“Maggie’s right,” I said, rubbing a comforting hand on her forearm. “Jonathan wasn’t your fault. And you’re not thinking back far enough.” I stepped closer, just inches of space between us. Lowering my voice, I watched her closely as I explained. “The last time you were wrong, was years back. Back when you trusted Fiona and Trevor with the information on your trafficking case.”
Hearing Fiona and Trevor’s names, Kelsey instinctively looked toward the pool, searching for Nicholas. Both kids were tossing a beachball in the shallow end. She turned her head back to me. “What’s your point, Kid? What are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying that since the day Nicholas was taken, you haven’t stopped looking over your shoulder. You spend all day, every day, mentally checking and rechecking every single move, every possible outcome, every possible action or reaction.” I tried to blink back the tears that threatened. “You’ve seen nothing but darkness and danger everywhere you’ve gone for years now.” I shook my head, trying to find the words to get my point across to her. “You believed Miguel had been handled because subconsciously, you needed a damn break from it all. You needed to pretend, for at least a little while, that everyone you loved was safe.”
“No,” Kelsey said, shaking her head. “I calculated the odds. I—”
“Sis,” Jackson said to her in a low voice, stroking her hair back with a gentle hand. “We had both the Remirez brothers and their top guards in our scopes. You knew what those men were capable of, the crimes they’d committed, but you let them walk.”
“I—”
“Hey, hey,” Wild Card said, walking over and wrapping his arms around her, tugging her back into his chest. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Your plan was worth a shot, and we still don’t know if Charlie’s right.”
“But the family—”
“Was protected,” Maggie said matter-of-factly.
“Charlie warned everyone,” Tyler said from his sentry position. “We’ve had double and triple security on the family. We’ve been operating on red alert. Many of the guys at Aces stayed in Michigan to help with security.”
“But I’ve been so…”
“Normal?” I asked, chuckling. “Feeling a little more like your old self? Acting like the woman who worked hard to put away bad guys but didn’t let the work assault her brain 24-7?”
She pointed a finger at me, her hurt feelings once again turning to anger. “What if your plan had failed? What if someone had died!?”
I answered without hesitation. “Then I’d own that burden. I’d carry the weight of that decision. Not everything has to be on your shoulders, Kelsey.”
“Here, here,” Hattie said from the edge of the tiki lounge. Pops was standing next to Hattie with two overnight bags slung over his shoulder and towing two more suitcases by their handles.
“I thought you guys were in Texas,” I said.
“We were, dear, but now we’re not. Apparently, Ryan called Donovan, and Donovan called Bones, and Bones talked to Jackson, then Jackson told our security team in Texas to get us on a plane. And then of course, our security team delivered us here.”
“You had a security team?” Kelsey asked.
Tyler chuckled, glancing away from the kids long enough to look at her. “Did you miss the part where we explained we had the family covered?”
“Watch it, Tyler,” Kelsey warned as she walked over to Hattie and Pops. When she hugged Hattie, a flood of tears broke loose. Pops released their luggage and wrapped his long arms around them.
Spence quietly walked over to me. “I have no idea what’s going on, but you’re going to be late for your meeting. And I still haven’t shown you what I found on that address you gave me.”
“What address?” Bones asked, having moved to stand closer.
“Condo address for Evie’s ex-boyfriend,” I answered Bones without looking away from Spence. “Give me the quick version.”
“The condo was purchased with cash, but I traced the property taxes back to a holding company. I then followed the shell companies through the mouse trap back to a parent company in Texas. It’s a textile manufacturing plant—”
“Owned by Miguel Remirez,” Wild Card said, cutting him off.
“Yeah,” Spence said, crossing his arms. “How did you know?”
“We researched his companies and played a little sabotage game with Miguel a few weeks back,” Bones explained. “We texted all the employees at the textile plan to take the day off work. It got Miguel’s attention.”
Wild Card rubbed a hand across his forehead. “Kid, what does this mean?”
I looked over at Tech who was sitting on the couch next to us, openly listening to our conversation. “Tech, email Baker a photo of Miguel and Santiago. Have him show Evie their pictures.”
“Can’t be Santiago,” Ryan said from behind me.
I turned and saw Maggie, Ryan, and Tyler had joined our circle. “Why can’t it be Santiago?”
“Evie saw a photo of him this afternoon. Santiago and Sebrina were in The Parlor with Owen Flint, the guy associated with the Dentist office.”
“When? When was the picture taken?”
“Six months ago.”
“Shit.”
“Damn. Baker’s efficient,” Tech said. “Evie confirmed Miguel as her scary ex-boyfriend.”
“Isn’t he married?” Ryan asked, seeming surprised.
Wild Card snorted. “Not everyone’s as committed as you to their marriage vows.”
“Not what I meant,” Ryan growled at Wild Card. “I meant…” he turned to face me. “Can we use his infidelity against him? Send pictures to his wife? Disrupt his home life?”
“I’m not willing to put Evie close enough to Miguel for a photo-op.” I chewed on my lower lip, thinking.
“Stop doing that,” Spence said, tugging my lower lip out. “Think out loud.”
I sighed, frustrated. I preferred working alone. “This is too much. How is it that we have Evie, Kelsey’s dentist case, Miguel, Santiago, and Sebrina, all mixed in together. It seems unlikely they’d all be related.”
“Unless they were always related,” Maggie said.
I raised an eyebrow at Maggie.
“We always wondered if Sebrina had really been Santiago’s prisoner in Mexico. What if her kidnapping was staged because they found out Kelsey was looking into the dentist office? What if Sebrina was tasked with getting close enough to sabotage the investigation?”
“How was she planning on doing that?” Kelsey asked, making me jump.
I looked around and saw our party had expanded to everyone bunched up in one big badass circle.
I looked at Kelsey. “By killing you.”
Her eyes expanded in surprise. “Okay. Assuming that was the plan, what about Evie? How’d she find you? How’d she know we were cousins?”
I thought about it for a long moment, and when the answer popped into my head, I laughed. “She just followed her plan.”
Feeling claustrophobic, I slipped out of the circle, walking over to sit on the coffee table. Everyone else separated and moved apart. Spence walked over and sat next to me. Tyler walked back to his post.
I looked back at Kelsey. “Evie came to Miami to hunt down Miguel. She wanted to gather evidence on him. She knew about a dental clinic. Knew prostitutes were involved. And she knew he had business here in Miami. She took a job at an exclusive sex club because Miguel liked anything related to money, power, and probably sex. She was hunting him.”
“So…” Kelsey said, thinking out my logic. “The fact that you and I,” she pointed between us, “own shares of the club is coincidental?”
“Exactly. Either that, or—”
“No,” Spence said, shaking his head. “Evie wasn’t sent to spy. She’s not undercover. She’s been teetering between running and hunting this guy for months. I have hundreds of surveillance pictures to prove it. I’ve talked to her friends, her family, her coworkers. I’ve traced her life back to the hospital where she was
born. She’s not a bad guy.”
“For what it’s worth,” I said, looking at Kelsey. “I agree with Spence. But we should be cautious, just in case.”
Ryan shrugged. “Evie offered to play bait to snag Owen. Let’s see if she goes through with it.”
“But what happens if Miguel shows up with Owen?” Kelsey asked.
Ryan glanced over at Bones, and they both smiled. It was the kind of smile that sent chills down your spine.
Wild Card looked at Kelsey. “We’ll take enough guys to protect Evie and handle the Remirez brothers if they show.”
Kelsey studied each of them, but didn’t say anything. She glanced around, watching everyone, pausing to look at Tyler, then the kids.
“What’s wrong?” Grady asked, stepping in front of her and cupping her face with his hands.
She took a half step back, but her eyes never left the pool area. “Nicholas.”
I watched as Nicholas dove into the deep end. “What about him?”
“If you’re right, if Miguel is coming after us…”
“He’ll go after the people you love,” I finished for her. “Okay. I know there’s plenty of security here, but you’ll feel better if one of us is near Nicholas.”
“No, Charlie,” she said, shaking her head. “Not one of us. I can’t lose him again. I can’t let this city take him from me again. I need to stay here until I know what Miguel is planning.”
“It’s a virtual world now, Kel. You can be in two places at once.” I walked over and grabbed my purse and keys. “Tonight, you can monitor things remotely, and I’ll handle both meetings at the club.”
“You’re sure?”
“Positive. You just keep watch over our boy.”
“I also have a job after dark.” She glanced at Quille and Chambers. “One that involves Trigger and something illegal.”
I’d seen a few of Trigger’s jobs on video feed, so my smile was genuine when I looked at her again. “Sounds like my favorite kind of job. You can brief me on the details later.”
“If another I.A. file lands on my desk…” Quille warned.
“I’m going to be late if I don’t leave,” I said to Kelsey, ignoring Quille. “Can you handle all this?” I said, waving an arm at everyone and the stack of boxes.
“The rest of us will split into two teams,” Kelsey said, nodding. “One team will plan all of tonight’s events. The other team will dig through the boxes and find the information you need for your homicide cases.”
“Sounds good. See you later.”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Kelsey asked.
I looked back to see her point at Bones, but then hesitate when she looked at Wild Card. She pointed at Spence instead.
Spence and Bones bumped fists before turning to me.
“Great. More babysitters,” I muttered as I followed the path to the driveway.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
CHARLIE
Tuesday, 4:25 p.m.
First stop, Miami County Hospital, where I found Sharon in her closet-sized office. Her office door was open, and I spotted Sharon behind her desk, staring at her computer. I rapped two knuckles on the door, startling her.
She glanced at me, then behind me at Bones and Spence. “Come in. Just you. And close the door.”
Bones and Spence wandered down the hall in opposite directions as I entered the office and closed the door.
“Did something happen?” I asked her. “You seem upset.”
“After you left, I kept thinking about Terri and remembered something.” Sharon glanced back at the door as if expecting it to open any moment.
I pulled the single guest chair out, turning it so I was facing the door, before I sat. “What did you remember?”
“Let me first explain why I didn’t remember back then.” She sat behind her desk and ran a hand through her short choppy hair. “Terri was one of those rare creatures who never dwelled on bad things. She had the ability to shrug things off, erasing them somehow so they didn’t affect her. I think that’s how she stayed so cheerful all the time. Others gravitated to her, feeding off her positive energy.”
“Got it. Terri was all rainbows and sunshine.”
“Exactly,” Sharon said, nodding. “Except for a brief moment… the day she died.”
Now we’re getting somewhere, I thought as I leaned toward Sharon.
“And it really was a brief moment, or I would’ve remembered sooner.”
“What did you remember, Sharon?” I asked, pressing her to get to the point.
“We were here. At the hospital. I walked into the breakroom and found her leaning against the wall. She was shaking. She seemed terrified. I asked her what was wrong, and she waved off my concern, saying she had a bad patient. That was all she said. I tried questioning her, but she never explained. She left the breakroom and about an hour later I saw her laughing with another nurse.”
“Any idea what patient could’ve spooked her?”
“No.” She glanced back at her computer monitor, frowning. “Terri was my friend. She was a friend to everyone she met. It’s the reason I’m about to do something I’ve never done during my twenty years on this job.” She stood, leaned over, and turned her computer monitor toward me. She looked up at me as she picked up a water bottle. “Detective Harrison, I need to walk to the end of the hallway and fill my water bottle. If you leave before I return, good luck with your investigation.”
She walked out, closing the door behind her.
After staring at the door for a beat, I turned my attention to the monitor. “Damn, Sharon,” I said, grinning as I saw the list of Terri’s patients the day of her murder.
The list contained each patient’s full name, social security number, address, and phone numbers. I pulled my phone and took a picture. I was tempted to click around on Sharon’s computer and see if I could find the reason for their ER visits, but Sharon was already breaking a few very serious federal laws. I didn’t want to press my luck. I turned the monitor back toward Sharon’s side of the desk before walking out of the office.
I was passing the cafeteria when both Bones and Spence appeared out of nowhere, flanking me.
“Get anything?” Spence asked.
I clicked the gallery icon on my phone before handing my phone to him.
Spence continued walking as he looked at the image, until he suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway. “Shit! Is she trying to get arrested?”
I glanced around to make sure no one heard him.
“What is it?” Bones asked, moving next to Spence.
I huddled with them, and whispered, “Sharon told me that one of Terri’s patients spooked her the day of her death. Whoever that was, is on that list.”
“If we find something, it can’t be used as evidence,” Spence said.
“I know. But right now, it’s all we’ve got. I’ll worry about tying the pieces together for a court case after we catch the bastard.”
“Works for me,” Bones said.
Spence looked up at the fluorescent ceiling lights and sighed. “Fine. I’ll start running the names when we get back to the car. Anything specific I should look for?”
“Criminal records, mental instability, anger issues, and, or, a hand injury.”
“Basically, everything and anything then?”
“Pretty much.”
~*~*~
I drove. Bones rode shotgun. And Spence click-clacked on his laptop in the back seat. Beast was back at the mansion, swimming with Jager and the kids. After chasing our bad guy in the park, he’d earned himself some playtime.
According to the text I’d received from Kelsey, my next appointment was with Mickey McNabe at Benny’s barbershop. I’d considered arguing with her, but I was afraid if I fussed too much, she’d meet with him herself. And she wasn’t the only one who felt better with one of us staying behind to keep an eye on the kids. Neither of us would survive something happening to Nicholas again.
I pulled into the pa
rking lot of a Winn-Dixie, the supermarket of the south, on the way to Benny’s, telling the boys to wait for me. I jogged inside, finding what I was looking for in aisle four: a chopping knife and a cutting board. Five minutes later, I was back on the road, having tossed my purchases to Bones.
Bones looked inside the bag and smirked. Benny was plugged into all-things crime related in the greater Miami area. He’d know the story of my finger chopping event. I was hoping it’d be enough of a warning to loosen his lips.
Mickey was standing outside the barbershop talking on the phone when we arrived. Bones and I exited the car, walking toward him.
Mickey glanced at us as he finished his call. “Find him. Now.”
I glanced at the barbershop door and saw a sign taped to the glass: Gone Fishing.
Bones looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “I get the impression Benny doesn’t want to talk to you again.”
“It happens,” I said, sighing.
“He’ll turn up,” Mickey said, tucking his phone inside his jacket pocket.
I pressed my hands and face to the glass to look inside. The lights were off. No one was in the front room. That didn’t mean Benny wasn’t hiding in the back, though. I could enter through the back door, picking the lock.
The bells on the front door jingled, and I stepped back to look at the door.
Bones held the glass door open, waiting for me. “What? It was unlocked.”
“Like I’m dumb enough to believe that,” I muttered as I walked through the door.
Mickey’s men rushed past us, heading toward the back rooms. I was okay with them going first. I walked over to Benny’s preferred customer chair and dug the cutting board and knife from the bag, setting them in the chair on display. Then I pulled a lipstick from my handbag and wrote on the mirror: Call me.
Mickey had been watching me before walking over and grabbing a towel from the shelf. He used the bottle of disinfectant to spray both the knife and cutting board before wiping them down.
“Paranoid much?” I asked him.
“About a decade ago, Benny used another man’s knife to take out a target. The guy who owned the knife is serving a life sentence.”
Hunt and Prey (Kelsey's Burden Series Book 8) Page 26
