Murder and Matrimony Read online

  “Margot,” Bentley said, bringing her back to the present. “You can tell me anything. You know that, right? I think of you and Adam like my own children—God knows I don’t have enough of them.” He grinned, and she knew he was thinking of his son Ben and how they had only recently been reunited after years of separation.

  “Adam’s been…detained. By the police.”

  Bentley nodded and urged her on. Taking a deep breath, she shared the story of the night before and what Adam’s brother had said.

  After she finished, Bentley nodded. “I think it was wise of you to come back. You know that Anthony will call the minute he can with an update. Or Adam will call—it just depends on what they allow him and…” He hesitated.

  “And what? Tell me, Bentley. Please.”

  “It depends if he’s more than a person of interest. If so, then that will mean he’ll be charged with something. But that also wouldn’t happen unless there was evidence.”

  Margot knew as much but hearing it from Bentley made it seem even more real.

  Julia rushed into the front room holding out her phone. “I thought it might be important.”

  “Yes. Thank you,” Margot said, taking the phone and answering it immediately. “Hello?”

  “Margot, it’s Anthony.”

  “Hello,” she said, licking dry lips. “What’s happened?”

  He huffed out a breath and instantly, she knew it wasn’t going to be good news. “It would appear that the detectives on the case have uncovered some information that links Adam to the death of Sid Lawrence.” The words hung in the air for a moment. What did this mean? She was almost afraid to ask, but Anthony continued. “It looks like they are going to hold Adam here. He’s being charged with murder, Margot.”

  Margot’s blood ran cold and her hands begin to shake. Adam charged with murder? Absolutely not. “But he’s a detective! He’s sworn to uphold the law! This isn’t right! This isn’t—”

  “I don’t believe it for a second, Margot, but there are things you don’t know.”

  “Like what?” she said, feeling her exasperation rise at again being faced with the fact that she didn’t know everything about her fiancé.

  “I can’t tell you that over the phone.”

  Margot caught the subtle hint. He wouldn’t talk over the phone, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t talk.

  “I’m coming up to D.C. Can I meet you?”

  After a moment, Anthony sighed again. “Of course. I’ll text you an address.”

  “I’ll see you then.”

  She hung up and looked into Bentley’s sympathetic gaze. “It’s not good, Bentley,” she said, feeling tears rush to her eyes again.

  “You and I both know he didn’t do whatever it is they said he did. Are you going up there to get answers?”

  “You know that I am,” she said with a halfhearted shrug.

  “I do. But a word of advice?”

  “Of course.”

  “There are big guns up in D.C. and sometimes, the motives for things are not always…clear.”

  She nodded slowly. He was saying to dig deep, something she’d already thought she’d have to do.

  “I understand.”

  “If I can help in any way, just call me. All right? I may be old, but I still remember a thing or two about the law.”

  “I know you do! Thank you,” Margot said, standing and picking up their plates. She couldn’t think of anything the older man could do at this juncture, but she assumed he still had contacts in D.C. and if it came down to it, she would pull in every favor she had if it meant clearing Adam’s name.

  And that had to be it. Someone was out to get Adam, or to frame him with something.

  Was that it? Another rush of cold dread snaked down her neck and she suppressed a shudder.

  Was it possible that her husband-to-be was being framed for murder? But by who? And for what purpose?

  These were all questions she was going to have to find out the answer to. And fast.

  Margot drove up Interstate 395 toward Washington, D.C. and tried to understand what it could be that Adam had gotten himself into in order to be brought in for the murder of someone in D.C. She’d called his partner in North Bank, Les Mabry, who had been informed from their police chief earlier that morning. He wasn’t able to share anything, naturally, and that only made Margot more frustrated.

  No one seemed to know what was going on. Did that mean their evidence wasn’t clear? Or did it mean that the person or persons involved were of a sensitive nature? She hoped that Anthony would be able to shed light on some of this—if not all of it—but she wasn’t even sure if she could trust him.

  She winced at that thought. He was Adam’s brother and Adam often came up to D.C. to work with him. Of course she could trust him.

  Then again, what if what Adam helped his brother with had something to do with this?

  She pushed that thought aside as she came across the bridge toward the city. Taking the 11th Street exit, she wound through North East D.C. and searched for a parking spot near Lincoln Park, the destination that Anthony had given her. It was close to where he worked, and she was happy to find a space only a few blocks from the park.

  Parallel parking, she got out and checked the signs. She’d have two hours before her parking spot would require ticketing, something she knew D.C. police were very serious about. She set a timer on her phone and then set off for the park.

  The uneven pavement, disrupted by tree branches and uneven ground, led past row houses of all varieties. She paused at a corner where a small dry-cleaning place looked out over the park and then crossed when the light changed. Due to the midmorning time frame, she noted several groups of people in the park. Most were mothers or nannies out with children, and then a few others walking dogs or taking a leisurely stroll.

  She picked one of the only free benches in the shade and sat down. Soon, she heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Anthony walking up to her. He was dressed in gray slacks and a slightly rumpled gray suitcoat. His pale blue tie sat askew, and he looked like he hadn’t gotten much sleep, if he’d slept at all.

  “Thanks for meeting me,” he said, sinking down onto the bench next to her.

  “Of course.” She looked around out of habit to make sure no one was near them, then continued. “It sounded as if there were things we could discuss. Privately.”

  “Yes,” he said, slipping out of his jacket and laying it over the bench between them. He took his time untying his tie even further and then ran a hand through his hair. “I’m just not sure how much I should tell you. How much Adam would want me to tell you.”

  She considered this. She didn’t want to pit brother against brother, but if something had happened, she needed to get to the bottom of this. She had to clear her fiancés name! And she assumed his brother would want to do the same.

  “How much has Adam told you about what he does when he comes up to D.C.?”

  Margot was relatively sure that Anthony already knew the answer to this, but she answered, “Nothing.”

  “All right, well…” Anthony looked around the park then met her gaze. “Before he went down to North Bank, he’d been pulled in by the higher-ups for a special assignment. An undercover assignment.”

  The way Anthony said it made Margot’s blood run cold. “What was the assignment for?”

  “It came to the attention of his boss’s boss that there was corruption in some of the precincts. It looked like there was a link and since it had crossed state lines, the FBI got involved. Adam’s got a past with them—that’s his story to tell since it doesn’t affect this—and they knew they could count on him.”

  “So what did he do?” she asked, trying to piece everything together.

  “The corruption was deep, so deep that they didn’t even know who to target. Instead, the word got out, discretely of course, that Adam was also looking for something on the side. That he was in financial straits and—”

  “Would benefit
from extra income.”

  “Yes. Namely of the nefarious variety.”

  “What happened?” she asked, wondering how all this had happened and Adam had never shared it with her.

  “We only found out later that the corruption of the cops was mainly to keep an eye off of a ring of smugglers down in South Florida with a clientele in D.C. As you can imagine, people here in the city are wealthy enough to pay for things and if they can do so without tariffs impeding them, or inspections, they will. It just increases their overall profit.”

  “Right. So he got connected with smugglers?”

  “Not at first.” Anthony checked around them again before continuing. “Initially, he started doing private security with a few other cops on their off-duty. Then one thing led to another and he was purposefully put in a position to make him look completely corrupt. It sealed the deal between the others and he was inducted into the ring.”

  “Oh my.”

  “I know it’s a lot and I promise there’s a point to all of this.”

  She nodded encouragement for him to continue.

  “He rose in the ranks, this took a little over a year of course, and so it looked like he was still working as a detective but on the side, he was turning a blind eye. All part of the plan of course. But there was a problem. There was a lynchpin person who would not let his name be released. No matter how loyal Adam appeared to be, he couldn’t get to that man and it was holding up the whole operation.”

  “What happened?”

  “Adam set up a sting against his organization and then warned them off of it.”

  “Proving—again—that he was loyal.”

  “Exactly. And it did the trick. They were able to nail the guy and get most of the organization. But, at the last minute, while Adam was locked up with everyone so as not to blow his cover, he found out that there were others who hadn’t been caught. They were in the wind, as they say, but they were still out there.”

  “Police?”

  “Both police and non-police.”

  Margot took a moment to process the information. “But Adam’s cover was never fully blown.”

  “You are smart.” Anthony let his smile widen. “I mean, I knew you were—Adam raves about you all the time—but you’ve got a keen eye for detection.”

  Margot blushed at the man’s kind words but urged him on. “Then what happened?”

  “They made a show of getting Adam off and, before he left, he was able to get word to whoever was left in the smuggling ring that he was still with them even though he was being transferred.”

  “Did it work? It seems like they’d become suspicious at that point.”

  “Surprisingly, it did work. He had a criminal informant share a fictitious story with the gang members about what went down and how he had been put on probation, but they couldn’t find any evidence. Stuff like that. For all they know, Adam was transferred and is still on their side.”

  “Which brings us to now. Why is Adam being brought up on charges for someone’s murder?” She knew that Anthony hadn’t told her all of this without reason.

  “That’s where this gets a little strange.” Anthony ran a hand through his hair. “I came in late to Adam’s involvement when I transferred here to D.C., but it looks like—to me at least—someone got wind of who Adam really is. Or, maybe I should say, where his loyalties lie.”

  “But how?”

  “That’s the million-dollar question. It would be normal for him to be seen in his detective role in North Bank. In fact, it would be all the better because if they came to him there, he’d be able to infiltrate the ring again and possibly be able to put a stop to them once and for all.”

  “But that’s not what’s happened.”

  “Right. To me, and this is my own opinion, it looks like someone got wind and set him up to be the fall-guy for something he didn’t do.”

  “What? Just sending him to prison? Seems like they’d rather do something to stop him than that. It seems…innocuous.”

  “Not if you look at it like a criminal. If Adam goes to prison, those he put away will have connections there and…well, it wouldn’t be pretty. And, sadly, things happen in prison all the time.”

  So it would be a ‘safer’ way for someone not wanting to go to jail to take care of Adam without being traced. Margot felt sick to her stomach.

  “They can’t do that. Adam hasn’t done anything.”

  “You and I both know that,” Anthony said, shaking his head slowly. “But if there is evidence we can’t refute, even if it’s faked, it will be hard to prove he’s innocent.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. He’s a solid detective with a great record and he’d helped in this undercover investigation.”

  “That’s the problem, though.” The way Anthony said it made Margot clue in to the fact that there was something he hadn’t told her.

  “What is it you haven’t said?”

  He took in a deep breath and leaned in closer. “At one point, before all of this came to a head, there was one detective—someone out of the loop—who thought that Adam was actually corrupt. His complaints were stopped by his commanding officer because they knew what was going on, but he wasn’t filled in on the situation.

  “So he thought Adam got off but was still corrupt.”

  “Yeah.” Anthony swallowed. “That detective’s name is Ron Karlsson.”

  3

  Margot and Anthony walked down the sidewalk toward the U.S. Capitol Building. The shade of the trees overhead made the moist air slightly more bearable, but it was nothing compared to the rising temperature inside of Margot.

  “They will investigate this and find out he’s innocent, Margot. You know that, right?”

  She wasn’t sure that she did.

  “But if this officer has a grudge against Adam, won’t that cloud the issue?”

  “Not if he’s doing his job well. And I’m sure that he will. Who knows, Adam’s commanding officer may even have a word with this Karlsson fellow. I just tell you all of this so that you know, and feel less worried, about the whole situation. Adam knew what he was getting in to when he agreed to the undercover mission and technically, it’s not over with either. There’s still a smuggling ring out there and there are still dirty cops who are taking cuts from them and allowing them to run on U.S. soil. It’s a problem that needs to be fixed.”

  “But Adam’s not a part of that anymore,” she said, but the look on Anthony’s face told her otherwise. “Wait,” she said, blinking in surprise. “When he’d come back up here to help you…”

  “Some of those times he was helping me with certain cases because of his past expertise, but other times…”

  “He was meeting with an illegal smuggling ring? And he never told me?”

  “He couldn’t, Margot. I shouldn’t have even told you, but I realize you’re going to be his wife and I don’t agree with my brother on this one. He should have told you.”

  Margot realized that Anthony was taking a risk telling her all of this. That he thought she deserved to know when Adam hadn’t…then again, she knew Adam well enough to know that if he had kept it from her, it was because he saw it as protecting her.

  “I understand.” They reached the corner where the Library of Congress sat to her left and the walkway to the capitol stretched out before her. She didn’t often get up to D.C. during the day, especially not in the summer months due to the excessive volume of tourists, but today seemed especially overwhelming.

  “Margot, I didn’t tell you this so that you could do something,” Anthony said, sounding more concerned than he had. “I told you this so that you have the full picture and can wait on Adam filling you in when he’s ready. I don’t mind if you tell him that I told you, I just want you to have some peace.”

  “Isn’t there anything I can do?” She felt helpless standing in D.C. without the means to do something for her fiancé.

  “You can visit him, and you can tell him you believe in him. I think that’ll
count for more than anything else.”

  She nodded slowly and followed the flow of foot traffic as the light changed. She could do those things and she would, but she could also do more. She hadn’t spent the last few years investigating cases without learning a few things about the justice system as well as what happened when someone was innocent. There was always proof. Even if the faked evidence said otherwise.

  “Thank you, Anthony,” she said as they stopped in the shade of a tree.

  “You’re welcome. And, Margot?” He waited until she met his gaze. “He’s going to be all right.”

  She nodded and Anthony said his good-byes, making his way toward the Jefferson Building and beyond to his police station. Margot stayed behind, resting against a low stonewall and looking at the impressive buildings surrounding her.

  They were monuments of change. Of what it took for people to come together and make difficult decisions, to fight against the odds, and to come back from incredible losses. She knew Adam, knew his heart, and knew that there was no way he’d done anything this Detective Karlsson had charged him with.

  Pulling out her phone, she typed in the name, Sid Lawrence and Washington, D.C. The next instant, the search results came back but were more shocking than she’d expected. Sid hadn’t died in D.C. at all. He’d died in North Bank.

  “Why didn’t you tell me, Les?”

  Les looked down at Margot with wide eyes. “I didn’t know.” He hunched his shoulders and tossed his hands up. “All you said is that Adam was arrested—that’s all the chief said too. How was I supposed to know it was because of the body we found in the harbor? The one the D.C. police came and took back with them.”

  “Is that typical?”

  “No, it’s not. But now that you say Adam could be involved…I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem right.”

  Margot paced in front in front of the police precinct, Adam’s partner standing in the shade waiting for her to speak again.

  “It just doesn’t feel right,” she said. Margot wrapped her arms around herself, wishing that Adam was here to help her make sense of things. “He died here. His body was taken to D.C. Adam is arrested in D.C. How did they even know where to find us at the restaurant?”