“Water’s fine for me, thank you,” Moriah responded, then blew on the surface of the tangy, red soup.
“KC?”
“I’ll take a cola, thanks.”He gestured for Moriah to take a sip from the mug.“Eat up.”
Her smile grew as she gave him a small, sarcastic salute.“Yes, sir!”
The little giggle that erupted from her mouth and her teasing had him grinning and briefly forgetting the danger she was in.“Ah, finally, some respect.”
As they finished eating, Brian strode through the back porch door.KC had been pleased when Moriah had not only finished her soup but had also eaten a sandwich.All three stood with questioning eyes while Brian closed the door behind him.Impatient, KC crossed his arms as he stared at his brother.“Well?What did you find out?”
Brian sat in the recliner, and they followed his lead by sitting down again, KC and Moriah on the couch and Dan on the loveseat.“First, I called Sean and brought him up to date.I asked him to use his contacts to make a few discreet inquiries.By the way, he’s flying in.”
“What?”KC was stunned.“What do you mean he’s flying in?”
Shrugging, Brian sat back and put one ankle on the opposite knee.“Sent me a text saying he was boarding a flight.You’ll have to ask him when he gets here.Not sure what time he’ll be here, but it should be soon.”
“Wait a minute,” Moriah interrupted and then turned to KC.“What does Sean do?You never told me.”
He took her hand in his and squeezed his reassurance that he was on her side.“Sean’s with the FBI in Jacksonville, Florida, but has contacts all over the U.S.He might be able to find out something we can’t.”
Moriah nodded, and then her gaze returned to Brian.
“Sean thinks he still has a contact in the DEA in Chicago and was going to try to reach him.That’s the first thing.Next, I got a message to call a detective, Frank Parisi, from Chicago PD, on my work voicemail.I called the guy back, and he sounded like a real jackass.He treated me as if I was a sheriff in a small hick town, population fifty.”
KC and Dan both grunted because they knew the type.
“Apparently, he received the alert when I ran Moriah’s ID, which I had expected.”He raised his hand at her panicked expression, halting her from whatever she’d been about to say.“As I said earlier, I told him someone turned in your purse.”
Letting out a heavy breath, Moriah’s tension eased slightly, and Brian plowed on.“Anyway, I tried to obtain a few details from him, but he just danced around me.He said she wasn’t a suspect, but they were curious about the reasons why she disappeared.As a matter of fact, he never mentioned the fact that Moriah might be a victim, too, but seemed confident she’d run away.That in itself makes me suspicious.”
Dan leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.“Maybe this detective is the dealer’s connection.”
“It’s possible, but until Sean calls us back, we’re still flying blind here.”
“Well, speak of the devil.”
KC, Moriah, and Brian followed the older man’s line of vision to the back door.Sean stood outside, shifting his carry-on luggage and briefcase into one hand to turn the doorknob.KC quickly stepped over and saved him the trouble.
Sean crossed the threshold and set his baggage down before KC grabbed him in a bear hug and slapped his back.“Hey, bro!It’s great to see you, but couldn’t you have just called with the information?”
Returning the hug, his younger brother laughed.“And let you guys have all the fun?No fucking way.”
Stepping away from KC, Sean proceeded to greet Brian and his uncle in the same loving manner.He then stopped in front of the woman standing next to his eldest brother and eyed her face with a professional yet gentle gaze.“You must be Moriah.It’s nice to meet you, although I wish it were under better circumstances.”
From Moriah’s tentative smile, KC knew she was a little overwhelmed by meeting an FBI agent.However, she was polite with her response.“I wish it were, too, but it is nice to meet you.”
Sean winked at her, then addressed KC with a frown.“You’ve gotten yourself involved with some serious shit, brother.”
Shaking his head, KC sighed in frustration.“Tell me something we don’t already know.”
Again, they sat around the coffee table, with Sean joining his uncle on the loveseat.He leaned back, crossed his outstretched legs at the ankles, and relaxed.“Well, according to my Chicago DEA contact, John Samson, this Leo Simmons character is involved with the local drug business and is supplied by one Adrian Hernandez.Simmons is a two-bit dealer, but apparently, Hernandez is the biggest supplier of coke, pot, ecstasy, and whatever else floats your boat in Chicago.He has his hands in a few other venues, too, including prostitution.They’ve been trying to build a case against him for years and are finally close.
“Now ...this doesn’t leave this room ...”He waited specifically for Moriah to nod her assent.“The Chicago Police Department may be looking for you in connection with your family’s murders.However, the DEA knows differently.One of the people they’ve been keeping tabs on is Hernandez’s right-hand man, Dennis Kellerman.He was seen going into Moriah’s building the day of the murders, along with Simmons and two other flunkies.The agents thought nothing of it because they knew Simmons’s girlfriend lived there.”
“Susan,” Moriah murmured before clearing her throat and raising her voice.“My sister.”
Sean nodded.“I’m sorry.Anyway, when these assholes left about a half hour later, they were in a real hurry.Simmons’s shirt appeared to be covered in blood, so one agent stayed behind while the other continued the tail.The first agent was about to check things out in the apartment when he saw you enter.He knew you were Susan’s sister and waited about fifteen minutes because he didn’t want you to know they had her under occasional surveillance.He figured whatever happened inside, you would call 9-1-1.
