Page 50 of Night Hawk
Blake’s eyes narrowed. “Seems like it.”
Clay didn’t like where this was heading, but he needed facts. “Any way you can get us the investigation file for his arrest?”
“Since it’s such an old investigation, I might have some luck there,” Blake said. “I’ll start on it first thing in the morning.”
Clay picked up the report and stood, his gut clenching. Toni had barely recovered from her shock of finding a sister and living grandparents, and then learning her dad had killed her mom’s uncle. Now Clay had to tell her that her uncle was a pedophile. This might be the very thing that would bring her to her knees.
Toni kept busy while Clay was gone by working on her ancestry page. She’d searched for and added Andrew Martin and her grandparents, but their addition didn’t reveal any other living relatives. With nothing else to add, she’d made a cup of tea and sat at the kitchen counter watching Drake prepare dinner.
The other guys had turned on college football in the living room, and the Oregon Ducks were leading, putting them all in a good mood. Toni was enjoying her talk with Drake, even if she shared his attention with the TV. She was learning he was the devil’s advocate of the family, pointing out all the possible downsides. Sometimes he came across as rude, but he also had this extremely intense look as if he was trying to work things out to his satisfaction. He clearly was a deep thinker, and his love for his brothers was obvious too.
He looked up from the cutting board where he was slicing tomatoes for the burgers he’d placed on the grill. “Must be freaky finding out you have a sister.”
She picked at the wheat cracker she’d taken from the tray of cheese and crackers before his brothers consumed the rest. “Especially not knowing if she’s alive.”
“Yeah, that’s rough,” he said as if he had experience with something similar. “I was a deputy for the Marshal Service—fugitive apprehension, not WITSEC—but I still saw families in crisis. Some of them had lived a life of crime and deserved the situation they found themselves in. Others were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
He poked the tip of the knife into the cutting board and stared over her shoulder. “When I worked the WITSEC rotation in training there was this one family I tried to help. I’ll never forget them.”
“What happened?” she asked, totally captivated now.
He didn’t speak for the longest time, the pain of the event racing through his expression.
“The mother witnessed a gang shooting,” he finally said, his tone radiating apprehension. “Decided to testify. She had three kids under five. The dad refused to go into protection and wouldn’t let her take the kids. She begged him. He refused. We talked to him several times. He said if she just kept quiet, everything would be okay. But she had to follow her beliefs and testify. After doing the right thing, she had to decide between staying with her family and her life. She said she could never leave her children. She had to know they were okay. She chose her family.”
He took a long breath and let it out, his wide chest heaving with the exertion. “Not even a week passed before we were called out to their apartment. All five of them had been gunned down.”
“Oh, Drake, that must’ve been horrible.”
“The mom and kids were believers, so I knew they were in a better place. She sort of got what she wanted. No uncertainty. No wondering if her kids were fine. She knew where they were.” He looked at Toni. “So I get what you’re going through. The wondering, that is, and I’m praying for you. We all are.”
“Thank you.” She squeezed his hand.
He blushed as red as the tomatoes on the cutting board and shrugged it off to start slicing again as if he hadn’t just shared a painful memory.
The door opened, and Toni heard laughter.
Still, she reached for her gun as she swiveled. Sierra and Kelsey—Toni assumed based on the state of her pregnancy—and then Blake entered in front of Clay.
“We’ll put the bags in the bedroom,” Clay said, looking upset about something, and he and Blake headed down the hall with the luggage.
Sierra and Kelsey came over, and Sierra introduced them.
“Congratulations on the baby.” Toni smiled.
“Thank you.” Kelsey rested her hands on her belly and looked at Drake. “And this kid is ready for dinner. Something smells wonderful.”
“That would be my mom’s famous mac and cheese. She sent along two big casserole dishes.” Drake grabbed an empty platter from the counter. “I’ll get the burgers from the grill, and we can eat.”
“A man after my own heart.” Kelsey slid onto a stool. “If it wasn’t already taken, that is.”
“Does anyone mind if I set the table?” Toni asked to do something to settle her nerves.
“Mind?” Sierra gaped at her for a moment. “I know I’m speaking for the big lugs sitting like couch potatoes in front of the TV, but we’d be thrilled. Plates are in the right top cabinets. Glasses left. You can put the plates on the counter by the burger fixings.”
Toni busied herself with the dishes while Sierra and Kelsey talked about an investigation they were working together. They didn’t give any details, but Toni still caught that it was a particularly brutal murder case.
Clay joined them, his expression serious and leaning toward angry. “Way to go. Make the guest do all the work.”
