I look around the table and realize for the first time in forever, I don’t feel like an outsider. It’s a startling realization, and when Nevaeh winks at me, I admit it feels good. Maybe everything is slowly turning around.
Chapter Twenty-Four
AMBROS
“All in favor of cutting Pig?”
I look around the room as everyone casts their vote and throw in my “aye” when it’s my turn.
“Ayes have it,” Havoc states. “All right, I’ll take care of it. Does anyone else have anything they want to discuss?”
“I do,” G says, not looking at us as he types something into his laptop. We wait for him to finish before he looks up. “I’ve been looking into Fullnet Security. We know Jack—or Sam—was using them as a cover, but I had to question if it was just convenience or something else? Same with the woman he asked Kruger—or more specifically, ELM—to find.”
“You think they’re involved?”
“No. I do think there’s a connection, though. Like they crossed paths somehow because this guy is meticulous and never seems to forget anyone. Turns out Fullnet Security was hired to escort Annie Davis to a court date after she received death threats from her now ex-husband. Normally, not much is done in those situations, unfortunately. But Annie had agrandfather who was friends with a local councilman. He called in a favor, and she got a little protection that day.”
“Okay, still not seeing the connection.”
“I checked the court files for the day, and a report was added into evidence—a report corroborating Annie’s account of domestic violence and the injuries she sustained.”
“Who made the report?”
“A student nurse by the name of Lilian Taylor.”
Kruger curses. “Lilian as in Lil? I thought her name was Lilac?”
Powers leans forward before G can reply. “What does this mean?”
“On its own, not much. But it’s a trail, and when there’s a beginning, there’s an end. At least now I have something to follow. Aside from that, I now have the likely identity of who our PI’s client is.”
He hits a button, and a face appears on the large screen behind him. I’m about as straight as they come, but even I have to admit he’s a good-looking guy. I could easily see why women would be attracted to him. And as Powers narrows his eyes at the image, I’m left wondering if there was more going on between him and Lil than he let on. He’s been different since she left. I mean, he was never a chatty Cathy, but he’s definitely kept to himself more since, and I never see him with any of the club girls—or any girls, really.
“Meet Dr. James Taylor. Surgeon and husband to Lilian Taylor.”
“Fuck,” Powers grits out.
“There’s more,” G warns him. He puts up another picture, this one of James and Lil on their wedding day. In this one James is sporting a thick dark beard and chunky black glasses. Lil looks like she’s barely out of high school.
“Why wouldn’t she tell us?” Circus questions.
“Maybe because Lilian has been missing and presumed dead for a decade. She disappeared six months after they got married. A month after that report was filed.”
I blink in surprise before the room explodes into a dozen questions. Questions I don’t think G has the answers to, judging by the frustration on his face.
“Alright, motherfuckers settle down,” Havoc roars. Everyone shuts up, knowing better than to push.
“G will keep looking for answers, but right now this is all we have. It’s not hard to assume Lil married this guy young, and at a guess, the guy who dated her changed the second he became her husband. It’s not a story we haven’t heard before.”
“So she ran and hid here, the last place on earth a surgeon would look. Only by luck or by chance, he gets wind of it and starts looking for her.” Mac shrugs.
“And when he found her, he started taunting her, making her feel like she had no choice but to run again,” Powers snarls.
“What I don’t get, though, is why toy with her at all? The notes, the stalking? He announced he was here, which gave her time to run. He shot himself in the foot by not snatching her when he had the chance.”
“He’s a sick fuck who gets off on torturing her,” Midas throws out, catching everyone’s attention with the feral glint in his eye. “It’s all a game to him. He thinks he’s so fucking clever. So it must sting, knowing she’s gotten the better of him, not just once but twice.”
“We need to find her before he does,” Capone says gruffly.
