Topaz Heat (Christian Romance) (The Jewel Series) (19 page)

“THIS
is absurd,” Tony said. “Derrick never killed anyone.”

“You can’t know that, Mr. Viscolli.”

Tony gritted his teeth and stepped forward. “Wanna bet?”

Barry stepped between the two men. “Okay. Tell me what you want us to do.”

Detective Wilson hung up his phone. “We’d like to take Mr. DiNunzio down to the station and question him.”

“Out of the question,” Tony said.

Barry glared Tony quiet before turning his attention back to the detective. “Are you placing him under arrest?”

“Not at this time. But get Mr. Viscolli under control or I’ll arrest him for obstruction.”

Tony shoved his hands in his pockets and whipped around toward Derrick. “
L’ha fatto uccide quest’uomo
?”

Derrick smiled, torn between trying to decide if he was more amused at the fact that Tony asked if he’d killed the man, or if he asked the question in Italian. Derrick didn’t speak Italian very well at all and it amazed him that he even understood the question. “No.”

Tony whirled back around. “There. Asked and answered. You don’t need to question him any further.”

Detective Beaumont barked a short laugh. “As much as we appreciate your assistance, Mr. Viscolli, we need to conduct our interview in a little more formal surroundings.” He looked at Derrick. “Are you willing to go with us voluntarily?”

Barry answered. “We’ll go in our own transportation and meet you there.”

Beaumont clenched his jaw but nodded. “Very well. But leave that one here.” He pointed at Tony. “He won’t help matters.”

With a nod, Barry watched the two detectives leave. As soon as the door was shut, he looked at Derrick. “Tell me everything they said to you.”

Derrick surged to his feet, free to show agitation now. “They didn’t say anything except that I was the last person to be seen with him.”

“Him who?”

“James Castolli.” He swiveled his head and looked at Tony. “Gianni Castolli’s son.”

Tony whistled under his breath. “Heavy players.”

“Yeah.”

Barry asked him another question. “When did you last see him?”

Derrick scrubbed his face with his hands and paced around the office. “The night before I left.”

Barry pulled out his phone and typed in some notes. “What were the circumstances of that meeting?”

Derrick shoved his hands into his pockets and pivoted on his heel so that he could face Barry. “He said he’d kill me if I didn’t do something for him.”

“What something?”

“Run some drugs from the Cape to the city.”

Barry raised an eyebrow. “So what did you do?”

“I agreed to the deal. Then I took the money he fronted me and put it in an envelope with a note that gave him some crude instructions about what he could do with the money. I left it on his doorstep and took the Charlie to this building.”

“What did the note say, exactly? Did you threaten him?”

“I don’t remember, Barry. It’s been ten years. I don’t think I threatened him out of context.”

Barry nodded. “Then what?”

“Then I spent the night out by the Dumpsters and when Tony arrived, I waited an hour before I got up the courage to head to his office.”

“You talk to anyone in that time? Anyone see you?”

“Nah. I was good at not being seen.”

“Do you have any idea who might have killed James?”

Derrick frowned. “I didn’t even know he was missing but I’ve had time to think since the cops got here this morning. The truth is, the list of people who wanted him dead would be a very long list.”

Barry sighed and put the phone back in his pocket. “Right. To the best of your recollection, did you ever threaten him?

“I don’t remember ever seriously threatening him. His father could have made me disappear, after all.”

Barry nodded. His eyes reassured the younger man and his confidence bolstered him even more. “Okay. We’re going to go talk to them. Try not to lose your temper. And if I tell you to stop talking, bite your tongue off if you have to but do not say another word.”

Derrick nodded and walked over to his desk where he got his suit coat and slipped it on. “Anything else?”

“Just tell the truth.” Barry stepped in front of him, making him stop his forward motion. “All of the truth about everything, Derrick. Don’t let a question about illegal activity or interpersonal relationships make you feel like you need to lie. If this is a murder investigation, they’re not going to care about a VCR combo you stole and fenced a decade ago.”

Tony interjected, “Remember something else. You are forgiven for all that. Remember that you serve a higher calling and truth and justice are in His very nature.”

Derrick clenched his teeth and gave a curt nod of his head. He started from the room and paused by Tony. “I’ll be back soon.”

Tony grabbed him and enveloped him in a hug. “I’ll be here if you need me, brother.”

Derrick pounded his fists on Tony’s back. “I know.”

He let Barry open the office doors and preceded him from the office, stopping short when he saw Sarah still sitting in a chair outside. “What are you still doing here?”

Sarah stood. Derrick felt his stomach muscles clench painfully. “You said that I knew where to find you when I wanted to talk.”

Barry and Tony stared at Sarah through narrowed eyes, their faces full of suspicion. She supposed she deserved that from these men. They had probably never heard her utter a kind word to Derrick DiNunzio in living memory.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Derrick released a breath and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, Sarah was looking at him then Barry then back at him with a worried look on her face. “Listen, sweetheart,” he said. He paused, as if waiting for her to object to the nickname, but she didn’t. So he continued. “I have to go to the police station and make a statement.”

“The police?” Sarah stepped forward and grabbed his arm. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know everything yet. Can I maybe call you when I get back?” He cupped her cheek and stared down at her. “Is that okay?”

The shock Barry and Tony wore on their faces watching Derrick’s intimate touch and Sarah’s loving reaction to it could not have looked starker. The men glanced from the scene unfolding before them, then to each other, silently asking if either knew about any of this, then back again.

Sarah searched Derrick’s eyes then nodded. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll wait to hear from you.”

Derrick pulled her forward and kissed her forehead. He closed his eyes and inhaled the sweet smell of her hair then released her. He looked deeply into her eyes one more time, then let Barry lead the way out of the inner office and down the long corridor to the hotel lobby.

He looked back briefly, his gaze taking in the details of this ship he captained that sailed so very smoothly before exiting the building and sliding into the waiting car. He barely heard Barry give the driver the directions of where to go. Instead he closed his eyes and prayed. And prayed.

SARAH
followed Tony out of Derrick's office. She ignored his bid that she go home and instead stayed close on his heels. "I'm not going anywhere, Tony, until you tell me what's going on."

In the elevator that took them straight up to the top floor, Tony turned to look at her. The intensity in his eyes and the aggressiveness of his stance made her more scared than anything else. Not scared. She'd never be afraid of Tony. But worried. Worried about what Derrick had to do at the police station.

"Why do you care?" Tony asked, surprising her.

"I … I …"

"You what? You don't like Derrick. You've always made that perfectly clear. So why are you following me instead of listening to me?"

Sarah opened and closed her mouth as she tried to form the words to explain why she cared. Her heart felt like it swelled inside of her chest and then burst, sending a deluge of emotions throughout her entire body. Tears suddenly burned the back of her throat and she swallowed several times, trying to work through the feelings to find her voice again. "Because I love him," she whispered.

She loved him? She loved Derrick? The more she questioned why she said that, the more her heart and soul told her that yes, she very much loved him.

Tony cocked his head and stared at her for a long time. Finally he nodded. "Very well then," he said. "Derrick's being questioned about the murder of an old … colleague."

All of those emotions that were trying to overwhelm her froze. She felt like her throat was closing in on her. Shaking her head to make sense of his words, she grabbed his arm. "Murder? That's insane."

"I know."

"Barry needs to fix this."

"I know."

"Tony, you have to do something!"

"I know."

The elevator stopped and Tony stormed off, acknowledging the greeting by the receptionist with the wave of his hand. Sarah followed closely on his heels all the way to his office, where he waited for her to enter before slamming the door. He ripped his suit jacket off and loosened his tie on the way to his desk. It shocked Sarah. She'd never seen Tony with even his top button unfastened. He always looked like he was about to take to the runway of a modeling show for upwardly mobile young professionals.

Sarah took the seat in front of his desk and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She flipped it open to the keypad and sent a quick text to her sisters.

COME TO THE HOTEL. DERRICK'S IN TROUBLE.

She listened as Tony called Barry's office. "Elizabeth, this is Tony. Tell me who the best criminal defense attorney in the state is. Then have him call me." Sarah took her glasses off and leaned back in her chair. She rubbed her eyes and fielded returned texts from her sisters while Tony continued. "He already had you call him? Great. Good. Thanks."

Tony slammed the phone down and looked at her. "I don't like not being able to do anything."

Sarah shut her phone and nodded. "Me, either."

He stood suddenly and moved around the desk to sit next to her. "So, let's do something. Help me pray." He took her hand and bowed his head, and she followed his lead.

DERRICK
sat at the metal table next to Barry and repeated his story for the third time. When he was done, he leaned back in the metal chair and waited.

"Do you remember what the note said?" Wilson asked.

With a sigh, Derrick rubbed the back of his neck. "No. I don't remember. I wasn't –" he cleared his throat, uncomfortable, "I wasn't exactly sober at the time."

Beaumont reached into a box next to him and pulled out a plastic bag that contained a piece of paper. He laid the bag in front of Derrick. "Does this look familiar?"

He picked it up and looked at it. Notebook paper – like one might find in any school kid's desk – was wrinkled and torn. But the bold sloppy handwriting in black marker could still clearly be made out. "You threatened me for the last time. Take your money and choke on it. DD"

"Yeah. That's the note. How do you have this?"

Wilson spoke, "We found it in the bag of money."

"Where?"

Beaumont answered. "Shoved down James Castolli's throat. He was asphyxiated with it."