Page 54 of Flynn

“I don’t know Lyle and Jake at all.” Her tone was testy. “I knew them as kids, Flynn. Not adults. I can’t tell you their favorite colors or anything else that they were involved in. Other than airplanes,” she added thoughtfully. “I seem to remember Lyle and Jake had several model airplanes in their bedroom.”

Airplanes sounded like something a kid would find fascinating, but a hobby that could be left behind as an adult. He tried to come at her family from another angle. “When’s the last time you saw their dad, your mom’s brother?”

She sighed. “Probably a few years ago over Christmas. We honestly don’t get together as often now that most of us are grown and gone.”

That made sense, considering her younger sister and brother were on opposite ends of the country. “Your siblings are the youngest of your cousins?”

“Yes.” With a frown, she said, “I don’t like thinking my family is involved in this. It makes me feel like I’m a suspect too.”

“You’re not a suspect, you’re a witness.” He attempted a smile. “Try to remember you’re the innocent one in all of this. Even if your cousins are involved, that doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

“Easy for you to say.” She wrinkled her nose. “It’s not your family that’s suspected of being involved in something illegal enough to kill over.”

“Taylor, several members of the tactical team have discovered their family members were involved in crimes. Most recently, Roscoe’s wife, Libby, was on the run from the cartel, and it turned out her father was involved. He ended up being shot and killed by Roscoe.”

Her face paled. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. It was bad. But Libby and Roscoe are happily married now and have a baby. Everything worked out for them, and they’ll work out for you too. Some people don’t have the same moral code, or they’re too easily swayed by the lure of easy money.”

“Okay, okay.” She threw up her hands and tipped her head back against the sofa cushion. “I get your point. I shouldn’t feel responsible for my cousin’s actions.”

“Exactly.” He resisted the urge to cross over to comfort her. “Everybody makes their own choices about how to live their lives.”

“And you decided to become a cop.” She pinned him with a serious gaze. “I can’t imagine putting myself in harm’s way each day.”

He shook his head. “You can’t think of it like that. There are plenty of times we’re able to diffuse a situation before it spirals out of control. I don’t think about the danger unless we’re called to the scene of a shooting, which thankfully isn’t a daily event. I focus on the people I’m sworn to protect and serve.”

She looked as if she wanted to say something, but his disposable phone rang interrupting the moment. Grateful for the distraction, he rose to his feet and moved into the kitchen. “Hey, Gabe, I thought you’d be home by now.”

“I’m leaving here soon, but I stumbled across something interesting,” Gabe said. “I found a second property owned by Investments, Inc. And it’s a doozy. I’m not sure why we didn’t find this before.”

“What do you mean? What does the company own?”

“The bank itself,” Gabe said with a hint of triumph in his voice. “The Brookland Bank property, the entire building, is fully owned by Investments, Inc. The corporation rents the space out to the bank.”

“No way. Why haven’t the feds found this connection?” he asked.

“Not sure, although I was about to reach out to Rhy next. I figure he can pass the intel along to his brother Brady and Ian, their tech expert.”

“Yeah, okay. You may want to call Brady directly, though. Rhy went home because his wife and daughter are sick.”

“I heard, you know how overprotective Rhy can be,” Gabe said. “Devon is seven months pregnant, and he’s worried about her. But there’s one more thing I discovered. The Brookland Bank isn’t the only company renting space. The entire top floor of the building houses another company. An investment firm called Financial Plus.”

“Financial Plus? What does that mean?” Flynn asked.

“I don’t know, but the first thing that popped into my mind was money laundering,” Gabe said. “I’m no expert, but it’s possible money is flowing from Financial Plus from allegedly people investing their money with them to the bank. Dirty money that is being siphoned through the bank to become clean.”

“Good work, Gabe,” he said, meaning it. “That is something that Brady, Doug, and Rhy need to know.”

“I’ll call Rhy next, then Brady if he doesn’t answer,” Gabe promised. “Later.”

Flynn ended the call, his thoughts whirling. Money laundering appeared to be the motive behind the murders. But they were no closer to finding the person behind the company.

And he was once again suspicious of how well the feds were or weren’t running the banking end of the investigation.

ChapterThirteen

“What was that about?” Taylor eyed Flynn curiously after he ended his call.

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