“So this dude waited for you to come out.”
“Are we sure that dude was the shooter?” I demanded.
“According to eyewitnesses, yes.” He nodded shortly. “Folks heard the shot, saw Ms. Maxwell fall. A moment later, the truck drove from the lot at a high rate of speed. It skidded on the snow, nearly hit a fire hydrant, then drove east.”
An odd silence fell as Jenkins looked at Jacy. “Who wants you dead, Jacy?”
“Hey, maybe the guy wanted to shoot me, not Jacy,” I protested.
“What do you do for a living, Avery?”
“I’m a stockbroker.”
He smiled. “I doubt the dude wanted you dead.” He heaved a deep breath. “I’ve looked into Jacy’s background alittle. You know, snooped. You weren’t born Jacy Maxwell, were you?”
My jaw tightened as Jacy slowly shook her head.
“I’m Jacy Andoni.”
Jenkins eyed Declan. “You lost your father recently, isn’t that right? A certain individual who, shall we say, skated on the far side of the law?”
“That’s right.”
“Wait a second,” I snapped. “Are you accusing her of something, Jenkins?”
“I’m accusing her of being related to a gangster,” he answered calmly. “I saw nothing that indicated Jacy has done anything illegal.”
“So where are you going with this?”
Jenkins lifted a brow. “Jacy? Who wants to see you harmed?”
She didn’t look at him, but at me. She smiled sadly.
“My brother.”
Chapter Nineteen
Jacy
I hurt. Never in my life have I hurt this bad. I craved to thumb the morphine drip and drift along the tide of the narcotic until I no longer cared about the pain. I needed a clear head, however. At long last, I needed to share what had transpired all those long months ago when I fled Carter’s wrath.
Avery put Declan into the willing care of a nurse, then held my hand as I started to talk.
“Carter is my older brother,” I said, taking small sips from the ginger ale, the nurse brought me. “He and my father hated one another. Always. Carter was involved in my father’s gang – running drugs and guns from Mexico – but he wanted the whole enchilada for himself.”
“Is that why he killed your dad?” Jenkins asked.
I nodded. “You knew this?”
“I guessed by the course of your story,” he replied. “I read the reports, naturally, but there wasn’t enough evidence left at the scene to point any fingers.”
“I saw it happen.”
Avery gripped my hand. “This can wait, baby. Until you’re stronger.”
“No. It’s gone too far. I have to get it out.” I met Jenkins’s eyes. “I lived with my dad. I knew what he did, it wasn’t a secret.But I didn’t want any part of it. I’d planned to move out, find a job, leave both of them behind.”
“What was your relationship with your father like?”
