by Jen Talty
“I really don’t like the sound of that.” She sat on the edge of the bed, swallowing the lump that seemed to never go away these days.
“Kelly Rines, the roommate of Sandra Creeco, was pulled from Indian River late last night.”
“Jesus Christ. How many people have to die over…over…” she held her hands wide. “Over what?” She blinked a few times, tears filling her eyes. “It all goes back to Moore being accused of securities fraud, which had been dropped shortly after Ashley died in his house.”
“You’ve never shown anyone the stuff on your brother’s computer?”
She shook her head. “Just you and now your friends. But come on, all this killing over securities fraud?”
“You’d be surprised by the lengths some people will go to cover up even the smallest of crimes.” He hiked up his jeans and pulled a shirt over his head. “Whoever is behind this, is afraid of what you might know and what is on that computer, and I don’t think we’re safe here anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re too close to your house. They could already be watching. Maybe they know you’re in here with me, maybe they don’t. But I can’t take that chance.”
“Now who’s being a conspiracy theorist?”
“I said I wouldn’t lie to you and that I’d keep you in the loop.”
“Now you’re scaring me.”
“The ADA, Jeff Bellen, who is married to Moore’s daughter Lisa has named you as a person of interest in the death of Kelly Rines.”
“What?” She jumped from the bed, falling forward into his arms. “Goddamn it, that hurt.”
“I’m sure it did.”
“So what do I do?”
He helped her back to the bed. “Right now. We get dressed and head over to the marina where my crew chief, Hunter, has offered us his boat to stay on. Also, Rusty lives just down the street and Ace and his wife own the marina.”
“That’s convenient.” She waved her hands in frustration. “I need to get more things from my house.”
He tossed her cell phone on the bed next to her. “Remember the apps you downloaded for the security cameras?”
She glanced down, seeing the alerts that had popped up on her locked screen. “Shit.”
“I’d like you to let me look at them.”
“No problem.” She touched her forefinger to the home key, unlocking the phone. “You think someone broke in?”
“I don’t think that anymore. I know it.” He held up her phone, showing a person, dressed in black, with a dark baseball cap covering their head, kicking in her door.
“Fuck. So now I’m running from the bad guys and the cops?”
“No. When they call you to either interview you, or question you, you’ll go in with a friend of Claire’s—”
“Who’s Claire?”
“My crew chief’s wife. Her friend is a lawyer. Until then, we’re going to stay under the radar. Ace’s buddy, Tex, is going to come up from Texas to look at the computer.”
“This is fucking crazy.” She tossed her hands wide. But what was she going to do? She certainly wasn’t going to be a sitting duck. “I’m sorry I dragged you—”
“Nope.” He waved his finger. “You did no such thing, and now you’re just plain stuck with the giant.” He wiggled his nose.
God. He had such a way of diffusing any situation, always making her smile.
Yeah. She had it bad for the hot fireman.
Chapter 10
“Hey, Rusty.” Garret helped Tabitha into the booth of the diner a few blocks from the base. She seemed to be limping a little less, but her face still scrunched up in pain with every step.
“What can you tell us?” Garret asked, not wanting to beat around the bush. He waved to the waitress, who knew him, and pointed to the coffee mugs.
“Well, for starters we’ve gone from Kelly’s passing being a suspicious death, to murder.”
“Wonderful,” Tabitha muttered.
Garret stretched his arm over the back of the booth, resting his hand on her shoulder, giving it a little squeeze. He hoped that would help ease her nerves.
“Oh, it gets worse. Jeff Bellen is up my ass. Turns out, Kelly wasn’t just Sandra’s roommate, but they both went to college with Jeff’s wife.” Rusty waved off the coffee when the waitress showed up with a fresh pot. “Coke, please.”
“Who happens to be Moore’s daughter who was also friends with Ashley who dated my brother for a short time.” Tabitha folded her arms across her chest in disgust.
Things were starting to sound like six degrees of separation. “Any luck on finding out who Julia really was or who the other people in the picture are?” Garret had gotten a text from Fletch, saying he hadn’t any luck with the image and Tex was in the air, on his way to Florida, so he didn’t expect to hear from him until later.
“Actually, I’m glad you asked, because I do have something on that.” Rusty pulled out a piece of paper from inside his sport coat. He spread it out over the table, turning the image toward Garret. “Tex was able to get me info before he got on his first flight. This guy, next to the woman you said was Julia. His name is Hickey Dawson. He’s a known drug dealer for Rocco Tias and he works for Moore. Or should I say worked for Moore. He’s currently in jail awaiting trial. I talked to him this morning and at first, he acted like he didn’t know anyone or anything. But as it turns out, Julia is actually Emily Dawson.”
“Wife? Sister?” Garret asked.
“Sister. I sent someone to her last known address. She’s not there. But I’m not putting an APB out yet.”
“And why not?” Garret asked with a little more venom than he had planned.
“Because of Bellen. First. He asked me not to, saying he had a reason that he couldn’t let me in on yet. I find that odd. But Bellen has been acting strangely for a few years now, and he’s twitching left and right over this last murder. I can’t put a finger on what’s up with Bellen. I’ve known him for years, and thought he was one of the good guys, but I have my doubts these days. For now, I want to keep him at arm’s length during this for more than one reason.” Rusty tapped the picture. “See this guy. That’s Jeff. You can tell by the bald spot. But this woman, that’s not his wife. That’s actually Kelly, according to Hickey who also said they were having an affair right up until Kelly died. But Hickey also said Bellen is a player and had a brief affair with Ashley as well. Hickey said he’d seen them all the time in a corner somewhere, deep in conversation and that he’d seen them a few times in a parked car talking. Hickey is a bit fishy, so don’t trust his intel yet. But I’m not liking where this is leading.”
“Holy fuck, that’s a mouthful.” Garret rubbed his temples. “So, you think Bellen is tied up in these murders?”
“I’m trying like hell not to believe that. I’m going to try skirt around Bellen, but there is only so much I can keep from him. I need to check out some of Hickey’s story. He told me that Moore had been pressuring his son-in-law to help make the criminal accusations go away, or he’d tell his daughter all about his affairs.”
“This is all starting to make sense.” Garret took a whiff of the bitter coffee. Best worst brew known to man. “But why kill off the women he was screwing and was he doing it with Sandra too?”
“Second question first.” Rusty leaned forward. “Not according to Hickey. He can’t say for sure, but he thinks she and Steve were killed more over the criminal accusations.”
“But my brother and Ashley were really close. Even after they broke up. They knew they were toxic for each other and then when they both got off the drugs, they just decided to remain friends. It worked for them,” Tabitha said, shifting and leaning closer to Garret. “My brother was pretty good with computers. He could have hidden things that I wouldn’t find, but he knew me well enough to know that I would question if something happened to him. Maybe he knew about the affairs.”
“Maybe he knew who killed Ashley,” Garret said.
“Exactly what
I’m thinking. Can you have your tech guy give me a shout tonight when he lands?” Rusty asked.
“Will do. What about interviewing Tabitha?” Garret asked. He didn’t like the idea of her sitting anywhere in a police station being questioned for something she had nothing to do with, especially when she was the victim.
“I just did. Bellen does know I’m meeting with you. For now, I’ve got no reason to continue any line of questioning. He’ll balk, but he can’t do much right now without making himself look like he’s hiding something.” Rusty tossed a five on the table. “You two stay safe. I’ll be in touch.”
“This is a bad made for TV movie,” Tabitha muttered. “My head hurts from thinking about all the moving parts.”
“Mine too.” He gave her a little nudge. “Let’s get out of here. We’ll pick up some groceries and head to the boat. We’ll be safe there.”
Garret pulled into the marina, parking next to Ace’s SUV. “Stay in the car, I’ll be right back.”
“You promised you’d—”
“Leave the window rolled down. You can hear everything. I just don’t want you putting any weight on your leg.”
“I’m such an ass.”
“No. But you’ve got a nice ass.” He winked, snagging the computer from the back of the sedan.
“So do you,” she whispered.
He did his best to keep from smiling as he approached Ace, who had rolled down the window. “You bring the goods?”
“Yeah.” Garret handed Ace the computer.
“This is my buddy, Tex.”
Garret leaned against the hood of the vehicle. The man in the passenger seat was older and looked like he’d seen his fair share of bad shit, but he had a softness in his eyes. “Nice to finally meet you.”
“I heard you were instrumental ten years ago in saving Lexi’s life.”
Garret’s cheeks heated. “Ace saved his wife. I just moved out of the way when bullets flew, letting Hunter take one for the team.”
“I like this guy,” Tex said, taking the computer and resting it on his leg. “A man has to have a sense of humor or life just sucks.”
“I have to agree on that one,” Garret said. “Tabitha thinks her brother might have hidden something on that computer.”
“I’ll find it. Don’t you worry about that.” Tex nodded, waving to Tabitha. “I think you should both know something. Bellen was interviewed a few years ago by the FBI. I haven’t been able to find out why. My sources are being very tight-lipped.”
“Can you speculate on what the FBI wanted with him?” Tabitha asked. “My brother thought maybe he helped squash the charges against his father-in-law.”
“It very well could have been about that, but what makes me wonder if something else is going on is the fact that men and women I know well, aren’t telling me. That means either they can’t because it will jeopardize an operation or one of their agents, or they don’t know.”
“But you think it’s the former.” Garret glanced between Tabitha and Tex.
“I can’t answer that. Bellen is married to the daughter of a man who has been under investigation for a few things, one being money laundering.”
“We didn’t know that,” Garret said.
“Yeah. My brother said securities fraud.”
“Well, laundering for Rocco Tias is one of the things I do know the FBI was looking into. I suspect that’s why they’ve had their sights on Bellen. The question we have to ask ourselves, is Bellen one of the good guys, or one of the bad guys.”
“My money is on the latter,” Tabitha said.
And based on everything that had happened so far, Garret had to agree. But it seemed obvious that Tex had his doubts.
And so did Ace.
That gave Garret pause.
“Give me a couple of hours with this computer and let me talk to a few more people,” Tex said.
“We’ll be in touch.” Ace gripped the gear shift, putting the truck in drive.
“Thanks, boss.” Garret stood in the parking lot, watching as Ace pulled out onto the main road.
“Your boss seems like a really good guy.”
“He’s the best.”
“How does he know Tex?” Tabitha asked, reaching her hand out, coiling her fingers around his biceps.
“Ace lived near him as a kid, and Tex helped him solve the murder of his high school sweetheart, along with everyone in her family.”
“Shit. That’s horrible.”
“It was. Not only that, but the people that killed that family, nearly killed Ace’s wife. Tex helped him find the killers and make sure they were put away for good.”
“I think I like your friends.” Tabitha pulled him toward the car. “I think I like you.”
“Feeling is mutual. Now let’s get you to the boat.”
“This isn’t a boat, it’s a fucking home that floats,” Tabitha said.
Garret laughed as he set her down on the back bench. “It’s a fifty-foot very expensive yacht, and by the way, Hunter and Claire are loaded. I mean, collectively, they have to be one of the richest couples in the state.”
“I’ve heard of her foundation, but damn. This is real leather. I’m going to be a nosy bitch; where does the money come from?”
“Both families. They were high school sweethearts and what’s really funny is that they were also step-siblings.”
“That is oddly romantic and really weird.” She fluffed a soft pillow under her knee and stared out at the Intracoastal Waterway.
“Tell me about it,” a deep voice vibrated against her ears.
She turned her head to see a handsome man with a stunning blonde with legs to die for on his arm.
“I wasn’t very happy about her being my step-sister. Took me ten years to get over it.” He helped the blonde onto the boat and stretched out his hand. “I’m Hunter. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“Thank you so much for letting me stay here. You must be Claire.” Tabitha smoothed down her shorts before tucking her hair behind her ears.
“Anything for this guy.” Claire reached up and grabbed Garret’s cheeks, shaking his head.
“You’re worse than my mother,” Garret mumbled, bending over and giving Claire a peck on the cheek. “Where are the kids?”
“Annabelle is over at her future husband’s house,” Claire said, shaking her head. “She and Jax’s son, Rusty, have had this weird thing since the day they met, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they did end up together.”
“Let’s just hope they will never be step-siblings,” Garret said, laughing, but the joke didn’t go over too well as both Claire and his crew chief gave him the evil eye. Garret shrugged. “I was kidding.”
“We know,” Claire said. “We just like giving you that look.”
“You’ve got three kids, right?” Tabitha asked, moving her leg, making room for Claire to sit next to her while Hunter leaned against the side of the boat.
“We do. The other two are over at Ace’s house. Dallas is four, and Ryder is one.” Claire smiled. She had a genuineness about her that made it hard to believe that she was as loaded as Garret made them out to be.
Then again, her ass was on the finest leather known to man.
“Are you going to have any—”
“Nope,” Hunter said, interrupting. “But when we dropped off Annabelle, Jax told us they are expecting another one.” He held up four fingers, waggling them. “He’s nuts.”
“He’s always got to outdo you, doesn’t he?” Garret smiled, glancing in her direction.
She’d met all his single co-workers at his house, and she’d seen a few of the married ones in passing. But these weren’t two men who worked together.
They were brothers in the truest sense of the word.
“We’ll gladly let him win that one.” Claire tipped her sunglasses up on top of her head. Her skin glowed in the late afternoon sky.
“Are you two all settled in?” Claire asked.
“We just got here. I’ve still
got shit in the rental.” Garret had a buddy take his truck back to his place and hang out in his house all night, just in case someone was watching. It made sense to Tabitha, and so far, they’d taken odd routes, stopping in odd places, and he didn’t believe they’d been followed.
She, on the other hand, felt like there were a million eyes on her at every turn. Every time he turned the car on, she braced herself for an explosion.
“I’ll help you unload,” Hunter said. “You two ladies sit back and relax. We men will do the heavy lifting.”
Claire waved her hand. “Go flex those muscles, babe.”
“Does everyone on his team have a wicked sense of humor?” Tabitha asked, tilting her head, watching a very tall Garret strut next to a very broad Hunter.
“Yep. And they are all freaking eye candy. Wait till you meet my boys. They both look just like their father. I’ll be beating the girls away with a stick.”
Tabitha laughed. “Isn’t it the girl you’re supposed to be overprotective with?”
“You haven’t met my Annabelle. She’s got Hunter’s stubborn streak and my tenacity. Doesn’t matter how pretty she is, it’s going to take a special man to tame that chick. Besides, we’ve really already married her off to Jax’s son, Rusty. Cutest little bugger you ever did lay eyes on. And he’s put some weird spell on Annabelle because whenever little Rusty is around, Annabelle actually behaves. It’s amazing.” Claire shifted, tucking her feet up under her butt. “I’m really sorry about your brother.”
“Thanks.”
A cool summer breeze kicked up, rippling the water. Birds flapped overhead, and a rumble of thunder rolled in from somewhere out at sea.
“You’re in good hands with Garret, and the rest of the team has his back. Not a single minute will go by that someone won’t be near. We’ve all been through some shit together. Hell, right here on this dock, Hunter took a bullet for Ace.”
“Not the kind of stories you should be telling my girlfriend right about now,” Garret said as he jumped on board. “And you weren’t even there. I was.”