Sighing, she rested her head on his shoulder and felt his arm around her tighten. She would have to make her escape tomorrow. Maybe she could send him into town for something. She worried it was a mean thing to do, running away with no warning or explanation, but she didn’t know what else to do. If she stayed here, she would eventually be discovered or even worse, put KC in danger. She loved him too much to do that, so her only alternative was to run as far away from him as she could. But for now, she would make memories to take with her, to comfort her when she was finally alone again. And no matter where she ended up next, she knew she would be leaving her heart here with him.
C
HAPTER 15
T he sound of knocking at the back-porch door the next morning, followed by a loud bark, had both Moriah and KC moaning as they rolled from a mutual embrace and wiped the sleep from their eyes. Moriah glanced at the bedside clock and was surprised to see it was after nine. KC had held her close the entire night, and she’d slept like a baby—another memory to keep for when she was back on her own again.
KC groaned loudly as he sat up and ran a hand through his unruly hair. “Sounds like Uncle Dan.”
Not wanting to be caught in KC’s bedroom, Moriah jumped up and began frantically to search for her clothes. Swinging his feet off the side of the bed, he stood and grabbed a pair of sweatpants from his duffel. “Calm down. He’ll wait on the deck for us.”
Stopping short, Moriah gaped at him, her face redder than he had ever seen. Clearly mortified, she almost yelled, “He knows we’ve slept together?”
“He’s hoping we are.” KC was mildly irritated at the morning’s interruption. He’d wanted to shower with her before treating her to breakfast in town. “He’s a bit of a matchmaker. Don’t be embarrassed. Uncle Dan is a true romantic and would never make you self-conscious about it.”
She nodded but by the way she was biting her bottom lip, he could tell she still wasn’t thrilled with the revelation. KC threw on a clean T-shirt, kissed her sweetly on the tip of her nose, and headed for the bedroom door. “Go ahead and have a shower before joining us.”
After stopping in the hallway bathroom to relieve himself, he exited the cottage and found his uncle downstairs on the patio, with a knowing grin on his face. The older man’s eyes sparkled with delight. “Hope I didn’t interrupt anything? Or did I?”
KC furrowed his brow as he descended the staircase. “Don’t be talking like that when Maura comes out. I told her you were a complete gentleman.”
“That I am, laddie,” Dan replied, using his mother’s off-the-boat Irish accent. “So, have you given any thought to what you’re going to do about Team Six yet?”
Sighing, KC dropped onto the loveseat opposite his uncle. “I don’t know. As much as I hate to leave my men, I think it’s time. I spoke to Admiral Cohen before I left and told him I’d have an answer for him when I returned to duty.”
“You’ll make a fine instructor.”
KC nodded “That’s what the admiral said.”
“Then he’s a smart man.”
Glancing around, KC realized something was amiss. “Where’s that mutt of yours? He’s usually slobbering all over me or passed out on my feet by now.”
Dan surveyed the area. “Around here somewhere. He wouldn’t wander far.”
He heard a noise and peered into the darkness below the cottage. “Damn dog is digging under the house.” Rising to his feet, he strode over and crouched down at the edge of the patio. “Get outta there, Jinx!”
His uncle appeared next to him. “Must have found a crab or something.”
The black dog had dug a large hole near the center of the house and appeared to be pulling something out of it. Annoyed, KC climbed under the floor joists and crab-walked to where the dog was desperately trying to make the hole bigger. “What the fuck are you digging for dog . . . gold?”
Jinx paused to look up at him, with a big sandy grin, then immediately went back to work. KC pushed the dog out of the way and peered into the opening. Seeing black nylon fabric exposed, he brushed away more of the sand. When he realized it was a duffel bag, he grabbed its strap and pulled it from the hole. Pulling back the zipper, he sat down hard as he stared at the contents. “Holy, fucking shit!”
“What is it?” Dan asked from the patio.
Dumbfounded, he fingered the banded stacks of bills, which added up to more cash than he had ever seen at one time. Regaining his senses, he started to crawl out with the bag at the same time he heard footsteps on the stairs. Despite being underneath the house, he was still able to hear her. “Hi, Dan. Where’s KC? I thought he was out here with you.”
Crawling out from under the house, he saw her inquisitive expression turn to one of horror as he stood with the duffel bag in hand. As the color drained from her face, a realization hit him like a punch to the gut—she knew about the money. “Is there something you would like to tell me, Maura? I take it you know about this bag of money. What the fuck is going on?”
“I’ll tell you what’s going on.” All eyes turned to where Brian Malone came around from the side of the house onto the patio. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and glared at Maura with laser-light precision full of intimidation. “She’s wanted for questioning in the murder of her mother, sister, and five-year-old nephew.”
“No!”
She yelled at the same time KC and Dan’s wide eyes whipped back to her, and the men let out a “what?” in unison.
Everyone began talking at once until Dan put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly to get their attention. “Hold it! Everyone just calm the hell down! There’s obviously a story behind this whole mess.” Staring at Maura, his gaze softened—it was evident the man didn’t believe he’d let a murderer rent his house. “Maura, did you kill your family?” He quickly put up his hand in a halting gesture when Brian opened his mouth to interrupt.
“No! Absolutely not! L-Leo did!” She sobbed the words out through her tears.
Confused was a drastic understatement to what KC was feeling right now. “Leo? Your ex-boyfriend?”
“He wasn’t my boyfriend. He was my sister’s boyfriend.”
Sighing heavily, he gestured to the seating around the fire pit. “You’ve lost me. Sit down and tell us what the fuck is going on.”
Maura, Dan, and KC took seats, while Brian stood behind his uncle, still glaring at Maura as if he was ready to haul her off to jail, no questions asked. Jinx lay at her feet and, at the moment, was the only one who appeared to be entirely on her side, even though Dan seemed to be more than halfway there. KC dropped the duffel at his feet, then leaned forward setting his elbows on his knees. He glanced up at his brother. “First things first. Where’d you get this information?”
“Yesterday morning when you introduced us, I noticed she got pale and scared when you told her I worked for the SBI. You obviously didn’t notice. My radar went up. When I went inside for the coffee, I saw her purse and looked at her license, which stated her name was Moriah Jansen from Chicago. I went to the station after I left here to run her name, but ended up working a road rage turned armed robbery. I was so busy I forgot to run her through the system, so I swung by the station this morning and, lo and behold, I got a hit. Four months ago, her family was shot to death, and she disappeared off the face of the Earth. She hasn’t been named an official suspect yet but is listed as a person of interest.”
Turning back to Maura, KC tried to ignore the tears welling up in her eyes. Anger replaced his shock, and it took everything in him not to go ballistic on her. “What happened?”
She swallowed twice and tried to regain her composure. Wringing her hands together, she stared at the empty fire pit and began telling them about the nightmare she had been living in for the past few months. “My name is Moriah Jensen. I lived in a three-bedroom-apartment with my mom and younger sister. It wasn’t in the greatest part of town, but it was the best we could do after my father took off for good. Susan, my sister, was always hang
ing out with a bad crowd and getting in trouble, but when she became pregnant, she changed. She stopped seeing those assholes and took care of herself. When Nicholas was born, Mom and I helped out as much as we could. Susan found a waitressing job and was going back to school for her G.E.D. Things were going well for all of us. Nicholas was a beautiful baby, and Susan really loved him. We all did. Then about six months ago, I began to notice the signs that Susan was using drugs again. I discovered she was dating this local drug dealer Leo Simmons. I was furious and told her I was going to call the Child Protective Services and have Nicholas taken away from her. I don’t think I could have done it, but I wanted her to believe I would file a report. Anyway, she promised me she would stop seeing him. The day they were . . . were killed . . . ”
She paused, took a deep trembling breath and released it slowly as the men waited in silent impatience. “That morning I went into Susan’s room to find a pair of shoes she’d borrowed from me. Instead, I found that duffel.” She pointed at the bag now sitting on at KC’s feet. “Inside were the money and the gun.” She shook her head. “I-I was absolutely stunned. I couldn’t believe my sister had brought a gun into the apartment with a five-year-old. I didn’t want to wake my mother and upset her because it was her one day off and she hadn’t been feeling well. I thought I could handle the situation on my own. Susan had already left to take Nicholas to preschool, but I knew he would be back at eleven. I didn’t want the gun in the apartment when he returned, and so I took the bag with me to work. I don’t know why. It was such a stupid thing to do.
“Anyway, I put everything in my locker at work and called Susan around nine fifteen while on my break. We were both yelling at each other. She was angry I took the bag, and I was more livid she had it in the first place. She told me it belonged to Leo, and she swore she didn’t know what was in it. He’d asked her to hold it for a couple of days, and as naïve as Susan could be, she did—no questions asked. I told her it was drug money, and I was going to bring it to the police. She said Leo would kill her if I did. She was convinced he had some connections in the police department.” With tears streaking down her face, she paused again to catch her breath.
“How did she know that?” KC asked quietly.
“S-she had seen a guy at Leo’s apartment once and recognized him as a detective who occasionally came into the restaurant with a few other officers. She didn’t know his name, though.”
He nodded, his jaw tense. “Okay. Go on. What happened next?”
“She begged me to just bring the bag home, and she would return it to Leo. I don’t know why but I finally agreed.” Moriah’s body began to tremble as much as her voice. “B-but when I got home a little after three o’clock, the door to the apartment was open a bit. I-I went inside and found Mom, Susan, and Nicholas . . . gagged and tied to kitchen chairs. They’d all been sh-shot to death. There was blood everywhere—the walls, the floor, the . . . ”
She closed her overflowing, tear-filled eyes in an attempt to block out the horrifying memory and took several deep breaths to prevent herself from hyperventilating. Dan shifted over to the seat next to her and took her hand in silent support. She glanced at him and gave a nod of thanks before continuing. “I assume Leo or one of his friends did it. They had wrecked the place, probably looking for the bag. I was about to call the police, but then I remembered what Susan had said about Leo having connections. I didn’t know if Susan had told them I had the money before they killed her, so I went into my room, grabbed a few clothes and ran. I knew they would kill me if they found me, so I left Chicago and started hitchhiking and taking buses. I slept in bus stations and motels if I could find one that didn’t ask for ID. I’ve been on the run ever since. They almost caught me twice.”
While KC was still stunned by her story, Brian took over the questioning. “How?”
“Once at the bus depot in Chicago, when I was trying to get out of the city, I saw Leo and two of his buddies searching the station. I slipped out a service entrance and ran, then hitchhiked out of the city. The other time was about a week later in a small town about a half hour south of Cincinnati. I’d gotten a lift from a couple of college girls, and we got into a fender-bender. The police came before I had a chance to disappear. I had to give the officer my ID. I didn’t think anything of it at the time because I’d never been on the run before. I stayed at a run-down motel that night and the next day I was in a convenience store and saw three guys in a black Escalade cruising up and down the main road. The license plate was from Illinois. I just knew they were looking for me and got out of there as fast as I could.”
Brian relaxed his stance a little, but it was clear he wouldn’t give her the chance to run even if she thought she could make it past them, which she couldn’t. “The cop had no reason to run your license right away, but it was probably entered into the computer when the accident report was filed. That’s how they most likely traced you.”
Wiping her wet eyes, she nodded, then watched as KC dragged a hand down his face. He didn’t know what to believe at this point and wanted to think she was telling the truth now, but that would mean everything before this had all been a lie. He should have known something was up with her, but his heart and his dick had apparently done the thinking for his brain.
Brian came around from the back of the couch, nudged the duffel bag out of the way, and sat next to his brother. “How much money is there, and where’s the gun?”
A low whistle came from Dan when she said the amount. “One hundred thousand dollars, minus what I’ve used to eat and stuff. The gun is in my room.”
KC narrowed his eyes and glared at her. “That’s why the fucking serial number was removed, wasn’t it?” Biting her lip, she nodded, and he turned to his brother. “I was teaching her how to shoot the damn thing so she could defend herself.”
Rolling his eyes, Brian stood again and began pacing from one end of the patio to the other. “Oh great, just fucking great. This just keeps getting better by the fucking minute.”
“Is there any way you can find out what’s going on up in Chicago, you know, without raising any red flags?
KC’s brother stopped pacing and put his hands on his hips. “Unfortunately, my inquiry will probably result in me getting a phone call from the Chicago P.D. sometime today, but I’ll say her purse was turned in as found property or something. I’ll give Sean a call and ask if he has any contacts up in Chicago. Maybe he can have someone do a little snooping around.” The youngest of the three, Sean Malone was an FBI agent in Jacksonville, Florida. Turning to Moriah, he pointed a finger at her. “In the meantime, I’m taking the money and gun and securing them. I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but you are to stay here where KC can keep an eye on you while I check out this story. I almost believe you, but I am also little wary until I have proof you’re telling us the entire truth. And God help you if you’re lying because I’m putting all our asses on the line here.”
Sobbing, she put her hands over her heart. “I swear, I’m not. I . . . I loved my family and would never have hurt them.”
KC stood. While he was pissed off at her, he knew in his gut she was telling the truth about what had happened to her family. What he didn’t know was if everything that happened between the two of them had all been a farce. “I believe her, and she’ll stay right here with me until we hear from you.” He gestured for her to stand. “Let’s go get the gun and give it to Brian.”
Without saying a word, she nodded solemnly and preceded him up the stairs. Before the door shut behind them, he heard Brian ask their uncle, “Do you believe her?”
The older man responded in no uncertain terms, “Absolutely.”
“You and your damn, fucking strays.”
C
HAPTER 16
I t was noon when Chicago Police Detective Frank Parisi sat at his desk and turned on his ancient department computer. The CPD was in the process of updating their systems, but until they made their way through every precinct, he had to put
up with an eight-year-old unit. With fifteen years on the force, nine of them as a detective in the Homicide Unit, Parisi was used to the department’s ‘hurry up and wait’ standard for getting new equipment. Five more years and he could retire from this hellhole. Between his CPD pension and the money he had made on a few side ventures, which the department didn’t know about, he and his wife, Diane, would be able to live very well in Florida. He could spend his days fishing, and Diane could do whatever the hell she did when he wasn’t home. He didn’t care what she did as long as he had the freedom to do what he wanted.
A red dot flashed on the computer screen, and Parisi sat up straighter. Glancing around, he made sure no one was in his vicinity and clicked on the alert. Hallelujah! After months of being underground, that bitch, Moriah Jensen, had finally shown up on the radar again. They would’ve had her a few months ago if that hick-cop in Ohio had processed the accident paperwork faster.
Scanning the alert, he read that a North Carolina State Investigator Brian Malone had run her license. But if that was the case, why the fuck hadn’t he called CPD and told them he had her in custody? The whore probably batted her eyes, and the schmuck released her with a warning before he got the BOLO—Be On The Lookout—request back on the computer. Fucking idiot.
Parisi snatched up his desk phone’s receiver and dialed the number which was listed on the computer screen for Investigator Malone. When it went to voicemail, he left a message for the asshole to return his call.
Take the Money and Run: #1 Malone Brothers Page 11