Ian stepped away from the Byrd clan and Malone. They were all chattering too loudly around the dinner table for him to hear the call he’d just received from Londyn. Besides, he didn’t want to talk about homicide in front of the family.
“What’s up?” he asked, walking toward the hallway, plugging his free ear to block out the still boisterous conversations.
“I nagged the tech staff to review Olivo’s computer, and they fast-tracked it for me.”
“What did you have to promise to get them to do that?”
“Don’t ask.” She chuckled. “Anyway, they forwarded all the photos from his drive to me, and the pictures of Reed, Sierra, and the baby were on it. He even had pics of Malone.”
“So, Olivowasbehind the threat,” Ian said, not sure if he was glad to hear the news or not. Hewasglad she was out of danger.
But that meant Malone could go home and walk out of his life. He still didn’t think he was a suitable mate for her, but he sure didn’t like the thought of not seeing her again after tonight. Or worse, running into her in public while she was on the arm of another man. That thought cramped his gut.
He wasn’t sure what it said about him that he was happy he hadn’t closed her parents’ murder case. They’d at least talk again a little.
“Yeah, they also found an email where he received the photos from a PI, and Olivo made a bitcoin payment to the PI for his services.”
“Any mention of Malone’s parents?”
“The files didn’t go back that far, but there wasn’t anything on the computer related to Malone other than the pictures.”
Ian took a moment to process the news. “Don’t you think it’s odd that Junior encrypted his computer and Olivo didn’t?”
“There’s nothing else incriminating on the drive. It’s all personal or related to his legit company. I suspect he was handling this at home due to his self-imposed lock-in. And I figure he would’ve gotten rid of these pictures once he knew his threats worked.”
“Makes sense, and I doubt he expected to be arrested. Our detectives never had anything to talk to him about until Nicole swiped that package.”
“It was a lucky break that she did.”
He agreed. “Anything else I should know?”
“I asked them to spend more time on breaking Junior’s encryption, but they said they were doing all they could.”
“Now that Olivo’s dead, let’s plan to meet in the morning to interview Snipes again. We can then review the Rices’ murder investigation and set a game plan on that too.”
“You want me to keep helping on that?”
“Absolutely. If you want to, that is.”
“Sure thing. See you at eight.” She ended the call.
On his way back to the dining area, he paused at the mouth of the hallway and watched the family laugh and enjoy each other’s company. Peggy and Russ were the glue that held them all together. Glue his parents never had. He wanted what he was witnessing. Wanted to be a part of something real. But he was a big chicken. Too afraid to try and fail. To fail and hurt Malone. He watched her, smiling, laughing, leaning back in her chair looking relaxed and beautiful. Gorgeous.
She caught his gaze and smiled. She got up and joined him. “The family is something to take in.”
“Kind of overwhelming, but in a good way.”
She kept her gaze pinned to him. “Do you have extended family who gather like this?”
“We have family, but my parents never see them. My mom and dad only invited a person to a get-together if they could do something for them.” He shook his head. “Just the opposite of what I’m looking at here. Each and every one of these people will give anything and everything for their family members.”
“Nice, right?”
He nodded.
“Why the frown?”
He didn’t know if he should answer, but she deserved the truth from him. “I can’t do it. Be like them. I’m just not cut out for it.” He reached for her hands, then changed his mind and shoved them into his pockets. “I’ve really come to care about you. A lot. We’ll still be in touch because I’ll keep working your parents’ murder investigation. But I think we need to keep things platonic between us from now on.”
