Page 37 of Made of Steele
She spun and marched across the hall.
Drew stood and pulled out Teagan’s chair for her. She liked his manners, but there were times she wanted to shove her chair back and rush out of the room. This was one of them.
They hurried across the hall to Mackenzie, who was pacing the floor in front of the large fireplace.
When they entered the room, she stopped and met their gazes. “You won’t believe what I just learned.”
Drew stood back as Mackenzie closed the heavy wood pocket doors to the room, the brackets grating along the old metal tracks piercing the quiet. The space closed in around Drew as he studied Mackenzie and tried to place which parent she resembled. She didn’t look like her sisters or her cousins. Her hair looked to be a natural blond, which probably came from their mom.
Teagan joined him, and he held his breath, waiting for Mackenzie’s explanation of the item so urgent that she pulled them away from their family and into this secluded space. Looked like Teagan was doing the same thing.
Mackenzie turned from the door. “Nick Thorn stopped by the office. He said he was trying to call you, but you weren’t answering, and he knew you would want this info right away.”
“You know phones are forbidden at the dinner table, so I left it in here on silent.” Teagan grabbed her phone from the coffee table. “Yeah, he texted me to call him right away.”
Drew’s interest shifted into overdrive. “What did he say?”
“First of all, he figured I knew what was going on and who a guy named Smiley was and that he’d been murdered.” Mackenzie eyed her sister. “Murdered? Really? Who is he?”
Drew kept his focus pinned on Mackenzie. “Teagan said that you and Ryleigh know about the Conti’s illegal smuggling. Smiley’s related to that.”
Makenzie’s right eyebrow rose in a perfect arch. “And your role in all of this is what?”
Teagan crossed her arms. “Let’s say he’s helping me investigate the Contis and leave it at that.”
Mackenzie lowered her eyebrow and stared at Drew. “I don’t know about all of this cloak and dagger business, but I trust Teagan, so fine. I’ll move on. According to Nick, this Smiley guy owns a plot of rural land with a double-wide trailer on it. He shows zero income since 2016, and he hasn’t filed income taxes since the prior year. His property taxes continue to be paid every year, but utilities have been cut off. Seems like he’s vanished and no one has reported him missing.”
“So if he’s dead, someone is still paying his taxes.” Drew looked at Teagan. “Maybe paid by someone who buried him on his land and doesn’t want anyone to find him.”
“Sounds like a good possibility.” Teagan’s eyes widened. “We need to check out his place as soon as possible.”
“Our probable cause for a warrant to search his property is pretty sketchy,” Drew said.
“Ah-hah.” Mackenzie’s gaze landed on Drew again. “You’re law enforcement.”
Drat. Really?Drew had let the whole family atmosphere at dinner and this warm, loving family go to his head, and he’d forgotten himself. A year undercover was seeming to evaporate right before him. The more people who knew about his status, the more likely his cover would be blown.
He eyed Mackenzie. “I’d appreciate you keeping your suspicions between us. Your family doesn’t need to be speculating too.”
“Please.” Teagan grabbed her sister’s arm. “I need your support here. The whole circle of trust thing we have going on. You’ll cover for me here, and you won’t throw me under the bus no matter our parental or other family pressures.”
“Yeah. I get it, but we’re talking about potential murder—not sneaking out at night to make out with your latest crush.”
Teagan continued to hold her sister’s arm, her eyes pleading. “If I believed telling them would help, I would find a way to do it. But in this case, it could get someone killed.”
Drew hated to admit it, but he admired Teagan for thinking about not outing him even though she really wanted to loop her family in. She’d clearly given this some consideration, and he was starting to see she had an analytical mind. A good thing for running her family company. Perhaps a not-so-good thing for keeping Drew’s secrets.
Mackenzie faced Drew. “Get someone killed, like you, whoever you really are?”
“Like me.” He clenched his hands before he said something he might regret. He really did respect this family and didn’t want them to think badly of him.Odd. It was the first time in years he cared about what anyone other than his mother thought of him. Even his supervisors. He figured he did the very best work he could, and if they didn’t see it, that was their problem. So far it hadn’t been an issue. But maybe if he didn’t get a warrant and went rogue to search Smiley’s property, it might come back to bite him.
Mackenzie removed her sister’s hand from her arm. “We’re not law enforcement anymore, so we could take a look at it.”
“No!” The word erupted from Teagan’s mouth.
Crazy strong reaction. Had he been wrong? Was she not well-suited to undercover work?
Mackenzie’s facial muscles tightened and for the first time, he saw her resemblance to Teagan. That stubborn set of her jaw. Her slightly raised chin. A challenge issued with her narrow stare. “What are you not telling me?”
