Fatal Secrets: Brotherhood Protectors World

by Desiree Holt

  Zoe frowned at him. “Randall Vicks, I think, but not Jerry McRae. Why do you want to know?”

  “Because they are key to this whole thing.” Hank paused a moment. “It seems there are a lot of secrets here that people have been sitting on for way too long.”

  “Secrets?” She looked at her screen then at Hank then Alex and finally Sean.

  He lifted his hands. “Don’t look at me. I’m the new guy here, and I have no idea who’s who.”

  Zoe managed two big bites of her sandwich before giving out information.

  “I don’t know who Jerry McRae is, but Randall Vicks is an attorney in the firm where Elliott Craig is the senior partner. He actually owns the majority of the firm.” She looked around the table. “Elliott is Warren Craig’s father. I have Vicks in my notes but only because he was on a list I found in one of Justine’s files.”

  “Her files?” Alex stared at her. “How did you happen to have her files?”

  Zoe nibbled her lower lip. “I went through her apartment and—”

  “Her apartment?” Hank interrupted. “The police let you into her apartment?”

  She squirmed a little in her seat. “Um, not exactly. We had keys to each other’s places, you know, for emergencies. And I knew places to look that they didn’t.”

  “Jesus, Zoe.” Hank blew out a breath. “And you never told anyone?”

  “No.” She spat the word, anger surging through her. “Nothing was going anywhere with her murder. No one was finding anything, and they practically labeled it a cold case before a week was up. They told me they couldn’t find anything to explain how she ended up where she did, or anyone who could tell them, anything. I knew it was because they didn’t ask the right people, so I wasn’t about to trust them with anything And what does Vicks have to do with this? “The men all exchanged looks, but no one said a word.

  “No, no, no.” Zoe took another swallow of her coffee. “This has been my project for ten years. I want to know what the deal is.”

  “Answer a question first.” Hank swallowed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a sip of his drink. “Has Warren ever prosecuted anyone who was a client of his father’s?”

  “No.” That she was positive of. “He was very rigid about that. Justine told me. Elliott wanted Warren to join the firm when he passed the bar, but from what little I know, Warren wasn’t too happy with some of his father’s clients. And he was all about prosecuting the bad guys. Why?”

  “I’ve got this,” Alex told the others. “I chatted with both the chief of police and the county sheriff. Here’s the deal. You know there’s a big deal about the drug traffic on the highways in Montana. Law enforcement’s been trying to catch the people and stop them for years.”

  “It’s hard to ignore it,” Hank agreed. “It’s in the papers almost every week. There’s a huge operation, just within the state, that seems impossible to shut down.”

  “I’ve done some stories off and on about that as well as the ancillary crimes,” Zoe told them. “People get high, and there’s a spike in robbery and murder. But what does that have to do with Justine?”

  “Here’s the deal,” Alex told them. “The state police in cooperation with local law enforcement have been trying to put a stop to it forever. The problem is, it’s headed by a man who manages to distance himself from it and who has unlimited resources and power to accomplish that and keep it running.”

  “Wait a minute.” Zoe snapped her fingers, then typed something into her laptop. “Okay, here it is. I have something here that I came on when I compiled every single bit of information about everything at that time. I had already done a couple of smaller stories about the drug operation but without knowing names. Just in case.” She typed again.

  “My source told me the real head of the operation keeps an almost nonexistent profile. That’s how he stays so successful and out of trouble. And anyone who might expose him suddenly gets dead. Are you saying there might be a connection with Justine?”

  Zoe nodded as she kept typing. “Okay, here it is. Warren Craig was actually about to try a case involving one of the lesser head honchos at that time. A man named Rod Winkler. Justine told me about it. Said Warren was death on this stuff. I tried to dig around, but obviously I couldn’t into the official files. I do know Justine wasn’t happy about something that had to do with the case and was doing some digging on her own. She kept hinting at it but said she couldn’t tell me anything.”

  “So what happened with that after her murder?”

  “Funny thing.” She shook her head. “Winkler had a sudden heart attack before the trial. When he died, so did the case.”

  “A heart attack,” Alex repeated. “Very convenient.”

  “Yes. Warren was pissed.”

  “And no one thought how convenient it all was?” Hank asked.

  “If they did, they kept their mouths shut. No one really believed Justine’s death was a random thing, and they were covering their own asses.”

  “Do you know if Warren ever discussed the case with his father?”

  “He absolutely did not,” Zoe snapped. “He knew many of his father’s clients did not pass the smell taste, and he hated it. Stayed as far from it as he could.“

  “Well,” Alex continued, “apparently, no one is happy about you digging into all this again.” He paused. “Especially a man named George Montoya. I got that from a very private source.”

  “Who’s he?” Sadie wanted to know.

  “The man who really runs the operation.” Alex looked around the table. “The invisible man who stays in the background and is worth billions. Enough to buy his way out of anything.”

  “But not the law,” Zoe protested, “if Warren Craig is involved. He’s very vocal about stuff like that. He had to know the connection, and I’m sure he wasn’t happy about it. But he was moving forward anyway.”

  “If this case goes live again,” Hank told her, “Montoya’s entire operation could fall apart. It’s a very little known fact but I managed to dig up that he and Warren’s father have been friends for years. That while Randall Vicks represents him in his legal operations and is publicly known as his attorney, Elliott Craig is Montoya’s personal lawyer and pulls every string he can to keep the man out of jail. Besides, Craig wouldn’t allow a junior partner to handle Montoya’s stuff if they didn’t have a strong connection. I think Vicks is just the beard on this.”

  “But Warren would never be a party to covering anything up,” Zoe insisted. “I’m sure Warren and his father had a lot of conflict over that. Probably still do.”

  “But that doesn’t tell us who this Jerry McRae asshole is who’s been following Zoe and me. And who probably blew up her car.”

  “They did their best to use someone they could put a lot of distance from, and this piece of scum is sure it.” Alex made a face. “My source had to do a lot of digging to find the connection. His father is one of Montoya’s low-level distributors. On top of that, Jerry uses his mother’s maiden name. I guess he thought that put enough distance between them, plus they didn’t need anyone very smart to do a little scaring stuff.”

  “Actually,” Hank broke in, “Alex and I figure they wanted someone pretty stupid because they wanted the scare tactics to be obvious.” He looked at Zoe. “I’m sure they assumed the more obvious they were, the better chance they had to frighten you off.”

  Sadie laughed. “They don’t know Zoe very well.”

  “Yes.” Zoe nodded. “What Sadie said. And guys? I know I have to be smart about this and do what Sean tells me, but I am not letting this go. Maybe we can trip them up some way.”

  Hank leaned forward. “The key words in there, little girl, are ‘do what Sean tells me.’ Don’t forget it.”

  “If I didn’t like you so much, I’d smack you,” she told him. “I am not a little girl, so let’s be done with that.”

  “Perhaps we’d be better off going through your notes,” Sean pointed out, “to see if there are any little nugget
s of information hidden in there that might help us.”

  “Meanwhile,” Alex put in, “just to keep things close at hand, I’ve got one of my deputies keeping an eye on McRae. He’s in civvies and a beat-up truck. And I’ve got a newbie still checking out the situation who’s alternating with him so we have eyes on him at all times.” He grinned. “And since they are both former SEALs, I have unqualified trust in them.”

  Sean cleared his throat. “Hank tells me you’re rebuilding the staff at the sheriff’s office here, hiring all former SEALs. That right?”

  “It is.”

  “And why is that?”

  Alex took a moment to chew on a fry while he gathered his thoughts together. “I was a SEAL myself. Fourteen years. I left only because I had a desire to get back into civilian life and the opportunity here presented itself. Cleaning house offered a challenge that really interested me.”

  “So you didn’t leave because of injuries?” Sean asked.

  “No.” Alex shook his head. “I was lucky that way. The couple of injuries I did have were not debilitating in any way. But other members of my team weren’t so lucky. They hated having to leave the Teams, and they had problems reintegrating into civilian life. They also suffered injuries that brought about medical discharges but don’t prevent them from doing this job. They still, however, had skills that could be utilized, just not on the battlefield. I decided I had a place for them here, but I’ve been trying to choose wisely. So far, it’s working.”

  “Sounds really good. I wish more people appreciated what we do and what happens when injuries limit our performance.” He looked at Hank then back to Sean. “Hank, if it wouldn’t piss you off, I’d really like it if Sean would come talk to me before you swallow him into Brotherhood Protectors. I know he’s your cousin and all, but—”

  Zoe watched as Hank held up his hands.

  “I want him where he’s happiest. I’d love to have him here, but he might think he’s a better fit with you. Sean, you should explore all your options before you make a decision.”

  “Before we even get to that,” Sean told them, “we need to get this mess cleaned up so Zoe is safe. To do that, we need to figure out where to get hard evidence against Montoya and, sadly, Elliott Craig.”

  ”We need to talk to people,” Zoe told them.

  Sean scowled. “What people?”

  “Some of the ones I interviewed for my articles. Now that I know where to look, I do believe one of them will give us the direct connection to Montoya for Justine’s murder. Although it was probably Randall Vicks who actually ordered the hit.”

  “And how are we going to do that without putting you in the line of fire?” Sean demanded.

  “I can contact some of them. I still have all their information. I know they’d meet with me.”

  “I don’t suppose we could get them to come out here,” he suggested.

  Zoe laughed. “You’re kidding, right? These people are trying to keep a lower profile than we are. Believe me, they’ll want to meet someplace far out of the way where no one would think to look. Let me pull up a few cell numbers, see if they’re still good and who I can get in touch with. A couple of them ended up in prison, but they’re out now.”

  “Okay.” Sean nodded. “You want to work from here?”

  “Yes. That’s fine, unless Hank and Sadie want us to set up someplace else.”

  “This is good,” Sadie told them. “Let’s get it done. I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

  Sean dipped his head once. “Me, either. Okay, let’s get to it.”

  Chapter 9

  They had spent a long time going over Zoe’s notes, the four of them. Alex had gotten a call and had to leave, but the rest of them concentrated on sorting out the information to find a source. Finally Zoe had identified someone she was pretty sure would talk to her. A logical source she dug out from her ten years’ worth of notes who she thought might be able to help them. After going over the list several times, she had focused on one man, the only one she thought would be willing to talk to her about this.

  Zoe had called the last number she had for the man, and, after being shuttled to three other numbers and proving who she was, finally got to talk to him. It took a lot of convincing before he agreed to meet with her, but he wasn’t promising he would tell her anything.

  Hank was still not too excited about them leaving the ranch, but Sean knew the man trusted him to take care of Zoe. He wasn’t going to betray that trust, for more reasons than just Hank.

  Years of experience with the SEALs had conditioned Sean to have eyes in all directions as he drove from White Oak Ranch to the outskirts of Billings. Zoe traveled the area a lot for stories, even the ones outside Helena and Bozeman, so she knew a place where Ridge would be comfortable, or at least as much as possible. They were careful and on the alert for any suspicious vehicles, anyone staying with them too much or anything, as they drove. It had really struck him over the past forty-eight hours that Zoe’s jobs carried a certain element of danger. Both jobs, as a reporter and an author of true crime books.

  He’d thought about it a lot last night as he lay in his bedroom at the ranch. He’d have been much happier lying in Zoe’s room with her, but he didn’t think they were anywhere close to letting Hank and Sadie know what was happening between them. He’d be eternally grateful to his cousin for dragging him up out of the pit he’d let himself wallow in, and he did not want to do anything to endanger that.

  He wanted Zoe. Wanted to be with her, and that shocked the shit out of him. He’d spent the past several months making sure he had no emotional ties to anyone. He was still a fucking mess, and the nightmares were far from gone. What did he have to offer anyone? But Zoe seemed to calm him. That night with her was the first one he’d slept through in a long time. No nightmares.

  And it wasn’t just the outstanding sex. He’d had a lot of good sex. But this had a different element to it, as if they had reached into each other’s soul. It happened so fast he wondered if he was imagining things, but then he’d pull out every memory of the night and realized her walking into his life was some kind of miracle. It came out of nowhere, and he’d do his very best not to fuck it up. To get his shit together so she didn’t decide the sex wasn’t good enough to take a chance with him. Whether he took Hank’s offer or talked to Alex Rossi, for the first time in months he had a chance at a future and he didn’t plan to fuck it up.

  He did have a feeling, from the looks Sadie snuck at them every so often, that she sensed the chemistry between them. Luckily no one asked questions about what they’d been doing for so long at Zoe’s apartment when her car blew up, but when this was all wrapped up he wasn’t about to let her go. And he sensed she felt the same way, At least he hoped.

  Finally, satisfied they were clear, he parked next to the truck stop outside Billings that Zoe directed him to, entered the restaurant portion, and took a corner booth.

  “You really believe he’ll show?” Sean asked.

  “I do.” Zoe took a sip of her coffee. “Ridge got kind of a raw deal when he was arrested. He was a runner for Montoya—although he didn’t know that was who actually headed the operation. He’d gotten caught in a trap and ended up taking the fall for things he hadn’t done. Justine had done her usual investigation and interviewed him several times in jail.” She looked at Sean, pain in her eyes. “That was about the time of Justine’s murder.”

  “You think he knows anything about it?”

  She shrugged. “It’s worth asking. You never know what someone hears, especially considering the situation then.”

  “He was willing to talk to you?”

  “After a lot of persuading,” she told him. “He wanted to get out of jail, but he was scared to name any names he had, even those on the lowest rung.”

  “So, how’d you make it happen?”

  “I was really impressed with him from our talks, and I agreed with him he’d gotten the short end of the stick. I promised to speak at his paro
le hearing.”

  Sean cocked an eyebrow. “Did you? And did it work?”

  She nodded. “He said if he could ever do anything for me that wouldn’t get him killed to call him. And here he is.”

  Sean looked up to see a thin man of medium height heading for their booth. Nondescript was a good definition for him, and Sean figured that was how he stayed off everyone’s radar.

  “Thanks for coming, Ridge.” Zoe rose and extended her hand. “I appreciate it.”

  He gave Sean a suspicious look. “Who’s this? I didn’t agree to talk to anyone but you.” He took a step backward. “This isn’t some kind of trap, is it?”

  “No, it isn’t. I promise.” She grabbed his hand again., “Sean is a friend of mine who’s just out of the SEALs. He’s kind of my protection while I work on my book. Please sit down.”

  Zoe moved to sit next to Sean so Ridge could huddle in the corner of the other seat. Without being asked, the waitress brought another mug, set it in front of Ridge, and filled it. The man blew on the steam then took a swallow of the hot liquid.

  “I can’t stay long. My girlfriend didn’t even want me to come. Said I needed to stay as far away from this shit as I could.”

  “I agree.” Zoe smiled at him. “I really appreciate this, Ridge. And I’m delighted you have a girlfriend now. Thank her for letting you meet with us, and tell her I promise your name will not appear anywhere.”

  ”Well, you were as good as your word last time, so I’m trusting you again.”

  “You weren’t followed, were you?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “I was real careful and took my girlfriend’s car. What do you want to know?”

  Sean was amazed at how calm Zoe was, considering the subject matter.

  “Did you ever hear any rumors about Justine DeLuca at the prosecutor’s office? That would have been about the time of your trial.”

  Ridge studied her for a long time. Then he spent more seconds slowly taking a drink of his coffee. Sean could see the man was conflicted. He also saw Zoe was having a hard time holding on to her patience. Finally, Ridge leaned forward.