War would not smile at her. But, damn, the woman was doing an impressive rendition of good cop, bad cop.
Gary swallowed a few times, then he blurted, “It wasn’t him.”
“Who are we talking about?” War wanted to know. The PI was trying what little patience he had.
“Dylan. It wasn’t him.”
“Gary…” Rose sighed out the name. “If you want me to keep War from attacking, you’ll have to give me information that actually makes sense.”
Gary bobbed his head. “I know you’re working on those strangulation cases. You think it was Dylan. But it wasn’t him. That woman—that time in Tampa? The night she was killed? He was with me. I can alibi him.”
Now this was new information. “Why were you working with him in Tampa?”
“I was supposed to dig up some info on a local politician. Catch him with his pants down and all that jazz.” A click of his Adam’s apple as Gary swallowed again. “Dylan and I got to drinking and talking, and then the next day, we heard the news about that woman. I’m telling you, Dylan didn’t do it. He’s not some serial killer or whatever the hell you suspect he is. The guy might not be a prince charming type—”
“Oh, you think?” Rose cut in.
“But he’s not a killer. You can move him off your list.”
“I got a call from the perp while Dylan was in jail,” Rose said crisply. “So, yes, we’d already realized that unless he was working with someone else, Dylan wasn’t the perp we were after.”
Gary’s eyes gleamed. “So you are still looking for the perp.”
Yes, they were. They wouldn’t stop looking until they had the guy caged behind bars. “Do you have something we need to know about him?”
Gary hesitated.
War grabbed the guy by the shirtfront and hauled him up. “You have something we need to know?”
“I-I can tell you…my fee is normally a grand to do—”
“Someone tried to kill Rose, and you are charging me a fucking fee for the intel?” He yanked Gary away from the chair and shoved him against the nearest wall. Hard. “You don’t want to play with me right now. You want to tell me exactly what you—”
“Her informant!”
War stilled. His fist might have been heading straight for Gary, but it stopped, hovering about two inches away from its target.
“You know he’s already out of jail? Made some deal and was walking out of the doors of the station almost as fast as he was walking in.”
No, War had not been aware of that fact about Billy. He glanced to the side and saw that Odin had silently stepped forward.
Rose eased closer, too.
“I-I saw him when I was tailing her a few times.”
“Billy meets with me often,” Rose said with a roll of her shoulders. “He provides me information that I can use in my reports.”
Gary glanced over at her. “No, this wasn’t about meeting with you. You didn’t know he was there. He was watching you.”
Rose was at War’s side. His fist had released and his hand had fallen down. She studied Gary a moment, then shook her head. “No. I don’t believe you.”
He gaped at her. “Why the hell not?”
“Because you’re a sleazy guy who has lied to me before. Because while Billy may have experienced trouble with the law—”
War sent her a fast glance. Was that what she wanted to call it?
“I have never known of him to be violent toward anyone,” Rose finished.
Was the woman forgetting that Billy had come at War with a knife?
As if remembering, she gave a little wince and a side-eye glance toward War. “He was scared that time.”
Uh, huh.
Her gaze shifted back to Gary. “Billy knew where I was practically the entire time I went off-grid, so if he wanted to kill me, he could have done it.”
Billy had known about her motel room. The room where she’d been attacked. “Ah, Rose…” War began.
“If you have proof about Billy, I want to see it.”
That sounded fair. War crossed his arms over his chest. “Show her the proof,” he ordered Gary.
Odin grunted. He obviously liked the plan, too.
“I don’t have it on me!” Gary exclaimed. “You’ll have to come with me to my office to get it.”
Wasn’t that convenient?
“I can show you everything.” A desperate promise. “Just come with me.” He exhaled. “And if you think I deserve a payment for what I show you…”
War didn’t think Gary deserved a payment for anything. “I’ll come to your office. You’ll show me everything.” He backed up. “Get your ass in your car. I’ll be right behind you.”
Gary rushed out.
Rose tapped his arm. “Excuse me. I think you made a mistake.”
War turned toward her.
“What you meant to say was that we would be right behind him.”
Grimly, he shook his head.
“Another mistake,” Rose informed him crisply. “You meant to nod.”
Gary was gone. War could hear the sound of a revving engine outside, rising above the thunder of the waves. “I don’t trust the bastard, either.”
“Yes, that makes two of us—”
“Three,” from Odin.
Her luscious lips thinned. “The fact that none of us trust him means that one person doesn’t go face-off with him alone.”
“The fact that we don’t trust him means that you need to stay damn far away from the bastard,” he retorted.
Frustration darkened her expression. “War…”
“Please.”
A furrow appeared between her brows. “Do you think if you say ‘please’ to me in that low, sexy voice, then I will just magically jump and do what you want?”
A guy could dream. “I’m worried it’s a trap.”
She blinked.
“I don’t trust him. He is far too tight with Dylan, and it’s pretty obvious that Gary will do anything for money.”
“No denying that,” Odin agreed.
“For all we know, he’s trying to lure you to his office. I can’t risk that.” No, it was more… “I can’t risk you.”
Rose huffed out an angry breath. “You’re going to leave me behind? What in the hell is to stop me from just going after you?”
He jerked his thumb toward Odin. “I’m thinking he will.”
Odin smiled at her. “Hi.”
She growled. “Do not pull this testosterone bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit.” It wasn’t. He wasn’t playing some macho game. “It’s me wanting to make certain that the person who matters most to me is protected.”
“What about me wanting to protect you?” Rose surged toward him. “Did you think of that? Did you stop to think that, you know, maybe Rose might be worried about me?”
Her being worried—he saw that as a good sign. She had to care in order to worry.
“I can handle myself,” War assured her. “You hired me because I was a tough bastard, remember?”
“You aren’t even letting me pay you anything! We never discussed payment!”