Climbing out from under the house, he saw her inquisitive expression turn to horror as he stood holding the duffel bag.As the color drained from her face, a realization hit him like a punch to the gut—she knew about the money.“Is there something you would like to tell me, Maura?I take it you know about this bag of money.What the fuck is going on?”
“I’ll tell you what’s going on.”All eyes turned to where Brian Malone came around from the side of the house onto the patio.He crossed his arms over his broad chest and glared at Maura with laser-light precision, full of intimidation.“She’s wanted for questioning in the murder of her mother, sister, and five-year-old nephew.”
“No!”
She yelled at the same time KC and Dan’s wide eyes whipped back to her, and the men let out a “what?”in unison.
They all began talking at once until Dan put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly to get the others’ attention.“Hold it!Everyone calm the hell down!There’s obviously a story behind this whole mess.”Staring at Maura, his gaze softened—it was evident the man didn’t believe he’d let a murderer rent his house.“Maura, did you kill your family?”
He haltingly put up his hand when Brian opened his mouth to interrupt.
“No!Absolutely not!L-Leo did!”She sobbed the words out through her tears.
Confused was a drastic understatement to what KC was feeling right now.“Leo?Your ex-boyfriend?”
“He wasn’t my boyfriend.He was my sister’s boyfriend.”
Sighing heavily, he gestured to the seating around the fire pit.“You’ve lost me.Sit down and tell us what the fuck is going on.”
Maura, Dan, and KC took seats while Brian stood behind his uncle, still glaring at Maura as if he was ready to haul her off to jail, no questions asked.Jinx lay at her feet and, at the moment, was the only one who appeared to be entirely on her side, even though Dan seemed to be more than halfway there.KC dropped the duffel at his feet, then leaned forward, setting his elbows on his knees.He glanced up at his brother.“First things first.Where’d you get this information?”
“Yesterday morning, when you introduced us, I noticed she got pale and scared when you told her I worked for the SBI.You obviously didn’t notice.My radar went up.When I went inside for the coffee, I saw her purse and looked at her license, which states her name is Moriah Jensen, from Chicago.I went to the station after I left here to run her name but ended up working a road rage turned armed robbery.I was so busy I forgot to run her through the system, so I swung by the station this morning, and lo and behold, I got a hit.Four months ago, her family was shot to death, and she disappeared off the face of the Earth.She hasn’t been named an official suspect yet but is listed as a person of interest.”
Turning back to Maura, KC tried to ignore the tears welling up in her eyes.Anger replaced his shock, and it took everything in him not to go ballistic on her.“What happened?”
She swallowed twice and tried to regain her composure.Wringing her hands together, she stared at the empty fire pit and told them about the nightmare she had been living in for the past few months.“My nameisMoriah Jensen.I lived in a three-bedroom-apartment with my mom and younger sister.It wasn’t in the greatest part of town, but it was the best we could do after my father took off for good.Susan, my sister, was always hanging out with a bad crowd and getting in trouble, but when she became pregnant, she changed.She stopped seeing those assholes and took care of herself.
“When Nicholas was born, Mom and I helped as much as possible.Susan found a waitressing job and was going back to school for her G.E.D.Things were going well for all of us.Nicholas was a beautiful baby, and Susan really loved him.We all did.
“Then, about six months ago, I noticed the signs that Susan was using drugs again.I discovered she was dating this local drug dealer, Leo Simmons.I was furious and told her I would call Child Protective Services and have Nicholas taken away from her.I don’t think I could have done it, but I wanted her to believe I would file a report.Anyway, she promised me she would stop seeing him.
“The day they were ...were killed ...”
She paused, took a deep shuddering breath, and released it slowly as the men waited in silent impatience.“That morning, I went into Susan’s room to find a pair of shoes she’d borrowed from me.Instead, I found that duffel.”She pointed at the bag now sitting on by KC’s feet.“Inside were the money and the gun.”
She shook her head.“I-I was absolutely stunned.I couldn’t believe my sister had brought a gun into the apartment with a five-year-old.I didn’t want to wake my mother and upset her because it was her one day off, and she hadn’t been feeling well.I thought I could handle the situation on my own.Susan had already left to take Nicholas to preschool, but I knew he would be back at eleven.I didn’t want the gun in the apartment when he returned, so I took the bag to work.I don’t know why.It was such a stupid thing to do.
Glancing at the beach, she took a moment before continuing.“Anyway, I put everything in my locker at work and called Susan around nine fifteen while on my break.We were both yelling at each other.She was angry I took the bag, and I was more livid that she had it in the first place.She told me it belonged to Leo and swore she didn’t know what was in it.He’d asked her to hold it for a couple of days, and as naive as Susan could be, she did—no questions asked.I told her it was drug money and I was going to bring it to the police.She said Leo would kill her if I did.She was convinced he had some connections in the police department.”
With tears streaking down her face, she paused again to catch her breath.
“How did she know that?”KC asked quietly.
“S-she had seen a guy at Leo’s apartment once and recognized him as a detective who occasionally came into the restaurant with a few other officers.She didn’t know his name, though.”
He nodded, his jaw tense.“Okay.Go on.What happened next?”
“She begged me just to bring the bag home, and she would return it to Leo.I don’t know why, but I finally agreed.”Moriah’s body was now trembling as much as her voice.“B-but when I got home a little after three o’clock, the door to the apartment was open a bit.I-I went inside and found Mom, Susan, and Nicholas ...gagged and tied to kitchen chairs.They’d all been sh-shot to death.There was blood everywhere—the walls, the floor, the ...”
She closed her overflowing, tear-filled eyes as if trying to block out the horrifying memory and took several deep breaths to prevent herself from hyperventilating.Dan shifted to the seat beside her and took her hand in silent support.She glanced at him and gave a nod of thanks before picking up where she’d left off.“I assume Leo or one of his friends did it.They had wrecked the place, probably looking for the bag.I was about to call the police, but then I remembered what Susan had said about Leo having connections.I didn’t know if Susan had told them I had the money before they killed her, so I went into my room, grabbed a few clothes, and ran.I knew they would kill me if they found me, so I left Chicago and started hitchhiking and taking buses.I slept in bus stations and motels if I could find one that didn’t ask for ID.I’ve been on the run ever since.They almost caught me twice.”
While KC was still stunned by her story, Brian took over the questioning.“How?”
“Once at the bus depot in Chicago, when I was trying to get out of the city, I saw Leo and two of his buddies searching the station.I slipped out through a service entrance, ran, and hitchhiked out of the city.The other time was about a week later in a small town about a half-hour south of Columbus.I’d gotten a lift from a couple of college girls, and we got into a fender-bender.The police came before I had a chance to disappear.I had to give the officer my ID.I didn’t think anything of it then because I’d never been on the run before.I stayed at a run-down motel that night, and the next day, I was in a convenience store and saw three guys in a black Escalade cruising up and down the main road.The license plate was from Illinois.I knew they were looking for me and got out of there as fast as possible.”
Brian relaxed his stance a little, but it was clear he wouldn’t give her the chance to run even if she thought she could make it past them, which she couldn’t.“The cop had no reason to run your license right away, but it was probably entered into the computer when the accident report was filed.That’s how they most likely traced you.”
Wiping her wet eyes, she nodded, then watched as KC dragged a hand down his face.At this point, he didn’t know what to believe and wanted to think she was telling the truth now, but that would mean everything before this had all been a lie.He should have known something was up with her, but his heart and his dick had apparently done the thinking for his brain.
