The ballbuster in Jess Ripton kicked in. “You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”
“I don’t? I have his confession saying that he and Soleil Gray were there when Wakefield overdosed. Your client gave him the drugs. You snuck Toby out of there. And my take is that when the hush money wasn’t enough to keep a lid on this, Toby Mills had you kill the concierge and the limo driver because they were tipping off Cassidy Towne. Who he also had you kill. Tracks for me.”
“They’ll never make a connection for one simple reason,” said Ripton. “Toby Mills had nothing to do with those killings. He doesn’t even know I’m involved in all that.”
“Sounds like you’re making a confession,” said Heat.
He shrugged, and in it conveyed his certainty that whatever he said would never go beyond Rook’s office. “Truly. Toby doesn’t know. He still doesn’t even know about Cassidy Towne’s book. Or the leaks and the spying by that limo driver and the concierge. All Toby knows is he has a dirty little secret to keep about a party that got out of control.”
“Come on, Ripton, I don’t think this is the time to be doing your spin. Not after you’ve killed three people just to save your client’s precious endorsement deals.”
Wolf was getting anxious to go. “Jess? Ready?”
Rook blurted, “That’s not why they killed them.” He made a quick glance down at his foot and then looked up again at Nikki. “They didn’t kill those people to protect Toby Mills’s image. They killed them to cover up the fact that Reed Wakefield’s death was not accidental—it was murder.”
Heat was taken aback. She had no idea Rook could be so good with a bluff. But then she was floored again because his expression told Nikki he wasn’t bluffing. She turned to assess the reactions of Jess Ripton and Rance Wolf. They weren’t disagreeing with what he’d said.
“So you do have the last chapter,” said Ripton. He took a step closer to the desk. “You wouldn’t know about the murder unless you did.”
Rook shrugged. “I’ve read it.”
“Murder? How is it murder?” said Nikki. “In Toby’s confession he said it was an accidental overdose.”
“Because Toby still believes it was,” answered Rook. “Because Toby and Soleil didn’t know it, but Reed Wakefield was still alive when they left that hotel room.” Rook punctuated the point by glaring at Ripton. “Right Jess? Then you and Tex here killed him.”
“Where is it?” Ripton looked under the desk where Rook had been fidgeting, and when he didn’t see the chapter, he said, “You’re going to tell me where you hid that chapter.”
“Let her go first,” Rook said.
“I’m not leaving.”
“Damn right.” Ripton turned to scan the mess again.
“Nikki. Trying to help you here.”
“Where is it, Rook? Last time.”
“OK,” said Rook. “It’s in my pants!”
A brief quiet fell over the room. Rook gestured with his head to his lap and then nodded, affirming.
“Check it out,” said Ripton.
The instant Wolf turned and took his gun off Nikki, Rook pressed the toe of his shoe on the radio controller sitting on the floor at his feet. Over on the windowsill behind the Texan, the orange CB180 helicopter whirred to life. As soon as the main rotor began to spin, its tip buzz-sawed against the windowpane, jarring the room with a grating vibration. Wolf twirled around and shot at the copter, shattering the glass. Jess Ripton, who was startled into a frozen state, brought his hands up defensively. Heat threw herself at him, slamming into his side. She grabbed Ripton’s forearm and raised it up while, at the same time, sliding both her hands down past his wrist toward his gun.