Sierra rolled her eyes. “Just don’t sound so proud of it.”
“You better get used to it, Sis. You’re having a boy, after all, and the male genes are strong in the Byrd family. The little guy’s bound to take after his uncles.”
“I’m choosing to think he’ll take after his father.”
Hannah laughed. “I love hearing the two of you spar. I hope our kids are the same way when they get older.”
“It’s my turn.” David snapped the controller from a girl with dark hair who was about his age.
“But I wouldn’t mind it if they stopped now.” Hannah shook her head. “Blake and Gage are in his office down the hall. Please, excuse me while I referee.”
Clay passed the family room filled with toys, and Kelsey sat on the sofa looking tired. She, like the rest of the Veritas staff, worked long hours, even though she was expecting. Plus, she had such a tough job. She was isolated in the basement without windows and only had bones and her assistants to keep her company. Before meeting her, he’d thought she’d be kind of a loner, but she was outgoing and fun to be around.
In the small office, he found Gage sitting behind a large desk, Blake leaning back in a leather chair facing him.
“Clay, join us.” Gage gestured at the second leather chair. “We were talking about Toni learning she had a sister.”
Blake sat forward. “I talked to Sheriff Ziegler. He’ll be glad to see us tomorrow.” Blake shook his head. “Last case I talked to him about was related to Emory, who also discovered she had a sister, Cait. They’re twins. Separated at birth and adopted out to different families.”
“And how did that turn out?” Clay took a seat on the buttery soft leather.
“Good. She also discovered she has a grandmother. They’re all quite close now. We come down to visit often. I used to take Ziegler out for lunch a couple times a month when I lived here. We go out while Emory catches up with her sister. His health’s been failing. He doesn’t talk about it, but I get the idea he doesn’t have much time left. He let the job consume his life and doesn’t have family.”
“I’ve seen that happen too much on the job,” Clay said.
Blake gave a solemn nod. “Anyway, we’ll talk to him tomorrow. Provided I bring his favorite apple fritters.”
“Small price to pay.”
“And speaking of paying a price,” Clay said. “Drake is making dinner for us so we should get going.”
“Before you go.” Gage’s serious tone wiped away Clay’s good mood. “When Blake told me about Toni, I had Eryn do a little digging for you.”
“She’s their computer expert,” Blake said. “Nick’s the only person I know as capable as Eryn.”
Clay should be irritated with Gage. He had no business asking anyone to dig around, but if it meant finding Hibbard, Clay would accept the help. “And what did she turn up that has you looking so serious?”
“It’s about Toni’s granduncle. Andrew Martin.”
“If you’re going to tell me her dad killed him, we already know that.”
“News to me,” Blake said. “When did this happen and where?”
“Nineteen-ninety,” Clay said. “In Arlington, Virginia, where Long was stationed with the DEA.”
“Ziegler must not know about that,” Blake said. “At least, he never mentioned it.”
“Probably didn’t make the news out here,” Clay said. “But we can ask Ziegler about it.”
Gage tapped a packet of stapled papers on his desktop. “Have you seen Martin’s rap sheet?”
“No,” Clay said. “But it wouldn’t surprise me if he had one.”
“He does.” Gage slid the report across the desk to Clay. “Was arrested for having sex with an underage girl. And when I say underage, I mean ten.”
Blake muttered something under his breath and leaned forward. “This is news to me too. Where did it happen?”
“Virginia.”
“Did Martin move out there with Long and his wife?” Blake asked.
“Not sure on the details. Eryn’s still digging.”
Clay curled his fingers into tight balls. “Was Martin convicted?”
“No. He got off on a technicality. But the day the verdict came in was the day Toni’s dad shot him.”
Clay looked at Blake. “Maybe he thought Martin abducted Lisa.”
Blake’s eyes narrowed. “Seems like it.”
Clay didn’t like where this was heading, but he needed facts. “Any way you can get us the investigation file for his arrest?”
“Since it’s such an old investigation, I might have some luck there,” Blake said. “I’ll start on it first thing in the morning.”
Clay picked up the report and stood, his gut clenching. Toni had barely recovered from her shock of finding a sister and living grandparents, and then learning her dad had killed her mom’s uncle. Now Clay had to tell her that her uncle was a pedophile. This might be the very thing that would bring her to her knees.
Toni kept busy while Clay was gone by working on her ancestry page. She’d searched for and added Andrew Martin and her grandparents, but their addition didn’t reveal any other living relatives. With nothing else to add, she’d made a cup of tea and sat at the kitchen counter watching Drake prepare dinner.
The other guys had turned on college football in the living room, and the Oregon Ducks were leading, putting them all in a good mood. Toni was enjoying her talk with Drake, even if she shared his attention with the TV. She was learning he was the devil’s advocate of the family, pointing out all the possible downsides. Sometimes he came across as rude, but he also had this extremely intense look as if he was trying to work things out to his satisfaction. He clearly was a deep thinker, and his love for his brothers was obvious too.
He looked up from the cutting board where he was slicing tomatoes for the burgers he’d placed on the grill. “Must be freaky finding out you have a sister.”
She picked at the wheat cracker she’d taken from the tray of cheese and crackers before his brothers consumed the rest. “Especially not knowing if she’s alive.”
“Yeah, that’s rough,” he said as if he had experience with something similar. “I was a deputy for the Marshal Service—fugitive apprehension, not WITSEC—but I still saw families in crisis. Some of them had lived a life of crime and deserved the situation they found themselves in. Others were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
He poked the tip of the knife into the cutting board and stared over her shoulder. “When I worked the WITSEC rotation in training there was this one family I tried to help. I’ll never forget them.”
“What happened?” she asked, totally captivated now.
He didn’t speak for the longest time, the pain of the event racing through his expression.
“The mother witnessed a gang shooting,” he finally said, his tone radiating apprehension. “Decided to testify. She had three kids under five. The dad refused to go into protection and wouldn’t let her take the kids. She begged him. He refused. We talked to him several times. He said if she just kept quiet, everything would be okay. But she had to follow her beliefs and testify. After doing the right thing, she had to decide between staying with her family and her life. She said she could never leave her children. She had to know they were okay. She chose her family.”
He took a long breath and let it out, his wide chest heaving with the exertion. “Not even a week passed before we were called out to their apartment. All five of them had been gunned down.”
“Oh, Drake, that must’ve been horrible.”
“The mom and kids were believers, so I knew they were in a better place. She sort of got what she wanted. No uncertainty. No wondering if her kids were fine. She knew where they were.” He looked at Toni. “So I get what you’re going through. The wondering, that is, and I’m praying for you. We all are.”
“Thank you.” She squeezed his hand.
He blushed as red as the tomatoes on the cutting board and shrugged it off t
o start slicing again as if he hadn’t just shared a painful memory.
The door opened, and Toni heard laughter.
Still, she reached for her gun as she swiveled. Sierra and Kelsey—Toni assumed based on the state of her pregnancy—and then Blake entered in front of Clay.
“We’ll put the bags in the bedroom,” Clay said, looking upset about something, and he and Blake headed down the hall with the luggage.
Sierra and Kelsey came over, and Sierra introduced them.
“Congratulations on the baby.” Toni smiled.
“Thank you.” Kelsey rested her hands on her belly and looked at Drake. “And this kid is ready for dinner. Something smells wonderful.”
“That would be my mom’s famous mac and cheese. She sent along two big casserole dishes.” Drake grabbed an empty platter from the counter. “I’ll get the burgers from the grill, and we can eat.”
“A man after my own heart.” Kelsey slid onto a stool. “If it wasn’t already taken, that is.”
“Does anyone mind if I set the table?” Toni asked to do something to settle her nerves.
“Mind?” Sierra gaped at her for a moment. “I know I’m speaking for the big lugs sitting like couch potatoes in front of the TV, but we’d be thrilled. Plates are in the right top cabinets. Glasses left. You can put the plates on the counter by the burger fixings.”
Toni busied herself with the dishes while Sierra and Kelsey talked about an investigation they were working together. They didn’t give any details, but Toni still caught that it was a particularly brutal murder case.
Clay joined them, his expression serious and leaning toward angry. “Way to go. Make the guest do all the work.”
“She asked to do it,” Erik called out.
“I did.” Toni grabbed silverware from the drawer. “But if it will make you feel better, you can set these out.”
He looked conflicted about remaining irritated with his siblings, but he took the utensils from her hands, their fingers touching and their eyes locking for a long moment.
“So-o-o-o,” Sierra said and swiveled on the stool. “Are you dating anyone, Toni?”
“Um…” She wasn’t sure if she wanted to reply.
“You don’t have to answer.” Clay fired his sister a testy look. “Sierra’s just trying to meddle.”
“In her defense,” Aiden said. “She comes by it naturally.”
“Yeah, she’s a mini-Mom.” Erik laughed, and the others joined in.
“Not a bad thing to be.” Clay hugged Sierra’s shoulders, but his troubled expression didn’t go away. “If you like being pushy.”
She swatted at him, and he dodged her hand.
Blake came down the hall, and Drake entered with the burgers. The savory smell filled the house, and the guys were on their feet in a flash.
Drake set the burgers down and held up his hand. “Give our guests a chance to get their burgers first.”
“I’m not shy.” Kelsey went to wash her hands at the sink then grabbed a bun and slapped it on a plate.
Brendan helped Sierra to her feet.
“I should say thanks,” she said, “but I know you’re only getting me moving so you can get to your food faster.”
He grinned at her, and Toni saw the resemblance to Clay, though Clay’s mouth was turned down in a frown.
Drake set two casserole dishes brimming with golden cheese on trivets, and Toni’s mouth watered. Mac and cheese was her favorite comfort food, and she needed a whole lot of comforting at the moment. Not only from the food, but she found herself wanting to step across the space and slide into Clay’s arms. Her nervousness had somehow evaporated, and she had an odd feeling of belonging here. Maybe it was because everyone was joking around and making things lighthearted. Like good friends gathering for dinner. Not a group of people on the hunt for a murderer or missing girls.
Erik moved closer to the counter. “I didn’t know Mom sent mac and cheese.”
“You better go next, Toni,” Clay said. “Or there won’t be any food left.”
Drake added a large bowl of steamed broccoli to the counter. That combined with the casserole urged her to move. She washed up, fixed her plate, and sat across from Blake, Sierra, and Kelsey. Clay somehow managed to beat his brothers to the food and set his plate next to Toni’s. He grabbed a pitcher of water and started pouring for everyone.
The brothers might joke around, but their mother clearly taught them proper manners. Whether they chose to use them was another matter. She smiled up at Clay, but he either didn’t see it or he didn’t want to see it. He seemed to be looking for things to fuel his bad mood.
When everyone was seated, Sierra offered a prayer, and they dug into the food.
“Yum,” Kelsey said. “The baby and I both agree this is the best macaroni and cheese ever.”
“I can get you the recipe if you want,” Sierra said.
“Sure. Reed will love to make it for me.” Kelsey laughed then looked at Clay as she held up another fork filled with the gooey cheesy mac. “So what time do we start tomorrow?”
“I’d like to get going as soon as it’s light.” Clay settled in his chair. “We can drop you off. Drake will stay with you.”
Kelsey stopped chewing and swallowed. “You think I need a chaperone?”
Clay frowned at his empty fork, gleaming in the light from the chandelier above. “After finding two bodies in as many days, I think anything’s possible, and we should take care.”
“Besides,” Drake said as he took a seat at the head of the table. “You’ll be glad for my exceptional company.”
Sierra rolled her eyes. “Kelsey will be far too focused on her work to know you’re there.”
“Even more of a reason for him to be there.” Clay attacked his broccoli as if he were mad at it too.
Toni had turned to ask what was going on with him when Blake asked, “What do you want me to do while you’re searching the beach house?”
“Would be good if you met with Trent. Maybe find out what’s happening in the investigation.”
Blake picked up his thick burger dripping with ketchup. “I’ll be glad to stop by his office, but don’t count on me getting any info from him.”
“Maybe Lorraine is a better bet, and she’ll share something.”
Blake sighed. “She’s the best assistant I ever had, but she was always the weakest link in our information chain. She’d never share anything with the press or the public, but if she likes you, she might give out more information than she should.”
“Well, then.” Clay looked at Blake. “Does she like you?”
Blake laughed and bit into his burger.
“Actually, I was serious,” Clay said, burger in hand. “You can be kind of tough. Didn’t know what she thought of you.”
Blake swallowed his bite. “We got along fine. I’ll be glad to ask what she knows, but I won’t pump her for any info she’s not comfortable sharing.”
“Fair enough,” Clay admitted reluctantly. “So Sierra, tell me you were able to talk to the techs about the twine.”
“How about asking nicely instead of demanding?”
“Sorry. Were you able to talk to them?”
She nodded. “They’ll try to get permission to send the samples to our lab for comparison.”
“The FBI might not approve,” Clay said, sounding down and raising Toni’s concerns even more. Something was going on with him, and he wasn’t telling her or anyone else what it was.
He looked at Toni. “Do you think it would help if you were to give someone a call at your office?”
“I’ll try.” She doubted it would help, but she didn’t want to add to Clay’s obvious frustrations.
Clay nodded, but he picked at his macaroni and cheese. She’d never seen him pick at his food in all the time she’d known him.
“What’s with you, bro?” Drake asked. “You’re rarely this cranky. Something happen?”
“Let’s just finish eating and get to work on reviewing tho
se old records.” Clay bit into his burger and chewed as if he were eating a tough piece of steak.
So she wasn’t the only one noticing something was off. Others besides Drake probably noticed too, but he was the only one blunt enough to mention it.
Everyone turned their attention to their meal, and the mood put a dark cloud over the table. Even a plate of gooey chocolate chip cookies from their mother didn’t improve things. When they’d finished clearing the table and everyone had disbursed, she took Clay aside.
She met his gaze, and when he wanted to look away, she held on. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Without a word, he reached for her hand and led her down the hallway to the bedroom at the end, where he closed the door behind them. He picked up a report lying on the bed. “I don’t want to have to tell you this, but Gage’s IT person uncovered something.”
He handed her an arrest record, and she saw her granduncle’s name at the top of the page. She skimmed the information, her focus landing on the words sexual assault of a minor. Her breath whooshed out, and her knees weakened. She dropped onto the bed.
Thoughts rolled through her brain like the surf crashing on the beach outside, and the food she’d just consumed threatened to come up. The room seemed airless. She gasped for breath. Struggled.
She tossed down the report and jerked open the patio door leading to the big deck that ran the length of the house. A soft mist was falling, and she lifted her face to let the moisture cool her skin.
“Come on, honey,” Clay said from behind her. “It’s cold out here, and you’ll get wet.”
“I can’t breathe in there.”
“You’ve had more than your share of shocks today, but things will start to look up tomorrow. We’re sure to find some leads and move forward.”
“But that won’t change the personal things, will it.” She spun on him. “After seeing my granduncle’s arrest record, I have to wonder if he took my sister and…” She shook her head hard, and her damp hair clung to her face.
Clay gently brushed it aside. “We don’t know what happened.”
“But it seems likely, right, and that’s why you were in such a bad mood during dinner?”
He looked her in the eye, and she waited for him to deny it. For him to say her grandmother’s brother didn’t hurt Lisa, but he didn’t.
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