Well, how about that? Glenn Towers had been in King’s way. Now the man had been eliminated.
Lucia had been involved with King. Chloe had already said she thought a friend or lover had killed the dancer. Someone who Lucia trusted. She would have trusted an ex. She would have let King come right up to her…
And cut her throat?
Joel knew that King had dug into his own past. King liked to know as much as possible about the people who entered his world. Had he learned how many slices Joel had received in his attack? Had he known that Joel’s mother used to work in that—
“Say what you’re thinking, doc,” King invited. “Don’t just glare.” He snagged a glass from the bar. Poured amber liquid in it.
“Little early, isn’t it?” Joel asked.
“More like late. Still celebrating from the night before.” King saluted him.
“Celebrating.” Joel absorbed that word. He was aware that Chloe was very still next to him. “You’re celebrating Lucia’s death?”
He was watching King closely, the way he’d learned to watch suspects since partnering with Chloe, so he saw the faint tightening of King’s fingers around the glass.
“You knew,” Chloe said. It wasn’t a question. “I could see that when I said her name the first time.” A pause. “Who told you?”
“Oh, Chloe…” He drained the glass in quick gulps and set it down with a clink on the mirrored surface of the small bar. “You know news travels fast in this town. And bad news? It goes at the speed of light.”
“Fine. So someone reported her death to you.” She nodded. “What about Glenn? Did you hear about his death already, too?”
King didn’t so much as flicker an eyelash. “Might have caught a whisper or two about that. Not like I’ll be mourning the bastard. He was the type to put on airs. To pretend to be so noble and good in public, but behind closed doors, he was a real sonofabitch.” King’s head turned a little so that he was looking at Joel. “And before you say it, doc, I like to be a sonofabitch in both public and private. Why pretend to be anything else?”
“Why indeed?” Joel muttered.
“We all wear masks, I suppose,” King continued as the limo drove smoothly down the road. “I just find them tiresome most days, so I don’t see the point in bothering.”
“Did Lucia wear a mask?” Chloe asked.
King rubbed his neck. “It’s been a long night. Why don’t you just ask the real question that you want to know…”
Chloe blinked. “I did ask a real question. It was hardly make-believe.”
King’s lip thinned. He pointed at Joel. “You spit it out.”
Fine. “Did you kill your ex-girlfriend?”
Chapter Four
King’s lips parted to reply.
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Of course, he didn’t kill her.”
King fired a fast glance her way.
Chloe waved away the suggestion of his guilt. “If Kingston had killed her, we wouldn’t have found the body. He would have made certain that both Lucia and Glenn Towers were not discovered.” She paused and considered the matter. “Unless, of course, he wanted to send a message. But the only message I saw at the scene was for us.”
Joel had turned his head to frown at her. “You have that much faith in this guy? You trust him without even questioning his guilt?”
Had that been an edge of jealousy in his voice? Sure sounded like it to her.
“Chloe.” And Kingston…the man’s voice was a little choked up. “I appreciate your faith in me. I knew the optics of this wouldn’t look good for me, but—”
“It’s not about faith,” she explained quickly so that he wouldn’t have the wrong idea. “It’s about facts. As I said, you’d make sure the bodies weren’t found, as you’ve done in the past.”
His body stiffened.
“Oh, come on. You said this car was clear. If we can’t be truthful here, we are wasting time.” She wasn’t going to touch the specifics of his past. Not yet. “Though I do suspect the cops will be looking at you—and very hard, too. From the outside, you do make a good suspect.”
“Thanks?” he asked.
She shrugged. She wasn’t looking for thanks. Chloe had something else in mind. “Even with your ties to authorities—and no, I won’t get into those now—it would be in your best interest to hire us.”
“Uh, excuse me?” He coughed. Maybe choked.
“You do want us to prove that you didn’t slice your ex-lover’s throat and let her bleed out on the floor of the dance studio, don’t you?”
He flinched.
A telling movement. Interesting. He had cared for Lucia. It hadn’t just been about screwing the daughter of his competitor. That was the thing with Kingston. He might say he didn’t wear a mask, but Chloe knew those words were a lie. She’d warned him that she could see through his lies. She’d picked up his tells long ago.
The first night they’d met, when she’d caught him trying to dispose of a—
“How much?” Kingston demanded.
“I’m sure I can offer you a discount. A friend rate, if you will.” That was kind, wasn’t it? “With my help, you won’t have to reveal those…associations you have with the FBI—or, the associations you once had.” She was growing more convinced that he was becoming the persona he’d created so long ago. Maybe he’d signed on with the intent of helping people, but she feared he was in too far now to go back to the life he’d led before. “You need me,” she told him softly. “And we both know it.”
He shook his head but said, “Consider yourself hired.”
“Wonderful.”
Joel’s body shifted next to her. “Chloe, are we sure King here isn’t a killer?”
Why would she be sure of that? “He is a killer,” she assured Joel. But, so he wouldn’t fret, she added, “Just not the one we are after now.”
She could tell by Joel’s expression that he wasn’t reassured.
“I want to know who killed her stepfather.” Kingston’s voice roughened. “I didn’t like the SOB but I still want to know. Whoever killed him has to be the same person who—Chloe, why are you shaking your head at me?”
“Because the same person didn’t kill Glenn and Lucia. Joel and I already know who killed Glenn. I can’t take your money to figure out something we already know. That’s hardly ethical.” A friend wouldn’t do that to a friend.
Kingston gaped at her.
“Let’s get back to Lucia,” she urged him. “You didn’t answer my question before. Did she wear a mask? Was Lucia hiding secrets?”
“Who killed her stepfather? And why the hell do you think the same person didn’t kill Lucia? What are the damn odds that they’d both be killed on the same night?”
Her gaze darted upward as she began to calculate.
“No.” Joel’s fingers curled around her wrist. “Not important.”
Fair enough. Once more, she focused on Kingston. “I got in the limo so that you would answer my questions. So far, I feel like Joel and I have spent all of the time talking. If you want our help, you answer questions. Then I’ll tell you what we know. Deal?” It was the only offer she was prepared to give him.