by Fiona Archer
The subject sounded grim with words like ‘coroner’ and ‘crime scene’ part of the conversation.
“Joanna, Kieran, thanks for breakfast, but we have to go.” Heath glanced down at London, holding her gaze a second before speaking. “I’m not ambitious, London; I’m determined. And I look forward to getting to know you better.” He traced his finger along the back of her shoulder, the gesture hidden from view of everyone. “Later, mystery girl.”
Then he was gone, leaving London catching her breath and re-evaluating her definition of predictable.
****
Heath’s gaze roamed over the abandoned parking lot near the Port of Seattle’s cargo terminal. A sagging chain-link fence, weeds and cracked asphalt stood as sad testimony to neglect. Lonely. Desolate. The lingering taste of Derek’s mom’s pancakes reminded Heath he’d rather be somewhere else.
He and Derek walked toward the group of figures surrounding a covered body on the ground. Heath nodded to a uniform cop he recognized. “Davis, what can you tell us?”
“No ID on the victim. Security guard from the building next door found the body this morning.” The sergeant waved a thumb toward a man dressed in a guard’s uniform, standing a few feet away. “Called it in. CSI says the victim was shot once in the chest, but killed elsewhere and dumped here. They’ve finished processing the body.”
“Can you show us?” Heath asked one of the CSI officers, who nodded and lifted the sheet from the body, revealing an adult male lying face down.
Heath and Derek put on nitrile gloves and crouched on either side of the victim.
“Tailored pants.” Derek leaned closer to the man’s feet. “There’s an orange colored grit in the tread of his leather shoes that doesn’t match the ground surface.” He pointed to the man’s wrist. “Rolex Oyster.”
“Yeah, he’s a long way from home.” Heath glanced up at the CSI officer. “Let’s see his face.” He leaned out of the officer’s way as the tech began turning the body over. “A car-jacking maybe, or—”
Heath stared down at the unnaturally pale face of the man below. His body froze even as his mind raced.
“Jesus fuck,” he whispered.
“What?” Derek jerked his gaze up to Heath’s face.
“I recognize him.” The mussed hair and ashen complexion were a far cry from the smarmy image he had seen on TV. “That’s Stanton Fox.” Billionaire businessman. Arrogant son of a bitch.
Father to Harper Fox—his brother’s woman.
His brother. He needed to call Seth and give him a heads up.
Derek leaned over to get a better view of the victim’s face. “Christ, that’s him all right.”
A red bloom of dried blood stained the crinkled white of Fox’s dress shirt. No jacket. No wallet.
Alone. Discarded.
What an inglorious end for such a narcissistic bastard.
Who dumped you here, Fox?
Heath felt none of the usual detached sympathy he would for an adult victim. Harper and Seth had shared enough about Fox for Heath to know the man deserved no hearts and flowers. His family, on the other hand…
Harper. A cold hollowness entered Heath’s chest at the thought of delivering the devastating news to the sweet café owner and her family.
If he’d be allowed to do so.
God, what a mess.
He nodded his thanks to the CSI officer, who lowered the body face down again.
“You need to call the Lieutenant,” Heath told Derek. “He’s going to pull us—well, me—from the case. Conflict of interest because of Seth and Harper.”
Derek grimaced and pulled out his phone. “I’ll make the call.” He stood. “Heath, you need to call Seth now. This will get out on the internet within minutes once his name’s documented.”
Fuck. He looked up at his partner, catching the look of sympathy in Derek’s eyes. Heath sighed. “I know.”
As Derek stepped away, he snapped a few quick pictures with his phone. He might not officially be on the case, but he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity to learn what he could.
After taking the pictures, he tapped Seth’s name on his contact list.
“Bro, what’s up?”
“Seth, where are you?” The least he could do was try to make sure his brother had privacy before he delivered the news.
“Still at the apartment.” The apartment being Harper’s place above her café he’d moved into a month ago. “Why?”
He ignored his brother’s question and issued one of his own. “Harper there?”
“In the shower.” Seth’s voice firmed with concern. “Mate, what’s going on?”
“There’s no easy way to say this. I got a call-out this morning. Body found abandoned in a parking lot near the Seattle docks.” He let out a long breath. “It’s Fox.”
A few seconds of silence ended with Seth’s, “Fuck.”
“Shot. In the chest.” Heath’s gaze dropped to the body-shaped lump under the white plastic sheet. “Seth, you need to prepare Harper, get her to her mum. I’m off the case because of our connection, but I’ll be there when our guys officially notify Mrs. Fox.” Absofuckenlutely he would be.
“Yeah.” Seth sounded distracted. “Right, sure.” His brother let out a long sigh. “We’ll be there. I’ll ring Sienna too. Lance is in San Fran with his parents, helping them move. He’ll fly back.”
Harper’s sister and her husband. Christ, he’d forgotten about her. “Good. Tell her to get to her mum’s ASAP.”
“Okay.” He heard noise in the background. “Harper’s out of the shower. I gotta go.”
“Understood.” He ended the call and asked the security guard a couple of questions before Derek rejoined him.
“Lieutenant assigned anyone yet?”
“Kennedy and Faulkner.” Derek named two colleagues Heath respected. Good. At least he could tell Harper the case was in competent hands. “We’ll wait for them here and hand over. Lieutenant’s given permission for us to accompany them when they tell Mrs. Fox.”
Fifteen minutes later, he watched a black SUV drive up. Not SPD. Then he caught sight of a suited man exiting the vehicle. “Hell.”
“Friend of yours?” Derek’s gaze narrowed on the approaching man.
Heath sighed. “No, but that won’t stop him from sticking close to us today.”
With his dark hair cut short, the newcomer strode up in his suit. Heath gritted his teeth. As the man drew level, he held out his hand and addressed Heath. “Detective Justice.”
“Agent Tollison.” Heath accepted his handshake then motioned to his partner. “Detective Derek Shaw, this is Agent Dane Tollison from Department of Homeland Security.”
The men shook hands and sized each other up before Tollison nodded toward Fox’s body. “We had an alert on Fox’s name. Once he was identified, alarms were ringing all over the city. Your Lieutenant is receiving a phone call right now, requesting DHS be allowed to work alongside his team.”
Heath hid his wry smile. Why wasn’t he surprised? “I should have guessed this would happen.” He caught Derek’s curious glance. He looked to Tollison and, after receiving a nod, filled his partner in. “Agent Tollison is heading an investigation in which Fox was a person of interest.”
Tollison eyed Derek, then shared further. “I’m investigating an Ivy League secret society with networks across the country. They use their contacts and power to their advantage via means legal or otherwise, usually the latter.”
Derek returned Tollison’s even stare. “Fox was involved?”
“Our best guess, he was possibly forced to do their bidding, which made him a weak link and an easy target for my team to focus on. We had hoped to draw others out, but had come up empty so far.”
Derek looked down at the body, then back to Tollison. “Fox wasn’t some penniless crook. We’re talking about a major CEO of a Fortune 500 company. One with wealth and contacts.” He rested his hands on his belt. “Whatever hold these guys had over Fox had to be substantial.�
�� Derek swung his gaze to Heath. “How did you first become aware of DHS interest?”
“I found out when Seth was under fire in those online attacks.” Heath swallowed, the tightness in his throat cutting off more words.
Understanding flashed through Derek’s gaze. The man might not have been Heath’s partner at the time, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t heard about the dramatic fallout since.
Two months ago, Seth was in the midst of selling his digital app design business to Brooke-Porter, the company at which Fox was CEO.
With precise timing, an imposter assumed Seth’s identity and began an online campaign to undermine the sale. Those attacks escalated to include Heath, Dillon, and Adam, Seth and Heath’s two oldest brothers, and the girl Seth had recently met at one of Fox’s schmooze events and fallen for, Harper Fox. The only one to escape direct attack was their middle brother Zach.
“When Adam was targeted, that caught my attention.” Agent Tollison offered. “We’d worked together during his time in black ops. The posts regarding Adam contained sensitive details of missions he’d taken part in. My agency was notified. When I saw Adam’s brother Seth had both a personal and business connection with Fox, I organized a meet-up through Adam.”
“At the time, we thought Fox might have been responsible for Seth’s troubles,” Heath added.
And when the imposter behind the attacks had finally been unmasked…
Heath sucked in a breath, his lungs tightening, resisting expansion as the memory of bitter treachery and loss cut deep. Too soon. Even now, a month later.
And here was Fox, shot in the heart, dead.
Derek addressed Tollison. “Not the ending for Fox you were hoping for.”
The agent’s mouth turned down. “No, and his death only adds more questions.”
“Here’s Kennedy and Faulkner.” Derek nodded in the direction over Heath’s shoulder. Two older detectives, both in their late forties, joined the group. Heath introduced Agent Tollison to his colleagues, who confirmed with the agent they were aware SPD would work alongside DHS.
While the detectives and Agent Tollison received an update from the CSI team, Heath stepped aside, took out his phone again and tapped a familiar name in his contact list.
“Justice,” A deep voice answered.
“Adam, it’s Heath. I need you at Stanton Fox’s house. He’s been murdered, his body dumped at the Seattle dockyards. We’re about to head out and inform his wife. Tollison’s working with SPD. And my gut’s telling me this situation’s going to get complicated.” He paused as his voice lowered. “I’ve called Seth.”
There was a second of silence before, “On my way.”
Heath let out a sigh. Complicated? That was an understatement. The same survival instinct, which had kept him and his adopted brothers alive as teenage runaways in Sydney’s seedy underbelly, warned him he’d need to keep sharp. Officially, Heath had to keep his distance from the investigation, but he wasn’t going to be a spectator when Seth and Harper’s happiness—hell, even their safety—was at stake.
CHAPTER TWO
Heath stood a few feet from Harper Fox’s family in their Capitol Hill mansion. The three women sat together on the fancy gray silk sofa. His chest felt hollow at the sight of Harper, her face glistening with fresh tears. What could he say? Her father had been murdered, and there was no easy way to dress that shit up so it sounded less of a nightmare.
Elizabeth Fox stared at Heath, her expression defiant, as if refusing to believe such a catastrophe could befall her family. Only the death grip she had on the hands of her two daughters, Sienna and Harper, sitting one on each side of her, gave away her inner struggle.
“I can’t—” Harper broke off, sucking in a breath as her free hand twisted the skirt of her green dress. “I can’t believe this has happened.”
Seth, sitting on the end of the sofa, tightened his arm around the sweet brunette and kissed her temple. “We take this one moment at a time, sweetness.” Above her head, Seth sent Heath’s fellow detectives a warning look.
“The detectives will need to ask you questions separately, ladies, and search through Mr. Fox’s papers, but nobody’s going to bully you,” Adam Justice’s deep voice declared with an authority he didn’t possess—a fact the ex-commando ignored. Dressed in his usual attire of black cargo pants, t-shirt and boots, Adam stood ready for action a few feet away from Heath. His usual hard features softened as he caught Harper’s gaze.
In different circumstances Heath would laugh at the change in Adam’s attitude toward Harper. At one time, Adam had regarded the café owner with deep suspicion. Now, weeks later, Heath was certain Adam would give his life to protect her.
Seth had claimed Harper. Therefore, she gained the protection of Seth’s brothers.
And now the circle of protection extended to Elizabeth, Sienna, and Sienna’s family.
That’s how his family operated.
Harper glanced up at Heath, her gaze beseeching, as if he held the answers to why her world had turned upside down. “Who would shoot my father?”
That was the billion dollar question. One Tollison, judging by the way he eyed Adam with more than a hint of annoyance, wanted to solve as quickly as possible. Considering Fox’s secrecy in his dealings, shady and otherwise, Heath guessed the path would be difficult.
“We knew s-something was w-wrong.” Sienna’s words stumbled out around fresh tears. “He’d been acting strangely. Remember, Mom, you said so yourself.” She ran a shaky hand through her blonde hair, mussing up the sleek style.
Her mother opened her mouth as if to speak but closed it again, her gaze dropping to the antique rug at her feet as she looked to be searching for the right words.
“Acting strangely?” Agent Tollison leaned forward from his seat on the sofa opposite. “How do you mean?” The agent’s tone was deceptively soft, encouraging even.
Sienna blinked. “He missed social engagements, events he’d been insistent about attending.” She cast her mom a quick glance. “Dad kept losing his temper—more than usual. And once, he yelled at Mom. Lashed out at her. He’d never done that before.”
“That’s true.” Harper gently squeezed her mom’s forearm. “Mom, tell Heath and Agent Tollison about Lewis.”
Elizabeth Fox let out a long breath before fixing her gaze on Heath. “My husband had a driver, Lewis. He’d been with us for twenty years. Around two weeks ago, I spoke to him on a Tuesday evening, checking our schedules, and the next morning, a new man arrived to drive Stanton to the office.” Elizabeth clutched a pearl-like button on the pink filmy material of her blouse. She shook her head, her short, swept back blonde hair staying in place. “I didn’t recognize him. He said his name was Smith. Big, tough looking. Eyes that saw right through you. He…frightened me.” She swallowed. “Stanton was impatient when I questioned him later. He told me Lewis had taken early retirement.”
“You didn’t believe him.” Agent Tollison’s words were a statement, not a question.
Mrs. Fox’s expression turned desolate. “No, I didn’t,” she whispered.
“I tried calling Lewis a few days later,” Sienna shared. At Heath’s raised eyebrow, she rushed on. “We all had his number in case we needed a lift when in town and Dad could spare him. Anyway, his daughter had his cell phone. Apparently, Dad’s secretary told him he was being let go. Lewis received a healthy payout, more than enough to retire on, and two tickets for a world trip. Right now, he and his wife are somewhere in Europe.”
A payoff guaranteed to silence the guy.
“Is letting a longtime employee go for no reason the kind of thing your dad would do?” Kennedy asked from where he stood off to the side near Derek and Seth. He’d kept a low profile, letting Heath make the most of his friendship with Harper.
Harper answered. “The dismissing part maybe, but Lewis was one of the few people Dad had any time for.”
An ally of sorts. An employee Fox could rely on to do his job without question, who would overhea
r personal conversations, observe Fox’s private life. Why would he want to lose an employee he trusted?
“That’s only the beginning.” Seth straightened up, his hand resting on Harper’s shoulder as he eyed the men. “Lewis’s replacement was a guy who looked like he might snap your neck as soon as wax a limo. Then, even weirder, staff weren’t allowed into Fox’s office unless they were vetted by this thug.”
A protector…or a handler?
Tollison’s brow creased. “He had an executive assistant to watch his door. I personally experienced her skills at running interference when we tried a diplomatic approach.”
Harper’s gaze narrowed at Tollison’s last sentence.
“And the new driver’s whereabouts now?” Heath could guess the answer.
Seth’s mouth hardened. “No one can reach him.”
Harper’s next question seemed more to herself than the men around her. “So why was some enforcer type my father’s choice of trusted door keeper?”
He figured the guy wasn’t Fox’s choice, but one that had been imposed on him.
Heath shared a look with Tollison and the other men.
Their actions weren’t missed by all three Fox women, who glanced at each other before Elizabeth spoke. “What is it you’re not telling us?”
Heath sighed inwardly. The time for any kind of subtlety had passed. “Mrs. Fox, Agent Tollison’s is heading a major investigation, one in which your husband had become a person of interest.”
The revelation earned him wide-eyed stares from the women.
Tollison’s voice was firm, but not intentionally hard. “I can’t share details. The case is ongoing. However, I can reveal we believe your husband was being blackmailed to commit certain felonies.”
“What?” Sienna’s mouth hung open.
Tollison waited a second for the information to fully sink in. “Our guess is the replacement chauffer was there to keep Fox in line.”
“You know by whom, don’t you?” Harper’s tone had an edge of demand.
Only one group of people would need such inside information on Fox—the nameless old-school tie organization.
