The lawyer focused on her, nodded slowly, and stated, “I’ve been at your table.”

  “Sure,” she agreed, studying him. “I remember you.”

  “I have never seen you cheat at the table,” he noted.

  “Because I don’t cheat,” she said immediately. “It’s a pretty good way to lose your job.”

  He nodded. “I can imagine that. … Got yourself in a spot of trouble.”

  “Well, Vegas has got a spot of trouble,” Aiden argued defensively. “In case you didn’t know that there’s been now six murders in the last week, including Moscow’s.”

  At that, the lawyer turned toward him. “Seriously?”

  Mountain corrected him. “A couple were earlier,” he noted, “so make them all within two weeks.”

  “Jesus!” the lawyer exclaimed. “How come that hasn’t been public news?”

  “Because they’re pinning all of them on my cousin,” Mountain stated, “with a couple major facts that don’t fit.”

  “Let’s start at the beginning,” the lawyer said. He placed a recorder on the coffee table. “Now tell me what the hell’s going on.”

  Chapter 3

  Toby was exhausted by the time she told the lawyer everything.

  He stared her down and asked, “Do they have any evidence?”

  Mountain shook his head. “None that the cops are willing to tell us about. None they’ve asked her about. They don’t have camera feeds. They don’t have anything along that line. The only thing they have is motive.”

  “And possibly a good motive,” the attorney agreed, with a nod. “Nothing like the beaten wife syndrome to make people angry.”

  “They don’t even know about that though,” she said.

  He looked over at her. “What?”

  “That’s the thing. I knew they wouldn’t believe me in the first place, so I didn’t tell them. The couple times I’ve gone in and talked to them about Moscow’s possible abuse of my sister-in-law, they’ve run me off as being a kook, making up stories.”

  At that, she had to tell her lawyer about Michelle too. When Toby finally ran dry, she looked up to see Aiden standing there, offering her a glass of water. She took it gratefully, wondering at this man who saw things like that and who stepped in to take care of issues. She hadn’t ever had anybody look after her all these years. It felt weird now. She looked at her lawyer. “So I didn’t tell them because I knew they would say I just made it all up.”

  “Do you have anything documented?”

  She frowned, as she thought about it. “I didn’t go to the hospital. I didn’t go to the police, so I guess the answer is no.”

  “Do you have any pictures?”

  “You know what? My friend from work might,” she added. “Annabel works at the casino with me. I was in the ladies’ room, trying to fix a broken bra strap, when she saw my back. I know she snapped a photo.”

  Aiden immediately hopped up and asked, “What’s her name and phone number?”

  When Toby hesitated, he added, “Look. Even if she won’t talk to you, leave a message, telling her that you’re sending somebody over. She could send you the photo otherwise. And, if she doesn’t want to talk to you, I’ll go have a private talk with her myself.” No threat was in his voice, but that tone meant he’d get the job done.

  The lawyer looked at Aiden in alarm.

  Mountain smiled. “Hey, it’s better that he goes versus me. I’d make damn sure I got that photo,” he stated. “Aiden will do it nicely enough.”

  The lawyer rolled his eyes. “Don’t do anything to jeopardize her case.”

  She picked up the phone and called her friend. When Annabel answered, Toby identified herself.

  “Oh, my God. Is it true? Did you kill him?”

  “No, I didn’t kill him.” Toby pinched the bridge of her nose. “You know that.”

  “Jesus. Yeah, yet you know, I wondered,” she said in that conciliatory voice. “Had to ask.”

  “Look. A while back you took that photo of my back, after my late husband beat me up.”

  “Yeah, I remember,” she replied.

  “Do you still have that photo?”

  “I didn’t take it off my phone, so I should,” she answered.

  “Could you send it to me?”

  “Sure,” she said, then she hesitated. “Am I allowed to?”

  “Yes, you’re allowed to share a photo of me with me,” Toby explained in a dry tone. “The cops don’t believe that Moscow ever touched me.”

  “Jesus. He beat the crap out of you that day,” she replied. “Don’t worry, hon. I’m sending it to you right now. If you need anything else, let me know.” With that, Annabel rang off.

  The guys looked over at her. “That was fast.”

  She shrugged. “Probably because she has to go to work.” She checked the time on her phone. She nodded.

  “I guess you don’t have a job anymore,” Aiden noted.

  “Well, I do,” she explained. “They gave me a few days off. Since my father is big in the industry, they have given me the benefit of a doubt, as long as it stays under the table. If there’s any public outcry about it, then, yeah, I’m out.”

  “Interesting,” Aiden replied.

  At that, the lawyer laughed. “Not really. She’s an extremely popular dealer, and people are always at her table.”

  She nodded. “And, for that reason alone, they’ll probably allow me to keep my job, but how depressing to think that that would be the reason.”

  “It’s all about money,” the lawyer stated.

  Her phone buzzed. She picked it up. “Looks like she sent it.” It took a moment to download, and, when Toby brought it up, she winced and handed her phone to her lawyer.

  He whistled slowly. “Jesus. He did this to you?”

  She nodded. “Yes. The thing is,” she stated, “I didn’t kill Moscow or any of the others, and the cops’ll just take this as further evidence of motive that I did.”

  He nodded. “It’s more motive, which isn’t good.”

  “Nope, it isn’t,” she agreed. “All I can tell you is that I didn’t kill Moscow or the other guys.”

  “Also keep in mind,” Mountain added, “that she isn’t physically capable of lifting these guys up and throwing them in the Dumpsters.”

  The lawyer looked at him and then nodded. “So the cops will say she has an accomplice.”

  “Of course they’ll say that,” she groaned. “But they have to find them, don’t they?”

  “It depends on if somebody will pay them to take a fall and to blame you and to do a few years of jail time in order to get free and clear of other debts, say, like gambling debts,” Mountain explained in a casual and calm and noncommittal voice.

  She stared at him in shock. “Oh my God. Why would anybody do that?”

  Aiden answered that. “To make sure that you get locked up for killing his son.”

  She stared at him and shook her head wildly. “But I didn’t do it.” Fear and panic started to set in, as she realized just how much people with money—like Moscow’s father—could make her life impossible at this stage. She looked over at the lawyer. “You’ve got to believe me. I didn’t kill any of them.”

  “I don’t have to believe you,” he replied, “but the police, and, in a worst case scenario, the jury does.”

  At that, Mountain slammed his fist into the doorjamb and stepped outside. She looked over at Aiden, but he was looking at the picture on her phone.

  “You want to send me a copy of that?” Aiden asked her.

  She avoided looking at the photo and shrugged. “Sure. But what difference will it make?”

  “I’m not sure, but you know that a father who thinks that this is okay doesn’t sound like my kind of a man.”

  “Don’t talk to him,” the lawyer ordered Aiden immediately. “We can’t have anything compromise her case.”

  “Nope. But maybe it’s like father, like son,” Aiden murmured. “Did you ever show your father this?”

  She slowly shook her head. “How could I?” she asked. “I just got it from my friend.”

  “Sure. But did you let your parents see your body or any of the injuries Moscow caused?”

  “No,” she told him. “In my family, that was one of those things that you’re not supposed to talk about. You’re not supposed to be so stupid as to get beaten up by some guy. And remember. They idolized him. Moscow and my parents were all about appearances.”

  “Sure. But apparently not about appearances when it comes to beating the crap out of his wife.”

  “Well, I was only his girlfriend back then,” she added. “Another reason why the cops won’t believe me because I did marry him afterward. I’m still not even sure how that happened, but I was trying to save Michelle.”

  “And I don’t think you told me about that either,” the lawyer said, hitting the Record button. “Let’s get back to it.”

  By the time she spilled all about this part, the attorney just stared at her in shock. She shrugged. “Michelle doesn’t deserve any of this. She’s been tormented enough by him. She’s like real family to me. What was I supposed to do? The only thing I could think of was to marry him and to hope that he left me and Michelle alone.”

  The attorney shook his head. “With this kind of a bully and a budding sociopath, you know for a fact that would never happen.”

  “I had hoped it would,” she stated, “because how would I help Michelle? Otherwise I would be completely lost.”

  “You were completely lost,” the lawyer noted, “until somebody decided to save you.”

  At that, she stared at Aiden and whispered, “Yes, but at what cost? At what cost?”

  Aiden stepped out onto the deck, and, instead of wasting time on a text, he phoned Corbin. When he answered, Aiden quickly explained what was going on. “I need the case files for all six of these murders.”

  “Only six?” Corbin asked, with a note of humor. “What about the late husband?”

  Aiden frowned. “I’m counting him too. I need everything on him. I need all the history you can find on him—everything. But, more than that, on his father too.”

  “Why his father?”

  “Because he’s a bigwig in town, and I think he’s running this investigation against her.”

  “Well, that’s not very smart,” he noted. “She has family too.”

  “But they aren’t standing up for her, outside of Mountain.”

  “And yet, according to my paperwork, her father hired us or got us involved.”

  “Yeah. I think if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that Mountain got us involved and is paying for this gig,” he shared in a dry tone.

  A moment of silence came at the other end. “Well, damn. He must feel pretty strongly about this.”

  “Yeah, I think so,” Aiden confirmed. “He’s also not talking very much.”

  “No, but that’s Mountain. He’ll reserve judgment until he is at a point in time where he thinks he has something to really talk about.”

  “Maybe. But it would help me not feel quite so frustrated if I had more information on this.”

  “Not a whole lot of information to be had yet,” Corbin noted. “I can’t even believe that the cops have charged her already.”

  “Neither can the lawyer. But, hey, you know that’s why I think some railroading is going on.”

  “We’ll get to the bottom of it, I’m sure,” Corbin said. “I’ll get back to you.”

  And just as he went to ring off, Aiden added, “I’ll also stay here.”

  Then came another moment of silence. “Okay. Why?”

  “Because whoever’s killing all these guys,” Aiden explained, “he’s making sure he’s doing it at a very quick pace. Already five are dead, with another one found just last night. She didn’t have an alibi because nobody else lives here with her. So, I’m staying to make sure that, if there’s yet another murder, I’m her alibi.”

  “Not bad,” Corbin noted. “I don’t like a lot about this.”

  “Yeah, don’t worry,” Aiden replied. “I don’t like an awful lot about this either.”

  Corbin laughed. “Just mind your Ps and Qs with Mountain.”

  Aiden snorted. “He and Toby are barely talking. So keeping out of trouble won’t be easy.”

  “Oh, they’re talking. They just have some history to sort through.”

  “Isn’t that always the way?” Aiden said. “Anyway I missed lunch. Could use some food.”

  “You’ve got a budget,” Corbin noted helpfully.

  “Yeah. I don’t really know that I want anybody knowing I’m here though,” Aiden added.

  “We can send something over. What do you want?”

  “Pizza,” he replied immediately.

  Corbin snorted. “Seriously? All the food choices in the world in Vegas, and that’s what you want?”

  “Nobody will know or even think anything odd about pizza being delivered to her door,” Aiden explained. “And, right now, quite a few people have been back-and-forth. So a pizza delivery would raise the least amount of alarms.”

  “Done.” With that, Corbin was gone.

  Aiden stepped back into the living room to see Toby in a deep conversation with her lawyer. Good. As long as she was talking to him, maybe she could tell him something that could help her case.

  As Aiden sat down beside Toby, she frowned. He frowned right back. She groaned. “Why are you guys all the same?”

  His eyes widened. “Us guys are always the same?” he asked politely.

  She glared at him. “You know what I mean.”

  “Nope. Haven’t a clue,” he countered cheerfully. He looked over at the lawyer. “Are you getting what you need?”

  “Nothing to get,” he admitted. “She has no alibi for any of these deaths, but the fact remains that she is not capable of doing this on her own, which also means the cops would just look for an accomplice.”

  Aiden nodded and turned toward her. “Who’s in your closest circle?”

  “Nobody,” she stated bluntly. “Because of my ex, I stayed isolated, knowing that he would go after all of them.”

  “And I hate to ask,” Aiden began, “because you’ve mentioned that Michelle has some issues, but would the cops look at her as being your accomplice?”

  Toby stared at him in astonishment and then slowly shook her head. “Hell, the cops might look, but could they ever convict her over something like that?”

  “That’s not the point though,” Aiden noted. “You know it’s certainly happened in other cases where people have used someone just like Michelle.”

  Toby nodded slowly. “Sure. And that would be something that my ex would have done in a heartbeat.” She looked up at Aiden and asked, “Did you get any new information?”

  He shook his head. “No, but I requested a lot more intel.” He faced the lawyer. “Have you been given any information about all six related murders to date?”

  He shook his head. “Now we still have to sign paperwork to have her be represented by me.”

  Aiden raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. “And we may not even need those murder details. As soon as there’s another one, she should be let off the hook.”

  “How do you figure?” the lawyer asked, looking at him.

  Toby frowned at Aiden. “Do you really think that he’ll kill again?”

  “He’s certainly not slowed down at all,” he noted, “and I think the cops are perfectly aware it’s a ludicrous charge against you.”

  The lawyer nodded. “It is pretty ludicrous, but the cops must check every lead.”

  “Sure,” Aiden agreed, with a negligent shrug. “But they’re being lax, and I presume it’s all about Moscow’s father’s influence.”

  The lawyer winced. “It is a little hard to get away from something like that in this town. There’s definitely those with influence and those without.”

  “Well, I know where I fit in,” Toby replied bitterly. “Nothing I told the cops ever made a difference. They never looked at anybody but me.”

  “It’s fine,” Aiden said. “We’ll have this dealt with in no time.”

  She snorted. “I don’t know what kind of magic elixir you’re on, but I should get some for myself.”

  He smiled. “I get that,” he admitted, “but honestly I’m not full of crap.”

  She shrugged and settled back.

  The lawyer stood. “Hey, I’ve got to go. I have another appointment.” He dropped a bunch of papers on the coffee table in front of her. “Go over these. If you want to work with me, then we’ll set that in motion. However, you need to sign the attorney-client agreement first.”

  She nodded and watched as he left, then looked over at her cousin Mountain as he came back inside. “Is he your choice?”

  “He’s our choice,” Mountain replied calmly. “You do need representation, unless it all goes away.”

  She added, “Aiden here seems to think he can pull enough threads to make it happen.”

  Mountain looked over at his friend. “You think so?”

  “I’m pretty sure that we’ll see another murder or two very quickly,” he explained. “So we need to make sure that one of us sticks dead close to your cousin so that Toby has an alibi.”

  “All they’ll do,” she said, with renewed strength in her voice, “is look at you as being my accomplice.”

  He chuckled. “And yet I do have alibis for every other one of these murders.”

  She stared at him. “So you have a busy sex life or what?” She couldn’t even believe she’d said that out loud. However, at the moment, if he had an alibi, he needed to prove it.

  He looked over at Mountain, his lips twitching. “I was on a mission. And believe me. It’s not something these local yokels or their bigwigs can argue away.”

  She collapsed against her chair. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get personal.”

  “Get personal,” he assured her. “It’s all good.”

  She stared at him. “I’m glad you’re in a happy frame of mind.”

  “Why not?” Aiden said, with a shrug.

  When the doorbell rang yet again, she groaned. “What is it with today?” she asked. “Dammit, I don’t need all these interruptions.”