He continued studying the pages. “The date of the application is a week before he died.”
“There’s no way this is a coincidence.” Rose’s voice shook. “Thad didn’t have this information when he died. My guess is she found him, told him the story, and he agreed to meet with her. I’ve always been fascinated by genealogy and histories. I’ve done all of it on my side of the family.” She pointed to a family tree, labeled in precise silver lettering, that hung on the wall of theirliving room. “But I’ve been limited in what I could find out about Thad’s because he refused to do the testing.”
A few tears slipped down her cheeks. “Until I saw this today, I had forgotten, but Thad had been teasing me. He said he’d found my Valentine’s Day gift, and I would never guess.”
Luke continued to study the paper. A small hiccup pulled his attention back to Rose. Tears now dripped from her face.
Luke patted her arm. “This is the first real lead we’ve had.”
“I know,” she said. “I’m sorry.” She swiped at the tears. “I knew he loved me and the kids. I knew he knew I would kill him if he ever cheated on me.” She laughed and sobbed at the same time, and it was one of the most heartrending things Luke had ever heard. “But I wondered if you were lying to me. If you knew who she was to him. If you knew—”
“That’s understandable.”
“No!” Rose slammed her hand on the table. “It isn’t. Not from me. Not about him.”
Luke didn’t try to talk her out of her rage.
“You tell Jacob.” Rose pointed a finger, and Luke wouldn’t have been surprised if flames had shot out of it. “That FBI agent who was assigned to Thad’s case had better not step one foot on my property.”
Rose’s extraordinary anger further fueled Luke’s suspicion that Janice Estes had made some assumptions—and insinuations—that Rose had not appreciated.
There was no quaver in Rose’s voice now. “I want you to find out how Thad met Park Mi Cha, and how they connected. And then I want you to find out why they died.”
This case had to be worked by the FBI. There was zero chance of the Secret Service being allowed to do what Rose was asking. At least not completely. Regardless, he had to be careful abouthow he approached this while Rose radiated fury. “I haven’t been impressed with the original agent either.”
Rose snorted.
“But I can’t leave the FBI out of this, and I think you’ll have a different reaction to the agent working the case now. She’s solid.”
“I don’t want to talk to anyone else.”
“I know.”
Rose paced in a circle around the island.
Luke held the paperwork in front of him. “You opened this today?”
“This morning.”
“Would you be willing to look through Thad’s things again? Maybe something will jump out at you that didn’t mean anything before.”
“Sure.” She set her coffee mug on the counter. “I’m helping Karen today. There’s so much to do for the funeral and the future.” She rubbed her temples, and Luke got the impression that while Rose was more than willing to help her friend, she was also struggling with the way funeral planning had ripped the bandage off a still-raw wound. “I’ll be racking my brain for anything, and when I get home tonight, I’ll look through everything again. I’ll text you.”
“Can I take this?” Luke flipped through the pages of the report.
“I knew you’d want it. I made copies, but I want the originals back.”
Luke folded the document and stuffed it in the envelope. “I know you don’t need me to tell you this, but we have no proof she’s the woman who was with Thad.”
Rose stretched her hands flat on the counter between them. “Are you telling me you don’t think—”
“I think it’s her too. But this isn’t proof.”
“Then get it.”
Luke called his ride from earlier and was told he could be there in five minutes. Had he been driving around the block the whole time? Could Faith have anything to do with his presence? Regardless, Luke wasn’t going to complain about not having to pay for an Uber.
He said goodbye to Rose with the promise of a phone call later in the day and made it back to the office in twenty minutes. It wasn’t even 11:00 a.m., but he was already spent. If it got bad enough, he’d grab a nap on the couch in the conference room, but there was no way he was going back to the hotel. There was too much at stake.
