Page 21 of Night Watch
She heard the entrance door from the hallway open and everyone looked in that direction. Aiden stepped into the room. He was tall with dark hair and had blue eyes, resembling most of the other brothers.
“Sorry I’m late.” Aiden dropped into a chair at the end of the table. “Harper called, and it’s hard finding a time when we can talk, so I didn’t want to let it go.”
He turned to Kennedy. “My wife’s an Olympic downhill skier. She’s out of town training right now.”
“Sounds fascinating. And exciting.” Kennedy smiled.
“Sometimes too exciting, even for our fearless brother.” Erik cast a fond expression at Aiden.
Aiden shifted his attention to Kennedy. “How’s the hand?”
She glanced down at the bandage circling her palm. “It’ll be just fine.”
Erik locked his focus on her. “The wounds are pretty deep, but the doctor left it open to heal. Less risk of infection that way. I’ll be changing the dressing to keep the risk of infection down.”
Drake snorted. “Nurse Erik. I can see the uniform now.”
The brothers laughed, and the image playing out in Kennedy’s brain had her half tempted to laugh with them, but she didn’t want to hurt Erik.
He didn’t laugh along, just rolled his eyes. “You all good to get started here?”
“I’m assuming you’re taking lead.” Aiden leaned back in his chair and cast a challenging look at Erik.
“Of course.”
Aiden rested his elbows on the arms of the chair and steepled his fingers together. “Then you know what I’m going to warn you about.”
“I do and no need to say it.” Erik gave Kennedy a funny look that she couldn’t decipher, but he clearly didn’t want Aiden to say more.
Erik took a long breath and shifted his stance. “It’s easier for discussion if we call your mom by her first name. But if you don’t like it, we can change.”
“Go right ahead,” she said, actually glad they would do so. She never thought of her mom by her name, and hopefully, that would make this discussion easier to bear.
Erik stepped up to the whiteboard. “Let’s create a timeline and take things in order.”
Erik wroteSilas Walker Death, Wanda Walker Death, Wanda Home Break-inin large black letters. He turned to Kennedy. “Could you give me the dates for your parents’ deaths?”
Her father had died about three years before, and her mother nearly a month before and she shared that information. He noted the details on the board as well as the dates for the other items.
“Do you think Kennedy’s dad was murdered too?” Aiden asked.
Erik recounted the WITSEC situation. The brother’s all swung their gazes to her, but thankfully their expressions didn’t hold judgement of her dad, only curiosity.
“I looked Waldron up,” Erik said. “He’s serving time in a federal prison in Texas.”
Clay swiveled his chair to face Kennedy. “What about your father’s death? Any reason to believe he was murdered?”
Kennedy shook her head. “He’d had a pacemaker installed after a heart attack a few years prior to his death. Before he died, he called 911 complaining of another heart attack. Our inspector at WITSEC didn’t think there was anything suspicious about Dad’s death, but he wanted to close the case without doubts so he ordered an autopsy.”
“Did they do a tox screen?” Clay asked.
“A basic one, yes,” Kennedy replied. “It included prescription medications and drugs of abuse. I haven’t seen it, but my mom said it came back negative for any drugs that could’ve been his cause of death.”
Erik zoned in on her. “If it was just a basic screen, there could’ve been other drugs, or even plants, used to cause a heart attack that weren’t tested for. If your mom was murdered, maybe he was as well.”
“You think so?” Kennedy rested her hands on the table as she gave it some thought. “I know of many medications that someone could’ve used to kill him, but Waldron’s in prison. Even if he managed to locate my dad, he couldn’t have done it.”
“Does he have a wife?” Drake asked. “Or adult children?”
