Page 93 of Misdirection

She took another sip of her wine. “It wasn’t my choice. My family mastered the art of suddenly up and leaving the places where we lived. We rarely stayed anywhere for more than a couple of years.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “My dad’s job.”

“I thought he worked at a bank. Did he get transferred a lot?”

“Not exactly. He didn’t always work at the bank. He hopped from job to job. Over the years, he was a salesman, a home renovation contractor, a bookkeeper. Then he became a pastor at a small congregation.”

“A pastor?” Jason’s eyebrows shot up. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“None of us were. But he found Jesus and was called into the ministry.”

The whole transformation had been a shock, all things considered. She wasn’t even aware that her dad had owned a Bible before that, and he hadn’t given any indication he’d turned into a religious man.

“That’s . . . surprising.” Jason twisted his neck and shrugged.

“It was for all of us.” She licked her lips, unsure about her next words. She never talked about this. But for some reason she felt compelled to tell Jason. “Listen, Jason . . . the truth is that about a year after we moved from Texas, my entire family was killed. Murdered.”

A wrinkle formed between his eyes, and he tilted his head. “What?”

“I sneaked out one night to go to a party, and when I returned, I found my mom, my dad . . . my sisters.” Her voice cracked as images of that terrible night filled her mind. She remembered that bloody handprint on the door molding. The sickening scent of blood. Her mom’s lifeless eyes. “They’d all been shot.”

Jason reached for her hand and squeezed it. “I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”

She nodded, her throat burning. “Me too.”

“Was their killer ever caught?”

“No.” The word came out just above a whisper. “He’s still out there a free man—as far as I know, at least.”

“That’s tough, to say the least.”

“Yes, it is.” She swirled her wine in her glass as she tried to get her thoughts under control before they completely derailed her.

“I . . . I tried to look for you. I can’t believe I didn’t see any reports about your family’s murder.”

“It was kept pretty quiet.”

He slanted his gaze. “Don’t you think that’s strange?”

“I wondered about it sometimes, but I didn’t want to deal with reporters anyway.”

Silence stretched another moment.

“What happened to you afterward?” Jason finally asked. “Where did you go?”

“One of the FBI agents on the case took me in until I graduated. He really brought the stability in my life that I needed. The two of us are still close.”

“I’m glad you had someone there for you. I can’t even imagine your loss.” He paused. “And somehow you went through all that and ended up working for an elite private investigator agency? How did your path lead you to this place?”

She let out a breath. They had a lot to catch up on. “It’s a really long story. But in a nutshell, I crossed paths with the leader of this agency. He saw potential in me, then recruited and trained me.”

Jason nodded silently as if chewing on the tidbits she’d fed him.

“Do you always work in this area?” he finally asked. “In Chicago?”

“No, the agency sends us wherever we’re needed.”

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