
Vincenzo rose to his feet and paced to the fireplace, where he propped an elbow on the mantel. Keeping his back to them, he said, “Yes, she is still legally my wife. We got married when we were just eighteen years old. We thought we knew all there was about life and love. No money? We didn’t care because we had each other. We both came from humble beginnings, and we believed we could achieve our dreams together and have a fairy-tale love. It was us versus the world. We were such stupid fools,” Vincenzo said wistfully. When he turned to face them again, silent tears ran down his cheeks, leaving silvery trails in their wake. “Is she…” Unable to voice the unthinkable, he let his words trail off.
Sawyer swallowed hard. “I’m sorry to inform you that Vivian was a victim of a homicide over the weekend.”
“God, no,” Vincenzo said, covering his face with his hands to muffle his anguished sobs. Sawyer and Royce allowed him a few minutes to gather his composure before continuing.
“We were informed this morning that you’re her next of kin,” Royce said.
Vincenzo lowered his hands. “Informed by whom?” Even during grief, Sawyer could see the wheels turning in his shrewd brain. Was he wondering who knew his secret and could expose him?
“We’re not at liberty to disclose that information, sir,” Sawyer told him. While his mother believed Jack Vincenzo was a decent man, Sawyer wasn’t willing to risk Kendall’s safety. Politicians had resorted to shady and often deadly tactics to silence people standing in the way of what they wanted. He also wouldn’t lie and tell Vincenzo his secret was safe because that wasn’t a guarantee he could keep.
The tension faded from Vincenzo’s body, and his shoulders slumped forward as he returned to the sitting area and lowered himself to his chair. “It doesn’t matter, does it?” he asked, staring into space. “Vivian is gone.”
“I’m afraid so, Senator,” Royce said.
Vincenzo took a deep breath, then pulled himself together. The vague, distant expression in his dark eyes morphed into sharp awareness, and his slack body returned to a rigid, proud posture. “I’m not only her next of kin, I’m also your primary suspect. Is that right?”
“No, sir,” Sawyer said. Of course, he was a person of interest, but they’d get more information out of the man if he believed otherwise. Police work was often like poker, and a detective had to know when to hold his cards and when to show them. Sawyer liked to win—both at poker, as their friends had painfully learned, and solving crimes. Besides, they only had Kendall Blakemore’s word that Vincenzo had threatened to kill Vivian over the paperwork. “Can you tell us about your relationship with Ms. Gross and any insight you might have about who would want her dead.”
“She was the most vivacious and infuriating person I have ever known, but there was no one you’d want fighting in your corner more than Vivian. She was fierce and tenacious, but Vivian never let her ambition skew her ethics.” Vincenzo glanced at Royce and chuckled. Sawyer glanced at his partner, but Royce had fixed his neutral mask back in place by that time. “I know it sounds odd for a former prosecutor to boast about a criminal defense attorney’s moral codes, but it’s true. She didn’t need to cheat or lie to beat opposing counsel in the courtroom. She exposed their flaws and their failures at due diligence. To her, there is nothing more egregious than a society with a corrupt justice system that sends innocent people to prison. Shouldn’t all lawyers feel that way? While the world will remember Vivian for her more sensational clients, Vivian would want us to memorialize her work with the Innocence Project.”
“She sounds like the kind of person who shows up empty-handed to a brawl and manages to whip everyone’s ass,” Royce said.
Vincenzo relaxed a bit more and smiled sadly. “Sounds like you know the type, Sergeant.”
Royce slightly tilted his head toward Sawyer and did a not-so-subtle double jerk. “Sharp brain and sharper tongue.”