“All right. But the first sign of worsening symptoms, I’m taking you to a damn hospital. I don’t care if I have to drag your ass kicking and screaming.”
Those pissed off eyes rolled. “Did you find anything?”
“Found this.” He held up the spent casing. “Looks clean, so I doubt we’ll find any prints. Whoever killed Marino pulled the trigger once and took off to the road on the other side of the trees. You guys call Ryker yet?”
“Yeah.” Trevor nodded. “He’s sending in a team to handle the clean-up. Said with Marino’s background and the recent death of the Moretti crime boss, this was most likely a mob hit.”
Coop considered this. “Rival mafia?”
“I’m sure that’s how it’ll play out. We won’t know for sure unless or until we identify the shooter.”
“He’s right.” Mac looked over at him. “I was alone in the office for a few minutes before Luca came in. I stood in the exact spot he was in when he got shot. You and I both know it takes time to climb a tree, get into position, calculate distance and wind and hone in on a target before ever pulling the trigger.”
“They were already in place.” Coop muttered. “Waiting for Marino.”
Trevor shrugged. “Unless they missed their target. Mac, where was Luca standing when you two first started talking?”
“By the doorway. I was in front of the desk when I heard him come in. I pulled my gun and spun around. I was in the way, sort of, but I’m also much shorter than him. Shooter could’ve taken him out at any point in time and I probably would’ve been okay.”
“But he didn’t.” Trevor walked through it out loud. “He waited until you were completely out of the line of fire to take Marino out.”
“I wasn’t right next to Luca, but Coop was. Hell, he was still holding onto the guy’s shirt when Luca was shot. That bullet could easily have hit him.” Her hesitant eyes landed on his as a visible shiver ran over her.
He stared back at her. “One shot, one kill.”
“What are you thinking?” she asked, frowning.
“That the shooter was professionally trained.”
Mac nodded, following his train of thought. “Like someone with prior military experience.”
Trevor hopped back in. “We can cross-reference any of Moretti’s known associates, as well as any known rivals with military records. See what we come up with.”
Coop shrugged. “Not a lot to go on, but it’s a start.
“We’ve already wiped down anything the three of us touched and I called Derek. He knows everything now, and I told him he may as well go ahead and fill Grant in, too.”
Coop knew that couldn’t have been easy for her, but at this point she didn’t have much choice.
“What did D say?”
“He told me to text him when we leave so he can go in and fix the home’s security feed. Said it’ll be like we were never here.”
He couldn’t help but grin. West was a former SEAL and Alpha Team’s technical analyst. Labeled a literal genius, there wasn’t much the guy couldn’t accomplish when it came to computers. After all these years, the things Derek could do with a keyboard still amazed him.
“You find anything on Marino that could tie him to the blackmail?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I used his thumb to unlock his phone and go through his texts. Lots of talk about business deals and chatter the feds will definitely be interested in but nothing about the two mill. Or me, for that matter.” Mac got quiet before adding, “I don’t think it was him.”
“Because…” Coop let his voice trail off.
“For one, he’s currently missing half his brain.”
“We already said the shooting could’ve been unrelated.”
“True.” She nodded. “The guy was clearly an asshole, and considering the kind of business he was in, he most definitely had people who’d love to see him dead. But my gut’s telling me otherwise. Don’t get me wrong, he was an asshole of epic proportion and got exactly what he deserved. But he wasn’t the one who lured me here.”
She sounded confident, but Coop needed to know. “How can you be so sure?”
