Page 126 of Unseen Danger

“Worse than that, I’m afraid. He attacked a rapper who dismissed him from a small hip-hop group. He used a knife.”

“Wait.” Nevaeh tried to push through the disbelief slowing her brain. “He attacked someone with a knife? And he was in a hip-hop group?”

“He was the rapper’s hype man until he was dismissed.”

Nevaeh’s mouth fell open. She tried to picture Peter as a hype man. She shook her head at the goofy mental image of the little guy with glasses and mousy demeanor on stage trying to jack up a crowd. No way.

“We’ll inform the police of what we discovered.”

“What about Bartie Boy up there?” Nevaeh shot a glance at the high-rise. “It can’t be coincidental that we were shot at as we left his place. And the guy moved way up my list with our little chat. He’s hiding something.”

“Quite possibly.” Phoenix met Nevaeh’s gaze with her steady blue eyes. “But Peter could have overheard where you were going next.”

Nevaeh thought back to what they’d said before leaving D-Chop’s house. Peter could’ve heard if he’d lingered outside the dining room out of sight.

“We’ll continue to look into Cox, but Peter’s record points to him as the most likely suspect for D-Chop’s extortionist. Perhaps they have a history we aren’t aware of, or he carries generalized resentment for rappers.”

Nevaeh nodded. “But it’s not enough to arrest him.”

“Sadly, no.” Cora pressed her lips together.

“If we could tie him to this shooting, we could nail him.” Nevaeh glanced toward the cops. “Have they found any evidence?”

“Not that they’ve told us. I’m going to access the footage from the nearby security cameras and hope we can see the shooter.” Good ol’ Cora. Her skills always came in handy.

“Dagian tracked the shooter’s trail to Baird.” Phoenix put her hand on Dag’s head as he stood patiently next to her.

Baird was the cross street at the intersection two blocks up.

“He or she appears to have taken a parked vehicle from there.”

“That’s a lot of cameras to avoid on a stretch that long.”

“Exactly.” A small smile curved Cora’s lips. “I’m praying he made a mistake, and we can find the evidence we need to arrest him.”

She could pray until she was blue in the face, but Nevaeh wouldn’t hold her breath for a gift to drop from heaven. She’d put her money on Branson and the PK-9 team to crack this case and end the threat to D-Chop.

She just hoped it was soon. Before anyone got hurt. Especially the tall, strong man who held her heart.

Thirty-Five

“Isn’t it a little late for you to be up?”

Branson smiled at his dad’s words—exactly what he’d say when Branson passed his study too late at night as a teenager. “Keeping a curfew for me?”

His dad chuckled, but the sound disintegrated into a cough.

“Are you okay?”

Another few coughs, each one cinching Branson’s chest. Was the cough a sign of something bad? The cancer?

“Yes, I’m fine. I just know you’re usually early to bed and early to rise.”

Branson dropped to sit on the side of his bed. “And are you still late to bed and early to rise?”

Princess jumped up next to him and rubbed her soft little head against his hand.

“I suppose I am.” His dad’s tone of voice signaled he wore the gentle smile Branson could easily picture. “But you didn’t call me to talk about the hours I keep, did you?”

---