Midnight Vigilante, Leonor Bass [top business books of all time .TXT] 📗

who the fuck Julius Martinson is that he’s treated like he owns this place.”

“Look, Julius has a lot of money, he has done a lot of things for the town, and some citizens,” Paige replied.

“That doesn’t answer the question as why they’re so afraid.”

“I mean, I’m not entirely sure I should say. I’m not sure we should be speaking about him at all. The trees have ears, you know?” Paige responded in a low voice.

“Paige, listen to me. You’re the only friend I have in this town, the only one I trust, and the only one I believe could be honest with me.”

“Fine,” Paige sighed, defeated. “Well, like I said he has a lot of money and power. Everything I know is from what people have said, you know? Some say he not only runs a casino but he deals with guns too, and drugs. He has successfully gained the respect of some and the fear of others. He’s some sort of mob guy, I would say, with his faithful followers and gorillas.”

“Yeah, I know how the mob works,” Riley said, avoiding Paige’s inquisitive gaze. She wasn’t going to mention Santino, or Mickey, nor the man she had seen so many times guarding her husband’s back.

“If you understand, then you know he’s not the type of guy you’d like to mess with,” Paige said.

“If I don’t want to end up in a coffin like my sister, right?” Riley spoke. It was a rhetorical question so she didn’t wait for an answer. The look of pity on Paige’s face was more than enough for her.

“Riley, you can’t be certain Julius was involved in your sister’s death.”

“He was the last one to see her alive; that’s more than enough for me,” Riley replied quickly.

“And what are you gonna do about it, go to the police? You only have Crystal’s word, and everybody knows he was fond of that club. They all are.”

“But I bet not everyone is fond of my sister like he was,” Riley argued.

Paige remained quiet. There weren’t any words, any actions, anything that could erase Julius from Riley’s head. Crystal had put his name on the list, had told her enough for him to be a suspect, and Riley couldn’t remain still with that information. If Julius hadn’t been the one to beat the crap out of her sister, someone must have done it for him.

Now all she needed was to make him pay.

Chapter Fourteen

It had been nearly three days since her sister’s death and the emptiness of the house was too real and too painful for her to endure. Everywhere she looked, Lydia was there: her presence, her perfume, her entire life. Riley had lost too many people to ignore the pain of a broken heart, so she did what her brain and body told her to and went back to work. Distract herself, even if that meant spending the rest of her day surrounded by drunken men.

“You don’t have to be here, you know? You can stay home as much as you like; Dad said so,” Paige told her.

“I need to work.”

“Well, take it easy, all right?”

It was like that the entire day. People asking her how she was holding up, why she wasn’t home, as if she were a fragile woman who needed to cry her eyes out and scream how much she missed her sister. Riley didn’t need to show her pain, she just had to feel it.

People were trying to protect her somehow, but she didn’t know exactly from what or whom. Her question was answered, though, when Detective Castelló walked through the door and toward her. No one stopped him, not even Mr. Eaton; he just stood quietly at the back, eyeing them from a distance.

“What brings you back, Detective?” Riley asked. The man sat in the same place as always, and Riley put a glass of water in front of him. “Or do you want something stronger? You look like you might.”

“I can’t drink, thanks,” Adrian replied as he stared at the glass and avoided her face.

“Right, you’re on duty.”

“That, and I’m a recovering alcoholic. Been four years since my last drink,” Adrian confessed. Riley admired his bravery. Not everyone could be so open about something so personal with someone they barely even knew. “So before you apologize, there’s no way you’d have known. And to answer your first question, I wanted to know how you’re doing.”

“There have been a lot of people asking the same today. I’m fine,” Riley replied.

“The service was beautiful,” Adrian said with a hint of melancholy in his voice.

Riley was a bit surprised by his comment. “You were there? I didn’t see you.”

“Yeah, at the back. I didn’t want to disturb you,” Adrian confessed. That was only half-true; he’d also been there because he was certain Julius was going to pop up to admire his work.

“Thank you for being there, especially after all the yelling I did,” Riley replied apologetically. Adrian started to reach for her hand, but stopped before touching her.

“Don’t worry, you were under a lot of stress. I completely understand,” he said. Riley smiled weakly.

“So, what time does your shift end? If you don’t mind, could I walk you home?” Adrian asked.

“I can walk home on my own perfectly well, thank you,” Riley replied, retrieving the glass she had put in front of him, untouched. “If that’s why you’re here, then you might as well go back to work. My shift ends in half an hour, and it takes me less than ten minutes to get home, so . . .”

“I’ll wait so we can walk together. My house is a few blocks away from yours,” Adrian said before Riley could reject him again.

“Detective–”

“Adrian. Call me Adrian.”

“Okay, fine. Adrian, I appreciate the offer, but I can do this on my own, really. It’s gonna be tough, but it isn’t something I haven’t done before. Being alone, taking care of myself, all of it.”

“I know you seem like the kind of woman who can