Page 37 of Night Prey
His words touched her heart, but she didn’t know how to respond.
“This is personal for me now,” he continued. “It’s never been personal in the past. Sure, the families suffering is hard to take, but I made sure I remained impartial so I could continue to do my job well and not burn out. But today…” His voice cracked, and he looked away.
She couldn’t hold back and took his hand. She held it tight, but she still didn’t know what else she should do. Best course was to keep quiet rather than risk saying the wrong thing.
His computer sounded a chime for their video, and she jerked her hand free as if caught disobeying by the teacher in school. He glanced at her, then accepted the incoming call.
Nick and Erik sat next to each other and shared a screen. They both had dark circles under their eyes.
Malone swallowed away guilt at being the cause of their lack of sleep. “You guys look tired.”
Erik scrubbed a hand over his face. “All-nighter, but it was worth it. We have some interesting info.”
“You want us to start with your parents or Junior?” Nick asked.
“My parents,” Malone said, as she wanted information on them more than anything.
“They checked out as expected,” Erik said. “Like Reed mentioned, your dad was a corporate attorney and your mom a kindergarten teacher. Your dad worked for a huge local construction company, Ground Floor Builders. They’re big in commercial building. I didn’t find anything negative about the company, but the building trade can often take shortcuts or use substandard materials that come back to bite them. So I think it would be worth talking to someone at the company who might have more information.”
“We found a file that said the company was importing Chinese drywall containing formaldehyde,” Ian said.
“That would be worth covering up if they installed it and had to remediate it,” Nick said. “Nothing came up in my searches, but this might suggest how your dad got wind of it, and they found a way to hush it up.”
Malone didn’t know what to think at this point. “Or the company just fixed the buildings where they’d installed the faulty product and my parents’ crash just occurred at that time.”
“Could be.” Nick tapped his chin. “But your dad must’ve had a reason for having those papers at home, and the executor had a reason to keep them.”
“Is he still alive?” Ian asked. “Can we talk to him?”
Malone shook her head. “He died from a heart attack a little over a year ago.”
“Then I’ll start an algorithm to search specifically for the drywall as it relates to this company,” Nick said. “I’ll let you know if I find anything.”
Ian looked at Malone. “I wonder if there’s anyone at the company who might remember your dad.”
“Way ahead of you there,” Erik said. “I’ll email you a list of executives who still work there.”
“Perfect,” Malone said. “Thank you, Erik.”
“That’s it for your parents.” Nick stifled a yawn. “I’ve been working on Junior’s background. He had a falling out with his dad about five years ago. He once worked for his dad’s company, Flagg Contracting, but then his dad disowned him.”
Ian’s expression brightened. “Do you know what their falling out was about?”
Nick shook his head. “Junior posted on social media that they’d parted ways, and he seemed bitter about it, but he didn’t share why.”
“I’m already planning to interview his parents again,” Ian said. “I’ll ask about it. But when I did the death notification, they didn’t mention the estrangement. They didn’t seem to know much about Junior’s current life, though, so that tracks with a separation. They had no idea who or why someone might want to kill him.”
“Then they’re in denial or they really don’t know anything about their son or they’re lying,” Nick said. “It also looks like Junior was a middleman in a local drug syndicate run by Tirone Olivo.”
“Olivo?” Ian’s mouth dropped open. “He’s known to nearly every police officer in the city. But he keeps his hands clean, and the drug squad can never get anything on him. They’ve tried to tie him to the mafia but never made any connection there. On the surface, it seems like he’s on his own and above board.”
“Exactly,” Nick said. “He looks like an ideal citizen on paper. Heads up an import company, bringing in Italian furniture. The business appears to be legit and originated when his family emigrated from Italy.”
Ian shook his head. “I know the drug squad has searched his furniture shipments in the past, but they’ve never produced anything illegal.”
“Which is why he’s been a major drug player in the area for so many years,” Nick said. “No one can break into his organization.”
“How did you make the connection with Junior?” Malone asked.
