Page 25 of Fractured Memories

Kurtis hesitated, then flew past Noah and Felicity toward the chief’s office. His anger was like a hurricane sucking the air from the room. Noah registered every set of eyeballs on him and Felicity. He turned to face her and concern shot through him. She was ghost pale.

Taking her arm gently, he steered her toward the hallway leading to the conference room. Once they were away from prying eyes, he stopped. “Melanie’s kidnapping was not your fault, Fee. The judge is upset and needs someone to blame?—”

“I know, but that doesn’t make this any easier.” Frustration laced her voice. Felicity raised a hand to rub her forehead. “I keep thinking about the night Brooke died, trying to bring up any memory that would unlock this case, but I can’t. I don’t understand why I can’t recall what happened.”

“Hey.” Noah cupped her shoulder, wanting to comfort her in any way possible. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You were a frightened fifteen-year-old kid. Brooke’s murder was traumatizing. I don’t blame you one bit for blocking it out.”

She dropped her hand. “Has there been any wordabout the shirt recovered from Jeremy? Was it Brooke’s blood?”

“We’re still waiting on the DNA. Tucker went to interview Jeremy yesterday but didn’t find him.” Noah was worried about the homeless man, but had bigger problems on his plate at the moment. “His tent was there, as was all his stuff, but no one at the camp has seen him since the day we visited. It’s possible he’s on a bender. Wouldn’t be the first time. Jeremy’s been known to disappear for days at a time.”

“Makes it hard to interview him.” Felicity dropped her hand. “Maybe it doesn’t matter. Jeremy’s an unreliable witness. Come on. Let’s see what the team has uncovered about Daniel. Right now, he’s our number one suspect.”

EIGHTEEN

“I’ve combed through Daniel’s financials, and he’s got multiple accounts in his name, along with expenses that can’t be explained through normal channels.” Detective Jax Taylor turned his laptop screen around for Felicity. His dark hair was cropped close on the sides, but left longer on the top. A scar cut through the edge of his left eyebrow, giving him a rakish look that couldn’t be undone by his clean shaven jawline. He looked like a cop who’d be more at home working undercover. “Daniel owns his home, drives a brand-new truck, and is making child support payments to his ex-wife. All of that combined is more than he makes as a sanitation worker.”

“Could he have inherited money?” Felicity’s vision blurred slightly as she scanned the reports on the laptop. The headache that’d been plaguing her since the attack was slowly abating, but exhaustion sucked the last reserves of her energy. She blinked to clear her vision.Beside her, Noah frowned. No doubt he’d noticed her struggle to focus.

He gently pushed his untouched cup of coffee in her direction. Always the caregiver. She smiled gratefully before taking a long sip. The warmth spread through her.

“Daniel inherited some money when Brooke died, but that still doesn’t explain all of his finances.” Jax frowned. “In my opinion, Melanie was probably telling the truth. Daniel is involved in selling drugs.”

“Would a guy making thousands selling drugs keep working at a sanitation company?” Felicity frowned. “It doesn’t add up.”

Jax shrugged. “You’d be surprised. Daniel may not want to draw attention to his side income, since the court would go through his finances for child support purposes.” He pushed a printout across the table. “I also discovered a connection between Daniel and Gene. They spent a few days in county jail together. Roommates.”

“That explains Gene’s involvement.”

“I’m working on getting a warrant right now to search Daniel’s residence and property,” Grady said from the other side of the conference table. The Texas Ranger typed furiously on the computer in front of him. His cowboy hat rested on the seat of a nearby chair and his blazer was thrown over the back. “The judge promised to look at it right away.”

Felicity rose from her own chair, still holding on to the coffee, and started pacing the room. “Assuming Daniel killed his sister to keep her from turning him into the police for drug trafficking, which I’mwilling to believe, there are still parts of this case that don’t make sense. Why would Daniel kidnap Melanie? If he wanted to keep her from telling us about his drug business, wouldn’t it make more sense to shoot her?”

“We can’t assume Daniel is making the decisions. Maybe he’s not.” Noah leaned back in his chair. “Both Gene and Daniel probably work for Triple 6. The leader of the organization may have ordered Melanie to be kidnapped.”

“But why?” Felicity blew out a breath. “Most criminal organizations steer clear of drawing law enforcement’s attention. So far, they’ve attacked a Texas Ranger, shot at two law enforcement officers, bombed a bank, and kidnapped a judge’s wife.” She gestured to the packed bullpen behind the glass window of the conference room. “Multiple agencies are now working this case, searching for everyone potentially associated with Triple 6. That should be the last thing the leader wants.”

The room was silent for a long time. Then Noah arched his brows. “Unless the leader is cleaning house.”

Felicity paused midstep and turned to face him. “What do you mean?”

“The heat has been increasing on Triple 6 for a while. The Texas Rangers have been running an investigation into their organization. Even our small department has been chipping away at locating their drug hideouts. So far, only low-level individuals have been caught. Maybe this investigation into Brooke’s murder spooked the leader, and he finally decided to get out of the business. Startfresh.”

His theory made a lot of sense. Felicity’s mind raced. “Melanie knows more than she told us at her office.”

Noah nodded. “It would explain why she was kidnapped.”

“The leader of Triple 6 needs her for something.” Felicity spun toward Jax. “Can you dig into Ferguson's finances more? As the owner of a bank, Melanie would be a lot more adept at hiding illegal income.” She inhaled sharply. “We also need a warrant to look through the bank’s records. Triple 6 could be laundering money through the Knoxville Bank with Melanie’s help.”

Jax frowned. “Obtaining a warrant to search through the bank’s records will be difficult unless we find solid proof there’s a connection to Triple 6.”

Frustration bubbled inside Felicity. They were so close, but theories weren’t enough. They needed evidence. “Start with Daniel’s bank account. Track where the payments or deposits come from and then see if there are any matching accounts funneling money to Melanie.”

He turned his laptop around to face him and began typing quickly. “On it.”

Grady, who’d been talking in a low voice on his cell phone, hung up. He stood and grabbed his cowboy hat. “The warrant came through. Let’s roll. I’ll call Tucker on the way and have him meet us there.”

Felicity downed the last of the coffee and tossed the cup into the trash on her way out of the conference room. Noah drove with his turret lights flashing, but without the siren. Within fifteen minutes, they were pullingonto Daniel’s street. Every blind in his house was shut and the garage door was closed. Dark clouds hovered in the distance as an approaching storm blew toward them. Humidity threatened to wilt the last of Felicity’s energy as she strapped on a bulletproof vest.

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