Murder at Vista Heights Chapter 3
Series: Law’s End
Episode 1: Murder at Vista Heights
Fandom: The Royal Romance (loosely, there’s not much canon in here).
Pairings: None yet
Word Count: 2,521
Rating: MA
Warnings for series: adult themes, any given chapter may contain murder, violence, language, drinking, drug use, etc.
My other stuff can be found on my main blog @angelasscribbles here is the Master List.
“Well?” The chief of homicide demanded a glower on his face.
“I…this has to be some kind of mistake…” Liam’s face was ashen as he pulled the sketch from Bertrand’s hands.
Max gripped Riley gently but firmly by the shoulder and pulled her back and to the side, quietly shifting them out of anyone’s direct line of sight.
Riley allowed herself to be moved. If no one noticed her, they would speak more freely, and she might learn something.
“Are you questioning Ms. Nevrakis’s ability to render an accurate image from the witness’s verbal account?”
“What? No, of course not!” his eyes jumped to Lilith and the woman he had questioned earlier. Lilith’s sketches had helped catch plenty of perpetrators. She was very good at what she did. Still.
He stalked across the room and thrust the sketch under the older woman’s nose, “Mrs. Haltom, this is the man you saw arguing with the victim?”
Riley strained to hear, holding her breath as she leaned in their direction.
“That’s the man I saw leaving his apartment after hearing the argument.”
“Did he say anything as he was leaving? Anything you can positively attribute to him?”
“Yes, he said ‘If you don’t back off, I’ll personally fucking kill you!’”
“I…thank you,” Liam’s shoulders slumped in defeat, “You can go now.”
“Max!” Riley hissed as she drug Max toward the door the woman was headed for, “We have to follow her and see if she’ll tell us-“
“You’re not going anywhere!” Liam’s voice thundered out, freezing her in place, “Stay right there! I’m going to need a word with you!”
“Fuck!” Riley muttered as she watched Liam and Bertrand disappear into the chief’s office, “She’s getting away!”
“I’ll go!” Max offered, hesitating as he waited for her response.
“Yes!” Riley made a shooing motion with her hands, “Go! Get her full name and phone number so I can question her later!”
“On it!” Max scrambled out the door and down the hall after the witness.
Riley sauntered closer to Liam’s desk, her eyes scanning the top of it for any files or notes that might be left lying around in plain sight. Her eyes flicked over to the glass window of Bertrand’s office.
She’d give a lot to be a fly on the wall in there right now.
Her gaze fell back on the paperwork scattering Liam’s desk. There was a manilla file folder labeled, “Hayes”. She glanced quickly around the room. No one was paying any attention to her.
Her fingers tugged the folder out from under the two others and slid it to the edge of the desk. Flipping it open, her eyes scanned the first page quickly. Before she could turn to the next page, she was startled by a voice from behind her, “Can I help you with something?”
Shit!
She jumped guilty and spun around to find an unfamiliar man standing behind her. He had shaggy shoulder-length brown hair, hazel green eyes, and a deadly serious expression on his face. Her eyes dipped to take in the badge clipped on his belt and the gun holstered on his hip.
“I was waiting for Liam- I mean detective Rys, he told me to wait here.” She hoped he couldn’t hear her heart thundering guiltily in her chest.
The detective’s gaze stayed stern as he asked, “Did he tell you to go through his confidential police files?”
“Ah…n-no…I wasn’t…I mean, I didn’t mean to, I just…I was looking for a pen and some paper so I could jot down a few notes.”
“Right.” His eyes narrowed.
“It’s okay, Flynn, Liam did tell her to wait here.” Lilith came to her rescue, handing her a pen and notepad, “Here you go. Why don’t you have a seat right over there.” She pointed to a couch near the wall.
“Thank you,” Riley gave Lilith a grateful smile and slunk away quickly before she got herself arrested.
The hardened homicide detective’s face softened as he turned his attention to the redhead, “I wasn’t trying to be an ass, but she was digging through confidential files!”
“I’m sure she didn’t realize it.”
Flynn threw a dark glance at Riley as he harrumphed before remembering the two cups of coffee in his hands. He thrust one toward Lilith, “Here. I…uh, thought you might like some coffee.”
“Oh! I…”
“Cream with two sugars, right?”
“That’s right! How’d you know?”
Flynn shrugged as he moved to the desk next to Liam’s and busied himself scooting folders around randomly. “That’s how you always take it. I’m a detective. I notice things.”
“Oh, well, thank you.” Lilith dropped her eyes to the cup in her hand as her cheeks flushed.
Riley clocked the interaction with interest and filed it away for future reference. Information was power and you never knew what secrets might come in handy down the road.
Liam shook his head as he faced off with his superior officer, “No. No! There’s no way Leo did this!”
“Liam….I know he’s your brother, but-“
“Look, sir. I know that his background is problematic but-“
“Problematic?” Bertrand snorted, “That’s the understatement of the year!”
“Like I said, I’m aware of his issues but-“
“I just don’t think you can be objective about this case. I’m transferring it to-“
“Sir, with all due respect, I’ve already investigated the scene, deposed the witnesses, coordinated with-“
“Yes, but if your brother is the perpetrator-“
“He’s not!”
“Even if he’s not, he’s at least a suspect and I need someone on this case that will give full and equal consideration to all leads!”
“Okay. How about this? You leave me on the case until and unless Leo becomes the prime suspect! Please, sir! Give me a chance to exonerate him!”
Bertrand pinched his bottom lip between his thumb and forefinger as he regarded the earnest detective sitting across from him. He knew that Liam struggled against the same obstacles that he himself struggled against. Namely, a family legacy of corruption.
Liam was assigned to the seventh precinct because Bertrand had been the only chief willing to take a chance on him. Liam was the son of Constantine Rys, the not-quite-disgraced former Sheriff of Lantano County, and younger brother of Leo Rys, a fully disgraced former vice detective in the CCPD.
Bertrand had seen himself in the younger man when he’d agreed to hire him. In contrast to his father and brother, Liam was by the book, conscientious and honorable. Leo though… he lived on the other side of the law now and gave two shits less who knew it.
“Liam,” Bertrand said gently, “I don’t think you see your brother clearly-“
“I do, sir. You don’t know him the way I do!”
“Maybe not, but we both know what he’s capable of, Detective.”
Liam shook his head vehemently, “That was different! He wouldn’t just-“
“And what if he did?” Bertrand snapped, “What if all the evidence points to him?”
Liam glared at his boss for a minute before wilting, “Then I’ll arrest himself, sir. No one is above the law.”
“Right now, everything points to him. We have an eyewitness that puts him at the scene, and multiple witnesses that overheard the very loud, very heated argument just hours before the murder!”
“I have another suspect!” Liam protested, “I was just about to interview the informant!”
Bertrand nodded his head, “Tell you what. I’ll leave you on the case for now, but O’Malley takes the lead. You’ll assist him and I expect hourly updates! Is that understood?”
“Yes! Thank you, sir!”
“And Liam…if it turns out Leo did this, you’ll have to step away.”
“Yes, sir. I understand.”
Max slid himself onto the black faux leather couch next to Riley.
“Did you get the information?” She whispered.
“Oh yeah,” his grin lit up his whole face, “Her name, her number, her life story, the fact that she has a granddaughter my age who’s single and a dinner date for six o’clock tonight!”
“Six o’clock?”
“She’s old, Riley.”
“Fine. Six it is. I’m impressed, Max! How’d you get her to agree to dinner?”
He shifted uncomfortably, “I agreed to meet her granddaughter. She’s coming to dinner too.”
Riley clapped both hands over her mouth as she tried to repress the giggle that threatened to bubble out of her.
“Yeah, yeah, yuck it up. The shit I do for you…”
“Ah, Max, you love this as much as I do! And who knows? Maybe she’ll be a hottie and you’ll hit it off!”
His shoulders slumped as his eyes tracked across her face, “That’s not very likely.”
“Why not?”
Before he could answer, the door to Bertrand’s office opened and Liam stepped out.
“O’Malley!” Bertrand barked.
Flynn pulled himself away from Lilith and jogged across the room as Liam made his way back to his desk and motioned for Riley and Max to take the chairs across from him.
Liam drew in a deep breath to steady himself before lifting his eyes to Riley, “You said you have a suspect with motive. Who?”
“William Sloan.”
Liam blinked slowly, “William Sloan? The CEO of Sloan Enterprises?”
“That’s the one!” Riley smiled brightly at him.
“What’s the motive?”
Riley glanced around the office then leaned over the desk, “His wife, Katie Sloan might have been sleeping with the victim!”
“Might have been? Based on what evidence?”
“Well, he was concerned enough to hire a private detective to have her followed and she was followed right to a meeting with the murder victim.”
Liam sat up in interest, “When was this meeting? Where did it take place? Who was the private detective?”
“Oh…um…” she slid her eyes sidewise to Max.
Max straighten in his chair as he counted backward in his head, “Five nights ago, at the bar in the lobby of the Savoy Hotel.”
Liam’s gaze swung from Riley to Max in surprise, “Now I know you’re not a private investigator, are you?”
“No, officer, I’m a photographer.”
“So how do you know this and who-“
Riley placed a hand on Max’s chest to forestall any further comments from him, “Max just happened to see them there and he’s reporting it to you, as a good citizen.”
“Uh huh,” Liam leaned back in his chair as he returned his attention to Riley, “And how do you know about William Sloan hiring a PI?”
“I can’t reveal my sources,” She returned his gaze levelly.
“Riley, I’m going to need a little more to go on than your word.”
“Well, I would imagine you can pull security footage from the bar on the night in question.”
“We can and we will. It would be really helpful if you would just tell me the name of this PI.”
With a coy grin, she placed her elbow on his desk and leaned her chin in her hand, “And what do I get out of that deal?”
His mouth went dry as he properly identified the teasing lilt in her tone and the flirty flutter of her eyelashes. This woman was infuriating. She had no right to be so frustrating and alluring at the same damn time. She did things to him that he didn’t like to admit. But she was a reporter and had already proven that he couldn’t trust her. He hated that he knew exactly what it sounded like when she came and that he desperately wanted to hear it again.
Pushing his sudden arousal to the side, he shook his head, “Helping solve a murder? Isn’t that enough?”
“If I go around throwing my sources under the bus, they’ll stop telling me things.”
“Fine,” Liam blew out a frustrated sigh, “Is there anything you can tell me? Do you know the nature of Katie and Trent’s relationship? Was she cheating on her husband with him?”
“I don’t know if she was sleeping with him or not, but Trent and Katie used to be engaged!”
“Did they?”
“Yes, you can look that up. It’s a matter of public record.”
“Oh, I will,” he pushed away from his desk, walked around it, and motioned toward the exit, “Now, unless you have anything else useful to tell me-“
Riley and Max stood, but while Max headed for the exit, Riley turned back to Liam, laying a hand on his arm she lowered her voice, “I hope this is enough to take the suspicion off your brother.”
His face paled, “You heard all that?”
“Enough,” she shrugged, “For what it’s worth, if you say he didn’t do it, that’s good enough for me. I believe you.”
He stared at her hand on his arm for a long moment before lifting his eyes to her. He found nothing but sincerity there as he whispered, “Thanks.”
“Anytime,” she smiled as she dropped her hand away from his arm and turned to go.
“Riley, wait!” He reached for her and spun her back toward him, “Please…don’t print my brother’s name.”
“Liam….I have a duty as an investigative journalist-“
“Please!”
She hesitated. The vulnerability in his eyes and the pleading in his tone conspired to weaken her resolve. “Fine. I won’t print his name for now but once you narrow down a suspect, you tell me first!”
“Riley, you know I can’t-“
She placed her palm flat on his chest, “I’m not asking you to give me confidential information. All I’m asking is that once the information is cleared for release to the press, you slip it to me first!” Because fuck that smug bastard Neville. This was her story and she intended to scoop him on every detail. “Deal?”
Liam’s jaw clenched as he considered her offer. “As long as the information has been cleared through official channels, then fine, I’ll call you before I send it to public relations.”
She gave him that smile again. The one that made him feel like he could climb a mountain for her if she wanted him to. She leaned forward and went up on her tiptoes to place a soft kiss on his cheek, “I think this is going to be a very mutually beneficial arrangement, Detective.”
He watched her walk toward the exit, and Max, who was waiting with his hands shoved in his pockets, giving Liam an appraising look.
Max placed his hand on the small of her back as they exited, shooting a glance back at Liam as he did so.
Interesting. Liam was suddenly curious about the nature of her relationship with her photographer. But there was no time to worry about it now. Right now, he had much bigger problems.
Liam’s head was spinning with the information he had just obtained. Far from exonerating his brother, this new piece of evidence could bury him further. Katie Sloan nee Vanderhilt wasn’t just Trenton Haye’s ex-fiancée, she was also his brother’s ex-girlfriend. If Katie Sloan was rekindling old flames, could she have fallen back into Leo’s bed? Pitted one lover against another?
With a sigh of trepidation, he pulled his phone out and dialed, “Leo, it’s Liam. I’m going to need you to come down to the station and answer some questions.”
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