“Poor Danielle?”
“She tried for years to conceive. Had multiple miscarriages. Adopted once, and the mother changed her mind. I don’t think that’s right. I mean I understand as a mother, but once you make the decision you shouldn’t get to change your mind. That was right after they moved here, and Danielle was heartbroken.” She looked firm. “You can’t let that happen. Not again. Danielle is a wonderful mother, better than a teenager.”
“Is that who she told you the mother was?”
Hesitation. “Nooo, but last time it was a sixteen-year-old who changed her mind, so I assumed.”
Ryan asked, “Do you know if the Morrisons are on vacation? If they had something planned?”
Mrs. Guiterrez was starting to look uncertain. She glanced from Ryan to Lucy and frowned. “I’d like to know why you’re asking all these questions.”
“Did you see anyone in the family yesterday?” Ryan asked. “Were you home?”
She said precisely, “We left for church at nine, then went to my in-laws’ for lunch. We didn’t get home until after three. I didn’t see them, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
“What did Danielle Morrison or her husband tell you about the adoption?”
“Just that Joshua was premature. They brought him home on a Wednesday evening, I remember that. That would be almost a month ago.”
Lucy gave Mrs. Guiterrez her business card. Ryan did the same. “If you see either of the Morrisons, please call us immediately.”
She took the cards but didn’t say anything. Lucy wasn’t certain she would call. Or she would, but she would tell the Morrisons about it. If they hadn’t left town, they would certainly leave if they knew the FBI was looking for them.
Considering that Ryan had already informed Morrison’s employer that the FBI wanted to talk to him, Lucy exchanged glances with her partner, who nodded, and she said, “The baby they call Joshua may have been sold on the black market.”
Mrs. Guiterrez paled. “No.” Her voice was a whisper.
“We need to talk to them. If either of them calls you, let me know. If they come home, let me know. It’s imperative. Do not confront them—desperate people do desperate things.”
Lucy and Ryan walked back to their car.
“They really did run away, didn’t they?” Siobhan said. “It’s my fault.”
“It’s not your fault, Siobhan,” Lucy said. “We would never have had the lead in the first place without your article—there would have been no reason for Dr. Calvert to contact us.”
“But they read it, too. They knew I was writing about their son.” Siobhan blinked back tears. “Do you think … did they know? That Eloisa suffered for months? That she was murdered for her baby because they didn’t take her to a hospital to save her life?”
“We’ll find them,” Ryan said. “They’ll be punished to the fullest extent of the law if they were party to Eloisa’s murder.”
“They have money. Contacts. And what if … what if they hurt Joshua? To protect themselves?”
“Listen to me,” Lucy said firmly. “They might have enough money to hide for a time, but they bolted fast. They may not have had a solid escape plan. We have Joshua’s medical records and will spread an alert far and wide—Dr. Calvert has baby footprints, blood type, and one more very important fact: Joshua has a distinctive birthmark on his shoulder.”
“But they could h-hurt—”
“Their neighbor said that Danielle Morrison suffered multiple miscarriages and one adoption where the birth mother changed her mind. I don’t think she would hurt Joshua. She has wanted her own baby for far too long.” Lucy turned to Ryan. “Let’s get back and follow up with Zach, the hospital, and Calvert, and get out an alert.”
“I’ve already had their passports flagged and Noah is working on a warrant for financials.”
“You’re fast.”
Ryan grinned. “Just good, Kincaid.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Noah Armstrong had been the last person Eden expected—or wanted—to see.
The last time she’d seen Noah, he’d called her a thief and she’d slapped him. Thief was common. She didn’t steal items in order to get rich the easy way; she reconnected personal belongings with their legitimate owners. She and Liam had been hired by governments, royalty, the rich and, yes—on occasion—criminals.
They did far more than acquire stolen merchandise. Valuable work that, while not always legal, was always justifiable.
Unfortunately, a little misstep had created a big problem with the rest of the family. Either Sean didn’t know or he hadn’t told his girlfriend. Fiancée, Eden reminded herself. The Kincaids. The same Kincaids as the two brothers who’d picked up the slack after Kane iced her and Liam out of the business. Their heritage—their inheritance.
And left her and Liam in a serious jam.
Then the name change, rubbing salt in the wounds. Liam had once wondered if it was more Jack Kincaid’s handiwork in ousting them—maybe behind the scenes, so he could get a piece of the pie. It all came down at about the same time. Six years ago. Right when Jack Kincaid joined Rogan-Caruso
Rogan-Caruso-Kincaid.
And shortly thereafter, they were axed.
And then to learn that Sean was marrying one of them.
Really.
Eden didn’t want to steal from her baby brother, but desperate times and all that.
Eden walked through Sean’s house. It was a nice place. He had a game room—of course. He’d always loved video games. A pool. Multiple bedrooms. Double-sized lot. Older house. Nice furnishings … a little too modern for her taste, but not overly contemporary. Everything appeared to have been picked for comfort, and Eden could have enjoyed her stay.
If she didn’t have a job to do.
Her phone rang. Liam.
“Hello, dear brother,” she answered.
“I’m here. Everything still good?”
“Yes.” She glanced at her watch. “We have several hours before Lucy gets back. I’ll let you in.”
She hung up and looked at the security panel by the front door. As soon as Liam approached, she opened the door. “You’re late. I was worried.”
He grinned. “You know better than to worry about me, Sis.” He closed the door behind him. “It’s not like I can just cross the border, thanks to Kane.”
“What did Dante say?”
“We’re set. We just need the bonds. I borrowed Dante’s plane, so we can get out easily. Two days and we’ll have everything. Everything. We are so close, Eden.”
He looked around and whistled. “I cannot believe Sean has settled down. You met her?”
“Yeah. She’s pretty, but kind of cold. A fed.”
“A Kincaid.” He grimaced. Liam was 100 percent positive that Jack Kincaid had something to do with Liam and Eden being booted from the family business. Eden was only about 60 percent certain. But Liam did everything to extremes. He loved and hated with passion. “Sean should have been with us, Sis.”
“Duke and Kane would never have allowed it.”
“Sean always did what Sean wanted. He left the business, something I never thought he’d do.” He shook his head. “I should have approached him then.”
“I told you that was a bad idea.”
“Because of his fed girlfriend.”
“That, and because I heard through my friends in New York that he’d been working undercover for the FBI.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“It’s true—and it makes sense, when you think about it. Sean had a lot of baggage … doesn’t look like he’s carrying it anymore.”
“Hmm. Well,” Liam said, “Sean always did whatever would please Duke. I heard through the grapevine that he’s going back. He was out only a year.”
“Maybe he never really left.”
“He left,” Liam said. “I have my sources, too, Sis. But it doesn’t matter—he picked his side, end of story. Where are we with the safe?”
“I d
on’t even want to touch it. It’s state of the art. I couldn’t even get into Sean’s computer. I’ve put out some feelers to anyone who knows about the safe and how we might be able to get around it.”
Liam feigned surprise. “I’m stunned. You can get into any safe.”
“Sean’s security is better than most. There’s a biometric scan on the safe.”
“Prints? Optical?”
“Prints. And before you ask, yes, I tried to lift prints from his bedroom, and it didn’t work.”
“We’ll have to bypass. How much time before his girlfriend gets home?”
“I can find out. Tell her I’m planning to make her dinner or something.”
Liam laughed. “Now that’s funny.”
“Shut up.”
He kissed her cheek. “I can’t wait until this is over. We’re so close, Eden.”
“We have a little teeny problem.”
He stared at her, eyes narrowed. “That tone, Eden. What problem?”
“Noah Armstrong is here.”
Liam blinked. “Here? In San Antonio? And you didn’t lead with that information?”
“I called my contact in DC, he’s been here nearly four months.”
“Hmm. Small world.”
“It’s serious, Liam!”
“What happened?” Liam demanded, turning from casual small world to dangerous in a heartbeat. “Does he know you’re here?”
“Yes. He threatened me with some such nonsense as if I were here to interfere with Sean and Lucy’s wedding.”
“Is he still in love with you?”
“No.
Liam raised an eyebrow. “Are you still in love with him?”
She turned and walked away from her brother. Liam infuriated her sometimes. He never understood that lying to Noah had been the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life. She had wanted to be better with him. She did love him.
But when she had to make a choice—between her brother and their borderline lives, and the man she loved—she chose her brother. And she’d do it again. Liam had been the only person in her entire life who had never let her down. She’d thought that Noah might be the one person who could accept her, because she knew he loved her. But in the end, he didn’t understand. And every other man Eden had dated since Noah was weak and stupid in comparison.
“The one who got away, Eden. You are always the one who walks. You’re only hung up on him because he called a spade a spade and left.”
“Screw you.”
“It’s true, sweetheart. But six years is long enough to pine after a moderately attractive, arrogant ass.”
“You’re impossible. You never understood about Noah and me.”
He shook his head. “That’s where you’re wrong. I know you cared, and I wanted you to be happy. I love you, Sis, but this treasure is everything we’ve been working toward for nearly twenty years. It’s our legacy.”
“I know.”
It was Liam’s legacy. It had been Liam their father had gifted the information about the treasure to; it had been Liam’s obsession that had been stoked from the beginning. But Eden loved her brother and his dreams had become her dreams.
“What surprises me,” Liam said, “was that Noah showed up here. I can’t believe that he and Sean are friends.”
“Both he and Lucy are feds.” Eden sat on the couch. “I’ve had all morning to dig around—quietly. I know, for example, that Sean is most likely returning from whatever he’s doing tonight or early in the morning—there’s no hotel room reserved under any of his credit cards. I couldn’t find any airline records, but his car is gone—he has a black Mustang in his name and it’s not in the garage. Also, Noah was Lucy’s training agent before she went to Quantico. Which would explain why Sean went undercover with the FBI, if that’s in fact what he did, last year. I couldn’t get much about his service record, but guess who he reports to?”
“Rick Stockton.”
She slapped her brother’s arm and he laughed. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“It didn’t seem important until now.”
“Dammit, Liam!” This was typical of her brother. He kept everything close to the vest. But it always pissed her off when he kept things from her. She was his twin sister, and he sometimes treated everything like a game. “What if Noah goes to Rick? Kane will show up, and everything will be ruined. Everything.”
“There’s no reason for Noah to call his boss and tell him about you. I don’t know exactly what Noah’s relationship is with Sean and his girlfriend, but Kane isn’t the type of character Noah would trust. You know that, probably more than anyone.”
Liam was right. Still, the unknown bothered Eden. The reason she and Liam were so successful at their job was because of information. Information was king. Lack of information was suicide.
“This relationship Sean has with Kincaid is serious,” Eden said.
“I’d think so. They’re getting married.”
“I mean, I think it’s the real deal. Sean has had multiple job offers since he left RCK, but they would all take him away from here. I talked to a couple of people, and they said he didn’t want to be away from home. What does that tell you?”
“She’s good in bed?”
“Dammit, this isn’t about sex.”
“It’s always about sex with Sean.”
“I think not this time.”
Liam shrugged. “I don’t see what you’re getting at.”
“My gut tells me that if Sean is as head over heels for this girl as I think he is, he gave her full security access.”
“Really.” He thought for maybe ten seconds, then shook his head. “You think she’d just open the safe for us? What do we do, explain to her that Kane stole the bonds before we could steal them from the jackass who stole them from Brazilian royalty? And do we tell her the truth about why we need them in the first place? If Kane knew how valuable those bonds really were, he wouldn’t have locked them in the RCK vault for the last six years.”
Which was the final straw. They hadn’t even known Kane had the bonds until recently. Kane’s betrayal had forced Liam and Eden to work for some nasty people, putting them under the thumb of a vicious criminal for the last six years.
The bonds would free them and lead them to the treasure. A win-win.
“We’ll have to find a way to make her open the safe,” Eden said.
“I have some ideas,” Liam said, thinking.
“But it has to be soon. Noah could still be a problem. We need to get Lucy here before tonight.” Eden hoped Noah hadn’t already talked to her.
Liam’s eyes glazed as they often did when he was assessing a complicated situation. “Okay—we do more research on this safe. If we can’t open it in”—he looked at his watch—“two hours, we use Lucy. As soon as she gets home, I’ll tranquilize her. She won’t expect it. Use her prints to open the safe, grab the bonds, leave before Sean gets home.”
“Sean will know that we stole the bonds.”
“But not why, and if we get out fast they’ll have no idea where we are. They would expect us to go back to Europe, not to Mexico. They have no idea the real value of bonds.”
“Kane will retaliate.”
“Let him!” Liam said with sudden anger. “He betrayed us, disowned us, left us at the mercy of Rogan-Caruso enemies. Brought in others to replace us. He’s not our brother anymore.” He hesitated, then said, “I’ll leave a note for Sean, tell him exactly what Kane did. Let Kane justify his actions. It’ll also buy us time. If I can get Sean to doubt Kane, they’ll bicker amongst themselves while we retrieve the treasure and change the world.”
Eden relaxed, just a bit. She liked having a plan, even if it was precarious. “Okay,” she said, “I’ll figure out how to get Lucy home early, you work on the safe.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
A pair of US Marshals greeted Sean Rogan at the gate when he landed at the Denver airport. They weren’t happy. Neither was Sean. They’d failed and now the family they were
protecting would be moved someplace else.
It wasn’t even their fault that they’d failed—they had to keep a kid who was half Rogan from breaking strict rules, and that was a challenge Sean wouldn’t wish on anyone.
Sean had spent eight hours flying to three different airports on the off chance that one of the many people who wanted Carson Spade dead knew that Sean’s son, Jesse, had contacted Sean against witness protection protocols. He was tired and not a little bit crabby at the hoops he was required to jump through. The marshal in charge of the Denver field office felt, after talking to Jesse, that bringing in Sean would help the transition for the preteen.
“But this is it, Mr. Rogan,” Marshal Tom Otis said. “Jesse needs to understand the dangers to him and his family if he breaks protocol as he did contacting you. There will be no second chance. If he violates the rules again, the family is out of witness protection.”
They would end up dead. It wasn’t just Carson Spade—the lawyer and accountant for a drug cartel—who was turning state’s evidence. Jesse himself had seen and heard things that would get him killed even though he was a twelve-year-old kid. In some ways, Jesse was in greater danger because he was also Sean’s son. There were people in the criminal underworld who would find killing Jesse just payback for the Rogan family’s efforts to thwart the cartels.
The marshals and Sean drove from the airport to a small, unmarked office in a federal building. It was a satellite office with minimal staff and office equipment, but the security was state of the art.
The marshals searched Sean and he went through X-ray in the lobby, then was taken to a floor that was accessible only with a card key. The marshals had yet to say more than a sentence apiece, but Sean was okay with that, too.
Tom Otis greeted Sean at the door.
“We need to talk,” he said, and ushered Sean into a small, sparsely furnished private office. The unmarked suite had three similar offices, and a conference room with a wall of glass. A receptionist sat in the lobby area, and the two marshals who had escorted Sean talked to her while Tom closed the door behind Sean and motioned for him to sit.
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