“He does for family. Did you want him to paint something for you?”
Major reopened the photo library on his phone, scrolled until he found the picture he wanted, and showed it to her. “I would love it if he could paint this for Lolly and put his own spin on it.”
“Text that to me, and I’ll ask.”
His parents had dozens of photos all over their home of the four siblings, and Major knew his mom would love a painting of them, especially from someone famous. Marshall was good at painting bikes and airbrushing characters, but something like this was out of his element.
Major’s phone rang right as Tabitha handed it back. “Hey, Mason.”
“The good news is that Daniel had nothing to dowith Carmen’s death. According to Zane, the male was distraught at having lost the female and his unborn child, and that’s why he was at the cemetery wasted. I told Zane to bring him to the safehouse, and they should arrive there this afternoon.”
“And the bad news?”
“We still don’t know who killed Carmen.”
Major, playing devil’s advocate, said, “If someone did. Toby and the others are certain it wasn’t suicide, but what if it was? You never know what’s going on inside someone else’s head.”
“True. Corona has a small police department who was ready to say, ‘case closed’, but Everett convinced the sheriff to let H3 help with this case. The suicide note was typewritten, so Nikita and Madsen are going to search Carmen’s personal computer as well as her laptop at work to look for evidence she wrote it. They have set up an algorithm to detect similarities between her previous letters and emails to the note.”
“And they’re okay with releasing Daniel into Zane’s custody?” Tabitha asked.
“They were after he voiced them. They think Daniel is being taken to the Atlanta PD. Since we still don’t know who leaked Craig’s whereabouts to ESN, I’m leaving Zane with you to help guard the brothers.”
“Tessa and Gregor stopped by to visit, so we have Gregor’s Goyle to help,” Major admitted.
“Even better. You and Tabitha are capable security specialists, but having a male Gargoyle there is ideal. It would make me feel better if you keep both Kilbrooks inside for the time being, prosthetics or not.”
“We can do that.” Major disconnected and tossed his phone on the sofa beside him.
“Do you really think Carmen committed suicide?” Tessa asked.
“I’m not sure what to think, since I didn’t know the woman. What if she thought Daniel was Craig but then found out he wasn’t? Daniel has been riding Craig’s coattails since they arrived in the States. Maybe she was distraught when she found out she’d been lied to? Then again, there’s too much that has happened that doesn’t add up, like who ordered the drugs to be delivered to the rental at Stone Mountain? If it wasn’t Daniel, then someone knew he was there and was aware of his past drug usage.”
Tabitha dropped her feet to the floor and set her empty cup on the coffee table. “And someone put a professional hit on Craig. The Trio is positive it wasn’t Cabretti, so who else has that kind of money?”
Gregor cleared his throat from the kitchen. The three of them looked that way to see Craig walking toward the den. Gregor followed. “Anyone else hungry yet?”
Major waited for the females to answer before saying, “No, thank you. I’m still full from breakfast. Craig, we have good news. Daniel is on his way here.”
Craig stopped walking and rubbed the back of his neck. “How did you manage that?”
“Everett Murdock called the sheriff in Corona and convinced him Daniel is going to a safehouse until this case is solved.”
Craig walked over to one of the armchairs and dropped down. He leaned his head back, closing his eyes. “This is a fucking nightmare.”
“That it is, but at least now you don’t have to worry about Daniel,” Tabitha offered.
Craig lowered his head and glared at her. “I alwayshave to worry about Daniel. That’s my job.”
Major tensed at his tone, but Tabitha set her hand on his knee.“Don’t kill the man.”Aloud, she said, “I understand you’re upset, Craig, but your brother is hurting. He lost the woman he loved along with his unborn child. Maybe show him a little grace.”
“How do you know that?”
“He told Zane that’s why he was drunk at her grave.”
Craig ran a hand through his unkempt hair. “He still lied to her about who he was.”
Tabitha stood and walked closer to where Craig was seated. “And you know that as truth? Or are you speculating because of the suicide note? Let’s look at the facts.” Tabitha ticked each one off with her fingers. “Neither you nor Daniel killed Carmen. You didn’t give her the drugs that caused her death. Someone is after you, so it goes to reason that whoever it is caused her to OD, then either typed the note or convinced her to before her death.” Tabitha crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t believe this is a case of mistaken identity because someone put a tracker under your skin, not Daniel’s, before Cabretti even knew of your existence. Who had the money to put a contract on your life? Who hates you enough to go to all this trouble?”
