Cover Up (27 page)

“Ivan’s boss. Otherwise known as Sarge.” Kurt sighed.

“Oh.” Parker thought about that for a moment. He wasn’t sure he grasped all the implications, or why exactly it mattered, but nothing was going to keep him from accompanying Trish and finding out what the hell was going on. His life had been turned upside down by a man he thought he loved and a man who’d never loved him one bit.

F
OR
each minute that passed while Ivan waited, he got angrier. He sat behind Martelli’s desk, waiting. He wanted to see his boss’s face when he entered. Ivan shuffled Martelli’s papers, moved his stapler. He considered calling again, but decided against it. Sure, he was pissed as hell, but it was a weekend, and it might take Martelli a few minutes to disengage from whatever family or campaign trail obligation he was engaged in. Bastard.

The office door opened sooner than Ivan expected, and he stood, although he remained behind the desk.

“Ivan. What’s so urgent? Have you got something?”

“Yes, I’ve got an asshole for a boss.”

Martelli’s eyes widened. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with me?” Ivan swept files off the desk and rounded it. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?” Martelli shoved a chair aside instead of sitting.

Ivan let out a wordless howl of frustration. His next words weren’t at all quiet either. “Why didn’t you tell me Parker was your son?”

Martelli paled and got right up in his face. “Shut the fuck up, Bekker. That’s got nothing to do with the investigation.”

“Doesn’t it? What else aren’t you telling me? Is there truly a leak in the department?”

“It’s not impossible, but I don’t think so. That bust going sour was probably a coincidence. You know they don’t always go smoothly.”

Ivan’s fingers twitched, desperate to wrap around Martelli’s throat. He’d turned Ivan into a paranoid freak, jumping at shadows, based on a lie.

“Why the hell did you send me after your son?” Ivan spat out the words, so angry he was shaking. He was proud he’d managed to get those sentences out coherently.

“Lower your voice, goddammit. Look, I needed your help. I’m sorry it had to be the way it was, but I’d heard rumors that the boy was involved with Razhin. If he got arrested, my affair with his mother would come out. My wife would divorce me, and there’s no way I’d get elected.”

Suddenly, it all became clear. Ironic, really. Sleeping with Parker had allowed him to get the best night’s rest he’d had since the shooting, and although his head still wasn’t on right, he was more clearheaded than he’d been in days.

“You used me.” His boss had taken advantage of his shock after the shooting to get him to agree to an investigation he never should have started in the first place. “What were you going to do if I brought you evidence of Parker’s guilt? Were you going to bury it?”

“Did you bring me evidence of his guilt?”

“He’s your son. Don’t you care he almost got killed today? Don’t you care he’s been on his own since his mom died, and the guy he thought was his best friend set him up? Stole his identity?”

Martelli shrugged. “I had nothing to do with the kid. My wife threatened to leave if I didn’t stop the affair and pay off Parker’s mom. Besides, I’ve already got four kids. I didn’t need another.”

“You asshole.” Ivan swung a fist, pain exploding as cracked knuckles met solid jaw. Gratified, he waited as Martelli staggered a bit. Once the man regained his footing, he used his other hand to slam into his boss’s stomach, then whipped him against the wall.

The office shuddered, pictures and commendations sliding down the wall to shatter in a spray of glass. Blood dripped from Martelli’s split lip as he curled up on the floor, arms around his belly.

A couple of uniformed cops burst through the open doorway, preceding the head of Homicide, Inspector Nadar. Just beyond, Kurt, Davy, Trish, and Parker were visible. Parker wore the same stunned, disbelieving look he’d worn since Ivan had confessed to being a detective. He hated it, hated that Parker didn’t trust him anymore, but he had no right to that trust. He’d betrayed Parker, almost as badly as his father had done—to both of them.

“Enough,” Nadar thundered.

“Arrest him,” Martelli wheezed from the floor. “He’s fired.”

Nadar raised a brow. “I don’t think so. Not until we get to the bottom of this. Escort them to separate interrogation rooms.”

Ivan left the office, ignoring Martelli’s whining.

“I’m sorry, Ivan. I had to call someone.” Kurt’s face was ashen.

“It’s fine.” He had no doubt Kurt had acted with the best intentions. He’d already resigned himself to losing his job. When he’d taken the assignment, he’d known it was a possibility, but he hadn’t realized it would be because his boss was a selfish ass. Nevertheless, he’d rather not leave in disgrace while Parker was around to see him do it.

Without another glance at Parker, because he couldn’t stand to see that hurt look in his eyes anymore, Ivan followed the uniformed cop to an interrogation room. He slumped in the uncomfortable plastic chair and rested his throbbing knuckles against the cool metal of the table. Asking for ice was out of the question; he didn’t want to admit to any more weaknesses. Not in front of his soon to be ex-coworkers.

Chapter 11

P
ARKER
paced the room again. Not paced. Prowled. He’d been escorted to an interrogation room hours ago. Kurt—not Ivan, dammit—had assured him he wasn’t in trouble and didn’t need a lawyer, but Kurt’s boss had grilled him. Wrung every detail out of him, including his personal relationship with Ivan. Inspector Nadar had known they’d had sex; Ivan had confessed to that almost immediately. Parker had been intending to protect Ivan as best he could, but apparently, he wasn’t interested in Parker’s protection.

With a grim expression, Nadar had left. Trish had stopped by briefly and given him something to drink. Despite being around Ivan’s age, she’d had a very matronly air about her, quite a change from the spitfire he’d seen.

Now, though, he just wanted to go home. Or he wanted someone to bring Ivan to him to explain what the hell was going on. If everything they’d had was a damned lie, or whether it had all been for the job.

The door opened, and Parker turned to face the next inquisitor. But it was only Kurt. Kurt, who looked tired and drawn.

“Sit down. Have you been here this whole time?” Parker hadn’t forgotten that the man was recovering from a gunshot wound and surgery.

“Yeah.” Kurt shrugged and winced. He rubbed his wounded shoulder for a moment.

“Can I go? Or is someone going to tell me what’s happening?”

A loud, heavy sigh was Kurt’s initial reply. “Sorry. Nadar’s been working his tail off, and this got resolved faster than I expected.” He slumped down into one of the incredibly uncomfortable plastic chairs and gestured for Parker to join him.

This was faster? With an ear-piercing squeak of metal leg against linoleum, Parker pulled out a chair and sat on the edge. Waiting. From Kurt’s expression, there could be no good to follow.

“Nadar’s putting a rush on everything because this involves our own, but you should be free to go soon.”

“Okay. What else?” Because that didn’t tell him a damned thing.

“We’ve arrested Neil on several drug-related charges.”

Okay, okay. That sort of made sense. For whatever reason, the cops thought Parker was responsible for Neil’s crimes. “Why me? Why wasn’t Ivan investigating Neil?”

Kurt looked down, and a black weight formed in Parker’s stomach.

“I’m sorry, Parker. He’s also been charged with identity theft and fraud. When your background check came in, we were able to figure out where all the money came from. He took out a huge mortgage on your Muskoka property. Used the money to set up the grow-op and, we suspect, pay off gambling debts to the Russians.”

Kurt’s words all made sense, but not in relation to his boring, sedate life. Except for the gambling debts. Neil had always been super serious about his poker. Parker licked dry lips and swallowed. “You said mortgage?”

“To the tune of five hundred thousand.”

“Half a million dollars?” Spots swam in front of his eyes, and he forgot how to breathe.

“Hey. Hey. In and out. In and out.” Kurt gripped his hands, almost burning his suddenly bloodless fingers. Parker followed Kurt’s instructions until he wasn’t in any more danger of passing the fuck out.

How could he be so stupid? Why hadn’t he seen what Neil was doing? “What am I going to do? How… can I even fix this?”

“There’s a support group that can give you some guidance.” Kurt slid a business card to him. “If you can afford a lawyer, get one.”

“I have a lawyer already.” Thank God.

“Good. With Neil in custody, you’ve got an excellent chance of getting this cleared up, but it’s going to fuck with your credit for a few months, at least. Possibly until the trial’s done. Just be glad he didn’t have a chance to take out any loans against your house.”

Glad. No, no, glad wasn’t the word he’d choose to describe his mood. In less than twenty-four hours, Parker’s life had turned completely upside down. His best friend in jail for stealing his identity, his lover a complete stranger, and his father….

“What about Martelli?” Surely he was going to pay for what he’d done.

Kurt stared at him, brows furrowing. “So you really didn’t know who he was? You’d never tried to find him?”

“Why would I? My mother and I did just fine without him, and if he never wanted me, why would I bother?” Leaving his mom when he’d found out she was pregnant had actually been a good thing. What he’d done to Ivan was completely unforgivable; it wouldn’t be clear for some time if his selfishness had destroyed Ivan’s mental health along with his career.

“He’s retiring.” Kurt snorted in disgust. “Nadar thought a quiet retirement in exchange for saving Ivan’s job was worthwhile.”

Kurt continued to explain. When his father had thought he was involved with Razhin, he’d taken advantage of Ivan’s disorientation to investigate on the sly. No one had any idea what Martelli had been intending to do if Parker had been guilty, but he’d been terrified their relationship would become public if Parker ended up getting arrested and going to trial. It would have destroyed his chances for getting elected and likely would have cost him the rich wife he’d been trying to keep when he’d dumped Parker’s mom in the first place. Ironically, his actions may still have had the same effect, and Parker couldn’t dredge up one ounce of sympathy. So stupid.

“What about… um… am I safe? They know where I live.”

“Should be. As far as we can tell, Leo knew about you, but Neil wasn’t part of Razhin’s group. Not yet. He’d already paid off his gambling debts and was working on the grow-op to impress them. They shouldn’t care that you’re testifying against Neil. But the Drug Squad has a few useful informants. We’ll spread the word that you had no involvement in Neil’s doings. Until then, we’ll have a patrol car doing regular drive-bys. I’ll leave you my number, and I’ll check in on you too.”

That made him feel a little safer, but why would Kurt be checking in?

“Where’s Ivan?”

Kurt’s gaze skittered away. “He said it was best this way. A clean break.” He coughed.

“Was that all he said?”

Kurt patted his hand, like that was going to somehow make the pain better. “He said it was all part of the job.”

Parker slid back in the seat like Kurt had punched him in the chest. Pain bloomed in his heart, sharp and searing. He’d been afraid Ivan would reject him, but the actual occurrence was almost as painful as losing his mother. And the shit didn’t even have the decency to do it himself.

“I don’t know if it helps, but you wouldn’t be able to see each other anyway. A relationship would compromise the case.”

“Oh, that’s convenient.” Nothing like getting dumped by your lover’s colleague in a fucking police station after your life had just blown up in your face. He was a bigger loser now than when he’d been the friendless fat kid.

“You’re both witnesses, and a defense attorney will have a field day with your… uh… interactions with Ivan.”

By sheer force of will, he managed to keep his face from betraying his shock. How much detail had Ivan given his colleagues? Humiliation was the only thing that bottled up his agonized scream.

“I’m sorry, kid. Can… Is there anything I can do?”

Parker shook his head. If he opened his mouth now, the tears would fall, and that would never do.

“Call you a cab home?”

He nodded so hard his neck spasmed. Getting out of here was imperative. Leave this nightmare behind. Try to patch up the shredded remnants of his life.

I
VAN
stood at the window and watched Parker walk toward a cab. The streetlights glistened off the sidewalk, wet from a storm that had erupted after he’d arrived. Parker trudged like a beaten old man instead of the vibrant young student he was. It wasn’t entirely Ivan’s fault, but the guilt weighed him down. Of all the people who’d betrayed Parker today, he was the only one who regretted it.