“That’s a good question. Maybe Steve Miller was set up to take the fall,” Rhy said thoughtfully. “Plus, accidents have a way of backfiring. Either someone sees something they shouldn’t or the accident doesn’t kill the target outright as planned.”
“But that line of thinking does lead us back to someone within the FBI being involved,” Cassidy said. “The goal may have been for the guy on the inside to make sure the investigation doesn’t get solved.”
Brady leaned against the counter, pursing his lips. “I hate thinking someone I work with is involved in this. I’ve been there for years and can’t imagine anyone stooping so low. As long as we are considering all options, though, I feel the need to point out that if my boss, Donovan, is the bad guy, he might know about Doug’s sister.”
“Maybe not,” Flynn said. “I had considered that possibility too. Doug works for the DEA, right? That’s a different division of the federal government.”
“True, but they’re all housed in our building,” Brady said. “And Donovan has access to our personal records.”
That gave him pause. He glanced at Doug, who shrugged. “Up to you. Although I don’t know of anyone else who can do the rental for us.”
Flynn didn’t know of anyone else they could use either. He’d thought briefly about asking Sienna’s new manager to assist, but the incident last month when Zeke was shot and injured was all over the news, so he decided against that. Who else? His family lived up in Green Bay, but he didn’t want to put them in danger either.
“I don’t have any reason not to trust my boss,” Brady said, breaking the long silence. “Back when my son was kidnapped, he was supportive of me and the other agents working the case. He’s never so much as taken a paper clip from the Bureau and always comes across as dedicated to upholding the law.” Brady spread his hands wide. “I wouldn’t even be going down this path except for the way you mentioned the situation with Roscoe. We’d be foolish not to admit that anything is possible.”
Flynn glanced at Taylor who had been quietly listening. “This impacts you the most, what would you like to do?”
She glanced around the room for a moment. Then sighed. “I don’t know what we should do. It would be nice to stay here, but if that’s not an option, then I think we should go along with heading to a rental property financed by Doug’s sister, Emily.” She hesitated, then added, “Honestly, if that doesn’t work, then I’m not sure what will.”
That gave them all pause. Because she was right. They really didn’t know who exactly they were dealing with. Other than a professional hit man with ties to the Russian Mafia.
Was this related to political corruption? Money laundering? Or something else completely?
There was no way to narrow things down so they could focus the investigation on a specific issue. Not without knowing who owned the house on Peabody Lake.
And what if any connection did that person have with Taylor’s cousins? Were they just friends? Colleagues?
Business partners?
No, the latter was too obvious. One guy killing off his business partners leaving him with all the assets would place him at the top of the suspect list. There had to be something else at play here.
What he wasn’t sure.
Lack of sleep and nonstop thoughts of the case were making his head hurt. He was about to ask how soon they could get out of there when Bridges’s phone rang.
“Hey, Em,” Doug said, after lifting his phone to his ear. “Did you find something for me?”
The room fell silent as Doug listened and jotted notes.
“Great, thanks. We’ll head there in an hour.” Doug slipped the phone into his pocket. “Emily found a house in Greenland, directly across the street from the park. We can check in after four p.m.”
“Good. I like the location near the park,” Flynn said.
“Once we get you and Taylor situated in the rental property, I think Brady and I should drive past the Millers’ home,” Rhy said. “I can’t lie, it bothers me that the murders happened so close to the homestead.”
“You’re not the target,” Brady said. “But I get that Brookland doesn’t see that level of criminal activity.”
A hint of movement passed by the window to Flynn’s right. For some reason, he jumped off the sofa and crossed the room, his weapon in his hand before he realized he’d drawn it.
“What’s wrong?” Rhy quickly joined him, also holding his weapon. “Is someone out there?”
Flynn stood to the side and lifted the edge of the curtain to see better. This side of the suite overlooked the parking lot. He told himself he was overreacting, and when he peered out, he didn’t see anyone.
Because he was hiding? There weren’t that many places out there to avoid being seen, except for the smattering of cars in the lot.
“I think we should get Taylor out of here,” he said. “Maybe it’s nothing, but I don’t want to take any more chances.”
“We can’t check into the rental yet,” Doug said. “But I’m fine with getting out of here. We can take the scenic route out to Greenland.”