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Had she gone completely
around the bend? Maybe she should chuck it all and have Melody take
her somewhere to be committed? “Cleaning all the filth and grime
off of me. And probably some fleas from that last
motel.”

“
Always complaining. Sit.
I’m sure Red’s daddy here wants the full story.” Al sat next to
him, and waited to see just what it was he would say. Finally after
a long moment he spoke.

“
Antonio Riaz was a friend.
Not close, but a friend, none the less. I owe it to him to find out
what happened. He took mandatory leave last week—he’d built up a
few weeks, I think—and his body was found seven days ago. It wasn’t
in pretty shape. Only identifying feature was DNA. And even that
was hard to come by. As far as I know, they’re still waiting for
confirmation.”

“
I’m sorry. It’s always
hard to lose a colleague. Especially a fellow law enforcement
officer,” Kevin said. “And a friend.”

“
I started looking in to
whatever it was he was doing on his own time. Riaz was a good guy,
quiet, whose only real interests that I knew of—or could find in
his apartment—were fishing and movies from the 80s and 90s. Nothing
I found indicated what he’d discovered. I dialed my partner—Bertram
Hughland—in. He and Riaz were closer. Bertram had copies of Riaz’s
passwords. He found a bit more information. We were both scheduled
for time off, and were planning on a fishing trip with Antonio
before he was killed. I have copies of every file on his desk at
the time of his death. Plus what he’d taken home that weekend. I
was on my way to get that information when I was detoured, and
ended up in St. Louis.”

“
Is that what it’s called?”
Melody asked.

“
Not
exactly. Someone jumped me before I could speak with Riaz’s fiancé.
She works for the Inspector General’s office as support staff. Riaz
was set to transfer to the Dallas field office in July. When
someone retired. I was attacked outside his houseboat and shoved in
a trunk. When I managed to get
out
of that trunk, I found myself in the PAVAD
parking garage. Then Blondie—and your daughter—were there.
I…uh…forced them to accompany me in Carrie’s car. Then Blondie and
I made the decision Carrie would be safer if we left her. So we
did.”

She had to admire the way
he’d both glossed over and admitted to kidnapping Carrie. But
neither Kevin nor Melody had missed it. They sat glaring at him for
the longest time. Al felt even more nerves hit her. How would they
react? Would they demand Seth—and she—get out? How hot tempered
were Carrie’s biological relatives?

“
I take it my daughter
wasn’t hurt?” Was all the man said.

“
Carrie
was fine when I last saw her.” Al told him. “She was probably
calmer than I was.
I
didn’t know Sebastian had an identical brother out there—or
one in the FBI. Carrie did, and I think she knew all along Seth was
one of the good guys.” She was laying it on thick, but desperate
times called for it. “She told me a few hours into our
trip.”

Was this a desperate
time?

It sure felt like
it.

“
Carrie
didn’t have a single scratch on her. I did my best
not
to hurt her or
Blondie, here. If I hadn’t been in such a bind I wouldn’t have
involved them at all. And had I known Carrie was my sister-in-law,
I for damned sure wouldn’t have. Excuse my language. I didn’t want
any of this crap to land anywhere near my brothers or sister. Or
their families. I understand if you want to show me the highway. We
can head out now.”

“
And go where? Do what? You
need help. No one can deny that. And for whatever reason you don’t
want your brother involved. I can respect that. We can offer you a
safe place to stay tonight. But tomorrow, I think you’re best bet
would be to continue on. Just in case.”

Al agreed. She didn’t want
to bring trouble to the Beck family, and staying longer would do
just that. No, they would sleep here tonight, then head to Amarillo
at first light. In the meantime, maybe they could get Carrie’s
sister Brynna, who worked in computer forensics for the TST, to dig
around in Riaz’s internet files.

If she could convince him
of that. And if Brynna was willing.

Brynna and her younger
sister Jillian arrived home less than an hour later, within minutes
of each other. Dinner was a serious affair with very little
discussion about what had brought Al and Seth to the Beck
home.

Al was starting to think
she wouldn’t get time with just Melody and Brynna like she’d
thought. But that time came when Seth went into the other bathroom
after grabbing some clean clothes from the car and borrowing some
toiletries from Kevin. Melody and Brynna followed Al into the guest
bedroom.

“
So.” Melody plopped down
at the small desk and then faced Al. “Is he like Sebastian or
not?”

Al knew what they were
asking, and she thought about it for a moment. “In a lot of ways he
is. From what I’ve seen so far. In a lot of ways he most
definitely
isn’t
.
He’s far more sarcastic for one thing. Rude and arrogant. And
wilder, that’s for sure. But there’s that quiet core of
something
that runs
through his brother, as well. I can’t figure out what it
is.”

“
So do you believe him?
About what he said? About what happened?” Brynna asked. She was the
quietest of Carrie’s sisters, and definitely the most like
her.

Al thought for a moment.
“Yes, I do. And someone is definitely after him. We were followed
from the fiancée’s house. They are the ones who ran us off the
road. And we can’t be one hundred percent sure the car
wasn’t
Bureau issue. And
that person shot at Seth. We were very lucky he turned at the last
minute.” She didn’t mention how he’d kept his body in front of
hers. How he’d held her tight against the seat, protecting
her.

“
Yes, you
were. And if
he
was the rogue agent, wouldn’t there have been a more
straightforward attempt to apprehend him than just following and
shooting?” Brynna asked, nailing what Al had contemplated earlier.
“Especially knowing
you
didn’t go willingly. At least…not
originally.”

“
Exactly what I thought.”
Al studied the two women for a moment. “And there is this. I copied
it to one from Carrie’s bag when he was asleep. I don’t know what’s
on it, but I suspect it tells exactly what we’re looking for. I was
hoping you two might take a look for me. Before we leave. He won’t
tell me what’s on here, hasn’t even mentioned that he has it. And I
think it’s something I definitely need to know. And he doesn’t know
that I know he lied about having it.”

“
That’s
Brynna’s department. So, I’ll let little sister have it to do her
thing. In the meantime, I think I will call a friend of mine in St.
Louis. See what the climate is with the Missouri State Police
regarding you two. After all, I
am
loosely related to Seth Lorcan. Maybe I can get
you some more information.”

Before Al could say
anything in response someone knocked on the guestroom door.
“Blondie? You naked yet? If not I’m coming in!”

Melody grinned at Al, the
expression so like Carrie’s Al had to shake her head. Melody
mouthed,
“Have fun.”
quietly before pulling her little sister to the door. Seth
stepped back when the two redheaded sisters walked by him and into
the hall.

Then it was just him and
Al.

And she didn’t know a
darned thing to say. All she knew was that somehow, something had
changed between them.

Chapter
Thirty-Three

***

“
Was there something you
needed?”

“
To apologize. And say,
I’ll get you out of this.”

“
Don’t start that again. I
already told you.”

“
I know. Because you’re a
better person than I am. I get that. So I’ll just say thank you,
toots. And leave it at that.” He grabbed her with his uninjured
arm. “I think I could love you if this wasn’t a crazy, fucked up
situation. You’re just that kind of woman.”

“
And you have the biggest
ego.”

“
Heard that before. Some
say I got Sebastian’s share of ego.” He kissed her, quick and hard.
The exact opposite of what he really wanted to do.

But if he did that, he’d
never get away from her. She’d ruin him forever. She was just that
type of woman.

He expected her to push him
away. But this time she didn’t. She didn’t. This time, she kissed
him back.

He didn’t know how long it
lasted. He couldn’t even begin to
time
it. But like everything good in
his life, holding her ended far too damned soon.

She pulled away first. And
he wanted to hold to her, he really did.

And that made it all the
more important that he let her go.

But when he looked at her,
all of that resolve melted away. Because it was abundantly clear
that
something
had
changed between them.

And he didn’t know what to
do about it.

***

Red’s dad was still staring
at Seth. Made him a bit uncomfortable. But Seth had been
uncomfortable before; this was nothing new. Red favored this man.
It was the eyes.

This guy and Seth would
eventually share family. What a kick.

“
You really do favor your
brother.”

“
Yeah. We’re identical
right down to the birthmark behind our left knees. Except for a few
scars here and there. All three of us.” This was nothing new for
him either. He’d fielded questions about being identical since he
could remember. “Except I’m the handsome one.”

“
The arrogant one, I
think.” Alessandra kicked him under the table. He smirked at her.
“Sebastian is quiet, nice. A good guy. This one, I’m not sure…I
think he was hit in the head or something at some
point.”

“
Yeah.
See this scar? Sebastian hit me upside the head with a stick. Can’t
remember what we were doing that day, or the next three after that.
Mom wasn’t so happy with him then. Sebastian has a bit of a temper
and I’d ticked him off.” It was after that incident that his mother
had split them up. He’d always half wondered if it was because of
what happened. Because of what he’d did to his brother. They’d not
lived together again until the brothers were seventeen and
insisted. Sarah had been ten. She’d chosen to stay with their aunt.
“Sin always said that’s what’s wrong with me. Of course,
he
gave the stick to Seb,
so who bears ultimate responsibility, I ask?”

Everyone laughed, which had
been Seth’s intention. Then Red’s dad sobered again. Damn. He was a
tough one. “What are you going to do next? How can we help
you?”

Evade or lay it
out?

He quickly glanced at the
women surrounding him. The youngest was only about twenty, blonder
than her older sisters, but favored Red. The middle girl was so
much like his sister-in-law it made him uncomfortable just to look
at her, remembering what he’d done to Red. Carrie.

He should probably call her
Carrie, shouldn’t he?

But it was the eldest who
made him squirm
almost
as much as Blondie. When she put her fork down and stared at
him, he knew he was in for at least a few uncomfortable questions.
“I think you need to give us all you got and let me and Brynna look
in to it. An outside opinion, so to speak.”

“
Look I’ll be level with
you all.”

“
We’d appreciate it,” Beck
said.

“
Riaz had
some information on his laptop—personal computer, not
Bureau-issue—I’m not sure where he got it or even who it pertained
to. But whatever it was, someone killed him for it. And not in
an
easy
way. Riaz
was a friend, not close, but enough that my partner Hugh and I were
planning to tag along on his new boat in a few weeks. Deep sea
fishing. Were taking leave to do it.”

“
I’m sorry for the loss of
your friend, son. I’ve lost several in the line-of-duty. It’s not
something to ever forget.”

“
No it isn’t.” Seth’s
father had been one. A Lt. with the Idaho State Police, he’d been
gunned down during a drug bust when Sarah had been only an infant,
and the brothers seven. His brother had taken in Seth and Sin three
years later; it was his uncle’s deep and abiding respect for law
enforcement that had influenced Seth and Sin’s decisions to enter
law enforcement. “I don’t know if my brother’s mentioned it, but we
lost our father on the job.”

“
He mentioned it to me a
time or two,” Alessandra surprised him by patting his knee. “I’m
sorry.”

“
He was a good man. So was
Riaz. He didn’t deserve what he got.”

“
So what was it that got
him killed?”

“
I don’t really know, yet.
I’m still studying the numbers.”