Page 19 of My Temptation

“Probably know as much as I do.”

“I doubt that, considering how long you’ve been here.”

“Fair enough,” he agreed. “What do you want to know?”

“How did this all start?” I asked. “I mean, I know that Beth Sullivan’s brother was Danny Sullivan and he was killed during an FBI raid.”

“That’s true.” Ethan nodded.

“So how was Elite involved in that?”

“Cam Dimarco,” he replied, continuing when I gestured to tell me more. “Cam used to be in the FBI and worked on the Daniel Sullivan case with Nick. After two years, the FBI shut down the investigation because they weren’t making any headway, but Cam wasn’t ready to give up. He left the FBI and came to Elite, asking them to take on the case.”

“And they did? Just like that?”

Ethan grinned. “You don’t know the Dimarcos very well yet, but you’ll soon find out they’ll do just about anything for each other. They’ll fight with each other the whole fucking time, but they’ll do it in the end.”

I laughed. “I’ve seen some of that since I started.” I rolled the water bottle between my hands. “Here’s what I don’t get, though. How were they able to get close to Beth? From everything I’ve heard, she was isolated in Daniel Sullivan’s house. She didn’t go out and didn’t have friends. She’s told me that much herself.”

“Ahh, that’s a long-ass story.”

“Try to shorten it to fifty words or less.”

He chuckled. “Okay, here goes. Cam had a lead in the FBI that Danny’s ex-girlfriend, Sydney, knew a ton of shit about his operations, so he got close to her.”

“How close?”

“Close enough that she found out who he was. Somehow, and no before you ask, I don’t know all the details”—I grinned, wondering how Ethan knew me well enough to know what I was about to ask—“but Sydney ended up back in Daniel’s house and had a chance to talk to Beth alone. She promised her safety if she could email them any information to help take Daniel down, and eventually, Beth did.”

“How did Daniel die?”

Ethan’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Sniper. They never found out who did it, but while Cam and Nick led him out of his house, someone shot him in the head from behind.”

“Wow. I’d heard he was shot, but I figured it was some kind of standoff with the FBI.” I wasn’t surprised Nick and Cam hadn’t been able to drop the case when the FBI shut it down. I knew from experience that after years of hard work, walking away without a real ending was hard to do. “I’m a little surprised Elite wanted to get involved, considering they’d have to deal with the government when they found new information.”

“That new information forced the FBI to open the case again which led to the raid. It’s a good thing Elite was willing to take the case. Otherwise, I’m not sure Beth would’ve gotten away from Sullivan, at least according to Brody.”

“How did Striker get assigned to Beth? He doesn’t seem like the bodyguard type.”

“They didn’t have a lot of guys back then. They were still starting out, so I think it was more out of necessity. Plus, Brody said it was obvious that Beth felt safe with him. From what I heard, she barely left her apartment until a few months ago.”

“That’s true. I hate that she found her strength just in time for Daniel’s right-hand man, Max Skinner, to be released from prison.”

“Yeah.” Ethan frowned.

“And attempt to poison her.”

“You really think it was him?” Ethan asked.

“I think it’s too much of a coincidence that nothing happened while he was in prison, and within a month of his release, she had a pizza delivered to her apartment with arsenic on it.”

“I agree. Brody said almost the same thing to me, but they don’t want Striker to react more than he already has, so they’re downplaying it.”

“It won’t work. You should’ve seen Striker at the hospital. He’s confident Max Skinner is involved, and I agree, but I think he has a partner.”

“Brody said that too.”

“It’s obvious, considering Striker’s been tailing him, and we have eyes all over this damn town, but we rarely see him.”

---