Gabriel glanced down at my hand, which was still holding Ricky’s, and he resumed walking.

“You’ll both come back to my apartment, then,” he said. “Olivia, ride with me. We’ll stop to pick up those files.”

“I’ll grab lunch,” Ricky said.

—

We returned to Gabriel’s condo. I could tell he didn’t like having Ricky there. For a moment, I thought he was going to start hyperventilating. But Ricky had been up during the police search. The bridge had been crossed, and there was no sense retreating now.

We got comfortable—or Ricky and I did—and the three of us started to talk. Gabriel would learn the nature of the evidence against him shortly. From his brief talks with the police and assistant SA, Gabriel had figured out his apparent motive. They knew his recent history with James, of course, given those outstanding assault charges. They would argue that on the night of James’s murder, Gabriel had gone after James again, following their public disagreement in James’s office the day before. They believed Gabriel had intended only to frighten James into withdrawing charges—hence second-degree murder instead of first—but the beating had gotten out of hand. When James died, Gabriel had seen an opportunity. He could stage the body to look like one of the Larsens’ victims, and then use it as further proof that Pamela and Todd were innocent.

I think Gabriel was more offended by the stupidity of that scenario than by the actual charge of murder.

The security tapes from his condo building showed him leaving and returning over an hour later. He would say that was proof he hadn’t gone out with criminal intent—he knew the cameras were there and how to avoid them. Besides, the ones in the garage showed his rental car had never left. Even if he’d found an alternate vehicle, an hour wasn’t enough time to kill James, take his body to the Villa, and return home.

“This is where I come in,” Ricky said. “Because I know where you were during that hour and what you were doing.”

“Which remains between the three of us.”

“Unless it looks as if you’re in danger of—”

“I won’t be. Even if I was, I hardly see the point in being set free only to have your father kill me for getting you locked up in my place.”

Ricky’s lips twitched in a smile. “Then you’d need to give me a really good defense.”

“I’ll give it to myself and save the trouble. The point is, the charges against me are false, and I can prove that.” He met Ricky’s gaze. “Even if I have difficulty, which I do not expect, no confession will be forthcoming. Under any circumstances. Is that clear?”

“It is.”

Which only meant that Ricky understood Gabriel’s stance on the issue, not that he planned to go along with it.