Her stomach turned. “Which means what, exactly?”
“I never—but I knew some of the guys would take a free blow job here or there, then look the other way and not arrest the girls when they were working. But apparently Tommy threatened one of the girls if she didn’t do him.” Steve was clearly embarrassed.
“Steve, the girl I caught him with was fourteen. Maybe if someone had the balls to stop him sooner I wouldn’t have been shot in the back by my own fucking partner.”
“You know how it is, Alex,” Steve said, practically whining, wanting her to understand—which she didn’t. “Guys complained, sure. Eventually he was moved north. Clean slate. Promotion to detective. Good lieutenant who knew the score, laid down the law with him. Thought by partnering him with a female detective would help.”
“He was threatening prostitutes for sex and then promoted? And you didn’t tell me?”
“It’s not something we talk about, you know. I assumed Jim would have told you.”
Jim had never said a word. The bastard.
“Hey—Alex—don’t be mad.”
She turned back to face him. “Yeah, I am mad. But mostly? I’m disappointed. You were my friend. I shared a bed with Jim. And you both knew Tommy Cordell was a fucking pervert. Kept me in the dark. And Jim actually accused me of sleeping with him.” She shook her head. “Just—go. I’m meeting my dad for lunch.” She walked away before she said anything else.
Another lie. Her dad couldn’t have lunch, but it sounded good to keep saying it.
Time to have a heart-to-heart with Matt Elliott.
Chapter Nine
From seven in the morning, the D.A.’s office was busy. Budget cuts affected everyone, and law enforcement wasn’t excluded from the axe. Staff, mostly prosecutors, flowed in and out of Matt’s office while Alex waited, a flurry of them because it was after twelve and most courts had adjourned for the lunch hour.
Matt’s law clerk was a young blonde girl named Zoey who looked like she was barely out of college let alone law school, but she compensated by wearing a severe grey suit, her long blond hair in a tight bun, and no-nonsense glasses. Her make-up was impeccable and even though she downplayed her attributes, she was model-gorgeous. She hadn’t been here last year when Alex was working with Matt. She ran a tight ship, however, and finally at quarter to one said, “Ms. Morgan, you may go in now. I’m sorry for the delay.” She actually sounded apologetic.
“No worries. I didn’t have an appointment,” she said.
Zoey tilted her chin up. “You’re on the list.”
“List?”
“Of people who don’t need an appointment.”
Odd. Weird. Alex gave Zoey an awkward smile, then walked into Matt’s office.
Matt’s office was neat, but not obsessively so. Two stacks of files were aligned straight on his desk, one on the left and one on the right. In box, out box, without the boxes. He had personal pictures, mostly of his sister, his half-sister, and his friends from the Navy. A Navy flag dominated one wall. His office was in the corner and boasted windows on two walls, but the street view was hardly worth fighting over. The California flag and the American flag stood in each corner behind his desk with the Seal of Sacramento County centered on the wall between them. In fact, the whole desk image looked like it had been staged for a photo—unlike the rest of his office which was stacked with books, computers, two couches, and a long conference table that could comfortably seat eight.
She shut the door behind her. Most of the venom she’d had after meeting with Hart disappeared. If there had been any real anger to begin with. Matt wasn’t the type to set her up like that; it had been his idea for her to put Hart in contact with her father, which would give them access as well. But that Hart proposed the job was a far better opportunity.
Matt walked around his desk to greet her. “Hungry? We could get lunch.”
She was famished, but shook her head. “Sit down. We really need to talk.”
Matt sat, but she didn’t.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing—everything. First, I was about to invite Hart to my dad’s house, but he invited me to dinner instead. To thank me, yada yada, as well as hard sell me on taking a job with him.”
“He asked you out on a date?”
She stopped pacing. “Did you miss the part where he wants to hire me? As his security consultant or bodyguard or something.”
“No, but why is he taking you to dinner?”
“To thank me for saving his life. To convince me to work for him. Because he has the hots for me and wants to take me to bed.”
Matt’s face hardened. “You can’t trust him.”
Alex was confused and getting irritated. “I don’t. You’re the one who wanted me to find an in with Hart. This is it. It’s perfect—it was his idea.”