"Exactly." Gabe started walking again, his pace faster now, agitated. "Which made me think—maybe Winston does believe we could be half-brothers. Maybe that's why he's so desperate to buy me off, to make sure I have no reason to stake a claim."
"Do you want to?" Bryson asked carefully. "Stake a claim if you are related?”
"No. Yes. I don't know." Gabe ran a hand through his hair. “Just the other day, between talking with Emery and my wife, I'd made peace with not caring. With letting it be whatever it was and moving on with my life. But now, Winston's acting like I'm a threat, like there's something to be threatened by, and it's fucking with my head."
They walked in silence for a moment, the only sounds their footsteps and the distant call of hawks circling overhead.
"There's more," Gabe said. "Winston gave me a warning. About Emery."
Devon went very still. "What kind of warning? Like a threat?”
"He said no one knows the full story about her past. About her father who was going to end up in prison." Gabe's voice was careful now, measured. "Said history was going to repeat itself and take the Boones down with it."
"That's ridiculous," Bryson said immediately. "Emery's father was never charged with anything. The accusations are just that—accusations.”
"I know that." Gabe stopped walking again, turning to face them, his expression tortured. "But Winston was very specific. Very certain. Like he knew something we didn't."
Devon's pulse started to race. Dread coiled in his gut. "What are you saying?"
Gabe was quiet for a long moment, clearly wrestling with something internal. "The insurance thing. The accusations against Emery's father are about accepting bribes to overlook fraudulent claims." He met Devon's eyes. "I know something about that case."
The words hung in the air like a bomb waiting to detonate.
"How?" Devon demanded.
"Because it affected my parents." Gabe's face changed. His brow furrowed, lines carving deep between his eyes. He looked down at his feet, shoulders curving inward. "My father works in insurance fraud investigation. Has for over thirty years. Two years ago, he was brought in as a consultant on a major federal case. And my mother—she got caught up in it."
"Caught up how?" Bryson's voice was sharp.
"She worked as a senior claims administrator for one of the insurance companies being investigated. Had been there for twenty-five years, worked her way up from entry-level." Gabe's hands shook. "When the feds started building their fraud case, her name came up. Her signature was on documents that turned out to be fraudulent."
Devon’s stomach dropped. "She was involved in the fraud?"
"No. She had no knowledge she was signing off on fraudulent claims. But that doesn't matter to federal prosecutors building a case." Gabe's voice cracked. "Her signature was there. Her authorization codes. On paper, she looked complicit."
"Jesus," Bryson inched out the word in a whisper.
"Can you imagine? My father gets brought in to consult on a massive fraud case, and discovers his own wife is about to be implicated as an accessory." Gabe wiped a hand over his face. "She could've faced federal charges. Prison time. All for doing her job without knowing what was really happening."
"How does Michael Tate fit into this?" Devon asked, even if part of him already knew the answer.
"Michael worked for a different insurance company, but he had connections to people caught up in the fraud. When the investigation started, his name came up, too—the feds thought he'd accepted bribes to overlook fraudulent claims." Gabe took a shaky breath. "The evidence looked damning. His signature on authorization forms, wire transfers to accounts in his name, a pattern of approving suspicious claims."
"But he didn't do it," Devon said, pieces clicking into place.
"The feds don't think so. At least, not anymore. But two years ago, when the investigation was just starting, Michael looked guilty as hell." Gabe sighed. "That's when my father really got involved. He's been working with federal prosecutors ever since, helping them build the real case against the actual perpetrators. And Michael—from what I've overheard, what I've pieced together from phone calls and documents I wasn't supposed to see—he's cooperating with the investigation, too."
“Was Micheal framed?” Bryson asked.
"Looks that way. Someone set him up to take the fall, used his credentials and access to make it look like he was the one accepting bribes and approving fraudulent claims." Gabe started pacing now, agitated energy pouring off him. "But the investigation is ongoing. Active federal case. Everyone involved—my parents, Michael, the other witnesses—they can't talk about it. One wrong word to the wrong person, and the whole case could collapse."
"So, Michael's been living under suspicion for two years," Devon said, "knowing he's innocent but unable to prove it."
"And my mother's been terrified that despite cooperating with prosecutors, she might still face charges for her unwitting involvement." Gabe's voice grew quieter. "My father's spent two years walking the line between building the case that potentially included Michael and protecting his own wife with reference to claims that bleed over. It’s complicated, and I don’t understand most of it. It’s one of many reasons I don’t want to go to them with this bullshit about these stupid pictures of my mom and David.”
The morning sun climbed higher, heat pressing down like a physical weight. Sweat trickled down Devon’s back, though whether from temperature or stress, he couldn't tell.
"How do you know all this?" Bryson asked. "If it's an active federal investigation?—"
