CHAPTER 17

THERE were no telltale clues or signs indicating suspicion or guilt for Turner Atkins—or anyone else for that matter—in the file Eddie had obtained from Gabe. Still, he decided he’d better pay a visit to the most obvious suspect, at least in Gabe’s eyes.

Atkins’s current home was the Clark County jail where he was destined to reside while awaiting trial. Not quite the same caliber as the five-thousand square foot home the federal government had confiscated at the time of Atkins’s arrest.

The fact that he’d been displaced from the lap of luxury with the promise of a bleak future in the Nevada State Prison System, in itself, could be construed as ample reason to target Rio. After all, had it not been for her, Turner Atkins would still be in business.

Then again, Rio was so sure that stalking was not Atkins’s style. She wholeheartedly believed he’d never come after her like this. Eddie had to wonder if a mob boss would ever consider killing someone with a snakebite. Typically, guys like Atkins weren’t that creative.

Even so, Eddie waited patiently for the guards to bring the mob boss into a private office at the Clark County Jail. Whether or not Turner Atkins was behind Rio’s stalking remained to be seen. But one thing was certain—Eddie intended to find out.

The door opened and Eddie stood, anxiously anticipating getting to the bottom of this mess once and for all. He didn’t know what he’d expected, but it wasn’t the gauche little man with balding hair that approached him now.

Atkins pulled the chair out and took a seat. He laced his fingers together and rested his cuffed hands on the table. His gaze traveled up to meet Eddie’s, who was still standing over him. Atkins’s cold, empty stare cut through Eddie, giving him a glimpse of the monster Rio had taken down.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Atkins put forth in a chilled tone to match his glare.

Time to take control. “I could be your worst nightmare.” Eddie sat in the chair opposite Atkins. “It really depends on what you say from here on out.”

Atkins gestured his concession with silence and a devil-may-care expression.

“What do you know about rattlesnakes?” Eddie said with an off-the-wall kind of attitude.

Atkins’s brow crinkled, as if he had no idea what the man before him was getting at. That didn’t mean much to Eddie. He’d had plenty of perps try to fake him out. None ever had, and he didn’t plan to monkey with tradition now.

“Are you into scaring people with anonymous, threatening letters?” Eddie hardened his tone.

Atkins blinked for a lingering second or two and then glanced back at Eddie with an I-know-you’re-a-cop look.

“I don’t hear a denial,” Eddie said. “Does that mean I can consider you guilty?”

Atkins didn’t speak immediately. Not until the smirk touched the corners of his mouth. “You must be new around here.”

The guy baited Eddie. It elicited aggravation but he found a way to wrangle it into submission. Tucking his frustration away, Eddie used Atkins’s own tactic against him—a stare down.

“All the local cops know me well enough to know that’s not my style.” Atkins paused and leaned closer to Eddie. “Now, since you’re obviously new, I’m going to give you a nickel’s worth of free advice. Only scorned lovers send anonymous letters.” Briefly, he scanned the room before plastering on a menacing grin. “And I haven’t scorned anyone in a long time.”

Eddie stood and loomed over his perp. “If I find out you put that snake in her car—” He struggled to keep calm. “—I’m going to make sure you get a little time in the hole with a snake of your very own.”

Confusion flashed across Atkins’s face. It faded quickly though, replaced by a cynical smile. “Guard!” Atkins rose and headed toward the exit. He waited for the door to open and then said to the officer, “We’re done here.” He glanced over his shoulder at Eddie. “Tell Red I said, hey.”

Eddie watched Atkins sashay out of the room, as if dancing to some imaginary music playing only inside his head.

If Eddie learned anything from his conversation with Atkins, he felt confident now that Rio was right about this guy. He was not her stalker.

Atkins’s words echoed through Eddie’s mind. Only scorned lovers send anonymous letters.

Thoughts of Switzer’s recent displays of jealousy wouldn’t let Eddie’s sanity alone. Even if no one else saw it, he knew Switzer’s anger burned a little deeper every time he witnessed Eddie and Rio together.

Yeah, but...he’s not a scorned lover. Eddie tried to discount his growing suspicions of Switzer, but he had little luck. He’d be the first to admit that criminals didn’t think logically—if they did, they wouldn’t commit the crime.

Usually, Eddie was well-aware of who was on which side of the fence. Sometimes though, he found himself in this gray area, where things tended to get muddled when the crook was posing as one of the good guys. If that was the case, he’d better figure it out quickly.

“Martin,” Eddie called out to the driver.

“Yes sir, Mr. LaCall.”

“Eddie. My name’s Eddie.” He wished Martin would get that through his head. “Take me back to the cop shop.”

“Yes sir.” The driver laughed softly.

The mood lightened instantly and Eddie chuckled, glad he could amuse Martin with his slang verbiage.

* * *

A troublesome wave of torment whipped through Eddie as he made his way through the maze of desks, heading for Gabe Dalton’s office. He stopped at the door and filed through the options he’d come up with for dropping his bombshell. Once he identified the best choice, he rapped firmly on the open door’s glass pane, announcing his presence.

“Proceed.” Gabe’s tired voice echoed from inside.

Taxing thoughts swirled inside Eddie’s head. He ventured in and approached Gabe’s desk.

“What’s on your mind, LaCall?” Gabe asked in a gruff tone that Eddie was coming to learn meant his boss’s temper had long since run thin. Gabe looked up from his mountain of paperwork; his pale eyes supporting Eddie’s conjecture. But there was something in his demeanor that suggested Gabe welcomed the interruption.

“Well, sir, I’d like to run a theory by you,” Eddie said with a shot of confidence as he sat down in the chair directly on the other side of Gabe’s desk.

Gabe tossed him a sharp look that said, Oh, great...another theory. “Does anyone have any solid evidence?”

“Well, no sir.” Somehow, Eddie managed to stay calm. “Not yet.”

“Am I going to regret this conversation, LaCall?” Gabe’s voice tested Eddie. Like a nervous tic, Gabe tapped his pen against the stack of files on his desk.

“You will if I’m right.” Eddie swallowed his insecurities and let his head fill with thoughts of keeping Rio safe.

Gabe’s hardened gaze softened. He glossed Eddie with his full, animated curiosity.

Good, now that I’ve got your attention. Eddie’s satisfaction spilled out in a smile.

“Why do I get the feeling I’m not going to like this?” Gabe said, as if he’d already filled with regret.

“I’ve got a feeling you’re going to hate it.” Eddie tried to tamp down the frankness fueling his response.

“Are you telling me that you think someone in this office is Rio’s stalker?” Gabe’s tone hardened, spewing out his words just above a whisper.

“Yes, I am.” Eddie’s nerve had begun to wane but he held his ground.

“Who?” Gabe’s sharp tone bit at Eddie’s poise.

“Blake Switzer.” Eddie covered his anxiety with conviction.

“What! Are you insane?” Gabe discounted Eddie’s charge. “Switzer?”

“Sir, I know it might seem like a stretch.” Eddie conceded that much himself. Like a freaking rubber band.

As if he’d heard Eddie’s thoughts, Gabe gave him a sharp, cutting laugh.

Eddie leaned against the desk and propped an arm up on the edge. “But you’ve got to know how obsessed he is with her.” The gravity of the situation forced him to plead his case. “She rejects him months ago, saying she doesn’t date guys from work. Then I enter the picture, and believe me, Switzer does not like what he thinks is going on between us.” Eddie leaned back into his chair. If he couldn’t make Gabe see what he saw, he feared that Rio would end up paying the price. “He’s pissed off.”

“You telling me you’re dating Laraquette?”

Eddie gave him one of those looks that was supposed to help him reel his boss back in and keep him on track.

Gabe shook his head, as if he’d decided he needed more to go on. “Jealousy is not enough to accuse someone of attempted murder.”

“Maybe not. But you know what they say...” Eddie paused, recalling Turner Atkins’s nickel’s worth of free advice. “Only scorned lovers send anonymous letters.”

* * *

“What?” It was all Gabe could do to keep from laughing. LaCall had lost his mind.

“If you’d seen the look on his face when I showed up in the parking garage and she literally ran into my arms because he freaks her out so much.” Eddie’s voice had filled with desperation. He believed what he was saying. “Switzer was livid. I thought he was mad because I was touching her. But that wasn’t it at all.” His eyes brightened, as if he’d made some watershed discovery. “He was pissed off because he wanted to be the one to save her. I blew it for him.”

Gabe considered Eddie’s theory—for about two seconds. He dismissed it just as quickly, shaking his head and saying, “Why doesn’t he just kill you and be done with it? Then he could have her all to himself.” He laughed, hoping to show LaCall the ridiculousness of his accusation.

“He wants her to choose between us.” Summing up the logic of what he saw as a disturbed mind, Eddie leaned back in his chair and donned a triumphant smile. “He wants her to choose him.”

Gabe stared at him. Eddie’s guesswork was an implausibly far-fetched idea—a hard one to swallow. “You can’t just accuse a man of something so serious without solid evidence.” Gabe shook his head. He wasn’t going there without proof.

Maybe this was some kind of joke. Yes, that’s it. Laughter rumbled up his gut. This was all a big elaborate hoax.

One he was sure Laraquette was most certainly behind. Yes. They were all in on it. They’d all come running in any second now, but he was one step ahead of them. Little did they know, the joke would be on them.

Well, any minute now. Gabe urged them silently. The wait was excruciating. No one sprang into the room to deem the vile trick a success, and Gabe’s heart filled with worry all over again.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Gabe’s voice had been weakened by dread.

“Unfortunately,” Eddie guaranteed with a swift, steely look.

“This is not going public until you provide some solid evidence.” Gabe slammed a fist down on the desk, scattering the mountain of files.

“Yes, sir.” Eddie stood and moved toward the door. He wrapped his hand around the doorknob and glanced over his shoulder, flashing his boss a disadvantaged look. “Sir, I really need to get inside his house.”

Better judgment urged Gabe to deny LaCall’s request, but a different voice inside his head had other ideas. A silent insistence fueled by a nagging influence drilled the inquiry through his thoughts—what if he’s right?

Gabe siphoned a heavy breath in through his nose and then let it drift out easily through his parted lips. “LaCall, this is off the record.” He pointed a finger at his newest agent. “You’re not authorized to go in. So you’d better be quick, clean, and efficient.” His cold, hard tone ushered in his insistent, commanding words. “If you find something, you stay with it. You guard it while I get a search warrant.”

Gabe wasn’t about to send LaCall into Switzer’s house in an official capacity. He wasn’t entirely convinced that LaCall hadn’t gone off his rocker. If he was wrong about Switzer, Gabe didn’t want to be responsible for ruining an innocent man’s life.

Then again...what if Eddie was right?